So I joined a new band and got kicked out of my old one. In that order.
Last week, an old friend from high school invited me to play bass with his band. We set it up for me to come by and see what I thought. I figured I'd be getting a cd of some of the stuff they've recorded. Instead I'm handed a bass and we start messing around. It actually went very well. These are some talented guys and things just flowed easily. It felt right. So before I left, I told them I was in.
Now, I was technically in a band already, but since we seldom practiced, and played on Saturdays when we did, I figured no problem since these guys always play on Friday. And that actually wasn't what led to my departure from the old group.
I got home that same night and noticed that the old band had a new name on its myspace page. "Okay, change the name and don't bother to tell me," I thought. The next day in the updates section, I see that the band has added pictures to the "Doug" album. "What fucking Doug album?" I'm thinking. Doug is the guy who played bass before me. So I click on the page and sure enough, Doug is the bass player and there's no mention of me or the chick that played rhythm guitar (which I didn't notice at first).
So I call the singer, a friend of mine who actually hooked me up with his cousin who was more like a sister, and over whom he was very protective. And when she shit-canned me to go back to her cheating ex, the guy took my side and all but completely stopped having anything to do with her. Unfortunately, for all that, communication isn't his strong point. I got no answer. I had no number for the drummer, so I message the chick, telling her to let the others no that since I'm out (without being told) I need to get my amp from the practice space. Then I realize I hadn't seen her on the page either and ask if she's out too. She calls me and confirms that she's out too. Apparently an argument started between her and the singer and got pretty heated pretty quick. Okay, but what the fuck does that have to do with me?
I'm getting more and more pissed off. I know that Doug doesn't have an amp, so I know if they've played, he's used my amp. And I don't like people using my equipment. Several more attempts to reach the singer fail, and I'm starting to think I'm going to have to kick a door down and possibly fight 3 guys to get my shit back. Finally he calls and basically tells me that after the argument with the chick, he'd decided to quit playing altogether, but Doug talked him into playing with him. Okay, fine. Still no reason for me to not get a call as soon as it went down.
So with the holiday weekend, I get my amp on Tuesday (which had been played by Doug, something that still pisses me off) and was informed by the drummer that he was as much in the dark as me or the chick had been.
Meanwhile, the new group is getting ready to record some more stuff tonight and apparently have a singer lined up for auditions. So maybe this will end up being a better spot for me after all. Word of mouth is oddly getting around about me joining, which makes it seem like a big deal somehow, though I don't see how it could be.
Kinda cool feeling, though
Last week, an old friend from high school invited me to play bass with his band. We set it up for me to come by and see what I thought. I figured I'd be getting a cd of some of the stuff they've recorded. Instead I'm handed a bass and we start messing around. It actually went very well. These are some talented guys and things just flowed easily. It felt right. So before I left, I told them I was in.
Now, I was technically in a band already, but since we seldom practiced, and played on Saturdays when we did, I figured no problem since these guys always play on Friday. And that actually wasn't what led to my departure from the old group.
I got home that same night and noticed that the old band had a new name on its myspace page. "Okay, change the name and don't bother to tell me," I thought. The next day in the updates section, I see that the band has added pictures to the "Doug" album. "What fucking Doug album?" I'm thinking. Doug is the guy who played bass before me. So I click on the page and sure enough, Doug is the bass player and there's no mention of me or the chick that played rhythm guitar (which I didn't notice at first).
So I call the singer, a friend of mine who actually hooked me up with his cousin who was more like a sister, and over whom he was very protective. And when she shit-canned me to go back to her cheating ex, the guy took my side and all but completely stopped having anything to do with her. Unfortunately, for all that, communication isn't his strong point. I got no answer. I had no number for the drummer, so I message the chick, telling her to let the others no that since I'm out (without being told) I need to get my amp from the practice space. Then I realize I hadn't seen her on the page either and ask if she's out too. She calls me and confirms that she's out too. Apparently an argument started between her and the singer and got pretty heated pretty quick. Okay, but what the fuck does that have to do with me?
I'm getting more and more pissed off. I know that Doug doesn't have an amp, so I know if they've played, he's used my amp. And I don't like people using my equipment. Several more attempts to reach the singer fail, and I'm starting to think I'm going to have to kick a door down and possibly fight 3 guys to get my shit back. Finally he calls and basically tells me that after the argument with the chick, he'd decided to quit playing altogether, but Doug talked him into playing with him. Okay, fine. Still no reason for me to not get a call as soon as it went down.
So with the holiday weekend, I get my amp on Tuesday (which had been played by Doug, something that still pisses me off) and was informed by the drummer that he was as much in the dark as me or the chick had been.
Meanwhile, the new group is getting ready to record some more stuff tonight and apparently have a singer lined up for auditions. So maybe this will end up being a better spot for me after all. Word of mouth is oddly getting around about me joining, which makes it seem like a big deal somehow, though I don't see how it could be.
Kinda cool feeling, though