Signs You're Getting Dropped From the Band

Being part of a band isn't easy. There are constant practice sessions, rehearsals, and work involved in touring. At times, even just squeezing the time to play at different venues and sync up schedules can make you want to cry.

In most bands, there's also a decent level of drama that comes with just having to cope with the music industry, club bookings, and more. When you're dealing with drama, things can get explosive...and sometimes that just means it's not going to work out.

Once in awhile, band members will end up banding together to kick out a fellow bandmate. Worried that curtains are closing on you? Watch for these signs you're getting dropped from the band, straight from band managers.

Your bandmates regularly tell you that you're upstaging people you shouldn't upstage.

Stage presence is a huge, huge deal in the music industry. People want their place in the limelight, but the thing is that there's a time and place for everything. Sometimes, you may have to understand that you're not taking center stage

If you are a drummer who's making a point of trying to move his drums to the center of the stage, then you might be making the band look awkward. Similarly, if you find yourself regularly drowning out the rest of the band with your guitar riffs or songs, you might be doing a disservice to the band.

If the upstaging issue has become a regular argument, it's often one of many signs you're getting dropped from the band. No one likes a diva, you know.

You bring personal drama into the band.

One of the signs you're getting dropped from the band also is a telltale sign that a career in music isn't for you. The music industry has no place for personal drama. Once you get into the middle leagues or higher, drama will find you.

If you are still "getting discovered" and are neck-deep in drama, this is a very bad sign. No one wants to be with a band member who's constantly getting in arguments and having angry people show up at concerts.

This is especially true with bandmates who end up in one rocky relationship after another. No one wants to have to help you cope with the latest breakup du jour, either. If you can't handle relationships, just stick to casual sex.

Music is an insanely demanding career to choose, and if you're clogging it up with personal BS, most bands will end up firing you. This is particularly true if you're about to get signed.

You regularly don't make practice, and your bandmates started to just not tell you when they're practicing.

Most band members will tell you that a bandmate that can't make it to practice is a bandmate that you should fire. Even if you may have the musical skills of Buckethead, DJ Qbert, and Celine Dion wrapped up into one, you still need to practice. That's just the life of a musician!

If you don't make practice and always have excuses lined up, you need to realize those are signs you're getting dropped from the band. Perhaps you might not get dropped this week or the next, but if the band is serious about making it, they will end up firing you.

You can't help but feel a disconnect with your bandmates.

There are many signs you're getting dropped from the band that show up in how bandmates act around you. Much like how employees tend to get shy and reclusive among people who they know are about to get fired, bandmates tend to emotionally disconnect from members who aren't sticking around.

If you notice that they tend to be quieter around you, or if they've started to have inside jokes that don't involve you, it could be because they're gearing up to leave you behind. Simply put, the band relationship will feel different - and you might not know why.

You wrecked one of the band's gigs, or otherwise ruined a major chance at fame.

Bands do not exist without money. Money is made by getting record contracts, amassing YouTube plays, getting royalties from iTunes, and also playing venues. For many bands, your gig money will make the bulk of the cash you get.

If you were the bandmate who got your group permabanned from a major venue, or if you were the fool who decided to be rude to a record label executive, you shouldn't be surprised if they let you go.

There may be a chance that you can fix things, but it's not always doable. If this happened recently and you can't fix what you did, then don't be shocked if you notice other signs you're getting dropped from the band cropping up.

Your bandmates sent you to rehab.

Though your bandmates may want to help you, the fact that they told you to go to rehab is alarming in and of itself. Moreover, if it's gotten to that point, that discussion might be one of many drug-related signs you're getting dropped from the band roster.

If you've stolen from your band, have gotten booted from venues for being too wasted, or put yourself in serious danger, a lot of bands will not tolerate that.

Even though a lot of bands have drug use as part of their "creative process," there's a limit to how much you can do and still be a decent band. If you lost your ability to control your use, then there's no way for a band to guarantee you'll be alright (or present) at your next gig.

If your band advises you to go to rehab, it's possible that they're using rehab as an excuse to get you away from them. Though there are exceptions to this, rehab is often a deal breaker for up-and-comers.

They have begun to have band meetings without you.

You might have noticed that many signs you're getting fire from an office job have similarities to the signs you're getting dropped from the band. This is because band membership is, in many ways, a job like any other.

When you're in a band, you have meetings, set hours you're supposed to meet, and also have a shot at contracts, money, and career recognition. It's a lot like a typical job in that respect.

Assuming you weren't dealing with an impromptu emergency, being left out of band meetings doesn't bode well. Just like major corporations wouldn't let in temps for board meetings, bands often won't allow temporary members to have a say in major band decisions.

You got the band really, really bad press.

Bands aren't just jobs. Bands are businesses, too, with each band member being a partial owner of the band. So, in many ways, your bandmates are both your boss and your partners.

In order to strike rich in the music industry, your band needs good press. This is true in almost any business as well. That's why one major fireable offense in any company is getting the company bad press.

While some may argue that there's no such thing as bad press, the fact is that this has been disproven time and time again.

For example, Blood on the Dance Floor lost almost all of their fans and revenue once it became known that lead singer Dahvie Vanity had sex with children under 14. BOTDF ended up having to cancel tours as a result of the scandal.

Similar happened with Lost Prophets, and bandmates of the sicko ended up moving away from the band to restart without him. New groups were aware that they fired him and distanced themselves, but it still wasn't enough to salvage anything.

Other bands ended up having ruin after one band member made racial remarks, or threatened fans. If you end up having a sex scandal or a race-related scandal, don't be shocked if you get fired from the band. At that point, bandmates are just looking at self-preservation.

Your vision for the band doesn't really seem to work with what the rest of the band wants.

This is one of the few signs you're getting dropped from the band that will become immediately obvious during band rehearsals. During these times, your musical goals and vibes will all come out – as will your bandmates' visions.

Heavily-clashing band visions are a sign that it's not going to work out between you and the band. Bands can't work without a unified vision. If you can't unite naturally, then all the bandmates will suffer.

If you view this band as a serious endeavor while others see it as a hobby, you will likely end up getting kicked out for "being too serious and aggressive."

If you are imagining shows involving KISS-style makeup and pyrotechnics while your bandmates all prefer a pop-inspired stage vibe, there's no way to reconcile those differences.

Even if you "compromise," this will often lead to blowouts among bandmates or a lower quality of music - which in turn means you'll be dropped.