Should Bumblemus Bail

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:37 pm

Long story...

Tis the month of band drama. I introduce you to the principle players: drummer, guitarist, Bumblemus on bass, and singer.

In the beginning, Bumblemus had a band. They liked each other. They hung out together even when they were not playing. They had in-jokes. They talked about their sex dreams.

They had songs. Oh such songs did they have. People commented on the breadth, depth and rich chocolatey flavor of the original songs.

Bumblemus writes songs for this band in conjunction with guitarist. Bumblemus has also sunk a good amount of money into this band. Bumblemus has also hunted down the shows this band has played, scheduled them, and Bumblemus DIYed the recordings for the band, and Bumblemus, naturally, has scheduled the band for a recording in a real studio, at a small fee mostly taken care of the money we saved up, which leaves a share of 40$ for each person to pay.

Is Bumblemus exhausted? Of course not. Bumblemus loves music. Is Mrs. Bumblemus exhausted? A bit.

Drummer quit. Drummer quit because guitarist is flaky and never has any money to contribute to band despite working full-time at a, granted, ****** job. Guitarist has traditionally been the one who will cancel band practice over silly things. Guitarist is not of the "make-it-work" mindset.

In fact, guitarist is downright pissing Bumblemus off. Recording is in two weeks. Drummer has decided, after some emotional sh#tstorming, that he wants to stay on for recording.

Guitarist has determined that he cannot afford 40$. In Bumblemus's state, this is four hours' work wage. Guitarist has a point that after emotional sh#tstorming, perhaps we would be better off with another drummer in recording, but the guitarist would not actually commit to a real recording date. For a mere 40$!!!!!!! Guitarist is flaky. Drummer is a little bitch.

Singer is comfortably aloof.

Bumblemus has no desire to be in a band that will not make albums. A show lasts a mere moment; a good album lasts a lifetime.

Bumblemus enjoys working with guitarist very much. But Bumblemus shall no longer enable.

You decide. Time for a better project?

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:57 pm

If guitarist refuses to stump up his share for the studio, he doesn't get to use it.

If guitarist who refuses to stump up his share for the studio suggests that, in using the studio, drummer should be replaced, then guitarist can be replaced instead.

Drummer who is willing to pay = stay.
Guitarist who is unwilling to pay and who thinks drummer shouldn't be in on the recording because drummer dislikes fact that guitarist refuses to pay for anything = go.
Bumblemus = smash.

In Hulk's opinion.

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:15 pm

HULK HORNY

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:18 pm

Drummer is actually not willing to pay, either. Understand that drummer has been a week-long grump who took a very long time to answer whether or not he would still record, and guitarist's skepticism is understandable... but come on, 40$???!!!

If Bumblemus was single, he would probably marry the singer at this point to make sure she couldn't quit. Not that Bumblemus is particularly attracted to her. But you do what you gotta do.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 4:01 pm

Oh that's simple, sack them both.

$40 is what, £25? That's 1 and a half new Blu Ray movies. It's about 3 CD albums. It's about half a brand new video game.

For somebody who wants to be in a band and wants to actually create an artifact to prove that they were in a band, who wants to hold something in their hands that they've created... that's more than reasonable. In my view.

If they aren't willing to make that sort of financial outlay to actually make the music they spend their time practicing, [composite word including 'f*ck'] em both.

In my opinion.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:42 am

It all depends: do you have another project or potential band members lined up? If not don't jump until you do.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 2:28 am

For more detail on Bumblemus's life:

I am in another band, but it's a kind of silly cover band that plays classic rock covers and a few originals, but I'm not crazy about the music itself. The people in the other band are very professional, though.

Been in a working relationship with guitarist for years, but he has just gotten flakier and flakier. I suspect that he is unable to deal with life since his mom died a few years ago because he seems to be less and less assertive and alert.

I would like to replace both, but would need to clear the firing of guitarist with singer, and I doubt she would be up for it at this point as some of his points are valid, but his lack of money is ridiculous.

Think I will see if another drummer pans out. Then it is time to say "it's recording or me" in much nicer, non-ultimatum terms.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 4:13 am

Sounds solid. Always have a back-up/escape plan and it sounds like you've got some good options.

