Band Breakups
Like any relationship, success is a reflection of the level of honesty at the outset and the frequency of check-ins against that narrative. Being afraid to have "hard" conversations early and just going with the flow will create communication breakdowns.
I'm coming from a place of experience here. I've screwed up my share of relationships—all sorts. But here is the thing about bands that make them unique: it's a plural relationship where the members are not always equal. If anything, they're closer to professional teams without an HR department or management structure already in place to dictate design and process.
First, you must determine how much influence you have and how much you want (which will change over time). Then, you have to establish creative alignment, schedules, and goals. But here is the thing: to a certain degree, it doesn't matter what instrument you play or how well you play it; there are only two types of band members: those who are good at being in a band and those who are not. It requires everyone to be relentlessly generative.
This recent breakup was a group of people who are all good at being in bands. That's how hard it is to keep these things together. At issue, in this case, was misaligned expectations. It's that simple. Not verbalizing that shit clearly at the beginning eventually created upset and a couple of the guys feel exactly that. Just like every relationship you've ever had that went south.
““Communication breakdown, it’s always the same.””
Photo credit: Sloan Photo
