I was in a band for a while, and there can be tension without it needing to derive from egos. I would say all of us were ego-free and I can't remember us ever having any interpersonal conflicts. But we did have different musical inspirations. The lead singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist loved folk rock, like Bob Dylan. I was more into metal and electronic music. The drummer was a devout punk. Our bassist swore by classic rock.
In addition, I've always been of a very analytical mind, whereas our songwriter has always had a very artistic temperament. We philosophically disagreed about whether music was primarily art or science. But he had the spark of artistic inspiration to write the songs, and I had the music theory backing to write the accompaniment, so that philosophical tension actually made the whole thing work. Then we split to pursue our respective goals and neither of us have done much musically since then.
In addition, I've always been of a very analytical mind, whereas our songwriter has always had a very artistic temperament. We philosophically disagreed about whether music was primarily art or science. But he had the spark of artistic inspiration to write the songs, and I had the music theory backing to write the accompaniment, so that philosophical tension actually made the whole thing work. Then we split to pursue our respective goals and neither of us have done much musically since then.