Firing People

[scott757]

Sure everyone hates having to break the bad news that someone is being let go...fired...whatever you want to call it...from a band. But have you ever enjoyed doing it?

[loudboy]

It's a lot worse if you're the one being fired...

[scottlr]

We had one bass player that as a band, we enjoyed firing. He was a really good musician, too. But he was such a dick. I wasn't the one that gave him the news, though.

[germs]

never really "enjoyed" it, but whenever it came time to be let go from a band - it was time to do so.

i don't like hurting others' feelings, but at least i've never had to do it when someone's livelyhood depends on it. done it at work work, and it never gets easier...

[wstsidela]

I wouldn't say I enjoy it but I'm good at it.

[iaresee]

The singer for my DD Tribute recently went away. Weirdest departure ever. We were just talking about it at rehearsal last week...that we never actually got the satisfaction of firing him. He just stopped showing up, stopped taking calls or emails or text messages. Just: shut us out.

I'd kind of like for him to wander in to a rehearsal now so I could can his ass properly.

[Luke]

When it gets to the point of firing someone, what you enjoy is the release of tension that the suffering is finally over. So the joy is in the end not the means.

[scott757]

Originally Posted by Luke

When it gets to the point of firing someone, what you enjoy is the release of tension that the suffering is finally over. So the joy is in the end not the means.

What if the person being fired has been a monster to work with and a total jerk to all involved? Couldn't an abrupt and possibly rude firing bring some satisfaction for the trouble already caused?

I've never been in this situation but I've heard stories so I'm just asking.

[coldfingaz]

Originally Posted by scott757

What if the person being fired has been a monster to work with and a total jerk to all involved? Couldn't an abrupt and possibly rude firing bring some satisfaction for the trouble already caused?

I've never been in this situation but I've heard stories so I'm just asking.

Sure, it could bring satisfaction. But, I think it's more likely to bring relief and a fresh feeling of moving on instead of dealing with the same old BS any longer.

Only suggestion I can make is to be as swift as you can be & as direct as you can stand to be. Unfortunately, people like you've described rarely ever take any reason you give them as accurate and/or the real reason &/or they'll somehow rationalize that somebody has it out for them, etc. You're best sticking with the facts (in as much or little detail as you feel is necessary) & just getting it over with.

[Luke]

Originally Posted by scott757

What if the person being fired has been a monster to work with and a total jerk to all involved? Couldn't an abrupt and possibly rude firing bring some satisfaction for the trouble already caused?

I've never been in this situation but I've heard stories so I'm just asking.

I wouldn't find joy in that, and if someone else does, its speaks more about them IMO.

The only people who abuse you are the ones you allow to do so. Perhaps if you are in a very successful band, like Metallica, you would put with crap due to the money involved. To put up with abuse for wedding band money is stupid IMO.

[germs]

Originally Posted by Luke

The only people who abuse you are the ones you allow to do so. Perhaps if you are in a very successful band, like Metallica, you would put with crap due to the money involved. To put up with abuse for wedding band money is stupid IMO.

i dunno...wedding bands are in the habit of $100/man/hr for the duration (booked by block), so you can walk for like $300-400 a night even if you're only actually playing less time.

i put up with a lot of personal difference for the right money. once that starts carrying over to what happens on stage, then it's time to re-evaluate. but i don't need to like or love someone to work with them...

[FlyingVBlues]

I had to fire the drummer in my band a year ago. After recovering from triple-bypass surgery he started to forget his parts, his timing was consistently off and he would play way too loud. When asked to reduce his volume level he would get angry, and play even louder. It was starting to have a really negative effect on our relationship with a couple of clubs we had regular gigs with. In one case we lost a 4 times a month gig in a really nice venue that we had been doing for 3 years over the volume issue. I got no satisfaction out of firing him. He was a long time friend outside of the band, and the friendship unfortunately ended as a result of the firing. Still, it was the necessary thing to do.

FVB

[joemilitello]

I was managing partner in an office and we had an absolutely incompetent lady trying to man our front desk and do bookkeeping.

Believe me, she was the bane of my existence, because I had to double check every damn thing she did.

I still gotta say, though, that when she was sitting across from my desk, crying, I felt like the biggest dick in the world, even though she was essentially a cancer in an otherwise highly functioning office.

It sucks to fire people.

[Tuberoast]

20 years ago:
I had to fire the other guitarist in our band. He had no filter for his remarks and was foolish enough to take affront with a bar owner who not only paid well, but booked us on a continuous basis, as well as other people he deemed ignorant etc. He was also a neighbor in my apartment building. Imagine the frosty looks in the stairwell.....he was an ass and it was a privilege to fire him.
I was fired two years ago from a TV station. This was the first time I had been fired as an adult....it was far more painful than I would have imagined.

[jumpnblues]

I've had to personally fire 2 people and it really, really, sucks. Lost sleep before and after, even though it was very justified. Did I say it really sucks? Probably didn't help that I'd been fired myself once (also justified) and know how it hurts. It sucks.


Tom