Simply quitting band recording needless routine (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
red tape
'routine' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'simply quitting band recording needless' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'band' could be 'tape' (I've seen this before) and 'tape' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'red' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for red tape that I've seen before include "unnecessary paperwork" , "Irritating bureaucracy" , "What may be binding" , "Intricate official routine" , "Bureaucratic ribbon" .)