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Topic: The curse of the drummer
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Delightful Little Capuchin Monkey
VoivodFan
Member # 65
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posted May 12, 2003 15:02
    
Okay, after seeing Nia's joke at Kula's expense in the Killing Joke thread, I guess I need some enlightenment. Does EVERY band suffer with the curse of the drummer who can't keep time at one point or another??? Back in the mid-90's, I was in a band, and we went through 3 or 4 drummers over the course of our lifespan. In each case, we'd get rid of them because they just couldn't keep a consistant rhythm. Speeding up, slowing down, speeding up, slowing down. It's SO AGGRAVATING to be in the middle of a song, playing in front of an audience, and have to compensate for the rollercoaster ride going on behind you. Sheesh!I eventually started recording demos with my buddy, the RhythmTrak 123. Very reliable! 
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nothingface
VoivodFan
Member # 58
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posted May 13, 2003 01:26
There are many theories afoot to aid in the explanation of why drummers are so, well to be honest, spastic. Whether their tempos are affected by the tides, irregular heartbeat, Circadian Rhythm, or whatever, the fact remains that they are usually just plain weird.In the three bands I've been in over the past 13 years, we've had 2 singers, 2 guitar players, 3 bass players, and 9 drummers (and that's just the ones we could stand to tolerate for more than a day). True story...My guitar player and I were out to see Fu Manchu one night here in New Orleans. After the show, we're standing outside with Scott Hill and this nasty looking chick walks up and says, "Hey guys, it's me." What? It was our fucking drummer in drag. No, not "ha ha joking" or "gong show" drag, but full-blown "favorite pastime" drag. We grappled with that horrible image for a few months before we parted ways for a multitude of other reasons. In addition, auditioning drummers is sheer torture. It makes you want to give up music. Call me what you want, but when a drummer shows up with the obligatory drum stick necklace, I head for the door. Besides the player piano, it's the only musician that mankind has focused its energy and technology on to effectively replace, with a machine. Nuff said.
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nothingface
VoivodFan
Member # 58
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posted May 15, 2003 08:57
Drummer in Drag, part 2:High heels. Black panty-hose. Tight-fitting black coctail dress. Fingernail polish. Full makeup and '80 David Coverdale hair. It was not what I wanted to see that night. It was shocking to say the least. We'd been through a gay drummer and a drummer who had a fetish for being pissed on, but this one took the cake. My longtime friend and guitar player kept stopping me all night, saying "That was our fucking drummer! Doesn't that bother you?" Honestly, it did, but drummers are tough to come by, so I'd already started blocking it out. I replied, "But he said he'd never show up to practice or a show like that. He said he just like to do that when he goes out." In retrospect, I can't believe I went along with it as long as I did, but I tried. The next morning, I get a call from our singer. He says, "I got a call from Phil early this morning. I asked him about the show last night and he said 'Nothing in my worst nightmare could have prepared me for the freakshow I saw last night'. He told me about Rick. Man, that guy's more fucked up than we thought. Now, will you let us get rid of him?" After that, things were kinda weird. We kept expecting him to pop up onstage like that. Our fears mounted, but fortunately, fate intervened. During the recording of our album, he began to complicate things (as most drummer do) by wanting to spend too much time building some hybrid acoustic/electric kit to record with. Time "dragged" and the rift grew. By the end, no one in the band spoke to him and rehearsals consisted of three guys on one end of the room and the stinky drummer (whole other story) on the other. We finally realized that we weren't ever gonna be happy with the smelly, cross-dressing drummer who wasted 3 months of recording time and would back out of shows to DJ at a local FM station (yet another story). Eventually, we'd had enough and I was given the task of cutting him loose. He couldn't understand why.
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posted May 13, 2003 01:42
posted May 13, 2003 13:57
posted May 15, 2003 03:01
