How to politely evict a band mate?

You guys using any pyrotechnics by chance?...



I think most options have been given by now. Great advice. One thing: you being the new guy shouldn't be anywhere near when the older guys lay it out. It would seem like muscling in and it never looks good. One on one with a founder is the best route.

I once had to sack a keyboardist from a startup band we were forming, but she was a beginner and obviously not in the same league as the rest. I just asked her how she thought it was going and laid out what we were trying to get at. She drew her own conclusions.



Other thing: do you have a replacement in mind? Or is there no need for one? Good singers are hard to find. Being left without may be a worse option than having a less than perfect one. Had that happen too. With no real singer the band bled to death in a couple of months. Maybe an improvement program is a better choice.
 
You guys using any pyrotechnics by chance?...

Now that's thinking outside of the (detonation) box
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You Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just listen to me
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
 
There's no polite nice way to do it.

Call a band meeting at a neutral place. If she has any gear at the rehearsal/band space, bring it. Tell her the decision to move on without has been made collectively, sorry. And then leave.

Having both done it and the experience of having it done to me; just be quick, frank and direct. Stringing it out or trying to be 'nice' is BS. It never ends well, it is always messy. Just be respectful, up front, unemotional and honest.
Very wise advice having hired, fired and made redundant people in my business, including members of family who worked for me. The Problem with most bands (and business's for that matter) is they start out as a bunch of mates with no structure, agreements or rules and it can end up very messy. Someone has to step up to the mark, explain that they're the elected spokesman for the band but it's a decision you all have made. Be professional write the reason down why things aren't working so you are clear, do not negotiate or get personal.
 
My opinion is to be factual, and avoid any hanger at any price, as this singer can be a good friend or later could came back.
So best advice is to settle a meeting, and gather positively what objectives does every member of the band want.
Obviously, some objectives can rely on the need to work on very precise points. keep it straight and factual : when did the singer made mistakes, does she needed help ? did she tried to ask for it ? did she do the job to train her skills and to find solution to avoid mistakes ?

sometimes people only need such factual and pragmatic meeting to realize the gap existing between members' visions. it would eventually make her think about what to do to correct her lacks, or simply realize her objectives aren't the one needed for the band.

last some people would still stick on it without pragmatic view of it.
having the individual objectives written and goals set between members would do the job, reminding her attitude doesn't objectively suits the rest of the band.

simple, pragmatic, without any unspoken words.

anyway, non constructive but funny way to do it : add dubstep distorted bass on her vocals to cover her mistakes...
 
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A couple of questions.

Age? Are you trying to make it full time as a musician? Ottawa Area is not the best place to do that! Does she have family responsibilities that result in missing practices? How long has she been in the band?

From how you describe her singing ability I have to ask, why was she hired in the first place?

The original members should do the dirty deed!

I've been fired before from bands and it is never a good situation. Problem is that there is always some who is better somewhere so every band member in every band can or will be fired at some point! And sometimes the better musician is not a better fit.

If there is a band leader that is his/her job.
 
Definitely DON'T do what happened to my last band where the drummer and I (bass) were let go.

There was no warning, no complaints about playing/talent (except on one song which we both felt should have been dropped, or at least REHEARSED as it was a "showboat" song that no-one EVER reacted to). At the end of the 2-night gig at end of Nov 2012, we broke-down, loaded out, then went to share out the $$. Leader paid everyone (who DEPARTED) but us two! Said he wanted to talk to us.. OK.. fine. He came over carrying a piece of equipment of mine (that he was supposed to buy, never paid me and ended up using at every gig for 7 months) and put it on the back of the truck. So I knew SOMETHING WAS up!

He paid us, then fired BOTH of us... reason? Band wanted to go in a new direction - wanted to go FULL TIME !!
Of the 6 of us, only the drummer and I had "real" DAYTIME jobs. The other 4 - leader included (as he'd been fired from his last job about 6 weeks prior) - scratch out a living from music.. gigs, lessons, etc. They decided they wanted to go full time *without our input*. Turns out they had also been auditioning replacements for both of us over the prior 5 weeks, which explains the no rehearsals, even tho' I asked about not having them, and was LIED TO about it. On top of that, we had 9 Dec gigs booked which we didn't get to play (including NYE) nor collect money from... That ruined the drummers Xmas as that took over $1500 out of his pocket!

