Tuesday, July 22, 2008
More news.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Heh.
Wow! I see that the battle is still on! Can't get your way, or run the show, so you get pissed and start threatening people! Please! Get over it! You are not running the show!
I love how they all just keep telling everyone to sit tight, and to "rest assured that this is for real." How could anyone who has been dealing with them this long feel "assured" about anything they say?! They haven't delivered even one thing they promised. "Things are good!"? Are you kidding me?! If not working or getting paid for 2-4 months is good, I'd hate to see what he thinks bad is.
Joe's pissed!
- FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, WAGE & HOUR DIVISION. FOR $6,400.00 AND COUNTING, IN BACK WAGES.
- CONTACT THE FBI INTERNET FRAUD DIVISION, AND DEMAND THAT AN INVESTIGATION BE STARTED AGAINST CMMT, ERICA WELCH, DFR AND ITS MEMBERS. I WILL FULLY COOPERATE WITH THIS INVESTIGATION AND TURN OVER ALL MY EVIDENCE.
- I WILL FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE IRON COUNTY SHERIFF AND THE MICHIGAN STATE POLICE FOR IDENTITY THEFT.
- FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE MICHIGAN, INDIANA, AND ILLINOIS STATE ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE.
- FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE FTC (FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION).
- MY ATTORNEY, IS COMMENCING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST DFR AND CMMT FOR A 6 FIGURE DAMAGES COMPLAINT FOR INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF FINANCIAL AND EMOTION DISTRESS IN US DISTRICT COURT. HE IS ALSO FILING A SEPARATE COMPLAINT FOR MY DAUGHTER MARY. A BREACH OF CONTRACT COMPLAINT WILL ALSO BE FILED, SEEKING THE FULL VALUE OF MY CONTRACT.
- I WILL FILE A COMPLAINT AGAINST DFR AND CMMT WITH THE BBB.
- TO FULLY ASSIST KEWADIN RESORT AND CASINO IN THEIR LAWSUIT FOR DAMAGES AGAINST DFR AND CMMT.
- TO ASSIST COLUMBIA, ROADRUNNER, THORNS OF WINTER, AND ANYONE ELSE IN THEIR LEGAL PURSUIT FOR DAMAGES AGAINST DFR AND CMMT.
I'll update as soon as I find out what happened to Joe to make him so mad. I probably won't try and get any money out of them as I said before, but I'm strongly considering filing some of those fraud complaints. It might not do anything, but it'd be better than pulling a Big Lebowski on Erica ("THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS ERICA! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FUCK A STRANGER IN THE ASS!").
More to come.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Jake quit too.
Erica,
Due to your lack organization and overall lack of consideration for your crew, I quit. You have been untruthful to us from the beginning. You made an announcement at the May 2nd show that Dragonfly Red was signed to Columbia Records, not in negotiation. I have been patient with you and even turned down other jobs because I was giving you the benefit of the doubt. I have went into debt waiting for this "tour" to begin. Reassigning me to merchandiser is a slap in the face. I guess you must have overlooked my resume and not realized that I have two degrees. But then again I realize you didn't have time between your long shifts at the gas station and negotiations with the "label". I do sincerely wish the best for the band, I think their hard work will pay off one day.You have taken advantage of every ones dream to work in the music business, and used it to exploit them. But look at it this way, since I am quitting, you can get some new sucker to pay $50 for a background check. I would try to save it though, because you still owe me for the May 2nd show, the seminar, and my hotel expenses. What about Maria? That poor woman has been doing your dirty work for free. You have been using her as a punching bag so you don't have to deal with the irate crew. I will leave you with a piece of advice...don't fuck with your crew. You and the band are nothing without them. Most of them have lost your trust already.....and to the crew and the band...because they are receiving this message too...If this does pan out...Good Luck, I wish you the best. And make sure you get paid, because I have yet to see a dime.
Jake
One more down.
Just wanted to let you all know that I was fired via email last nite,
here is part of the text.
Our reasons for terminating your employment with us are as follows:
Blatant disregard and disrespect for management in writing to other employees.
Disrespect for the band and its efforts.
Lack of clear commitment and willingness to support the band and its
musical endeavors.
