1. nobody told me this was an "illegal" party until 1
day before. I have nothing against illegal parties but
I think it is only fair it is made clear to artists
such as myself and bill what the legal situation is
with parties such as this. had this party had been
totally busted by the police Bill could have been
deported back to the US and banned from being here.
Did the promoter think about this before making the
booking? Obviously not.
2. Flyers should not be made until contracts are
signed and the date is confirmed (and deposit paid if
necessary).. this was not the case with this booking,
so obviously we are going to be annoyed about it,
which starts us off in the wrong way, and makes us
fearful that we won't get the money, which is why I
made it very clear to the promoter, he has to pay us
before our music goes on. failure to pay would result
in Bill's live act being stopped and the decks and
mixer to be taken. This might seem extreme, but you
have to understand this is our only income, gigs
(aside from minimal income from records), we don't
have jobs, we don't have loads of money, we don't
drive round in brand new BMWs, we lose the money from
a gig and we can't pay the rent WE ARE EVICTED OUT OF
OUR HOUSE AND ARE HOMELESS!!! So we have to getthe
money if we are brought somewhere, and especially if
the promoter doesn't seem to us to have behaved in a
proper fashion. Life is a struggle for us, and when
you see promoters driving round in nice cars we can't
afford it starts to stink a bit, especially when there
seem to be some people in this party scene who are
making one hell of a lot of money off of doing
parties, with no interest in the music, the vibe or
the sound system (No names mentioned here and I'm not
saying this was the case with this party)
3. people have to understand the amount of gigs we do,
and realise that it becomes not "Just a party" for us
any more. 15 years + of having your ears battered,
playing every weekend all over Europe takes it's toll.
This is why hotel rooms and chill out spaces/vip areas
are required, and when it becomes a struggle just to
get somewhere to sleep, this is a real drag..
these are 3 points that drove me to get very full on
last Saturday, you have to respect this is my life's
work, how many of you have had 6 releases on Djax and
over 30 releases on various labels? I'm not saying
this makes me special or anything, but at least, treat
me with a bit of respect and look after me.. Ok, I
live here now, and speak much better German than I
used to, but I'm getting really sick of the fact I
that I try to be nice to people and speak to everyone,
but people seem to me that they become friends with
me, help me a little, and then expect really
unreasonable things from me i.e. trying to drop the
fee every time, not booking a hotel for me and above
all, turning round to their friends and boasting "I'm
friends with mark Hawkins". after 1 year of living
here, this is starting to really suck to the point
where I don't want to play in east Germany anymore due
to the general lack of respect people seem to have for
me.. I don't want to come across like I have a big ego
or something, that was never what it was about, but
people have to understand that artists need looking
after, because this life is nowhere near as
"Glamorous" and "COOL" as they think when you are
stuck in the middle of it.. Think about it, without
artists, the scene is dead, I'm not saying they are
everything in this scene, but please, show them a
little more respect...
was willmer mehr 
