Carter Chimes in On Indie Fest Unrest
The best things in life are free: SF Weekly ran a story about last year's Bay Area Indie Music Festival in Martinez ["Indebted to the Scene," Let's Get Killed, 6/11]. The story is very much incomplete. I called Jennifer Maerz a week before she ran the story after another industry person told me he had been contacted by her and was told she was running a story about the financial problems that plagued the freshman festival. She told me that she was indeed running the story and then proceeded to ask me very specific financial questions, some of which I didn't have the information about since I was out of town on business. I let her know that I would get the info for her, but that it would have to wait until I returned.
Apparently, that wasn't good enough. Maerz and SF Weekly ran the story without all the information that would have swung the story in a more balanced direction.
It's true that we still owe money to some of the bands that played last year's festival. What wasn't disclosed was that there are some bands from last year's festival that haven't been paid, and still want to participate in this year's festival. In the four years we've been doing this, it's the first time we've ever had trouble paying bands.
Maerz and SF Weekly are proof that entertainment writers who have very little knowledge about how the music industry works can be dangerous. I have always fully supported independent entities. That's why I started the Bay Area Indie Music Festival in the first place. The truth is, a lot of us at 3 Udders still have day jobs. We're not doing this for the money. We're doing this because we love music. To let the festival die because of the irresponsible reporting of one journalist would be doing a disservice to the local scene and the folks that employ them. Have we had financial problems? Yes. But we're doing all we can to ensure it never happens again, and that the bands that have yet to be paid get paid.
Joshua Carter
Castro Valley
Maerz responds: There was only one question Carter said he needed more time to answer, and that was the question of whether any of the bands who played his festival had been paid. He could name only one at that time. I responded that if there were other bands that had been paid, I would need their names as well, and gave him my deadline. He never got back to me with additional names.
Cat Scratch Geezer
Do not go gentle: I love Ted Nugent ["," Hear This, 6/18]. He's the stereotypical angry old man who hasn't figured out he's in a minority, not because he's white or male but because he's a jackass.
Except this one has a guitar.
Rage away, Ted. Rage away.
DB
Web Comment
Once Again, Apologies to Colbert
Wait, we already said "sourdough bread": As a former resident of Haverhill, U.K., one of the least gay places in the known world, I feel well qualified to judge the factors that are turning the U.S. gay ["Things in S.F. Turning America Gay," Sucka Free City, 6/25]. I submit here for your consideration my revised list of what in S.F. is turning America gay.
* Vegans, faddy diets, and food intolerances/allergies: 8
* Cocktails: 4 if drunk by a female, 9 if drunk by a male
* Tequila: 10 if drunk by a female
* Lesbian-gay-bi-and-trans-America building: 6
* Sourdough bread: 3
* Lack of nonartisan bread that isn't sweetened in some way: 1, but it could explain the American obesity problem
* Lots of gay people: 10
Amelia Ireland
Berkeley
foam order.com
