Yeah, Ginger doesn't need me to launch into a character assassination of him, he can do that perfectly adequately without help from me or anyone else, so I won't go there except to cite him has an example.
Growing-up in England in the 70's, most of us were taught a few important rules by our parents. I don't know if they are still taught (sometimes I wonder), but I know they should be: -
- If you can think of nothing nice to say, say nothing.
- Say 'please' and 'thank you', don't pick your nose, wear clean underwear.
- Good manners cost nothing.
- Treat others as you wish to be treated yourself.
Ginger has done pretty well for himself, despite having some pretty significant personality flaws. Perhaps it's because he's inherently nasty (or at least acts that way) and so attracts much more media interest than he otherwise would deserve. But I can't help thinking he would have done much better, and definitely been much more loved, had he been able to follow at least some of the four mantras above.
Aside from being able to actually play drums, surely being 'nice' (yeah I hate the word too) must be the key to being employable in a band or musician capacity? Even if we haven't experienced it directly ourselves, we've ALL heard anecdotally from friends, colleagues and read in interviews about how being a good person to work with gets you invited back ... and that being a nasty piece of work just doesn't make your phone ring!
You can extend the whole 'nice guy' thing of course: -
Always be on time (or early).
I hate being late for anything, even being the last one to turn up (assuming everyone else is early) leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I never want to be the person that people remember as late.
Be prepared.
Do your homework, learn those songs, have your kit fully tuned with new heads and shiny cymbals!
Expect the Unexpected.
This could mean anything, but I think it's about the right mindset.
Recently I was able to impress in a studio session where I was laying down backing vocals. I'm definitely no singer, but I was (unexpectedly) asked to completely change what I was doing and the way I was doing it on the fly. Very hard for me to do, vocally, but having an open mind and adapting quickly to the changes suggested earned me kudos.
Be Positive
I've been in sessions where one of the musicians is asked to do something. They moan and pout and eventually end-up doing it anyway - but no one feels particularly good about it. Surely everyone would think better of you if you just smiled and said "Sure, no problem" and got on with it? Even if you think it's an awful idea you could counter with a friendly "yeah I can that, but I think this way might turn out better?".
I'm probably not well equipped to be a career coach, but all of the above seems like common sense to me, and is representative of the stuff I have read, heard and discovered for myself first hand. However, you can take all this on board, change it, add to it ... but I earnestly believe that there is much more to being a good drummer than just being good at playing drums ;-)
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