Have you ever gotten kicked out of a band?

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Share your sob stories, dear readers.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 July 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I was in a band, and then it broke up. And then it formed under a different name a month later with the original line-up minus my brother and me. And then it went emo. Fuck that band.

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Monday, 14 July 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

my story:

I hate dishonest fux0rs

it = sux0r. The "group of (non-defined genre) artists" have released a documentation of their art, which may or may not feature your (necessarily anon) poster. Does one attempt to obtain a copy? what if it does include your "little moment"?

― Angharienne Bradshaw (Angharienne Bradshaw), Monday, 14 July 2003 20:14 (twenty-two years ago)

i have been booted out of more k-lame heavy metal bands than you can shake a stick at. I prefer my synthesisers and computer generally.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 14 July 2003 20:53 (twenty-two years ago)

in high school, at our only show I played the keyboard with my ass while demanding the audience breakdance. Too much flamboyance for the guitar player, who promptly ejected me from the combo.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 14 July 2003 21:03 (twenty-two years ago)

i kicked someone out of a band once.
he could sing ok but i just couldnt stand being around him.
i didnt tell the others, just phoned him up one day.
he acted really hurt. i was nice and didnt tell him it was personal.
oh and this was two weeks just before our first supposedly 'big' show in london.
next band practise was, erm, interesting.

― joni, Monday, 14 July 2003 21:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I played keyboards for a band that sounded like Peter Gabriel. They were great guys but I hated their music. Once I told the singer he was a funny guy, so why did he sound so pained and sincere when he sang? That was it. The next time I saw their name they were doing gigs with out me. No formal rejection, nothing! Then they broke up.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 14 July 2003 21:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I got kicked out of my high school band, by my best friend. I was the singer. He was the guitar player. The thing is, we were pretty terrible but I didn't know that at the time, I thought we were fantastic. We did "Fat-Bottomed Girls". I think they basically kicked me out because I couldn't hit the notes to "Stop" by Jane's Addiction and because the bass player really wanted to sing. I dunno. It hurt like hell though. I didn't even rage at them, I just asked if I could play rhythm guitar. They said no. We managed to stay friends but it was hard at first.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 July 2003 21:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been kicked out of a few, generally for gross incompetence.

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 14 July 2003 21:44 (twenty-two years ago)

i was in this really good noise band, who "split up", and then reformed w/o me and another member. They got nowhere though! They didn't even do one gig afterwards! SERVES TEH FUX0RZ R!GHT!!!11!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 14 July 2003 21:49 (twenty-two years ago)

not really, but me and the rest of a high school band once kicked out our lame bass player, because the 100th time he was three hours too late, he came up with this really silly story of him being involved in a car crash, when it clearly wasn't true. obviously, he thought we were idiots. and we must have been - otherwise we would have sacked him long before that.
that incident, and also the fact that he still owes the guitar player 900 dollars got him kicked out. this is 10 years ago, mind you. we then went on to become absolutely nothing. but with a nicer and better bass player.

― Jay K (Jay K), Monday, 14 July 2003 21:52 (twenty-two years ago)

i read this thread as "have you ever gotten kicked out of being in a band" and i was gonna write about the time i got in a fight with some guy which started over band insults.

but um no i have never been kicked out of a band.

― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:06 (twenty-two years ago)

yes kinda, it was more that the rhythm section started a new band behind my back. it was ok though because they were a damn sucky rhythm section and my band now are so much better than they could ever even dream of being. hahahaha fuck you Kath and Phil!!!!

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

these days i am the hirer and firer

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:13 (twenty-two years ago)

i was kicked out of my teenage metal band. except i wasn't really kicked out, they just started to hold rehearsals without me and when i'd call up and say "when are we gonna get together to practice?" the guitarist dude would say "uh yeah actually we're practicing right now" or "we rehearsed yesterday, you missed it." i think they "fired" me cuz i kept trying to bring my own songs in and i was fucking up their vision, maaan. also, you know how guys are about having chicks in the band.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:14 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't think so...i have been kicked off the decks though. and rightly so.

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:21 (twenty-two years ago)

no i always quit. just when the band is starting to "make it", it's the big art statement of my life.

― duane, Monday, 14 July 2003 22:22 (twenty-two years ago)

duane i've kicked you out of the telepaths about half a dozen times.

― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe i got kicked out of king loser, i was never sure what was going on tho. they left town & then i heard they were complaining that i didn't go with them but then i was back in the band a few times after various of their 13 other drummers got kicked out/quit/spontaneously combusted on stage/whatever

― duane, Monday, 14 July 2003 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

getting kicked out of a band is nothing for a drummer, there's always another 1500 local bands looking for one

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

(the moral of my story is that i am a really pathetic excuse for a megalomaniac.)

― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Really? Most bands I know would love having a girl in the band. Mostly because they figure it will somehow lead to them sleeping with her-- how could they resist, watching them rock out all the time?

Ah, teenage delusions.

― David Allen, Monday, 14 July 2003 22:34 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah all the girls in my bands always wanna get with me, i shan't let it happen tho, i'm a frigid star

― duane, Monday, 14 July 2003 22:39 (twenty-two years ago)

you mean you won't fuck your sister?

― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i heard that nietsche fucked his sister & that's why he went mad but most people who know anything about nietsche have never heard that story. so it's probably not true but i better not risk it, there is enough mental illness in that band already.

― duane, Monday, 14 July 2003 22:45 (twenty-two years ago)

*puts camera away*

― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 14 July 2003 22:46 (twenty-two years ago)

When I was in elementary school I got kicked out of the school choir because someone near me was talking when they weren't supposed to be, and I got blamed for it. That's the closest incident I can think of.

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 14 July 2003 22:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it was only one for me... though in that case, it was more like a "I think I wanna just have this be a solo thing from now on" as opposed to a "Yer fired".

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 02:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Has anyone been kicked out of a band nicely? Musicians seem particularly bad at doing this kind of thing.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 02:38 (twenty-two years ago)

i've left a band nicely, does that count?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 02:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Did you get counselled?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 02:50 (twenty-two years ago)

i've had plenty of bands break up. official version = someone leaves town, truth = half of us want to kill the other half.

― di smith (lucylurex), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 02:52 (twenty-two years ago)

i only leave bands that don't seem to realise how shit they actually are

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 02:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Same, Jim. Only they kick me out, not realising I'm the most talented one.

'Musical differences' has come to mean in common street parlance 'we have beaten the shit out of each other'. Eg - "Would you care to step oustide, sir? I have some musical differences to settle with you".

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:01 (twenty-two years ago)

musical differences in reality are just about the only thing that makes bands interesting these days. three (or four) people with the same taste = BOOOOORING

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:02 (twenty-two years ago)

That is so true.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:04 (twenty-two years ago)

musical differences aren't an issue for me, its usually personal differences that bust up my bands.

― di smith (lucylurex), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Like those strange little menages that happen in bands where the guitarist writes bitter lyrics for the singer about the bust-up relationship between him/her and the drummer, who's now going out with the singer. That kind of weird stuff?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:11 (twenty-two years ago)

reasons not to be in a band with partner/love interest part 345234

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:12 (twenty-two years ago)

no, not like that.

― di smith (lucylurex), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh dear. I'm, in a band with partner/love interest right now.

Another reason for being kicked out: you're wearing the wrong clothes and projecting the wrong image. I remember a thread about this somewhere.

Like what Di? Just hating another member's guts, getting pushed around, that kinda thing?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:15 (twenty-two years ago)

when you're friends with your bandmates, falling out makes it hard to work with them. i'm trying to put a nice spin on this, but i really mean theres been some psycho bassplayers in my past.

― di smith (lucylurex), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:23 (twenty-two years ago)

My problem has always been heroin-addled drummers.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:25 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't know any of those.

― di smith (lucylurex), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:30 (twenty-two years ago)

my problem has been (a) people who wilfully cannot play and (b) people who wilfully don't listen

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm glad I'm not in your band, Jim.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:38 (twenty-two years ago)

none of us are experts at playing but at least we try. as for the listening part, mr bass man has had his fair share of beatdowns as a result

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:39 (twenty-two years ago)

getting kicked out of the band by your partner for wearing the wrong clothes is the worst...

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:40 (twenty-two years ago)

What were you wearing? And what were the rest of the band wearing?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:48 (twenty-two years ago)

heroin doesn't "addle" drummers, it gives them super powers!

― duane, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha! And like all superheroes, they are always off on a mission.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 03:59 (twenty-two years ago)

ph1ll c4lvert to thread

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:07 (twenty-two years ago)

are you scared he'll google this or something

― duane, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:13 (twenty-two years ago)

& come round & kick yr ass

― duane, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:14 (twenty-two years ago)

you never know. fucker sat on my couch once and dissed my music. cunt hadn't even heard of stereolab and yet wondered why he never sold any records anymore

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:14 (twenty-two years ago)

where are ya now Phill? hey?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:15 (twenty-two years ago)

washed up rockstars are inevitably total cunts

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm washed up but not a c*nt. However, I wasn't a rock star either. So your theory stands as far as I'm concerned.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:19 (twenty-two years ago)

yay!