Anyway, I just wanted to show you guys how respectful this 'management
team' is. Getting hired four months ago and not working is in my
opinion blatant disrespect for any employee in any position.
I am not sorry that I spoke up, by the way, big shout out to J.D. King
for sending OUR emails to management. Don't trust that little rat. I
am only sorry that I did not have the chance to meet you all and work
with you on the road. But this is an environment that we were not
meant to share. Please let me know what happens with this band and
situation as I feel many of you share the same sentiments as me.
Lastly, who's the fucking label already?.....hahaha
matt
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Enough is enough.
We were slated to leave on the 23rd, as stated in my last post. Then, two days before we were supposed to leave, I got this email:
(c) Let it be known that in the event that Dragonfly Red should dissemble or lose their contract, I have a right to reassign you to an active band or terminate this contract without warning.
At that point, I sent Maria a two word email: I quit.
The crew member who she was referring to was one of the drivers, who is named Jeff and lives in Florida. He called me up in a tizzy one day because he had just been fired for "asking too many questions." Later I heard from Joe that Jeff had told Erica that he was going to fly up here and break her legs. I thought that was pretty hilarious. At this point, I'm getting quite a bit of entertainment out of keeping up with the rest of the crew members who haven't quit and finding out what's going on. I've gotten a lot of their more recent emails forwarded to me, including this gem explaining why Maria is a qualified band manager:
DFR Crew,
I laughed so hard when I read the pastry chef part. Ok Erica, you convinced me!
Oh yeah, Chris (shitbag #2) got a call from Erica saying they'll definitely need him on the crew now, since they had to fire Jake (shitbag #1). Jake hasn't heard ANYTHING about this. More clusterfuckery. She said they had to fire him because of what he posted on www.roadie.net. Maria had tried to recruit more crew members, but Jake, this girl named Jamie (a FOH engineer who none of us even had any idea was involved), and I quickly responded telling everyone to run away as fast as they can from this job. Maria has since deleted that post, but it was pretty great how fast everyone shot her down. Jamie got fired because when she got her contract she asked them to revise it (because it was a joke). They told her it was non-negotiable and they would no longer be needing her services.
The thing that baffles me is that Tony and the rest of the band SWEAR by Maria and Erica and say that they couldn't do any better without her. During our long conversation, Tony told me "I guess the way I thought things were done isn't how it is anymore."
No Tony, it still is. You're just getting screwed.
Monday, June 16, 2008
...
Friday, June 6, 2008
Clusterfuck #1
p.s.- Apparently Emilio (?) got fired for some reason right after the May 2nd show.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Day 1
I'm 20 years old, and originally from Nebraska. About a year ago, I dropped out of music school in Lincoln and moved to Chicago, where I've been living for the last 9 months. In the mornings I work for an investor company at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as a runner on the trading floors. On nights and weekends, I work at a record shop/venue in the far south loop (Reggie's). About a month ago, a buddy of mine from Nebraska got a job as a roadie/electronics/sound guy for the aforementioned band. They mentioned to him that they were going to need another guitar tech, so he got them in touch with me. I applied, my background check cleared, and here I am.
Last night we had a gig and video shoot at the Goose Island brewpub in Wrigleyville. I don't know why they wanted to shoot their video there. They might as well shoot at Applebee's. The room sucks. We had to move a bunch of tables out of the way, the sound wasn't great, their soundboard was cheap and they didn't have enough mic stands for us to mic the guitars. Oh well. Not my band.
It was the first time I got to meet everyone that I'll be working with for the next year. We all met around 6:00 for dinner and a meet-and-greet. Everyone seems fairly solid to me. It's still pretty early to tell, though. This is my first time on the road. I've been playing guitar since I was 6, but this is the first real full-time music job that I've ever gotten (other than the record shop, I guess). A lot of the other crew members are first-timers, too, which makes me feel a little better. Here's a run-down of our crew. (I can't remember some of their real names, unfortunately).
