How to Spot Troublesome Bandmates

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is David Jackel on behalf of Expert Village and I'm here to talk to you about spotting potentially troublesome bandmates. It is much easier to pick up someone for your band than to let them go, so make your decisions very carefully when you hire someone. There are certain things you can look out for right away as bad signs for a bandmate. First of all avoid slow learners, someone who is a slow learner is going to hold you back no matter what, you are going to have to be waiting around for them to pick up the paste. Drugs have always been a part of the music scene, however you feel about that, you have to realize that someone who has a drug problem is going to bring that problem into the band. Someone who comes to practice messed up for one reason or the other, is going to become a drag on what you are trying to do. If you are a serious musician you want to go somewhere with your music and your career, then you do not want to bring on somebody who has a drug problem because that is going to hold you back and everyone else back. Someone who is messed up is going to be useless in practice and it is just going to be a drag for everybody. Keep an eye out for people who has a tendency for tardiness. If someone shows up late to the audition, that is a dead giveaway that they are going to be late all the time, because people are trying to be on their best behavior at the audition. Avoid somebody who has a bad attitude, you don't need negativity in a band. Working on music is very hard, it can be very challenging and draining and you don't need some negative vibes crashing it for everybody else. Someone who makes excuses is also a potential problem. Because someone who makes excuses is always going to have an excuse for why they can't do this or they can't do that and you are going to get really sick of hearing the excuses. Someone who is giving you excuses during the audition has to go. And of course, if anybody seems annoying to you right off the bat, that is a sign that you don't want to hire that person for your band, because it means that they are only going to be that much annoying when they are actually in the band and you don't want to be stuck in the car with somebody with long hours that is like that. So if it is someone that you just can't vibe with, say okay, thanks for coming, but you know, don't call them back. Band drama is good in movies, but it is not something you want to deal with in real life. So do yourself a favor and keep out people who look like they are going to be trouble."