Post by **Best First** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:32 pm

Send them all to live in Somalia for a month, then when (if) they come back tell them to get some ****ing perspective.

This may be my new solution to most things.

Altho i this case i suspect the travel costs + pirate ransom money may mean it makes no financial sense.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 2:06 pm

Best First wrote:Send them all to live in Somalia for a month, then when (if) they come back tell them to get some ****ing perspective.

This may be my new solution to most things.

Altho i this case i suspect the travel costs + pirate ransom money may mean it makes no financial sense.

Can you do it for 40$? Because that would really bring home my point.

Post by **snarl** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 5:34 pm

Tell me which one of your facebook friends is the drummer and which one plays gee-ter, and I'll cuss their mums (moms) until they stop acting like a pair of pricks, man up and get their asses to mars (studio)

DJ_Convoy · Post by **DJ_Convoy** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 6:53 pm

Bail out, yo.

In the immortal words of Vanilla Ice, "Drop that zero an' get wit' a hero."

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 1:32 pm

This is one of the really annoying things about being a musician.

There are a couple of types of musicians I hang out with. Still trying to hybridize them.

1) Responsible, friendly, go-getting and skilled. Willing to put money into stuff. An all-around nice guy. How I wish he could write a song that wasn't a ****** clichefest.

2) Brilliant songwriter. Brilliant player. Lots of fun, when he's sober/there/not angry about something/not having a seizure. Probably autistic. Can barely learn to drive a car or balance a checking account. You need him and you hate him, because he will leave the band.

And then occasionally there are the egomaniacs. But we will not speak of those, lest we offend me.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:11 pm

Sounds like you've got some interesting personality dynamics there, sprunkabeemus. Getting these guys together seems to be quite a draining task emotionally, given you're so passionate about your music and making this work.

Like most things, patience probably works best. To me, it just sounds like you've got the love and maybe they don't so much.

The question is do you want to work with someone who doesn't share your passion or would you be better off remaining patient and waiting for someone who does share your enthusiasm?

I'll tell you what I would do. I'd probably pay the $40 for the guy. Why? Because I'm a schmuck, who if driven to accomplish something, looks at the extra costs as part of the 'overhead' expense to accomplishing my goal. In other words, because I wanted to accomplish this so badly, I'd probably risk my self respect just to get it done. Is that the right thing to do? Probably not. I think patience works pretty well. Unfortunately, I don't have enough of it when it comes to finishing projects I'm passionate about. The saner part of me would scream "don't pay for the guy, he'll expect it every time!" but the emotional side of me, which usually wins out, would say "pay it if you want your freakin dreams to come true!".

Interestingly, I have found that the saner part of me isn't always right. In other words, sometimes you have to do some crazy **** to get her done.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 4:08 pm

Yaya wrote:
I'll tell you what I would do. I'd probably pay the $40 for the guy. Why? Because I'm a schmuck, who if driven to accomplish something, looks at the extra costs as part of the 'overhead' expense to accomplishing my goal. In other words, because I wanted to accomplish this so badly, I'd probably risk my self respect just to get it done. Is that the right thing to do? Probably not. I think patience works pretty well. Unfortunately, I don't have enough of it when it comes to finishing projects I'm passionate about. The saner part of me would scream "don't pay for the guy, he'll expect it every time!" but the emotional side of me, which usually wins out, would say "pay it if you want your freakin dreams to come true!".

I would quite likely do this, too, if it weren't for the amount of money I had already fronted in various ways. There are a lot of reasons to justify it. I have a better job. I have (on paper) more money, although I've also got two kids and my wife earns only a paltry freelance income. The guy's mom died two years ago, and his life has been an endless sh#t fallout ever since among his fragmenting family.

But I've already done plenty of enabling, and I've seen this before. In music, as in love, people give up on what you have together, duck out, don't consider it special, and break your heart. I could just be prolonging it at the expense of my pocketbook. Did I mention the two kids?

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Should Bumblemus Bail

Should Bumblemus Bail?