Erica Welch-Johnson (band manager 1): She seems like a really sweet lady. Her husband will be going on tour with us too, but I'm not sure what his official title is yet. Don't know how I feel about that guy. On one of our smoke breaks, he told me that she's been diagnosed with terminal spinal cancer and that this tour is her last big hurrah before she dies. He told me this right after lamenting that the cute bartender had given him her number and he couldn't do anything because Karen was there, so he'd just save the number for now. Nice, huh?
Maria Maslanka (band manager 2): Also seems very nice, if not a little uptight. She's the one who interviewed me.
Joe (crew manager): I'm looking forward to working with this guy. He's been doing big tours for almost 30 years (thank God), and I think I am really going to learn a ton from him over the next year. He likes to talk. I like to listen.
"Josh-Hartnet-lookin'-motherfucker" a.k.a- Bryan (sound guy 1): To get an idea of what this dude looks like, picture Josh Harnet with a pony tail nearly to his ass and a Dimebag Darrell-style goatee. He seems like he knows what he's doing, but he also seems like he's got something to prove. He likes to throw in opposing opinions where they're not necessary. Might be a bit of a drama queen, we'll see.
Emilio (sound guy 2): I can't remember exactly he said he was from (Sevilla, I think?), but so far I like the dude. He seems like a friendly, unassuming guy with quite a bit of experience and knowledge. He said his father was a playwright, and that he'd been doing production for theater and bands for about 23 years.
Jake Lampe (sound guy 3): This is my buddy from Nebraska who got me the job. He's going to be the one who the other sound guys boss around, and he's going to be learning to run the lights, too.
Firewater Jonny (guitar tech 1): That's me. I'm a joke.
J.D. King (guitar tech 2): Really cool guy. 33 years old, works in a music shop in a smaller town in middle Illinois teaching drums. Like me, he's never been on a tour, but has been playing for quite awhile and giving lessons.
Mark (bass tech): Didn't really talk to this guy that much, but he seems pretty cool. He has a pony tail nearly to his ass, and he likes Pearl Jam. But he was really nice and laid-back, so I guess I can't hold that against him.
Terry (Drum Tech): This guy is a middle aged black dude, and he moves kinda slow. It took him forever to set up the drums, and I think he got a talking-to after the show. I hope he can pick up the pace, everyone else had their stuff ready to go and sound checked at least 10 minutes before he did. He got the job because he's friends with the drummer, and he seems like a nice guy, but if he can't keep up with everyone else we're definitely going to run into problems on the road.
There is another couple who are just there to help whoever needs help, I think. I didn't talk to them very much. The band all seem like very level-headed, kind guys. They were definitely the best band that played last night. A guy who posts on one of the online forums I post on said they sound a little like In Living Colour, which is an alright description of their sound, I think. I personally wouldn't listen to their music just rolling around in my car, but they're all pretty good musicians and I don't think I'll have any problem working with them.
The other bands that played were pretty hard for me to listen to. The first band wasn't THAT bad, but their drummer did the same fill over and over and over, which is an unforgivable sin in my book. The second "band" was just a guy doing an acoustic set because his band bailed on him. And while I have to give him a little credit for getting up on stage by himself with little preparation, it was pretty brutal to listen to. He sang in this really weird nasally, deep voice, and his guitar was WAY out of tune. When I mentioned to him that he was out of tune, he just said "Oh, no, man, that's just how I tune." So I just let him have it his way and went back to smoke a cigarette and get the rest of the guitar equipment ready. The last band was even worse. They were truly god-awful. Their lead singer sang in that "Eddie Vedder/Scott Stapp wannabe" voice, but really deep. I wanted to stab him.
Shitbag was in fine form. Since everything we eat or drink is going to be covered by the label (or so we've been told), he got really loaded and talked everyone's ear off. He was so excited he was practically giddy. He tried to get me to drink with him many times during the night.
"What are you, straight edge now?!" He kept asking.
I didn't drink, though, and I'm really glad I didn't. Other than being underage and new at this job, I drove Mary and the guitar player whose equipment I'll be taking care of home after the show.
Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic about the next year. Admittedly, I'm very green and EASILY the youngest person in the crew, but I think that once we gel as a group and everyone figures out exactly what their role is it'll go fairly smoothly. I guess I'll see what happens once we get on the road. We leave for New York May 24th, so stay tuned.