Bah, Just left the band I've been playing with.
Such a shitty feeling, when you elect to leave when actually you enjoy, the atmosphere, everyone works hard and takes it seriously whilst still having fun.
But life is too short to be flogging a dead horse. Singers voice isn't strong enough to do what she wants to do and the drummer has the worst memory ever
Telling is we are not being asked back to places to play.
Got offered a dep spot with a different band a while ago and they called up asking if I'd like to do it permanently, they are nice guys, the music is good and they seem committed, crucially ithe rehearsal space is much closer to where I live, so have taken the plunge. Time will tell if its a good choice.
any band leaving regrets out there? history suggests I don't always make agood calls in this area
Comments
Ref some comments above re solo projects. I invited a mate in a similar situation to jam for a day. We played some covers, some originals, got my son to cover on drums for a bit, ate and drank some beer.
We didn't actually get much done but music was a lot more fun that day.
Maybe if you have a network of musician friends to hand, try just calling together the odd project when you feel like it, just for a bit of fun? I consider myself as hardly ever having the time to play, but actually when I look back, in the last 9 months I've done a pub do with BigJon, one or two jam nights, 4 festivals, a musical production for a school, a couple of spontaneous parties where the instruments came out, a Christmas carols event, and I have a street party, a 50th birthday, possibly a work do, and a silly venture called Laugh Out Lounge lined up for the summer. I'm happy with that level of performing. Most of it's not serious or taxing or lucrative, it's just a laugh and suits my life fine. Maybe that approach would keep it interesting and varied for you without lots of heavy commitment? Same for Teetonal.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
I'm in a similar situation, nobody asks me to do stupid unpaid start-up fantasy stuff, I only get asked to play with real working bands.
It's a little like when someone is bored with their job and fancy a different one, that's a lot easier to accomplish than getting a decent job from being in the dole.
I sympathise with anyone trying to get gigging from scratch, I know if I moved to a different area it would take a long time to build a reputation as a reliable working musician again.
I think that's the point I'm getting at - the grass isn't always greener - especially as it appears that commited & motivated musicians in my age group in my area seem hard to come by. I don't mind leading the band, but I question if I'm the right person to lead a band sometimes and I would be much happier if the others chipped in with some stuff, but I'd be terrified to leave in case I ended up bandless for too long or ended up in the same situation.
Sorry to bore you with my early "can't be bothered to actually start working" monday morning ramblings!
So at the end of the day I'm saying just follow your gut. It's not always the easier route but personally I'm happier for it
Hope it helps