The End.
Tonight I got fired from the band.
Three weeks ago after practice Riff sent an email pissed at some little asinine comment I made saying he quit. It was such a non-reason it didn't make any sense, but that's all I knew.
Tonight we had a meeting. Apparently not the first meeting they'd had in the last three weeks, but the first for me.
And so they just dropped it on me. Hojo did. "We don't want you to sing for the band anymore."
I asked them why. They told me watching the last gig recording my voice failed pretty quickly into the set. Said I'd improved in the last six years, but not enough to take us to where they'd like to go. Never mind the last set list put the most voice straining songs right up front. But that's still a reason. But I don't believe its the only reason. Its just the only one they gave me.
They didn't look me in the eyes. They didn't tell me what a pain in the ass I am to work with, or that they didn't think I had a clue musically. That I have an obnoxious mouth that isn't attached to my brain way too often. Those could all be true too, but they couldn't tell me.
I'd always felt that Riff had no respect for anything I had to say regarding building out a song. He'd just play whatever he liked through the whole song sometimes, and he could sometimes pull it off. But it didn't help build the song, and forced me to sing over him. I couldn't seem to express what I wanted, and got frustrated. Hojo knew what he wanted, but at least he would listen to me sometimes. He may not agree, but he'd engage me.
But I didn't go into any of that. It didn't matter, did it?
Hojo pointed out that I'd contributed a lot to the band, and I know he meant the songs we'd all put together with lyrics I helped write. I wasn't going to be a shit and try to tell them they couldn't use them. I just said when they got a record deal I wanted my commission. That seems fair.
They said they still wanted me to contribute, and I said I didn't really see where they saw a place for me. I don't feel good about writing song lyrics for someone else to perform. They offered me a management role, but I pointed out that without a front man they aren't going to be read to gig for a while. I didn't really want to burn a bridge, but I'm not really feeling the interest just now.
So I'm out of Undersoul.
I want to thank all my friends. Everyone who came out and supported me and saw the shows and told me they enjoyed it. You kept me going, and made it worth the effort. Thank you so much for backing me up.
I take away a lot more confidence that I can sing, and can write a song. Lyrics, anyway. I know kinda how to get gigs, and could probably book a lot more shows if I find myself in a similar situation in the future. I know better the kind of music I'd like to sing, and I think it maybe isn't Undersoul.
I'd like to find a band that I could be excited about again. Or make one.
But for now, I'm going to work on other things. Enjoy my weekends without practice. Continue writing the LARP I've been working on forever. I've never even mentioned it, but I will. I can come back to a musical project later, and on my terms.
Three weeks ago after practice Riff sent an email pissed at some little asinine comment I made saying he quit. It was such a non-reason it didn't make any sense, but that's all I knew.
Tonight we had a meeting. Apparently not the first meeting they'd had in the last three weeks, but the first for me.
And so they just dropped it on me. Hojo did. "We don't want you to sing for the band anymore."
I asked them why. They told me watching the last gig recording my voice failed pretty quickly into the set. Said I'd improved in the last six years, but not enough to take us to where they'd like to go. Never mind the last set list put the most voice straining songs right up front. But that's still a reason. But I don't believe its the only reason. Its just the only one they gave me.
They didn't look me in the eyes. They didn't tell me what a pain in the ass I am to work with, or that they didn't think I had a clue musically. That I have an obnoxious mouth that isn't attached to my brain way too often. Those could all be true too, but they couldn't tell me.
I'd always felt that Riff had no respect for anything I had to say regarding building out a song. He'd just play whatever he liked through the whole song sometimes, and he could sometimes pull it off. But it didn't help build the song, and forced me to sing over him. I couldn't seem to express what I wanted, and got frustrated. Hojo knew what he wanted, but at least he would listen to me sometimes. He may not agree, but he'd engage me.
But I didn't go into any of that. It didn't matter, did it?
Hojo pointed out that I'd contributed a lot to the band, and I know he meant the songs we'd all put together with lyrics I helped write. I wasn't going to be a shit and try to tell them they couldn't use them. I just said when they got a record deal I wanted my commission. That seems fair.
They said they still wanted me to contribute, and I said I didn't really see where they saw a place for me. I don't feel good about writing song lyrics for someone else to perform. They offered me a management role, but I pointed out that without a front man they aren't going to be read to gig for a while. I didn't really want to burn a bridge, but I'm not really feeling the interest just now.
So I'm out of Undersoul.
I want to thank all my friends. Everyone who came out and supported me and saw the shows and told me they enjoyed it. You kept me going, and made it worth the effort. Thank you so much for backing me up.
I take away a lot more confidence that I can sing, and can write a song. Lyrics, anyway. I know kinda how to get gigs, and could probably book a lot more shows if I find myself in a similar situation in the future. I know better the kind of music I'd like to sing, and I think it maybe isn't Undersoul.
I'd like to find a band that I could be excited about again. Or make one.
But for now, I'm going to work on other things. Enjoy my weekends without practice. Continue writing the LARP I've been working on forever. I've never even mentioned it, but I will. I can come back to a musical project later, and on my terms.