The bit that ANGERS ME is that the drummer and I were 2 of the 3 founding members - leader was the 3rd. We bust our butts for many months in early 2012 getting the band up and going and worked into the top venues in the area. It ANGERS me 'cus it was a REALLY good "working" band (Fri/Sat every week), and I now watch these new members getting a free ride and playing these top venues on the backs of our hard work. I say that because lead-time on booking at top-tier venues can be up to 6 months (in this area)!!

It's hard not to be bitter when treated like that.. secrecy, closed doors, band members talking about you behind your back, etc. then being dumped. What goes around comes around, I say. Treat people like you would like to be treated yourself... avoid situations like this.
 
Definitely DON'T do what happened to my last band where the drummer and I (bass) were let go.

There was no warning, no complaints about playing/talent (except on one song which we both felt should have been dropped, or at least REHEARSED as it was a "showboat" song that no-one EVER reacted to). At the end of the 2-night gig at end of Nov 2012, we broke-down, loaded out, then went to share out the $$. Leader paid everyone (who DEPARTED) but us two! Said he wanted to talk to us.. OK.. fine. He came over carrying a piece of equipment of mine (that he was supposed to buy, never paid me and ended up using at every gig for 7 months) and put it on the back of the truck. So I knew SOMETHING WAS up!

He paid us, then fired BOTH of us... reason? Band wanted to go in a new direction - wanted to go FULL TIME !!
Of the 6 of us, only the drummer and I had "real" DAYTIME jobs. The other 4 - leader included (as he'd been fired from his last job about 6 weeks prior) - scratch out a living from music.. gigs, lessons, etc. They decided they wanted to go full time *without our input*. Turns out they had also been auditioning replacements for both of us over the prior 5 weeks, which explains the no rehearsals, even tho' I asked about not having them, and was LIED TO about it. On top of that, we had 9 Dec gigs booked which we didn't get to play (including NYE) nor collect money from... That ruined the drummers Xmas as that took over $1500 out of his pocket!

The bit that ANGERS ME is that the drummer and I were 2 of the 3 founding members - leader was the 3rd. We bust our butts for many months in early 2012 getting the band up and going and worked into the top venues in the area. It ANGERS me 'cus it was a REALLY good "working" band (Fri/Sat every week), and I now watch these new members getting a free ride and playing these top venues on the backs of our hard work. I say that because lead-time on booking at top-tier venues can be up to 6 months (in this area)!!

It's hard not to be bitter when treated like that.. secrecy, closed doors, band members talking about you behind your back, etc. then being dumped. What goes around comes around, I say. Treat people like you would like to be treated yourself... avoid situations like this.

It angers me when I reed or hear of stuff like this. The business of being a muso is very challenging. Musicians should support each other, like a brotherhood. Again... honesty, disclosure, communication is the only way to go. I would never fire a person without having the opportunity to make sure expectations are well understood and agreed to.
 
I have been in this business a long time. I agree with Scott P in that I think it would best be handled in a neutral location. I don't think having the whole band there is a good idea. It would be humiliating. If there is a founding member, or two, that person or those two people should tell her. If there is only 1 founding member, it would be good to have one other member as moral support, but only two people tell her. She will know that it is a band decision. I also suggest that they state what the issues are, let her know that the decision has already been made, then depart. If they stay to "discuss" the issues, it will just degenerate into a debate or worse an argument, that will serve nothing and change nothing. People may say things they later regret. Your band and her are going to part ways. The less of an argument there is the better. I suggest you be respectful but firm. Just let her know and then leave. Anything other than being direct and honest is just going to make an already unpleasant thing even more unpleasant.

Just my 2 cents.
 
(she doesn't prepare, can't learn her lyrics and needs to rely on notes, and misses rehearsals), but some of it cannot be fixed on short term or at all (she never took singing lessons and has no technique whatsoever, she has a very limited range that is too restrictive, she can't easily work with songs that we transpose to another key for her benefit, and she's ever-so-slightly out of tune, sometimes more than slightly).

Um. Say the above. And that you're getting someone else. Do it together so that there's no 'well, so and so said....'. People are growed up, or they ain't. Let god sort 'em out.
 
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