We’ve all heard stories of huge bands breaking up seemingly out of the middle of nowhere. For aspiring musicians, it’s hard to imagine why bands who experience so much success explode and fizzle out, but there’s always hidden dynamics and unhealthy patterns at work in the frayed relationships in these bands. Bands who haven’t achieved major success are often plagued by the same sorts of relationship issues on top of challenges like worries about money and whether their hard work will ever pay off.

So many of these problems are centered around trust and respect. You could be making incredible music, selling out shows night after night, and signed to the label of your dreams, but you’ll be miserable if there’s turmoil within the relationships in your band.