[Blacklabcollective] Divide and Dissolve show

[Austin Simpson]

The whole thing about race, while a VERY REAL THING in the wider scope of
punk rock, in the context of the conversation felt like a red herring. This
wasn't about race, it was about Tekiaya's friend fucking up big time, and
we got the shit end of the stick because they didn't want to yell at Kim.

On May 24, 2016 9:43 AM, "Megan Speers" <speers.megan at gmail.com> wrote:

>

> yea. just echoing austin's sentiments. I'm pretty pissed about how that
played out, and once i cool down a bit i'll be getting in touch with Kim to
let them know that it was super not ok.
>
> to be clear, what happened was that Kim did not check in with or ask
about what our money policy is at all. i think because they've done shows
at black lab before we probably assumed that they had an understanding of
that already, but evidently they either forgot or didn't think it was
important to ask/communicate this.... so when the end of the night rolled
around, they asked what the money policy and paid the bands, and the guitar
player from divide and dissolve, tekiaya, was quite unhappy with the amount
that they were paid. i tried to have a conversation with her and explain
why we take a cut of the door, etc., and apologized that the policy wasn't
communicated in advance (though it wasn't my actions that caused this...).
she then had a litany of complaints, felt that the policy isn't
sustainable, that we as a mostly white collective should have access to
money through grants and so forth and basically felt that we are sketchy,
that we have bad sound, and that she would never play at black lab again.
she was extremely unhappy with the situation, and ranted at me for a pretty
long time about a variety of things. I guess the most relevant thing she
was upset about is the lack of racial diversity on the collective, that is
definitely something that rung true in among the other things she was upset
about. anyways as far as that actual conversation goes, i can debrief in
more detail when we have our meeting (she requested that i do so).
>
> HOWEVER. having said all that. kim fucked up big time and it really
wasn't ok. obviously as the promoter it was their responsibility to check
in about money, to communicate this to the bands, and to ensure they were
comfortable with it. had they asked, we could have easily let them know
that monday night shows are pretty tough and don't make a lot of money,
they basically dropped the ball repeatedly (not to mention what austin said
above). they also chose to put on purple hearts social club, despite them
needing to also get paid, which they didn't tell us til the end of the
night (they are a local group and there were already two touring bands,
monday night, would have advised against that for sure). on top of that,
while this conversation was happening with tekiaya, they completely lacked
any accountability for their actions, and just wandered around dealing with
gear instead of speaking up (they definitely were aware of the fact that
that was what tekiaya was speaking to me about) and admitting that they
were responsible for the money communication... leaving me holding the bag
and apologizing for something that wasn't my doing. they came up to me
after tekiaya had walked away and dismissively said "i guess that's my
fault, sorry" but considering the dynamics of the situation it wasn't
really an appropriate response.
>
> i'm sorry for the long and ranty email, but i'm very upset at how that
played out, because of kim's actions i basically got to get reamed out by a
total stranger. and they at no point attempted to have my back or mediate
the situation, which they are in a very good position to do as the promoter
of the show and a friend of the person who was unhappy with the outcome of
the show.
>
> basically i am never going to work with kim again, and am probably going
to avoid even attending any more of their events. it sucked. im bummed.
>
> On Tue, May 24, 2016 at 9:17 AM, Austin Simpson <waustinsimpson at gmail.com>
wrote:

>>

>> So, last night we made $169. I picked up beer and cider, and we didn't
sell that much so we're pretty stocked up.
>>
>> I'm pretty angry about how this show went. Kim didn't contact me until
the morning of the show, did NOT have enough volunteers,  and basically
just dropped the ball hard. At the end of the night they left Megan and I
to be yelled at by the members of Divide and Dissolve because we took 50%
of the door, and took no responsibility for their shitty promoting. I'm not
particularly interested in doing shows for that band or for Kim any more.
>>
>>
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