When a new band is formed, it’s usually hard for the members
to imagine playing with anyone other than those in the room. But alas,
sometimes personnel changes have to be made.
But the reasons and ways of going about it can fall anywhere on a
spectrum from “Let’s still be friends….seriously, please don’t hate me” to
“Wow! What a douchebag!” Here are some on the latter end of the spectrum:
1)
Frank Black did the Pixies in by essentially
writing Kim Deal out of the band on their last record (Trompe Le Monde) rather
than firing her (which would have been a bad idea)
2)
Lou Reed pulled a similar move, driving Nico out
of the band by refusing to write more than three songs for her, despite Andy
Warhol’s insistence that his (Reed’s) voice sucked. To be fair to Lou Reed,
Nico was kind of terrible. To be fair to Nico, Lou Reed is one of the most
well-documented jackasses in rock and roll history.
3)
Ray Davies drive his little brother Dave out of
the Kinks by treating him like, well, a little brother
4)
J Mascis kicked Lou Barlow (later of Sebadoh and
Folk Implosion) out of Dinosaur Jr. by showing up at his house with their
drummer, and making the drummer kick him out of the band by essentially
reciting a script designed to give the impression that the band was breaking
up, while Mascis sat silently in the corner.
5)
James Mercer of the Shins recently “reformed”
the Shins by kicking everyone out of the band and replacing them with slightly
more established musicians. He then did a series of interviews in which he
simultaneously claimed full credit for the band’s while also conceding that the
recently fired members were vital to their sound and mentioned that he invited
them all back to write and record parts on his/their new album. I don’t know
how much any of you know about borderline personality disorder, but….
These are all pretty lousy ways to got about a personnel
change. Try to stay away from passive aggressive behavior and public
declaration of justification via grandeur (ego). Amicable departure do happen,
but you don’t want to count on that. You’re best bet for getting to sleep at
night is putting thought into, treating it like the sensitive subject it is,
and hope things work out for the best for everyone. If you don’t see yourself
handling this situation well, it might be best to have a rotating line-up and
make sure everyone understands that from the beginning. Among bands who have
done this successfully are Beirut, Of Montreal, the Lilys, and Modest Mouse
(though Isaac Brock doesn’t do too much rotating, comparatively speaking). For further guidance, follow the link below:
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