Which band member is just overhead, redundant, obsolete? If we want to be manically efficient, it should a self-sufficient one-man-band; a pathetic loner strapped into twelve quixotic instruments, speaking a cacophonous, single voice. I have witnessed a one-man-band, with a clarinet wired up to flop a snare drum and smash a cymbal, and it was a rhythm echoing in an uncanny valley. Mechanically, the human mind can only really process one thing at a time, so the beat was lock-stepped to a single train of thought, and it was like an author who has never met another human being, so all the dialog read, literally, like a monologue.

I have noticed a few bands that are missing some of the fundamental columns of the rock band building code: Vocal, Guitar, Bass, Drum. Vocals are easy to lose, and admit it, sometimes they’re distracting. Some innovative bands (with a hard-working guitar player) vacate the bass guitar (such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the White Stripes). Sometimes switching out to bass, Wye Oak does ok without guitar since the ambidextrous drummer is crafty with the keyboard. You can thump the side of your acoustic guitar, kick a bucket, or sample a garbage truck slamming a dumpster on the ground and you’ve got a passing percussion section, so who needs a human?

Although there are genius auteurs who eschew art by committee, the benefit (and implosive bane) of forming a band is that you have several perspectives and talents at work. Each of the members of the Beatles has a distinct identity, and they each wrote and performed songs together as the Beatles. Yellow Submarine (Ringo) is just as much the Beatles as Hey Jude (Paul). Even more so, each member of Queen wrote memorable hit songs, like “You’re My Best Friend” by the bassist (John Deacon), with the rest of the members being good sports and giving it their best. Each song sounds like the Beatles or like Queen. There were multiple inputs, but the band sounds cohesive with a group identity. Collaboration can be wonderful, with unlike minds synthesizing really interesting things (or bile, like Marilyn Manson vs. Sneaker Pimps, but maybe that helped MM stoke his cynicism for a few more years). Just try to imagine what the missing members could bring to any band.