Possible SCAMS aim at musicians and artists in BC

It is senseless for some people to trick passionate musicians and artists for money and benefits. Unfortunately I regret I recently had a close personal experience of almost being scammed. As Epic Marble Project's event planner, I would like to discuss this to our readers and hopefully this would help you to be careful of suspicious situations and beware of your rights as a performer.

My band LOCUS was contacted by a charity group in BC to perform and help raise money for a recent construction project that would save lives in the future. The performance was scheduled in a well-known Richmond public centre on a weekend. My band believe in giving back to our society with what we do best, and therefore has agreed to fill out an application to perform for the show. Later we were asked to "pay" $120 donation for each performer in our group before a deadline, or else we won't get a chance to be on stage.

First of all, as a musician performer, we have in the past "donated" our talent, passion and personal free time for charity performances. Secondly, performers are usually "paid" to perform, not "paying" to perform. Performing for free for charity shows already means you have donated your performance fees towards the charity event. Third of all, the meaning of "donation" is to "give what one's capable", and therefore must have absolutely no fixed rates of payment of donation.

So what happened to my band???

We refused to pay the amount required and did not perform.

Now, the interesting thing was, just 2 days before the show, another staff from the organization called me and thanked us for participating in the show, and asked me when we will be performing so she can come and watch. I told her we have no money to pay for the standard performance fee "donation" so we are skipping out on this show. She was shocked and told me she did not know anything about the fixed rate of donation issue.

I did not go watch that show the day because I was busy.

I don't know if anyone performed, and I don't know if they "paid" anything.

If you have any questions about any suspicious show details, it is always a good thing to consult someone in the industry, or feel free to email us.

Life in Europe

This is Daizo and I am currently in Paris, France.
To refresh my mind and to explore different possibilities as a creator, I have decided to relocate to England for a while, and before I settle down, I have decided to travel around Europe for a few months.

It was a tough decision for me. It has only been two years since the foundation of epic marble project, and it was quite recently that the team has expanded so significantly.
With the new Epic Marble Radio project, and other secret projects currently under process, the burden on the team has grown remarkably.
To be honest, I feared that people will think that I am running away from my obligations, but that is not true. I feel that I need to have a greater understanding of the world around me, and the time is now.
Knowledge is important but nothing can beat experience... and although it has only been 5 days, I can feel that this trip will definitely change something within me.





So far, I have visited Barcelona, Spain and Paris, France. The art and culture of these two cities are completely different from that of Vancouver.
The language barrier, the culture shock, the different transit systems, and the weight of my backpack are all new to me, but everything that these two countries has to offer are unique and inspiring.
Gaudi's Sagrada Familia have shown me the potential of architecture, and Montmartre in France has showed me the amount of influence a city can have on many famous artists.





In Barcelona, I was stopped by a man who identified himself as a police. While I was walking around the city, a man walked up to me asking me the directions. Even though I told him I didn't know, he kept coming after me, and it was only a few minutes after when another man came up to me with a policeman's notebook. He told me he was the police and that he was doing an investigation. After asking for my passport, he told me to show him my wallet. He said he was suspicious that I was having a trade of some sort - most likely drugs. However, it was unnatural for the police to ask me for the content of my wallet so I told him that I can show him my wallet if it is at the police station. Suddenly, both the guy asking me the directions and the one who claimed himself to be an officer started running away. It then made sense that both of them were working as a team.





Like there are horror stories, there are equal amounts of good news in Europe.
Although euros and pounds are stronger than the Canadian dollar, beer can be found for as cheap as one euro, and a lot of the dairy products are just as cheap.
Food is different, but the baguette sandwiches in France and the Tapas in Spain are delicious!
Just as much as I am learning, I am enjoying my vacation.
I will write about anything new that comes up here in Europe, and hopefully it will lead to the next big project lined up for the coming years.

I am currently writing a blog in Japanese at http://ameblo.jp/marblesounds, and will be writing some entries here every once in a while so please check back often!

Cheers,

DAIZO