Mercury

I'm getting to know these guys who have a band and they're looking for a bass player - that's me - and they've actually got some talent. Well, let me take that back, they have individual talent. As a complete group they are aweful. And that seems to be the problem with a lot of bands. Although the individuals are competent (enough) at their instruments, they have absolutely no direction once they get to jamming.

When I jammed with them before, I liked their energy. They were totally willing to be serious about sounding good together. The only problem is that everyone lacked direction. Bear in mind they've all known eachother for years and I was the new guy, so I wasn't in a position to start bossing people around. But I really felt like telling them what to do.

I wanted to tell the drummer to slow the fuck down, for one. If we're going to jam we need a steady beat to build off of, right? So if when he kept drumming at mach 10 speed I told him it's difficult to get in rythm with him like that. We should work on our notes first and then if we want to speed it up later, we can.

The guitarist needed to simplify his riffs, too. He kept wanting to break into a freakin solo 10 seconds into the jam session. I didn't say it but he really should have just stuck with playing a few chords until me and the drummer could work out a beat.

So I think that's completely normal of bands that start out. But I wonder how good bands eventually come around to being on the same page, you know? Everyone has their own idea and it should be heard. But eventually everyone HAS to reach a final decison... line by line.