General Music Chat

Yep, every time the band personnel changes, the band dynamic changes. Learn to roll with the changes. If it is truly a democracy, everyone has an equal stake and an equal say in how things go creatively. The idea that you have a greater stake is just a misplaced sense of entitlement. Unless you are paying their salaries you have no right to call the vocal shots or relegate new guy to guitar only servitude.

Get out your cel phone and record one song with the band. Do it first with BU vocals and then W/O BU vocals. Which version do the other members like better? Trust their judgement. If harmonies need a little work, schedule a vocal practice and work on vocals without bass and drums. Make the vocals awesome together as a team!

Lead vocalist ego is getting in your way right now and it will tear this band apart unless you get right with all your band mates. If you want to be the frontman and the focus of attention, be awesome! Come to practice and blow their minds with your skills, talent, and willingness to work hard and do whatever it takes to make great music. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and start channeling all the strengths in this lineup instead of putting up walls and pissing on your territorial boundaries. To abuse an old cliche'... There is no "I" in team... or Rock Band.

Just watch out for those back up singers. They have been known.......just say'n

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Your band so do what you think is best. This still smells like ego getting in the way to me though.

I have been doing this band thing a long time and with lineup changes it always changes the band dynamic and often the song arrangements, BU vocals, solos, endings etc. It's a creative process with nothing ever written in stone with us. We always talk about arrangements, vocal harmonies, what works well, and what doesn't. Sometimes a song that I have sung lead on for 5 years just lays better for another guy in the band. He gets it. Sometimes adding extra vocals on top of a verse to give it more impact works, sometimes it doesn't (we do it a lot on Beatles tunes). We try it both ways "what do you think guys?". Whatever the band says, goes. We all want to present the best final product and nobody gets butt hurt if their role in a song changes over time.

An unwillingness to include all members of the band in the creative decisions regarding vocals smells like ego and will ultimately tear the band apart IMO.

Do whatever you think is best...