katarzyna

Pissed...pissed...PISSED

Okay a little background for this story for anyone who may be reading it....

I've been singing and playing in bands since I was 9 years old...and as a professional, getting paid for gigs, since I was 12 years old. Being in a band is work...being a paid musician playing gigs is a JOB. Just like any other job. Yeah, the wardrobe is relaxed...yes you can say whatever you want....yes you can smoke and drink on the job, yes creativity is encouraged......no, there aren't a lot of technical rules but...just like any other job there are some main focuses which translate over into this world:

1. show up & be on time
2. do your work & pull your weight
3. call ahead of time if you're not going to make/ if you're going to be late
4. don't be a slacker
5. be responsible

Okay now onto the actual part that pissed me off to no end. I've been playing in this new band since November with the goal of playing out by June. These guys are all SOOO talented. Probably one of the talented group of people I've EVER played with. Great guys with good personalities and fun to be around. This is the good part NOW....

My drummer is just a baby....he's 19. I expected some....issues but, nothing too major and thus far, up until a couple weeks ago everything was going really well. This kid can SMASH and rock out some STP, Tool, Mudvayne, Pantera....he's pretty much the shit. But....he didn't show up for practice two weeks ago. No phone call. Didn't answer any of our texts or phone calls until 2 hours later. (I had already left...it's kinda hard to practice our music without a drummer *sigh*) Apparently he'd gotten one of those "real" jobs. Which is great! Good for him! But, it would've been nice had he told us all about it and then we could've rescheduled....and I wouldn't have wasted a half tank of gas to go to a practice that pretty much didn't happen. Whatever. We talked about it...he apologized and it was all good...

UNTIL it happened again last week. And again...we talked. I kinda laid into him and I felt bad but, c'mon for fuck's sake. You live at home with your parents, you're single, and you work maybe 10 hours a week. You have nothing going on and you love music.......so WTF?! He apologized again and said he would definitely call next time. At the end of practice last week he said why don't we get together Tuesday night and jam out. Sounded good so that was the plan.

I text everyone yesterday morning...verifying that we'd all be getting together....everyone agreed...so, rock on. I get to band practice and no one is there, except the dude whose house practice is at. (I'd booked the gig I mentioned in my blog from yesterday and had the set list the party required. Ready to rock, ya know? So...I get a text from the bass player that he'd forgotten and made plans with his fiancee. I was upset but, no biggie since he ALWAYS shows up for regular practices. I thought...well, even with just me, the drummer, and guitar player we should have a pretty sound practice, right? Right.

So at 10 after I text the kid and he says, "Yeah, I'm on my way. Is The Bass Player there?" I told him no and the situation above and he said, "Ok, cool." AND...the waiting game began. Now in the mean time the guitarist and I are jamming around....tackling the set list....breaking it down and working on songs...........An HOUR later...I text the kid again, worried that maybe he'd gotten into an accident....no response. An hour after that...I text the kid again...no response. An HOUR after that I call him...no answer. I left a bitchy VM.

I went home at 10:30 PM and around then I get a text from the guitar player saying that The Drummer figured since the bass player wasn't there....there wasn't a point in him coming.

WHAT THE FUCK?! DUDE...seriously! I don't think I've ever been more pissed off in my life. I know I may sound like an old person but, when I was 19 years old...I'd been playing in the same band and making money at gigs since I was 17. I worked TWO full time jobs,went to school, lived on my own, made it to practice, and played at least 2 shows a week. and YES, I did walk uphill both ways in 5 feet of snow

I don't think I'm being too hard on him though...I'm super pissed off...still...even today. BLARGH.


Okay, I'm done now. Thanks for listening....