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Gaz? What were you wearing? You haven't told us.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:25 (twenty-two years ago)

you're on my case again colin!

it was colins (ex) partner who was the rock star.

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:31 (twenty-two years ago)

C'mon Gaz. Pleeeeez?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:36 (twenty-two years ago)

My rock star partner is not a c*nt. But then, he is not washed up. Jim's theory stands.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:38 (twenty-two years ago)

look, i'll pay you to shut up colin, ok?

and i've never met a washed up rockstar so i can't say.

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:42 (twenty-two years ago)

ive been kicked out nicely and even tho theyre still big friends i couldnt play again in a band with the two main guys

― Chupa-Cabras (vicc13), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 04:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been kicked out of more bands than most of you have been in. Hah!

― kate (kate), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 07:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Sort of, then they went off to become sidemen for a postrock guy and play once a year. I pretty much kicked myself out, and I was pretty useless anyway, however

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 07:16 (twenty-two years ago)

The best story was getting kicked out of a very purist 60s garage band for "liking a Flock of Seagulls". Heh heh heh. (Funny thing is, it wasn't even Flock of Seagulls, I think it was early Spiritualized, but they didn't know the difference, because as far as they were concerned, music stopped existing after 1970.)

― kate (kate), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 08:22 (twenty-two years ago)

(I should have known that they were shallow and stupid because they approached me at a gig - not knowing if I played an instrument or not - because they liked my knee-high white Barbarella/Nancy Sinatra boots, and propositioned me with "Do you want to join a band? We wear suits.")

― kate (kate), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 08:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I got kicked out of my school choir for mooning out of the back window of a coach on the way home from the choir festival one year. I was 12. Does that count?

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 08:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Firing people is great. Hiring is more difficult, I am finding. Especially if one is predisposed to think everybody is 'useless'

― dave q, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 09:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Recently, I played keyboards and some vocals in a ginormous hip-hop/funk/jazz band. They kicked me out because they said I was "playing too much", and everyone except for the other vocalist didn't like for me to sing/rap in our tunes. I was (and still am) very good friends with some members of that group, so I went and saw them about 3 months later. They had a keyboard player and a second vocalist playing the EXACT same keyboard riffs and singing the EXACT lyrics I had written for them. I was gonna get all huffy about it, but they broke up about a week after that. That's called karma mufuggas.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 12:23 (twenty-two years ago)

"Has anyone been kicked out of a band nicely? Musicians seem particularly bad at doing this kind of thing."

Not possible. No-one in the entire history of rock'n'pop has ever been deservedly kicked out of a band, especially not on the grounds they are not good enough or can't do the job. The only reason people get kicked out of bands is the mysterious and perverse hostility of one or possibly two evil band members, who are threatened by the sacked member's talent and/or willingness to call a spade a spade.

No amount of honeyed words or contrindicatory evidence can blind a sacked band-member to these simple but fundamental truths.

― ArfArf, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 13:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Nope. Never.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 13:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I destroyed a band I was in by sleeping with the guitar player, who was fancied by the singer. No regrets.

― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I quit the band, then got thrown out of the house by my room/band mates the next day. It was a pretty stressful couple of days, but it definitely worked out for the better as the next year or so was one of the best periods of my life.

The copeus amount of psychedelics that my former band/roommates regularly ingested changed the situation into an ugly drama.

― earlnash, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Interesting -- the copious amounts of alcohol my bandmates and I ingested turned our situation into an easily ignored blur.

― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 14:10 (twenty-two years ago)

oh yeah! i left the band i was in to go abroad for a year (unavoidable part of uni course), band got new singer, bassist fancied singer, bassist broke up with girlfriend and started seeing singer, meanwhile guitarist started seeing bassist's ex...bassist got singer pregnant, found out about guitarist and ex, went loopy, had breakdown, took overdose and spent months in hospital...drummer looked on in mild amusement...band imploded in hideous ball of flame.

Thus, I got everyone kicked out! Oops.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but they let me back in.....

― Andy Rourke, Tuesday, 15 July 2003 15:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Just once I'd like the drummer to not look on in mild amusement.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 16:44 (twenty-two years ago)

B-but that's what we do!

