By Martin Kielty, Guitar World | My name is Martin, I am a drummer, and I’m here to tell you that you have put me off being in bands. OK, when I say ‘you,’ I probably don’t mean you specifically – but I do mean guitarists in general…
When GW’s Henry Yates recently shared his experiences of becoming a guitarist in a band again, after years of playing alone, he made some great points about the advantages of being part of a team, playing music and loving it.
But he missed out the reasons that I’m very close to hating being in bands – and most of them can be traced to the rehearsal room.
I try to avoid rehearsals at all costs now. It’s the only way I can survive to the fun bit of getting on stage and doing it. I’ve been doing it long enough that I know how to get away with it, and to be honest, I’d rather make mistakes in the exciting, energised live space than in a small room with… a guitarist.
Not all of you, of course. Drummers’ hackles are raised in particular by the ones I call “egotarists” – these are the players rapidly turning me into a “drumkit owner” rather than a drummer. And so much of it comes down to a simple, but pervasive lack of rehearsal etiquette – and a weird status quo in which certain behaviour is acceptable from guitar players.
Firstly, stop the widdly-widdly when we’re setting up. It can take me up to 15 minutes to get ready as a drummer, and you’re messing about, addicted to the finger motion, rather than getting ready too. Once you’ve sated yourself, only then will you get into proper setting up. By which point everyone else is waiting for you.
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Go here to read the drummer’s side of Spinal Tap and why they kept disappearning:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/i-m-a-drummer-guitarists-have-made-me-hate-being-in-bands/