I wrote this piece shortly after Midnight UTC this past Friday, November 13th, 2020, and posted it to my personal Facebook page. I thought it was worth a share here at C.R.E.W Coalition.
The numbers of those affected by restrictions put in place due to Covid-19 and their ability to work continues to rise, with little to no financial aid or assistance in place.
We’re getting closer every day to understanding exactly what YOU need to get back in the game.
I know that our mission may seem a bit vague to some of you right now. We are currently working on finalizing the details on how we plan to help you, the live event worker, who feels like everyone has forgotten about you.
We have not.
You are essential.
You are viable.
You will be empowered.
And you WILL prevail.
Please make sure to fill in your email address and hit the “sign up” button to keep up to date. We’ll be sharing the results of the second survey this week, as well as releasing the third survey in our four-part series to collect the last pieces of data we need to show you exactly how we plan to empower you and get you back in the workforce.
Written Friday, November 13th, 2020
The second Friday the 13th of 2020 is over in Europe.
The first one, was March 13th. The day the live events industry shut down almost globally.
Some harsh realizations have come to light these past 8 months.No one is coming to our rescue.
A lot of us are on our own.And if there is one thing that 25 years of getting my ass kicked and then prevailing in this business has taught me, is I will never give up on my dreams and my goals, no matter how many times they get crushed by influences out of my control..Covid-19 is, essentially, no different.
Although goddamn it, does it suck significantly more than anything else I have had to endure.
Yes, I have bad days.. Even weeks. This is soul crushing in ways I would never wish on my worst enemy.
I will adapt and I will prevail. Even if I need to conform for a minute to do so.
Today, I paid to have a professional resume made since no one outside of the music or live events industry seems to understand how much I could bring to a potential team or company during this interim.
I own a successful company and I manage extremely successful bands. I work for massive festivals and events in key positions. I tour manage big tours.
So why do I need to get a job?
Because without live events, I don’t earn the kind of money needed to keep my company and myself afloat.
I thrive in the live events world for myself and my artists, and unfortunately, for too many bands and artists, this is where the bulk of their income is attained.
After 25 years of finally getting to a point in my career where it all was finally paying off, it came to a screeching halt, forcing us to cancel 189 booked shows for our most successful year to date.3 major album release, all of which are hitting the Top 10-20 albums of the year.
So how could this happen??
How could I have my worst year in the history of my career financially with all of this amazing hard work clearly about to pay off?
Covid-19 related restrictions.
A tiny little virus cell sure did cause a whole lot of chaos.
What can you do?
Nothing.
You need to follow the rules.
It’s that simple.
And I have not been eligible for a single penny from any form of government support or government funding to date.
Imagine you spend 25 years building your dream home. You buy the plot. You have had a very clear design in your mind on how you want this house to look and be built since you were a kid. When the foundation is in place, you can see it all right there in front of you, but you know it needs a lot of work. So you build on it a little bit at a time, creating everything you ever dreamed of for this house and ultimately, for yourself and everything you hold dear inside. You get the furniture second hand and put all of your love, dedication and hard work into making it better and stronger than ever before. You build the strongest walls you can find to help keep your dream home standing strong while finding the best construction companies to work alongside you as a team to help make your home perfect and protect everything inside. It takes a lot of hard learning some mistakes and a lot of patience, but you finally have it. The keys are about to be handed to you…And then, a tornado comes through with no warning, and takes it all away.
But the foundation and your key pieces of furniture remain, as well as some of the walls. You are forbidden to work on the house because there is still an ongoing, seemingly endless tornado warning in place. Not all of the furniture has made it.
But that’s OK.
Because you have the pieces you need.
And you have the foundation and the material to rebuild once it is safe to. The companies are also there on standby to help you rebuild but have also been hit by the same tornado and ultimately, are unable to help you beyond trying to plan when you MIGHT be able to start building again, only to have it consistently postponed.
No one is coming to my rescue.
This is far from over, I hate to tell you all. Expect another 6-8 months of this, at absolute best, before live events can properly take place.
But I will adapt and prevail.
FlyingFox AB (my management / production company) and I are not going anywhere, even if I may sound desperate at times in my sometimes low energy posts.
I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve.
Some may say that’s unprofessional.
I submit that it is what has helped lead to my success.
So after completing an online course for certification, because that’s what employers care about, and now paying a significant amount of money to have my resume read like that of a professional by “their” standards just to get my resume in the hands of an actual human so that I might have a chance to prove myself in an interview if I’m lucky, this is where we are 8 months later, to the day, from where it all began.
Friday, March 13th, 2020F
riday, November 13th, 2020
We need to stay empowered.
We need to help ourselves.
I want to help you, so you can help yourself through this thing and whatever the next thing will be.
But you have to be willing to put in the work for it.
Does that sound like you?
Are you ready?
C.R.E.W Coalition will be making some announcements soon. I hope you stay tuned.
And if you managed to read through to here, thank you.