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 18:44 (twenty-two years ago)

A friend and me were invited to help flesh out the sound of a duo (crazy synth and live drum stuff) so they could play live. But the sound of their already-released album was much too strange/difficult to reproduce. So we took some basic ideas/sounds from it and worked them into some new (and imho better) things. My friend (on an old juno synth) and me (on farfisa through v. effects) were all pleased and patting ourselves on the back and shit for improving their band. Then they informed us they didn't like the new direction and preferred working it all out as a duo. We got dumped. More power to 'em.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 18:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Why doesn't anyone ever say:

"Yeah, I got kicked out because I just wasn't very good/I kept fucking up all the time and wouldn't admit to it/I wrote really lousy songs/I couldn't sing in tune/I couldn't tune my guitar-bass-clarinet-sousaphone-slide whistle/I insisted on noodling on my instrument whenever other band members were trying to talk/I just didn't 'get it' and was basically a liability to the band in some fundamental if hard-to-describe sense/I constantly pushed for a new direction that was of no interest to my bandmates/I have a tin ear and teaching me a new song was like pulling teeth/I'm too hypersensitive to deal with constructive criticism/I'm just a really lousy musician who would need to work hard to get anywhere/I have no ability to tell the difference between a good idea and a bad one"?

― Phil (phil), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:22 (twenty-two years ago)

That was pretty close to my story. I always had difficulty tuning my sousaphone. And my ego - the size of a small child's head.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I constantly pushed for a new direction that was of no interest to my bandmates

haha i DID say that.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

(Because, barring extreme personality problems and substance abuse, most of the band break-ups/mishaps I've seen have revolved around issues like these: some people just are perpetually awkward, wrongfooted, or otherwise no fun to work with, and remedying the situation would practically be a full-time job. And others have spells when they're like that, and spells when they're not. Myself, I've been lucky -- I've almost never dealt with anyone who wasn't, when the proverbial chips were down, reasonably easy to work with -- though sometimes it took all my diplomacy skills to make it happen!)

Heh - touché JBR.

― Phil (phil), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

i've been in the same band for four years, and despite our semi-regular practices and boatload of songs, we haven't played a show yet. noone will ever be kicked out of our band. ever.

― Felcher (Felcher), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 20:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Has anyone ever been kicked out of a really good band they wanted to stay in? Or had a Pete Best experience?

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

wow, i can definitely say that none of Phil's reasons above have ever applied to me..

(actually i was kicked out of a band once because the singer turned out to be a girl i'd had a falling out with mere DAYS earlier. i was shocked to see her when i turned up to the first rehearsal)

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 15 July 2003 22:29 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

I am so pissed right now. I was in this band with some buddies of mine. Everything was awesome, or so I thought. We had just finished playing a battle of the bands at our high school, and we KICKED ASS!!! Just so you know, I play guitar. At the same time, the other guitarist and bass player had this little duet thing going on in their spare time. Whatever, I was cool with that. However, today I find out that our drummer is joining up with them! Then I find out that the band I am in is caput, done. WHAT THE FUCK!!!??? The guys and me are still cool, and it had nothing to do with my guitar playing...I think. So basically I just got Royally Fucked up the ass by my ex-bandmates who started a new band without me. Does anyone have any thoughts on the situation. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

― Seiler, Tuesday, 18 April 2006 20:51 (twenty years ago)

LAWSUIT

― Fight the Real Enemy -- Tasti D-Lite (ex machina), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 20:54 (twenty years ago)

TECHNO

― Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 20:55 (twenty years ago)

LAWSUIT TECHNO

― Dan (Guaranteed Trim) Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 20:58 (twenty years ago)

LAWSUIT TECHNO

― Washable School Paste (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 21:02 (twenty years ago)

We kicked a member out of my high school band for being an annoying Christian who wanted us to play Stryper covers. Too bad, cuz he was an AMAZING drummer.

If you could get kicked out of my current band for not being very good/fucking up all the time and not admitting to it/not tuning a guitar-bass-sax-trumpet-theremin/insisting on noodling on an instrument whenever other band members were trying to talk/constantly pushing for a new direction that was of no interest to the bandmates/having a tin ear/being too hypersensitive to deal with constructive criticism/being a lousy musician who would need to work hard to get anywhere, we would have broken up long ago, and I would have been one of the first to go.

― schwantz (schwantz), Tuesday, 18 April 2006 21:29 (twenty years ago)

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