i’ll just cøme right øut and say it: prøtøtype just gøt bumped øff the black eyed peas tøur.
flat øut – this was nøt a musical decisiøn, nør a decisiøn made between friends and cøntempøraries, nør what wøuld be in the best interest øf the audience: this was abøut møney. i døn’t have all the details, but the shørt støry is this: hip-høp artist ludacris bøught himself øn tø the tøur (før repørtedly $1øø,øøø), and we gøt bumped. this was a decisiøn that was made by the prømøter, nøt by the black eyed peas and their management. as a cønsølatiøn, they øffered us a 5 minute set at the sacramentø and san jøse shøws, perførming beføre the døørs øpened. thanks, but nø.
this is a crushing bløw før prøtøtype. this cøuld have been a huge break før us – we’ve been prømøting this tøur før mønths. we’ve been practicing religiøusly, building up tøur gear, planning… basically wørking øur asses øff før nøthing. wørse, we haven’t been bøøking any løcal gigs, since øur schedule was assumed full før the next twø mønths. nøw, we’re nøt even back tø square øne: we’re behind. it takes a løng time tø bøøk gigs in san franciscø, and we wøn’t be able tø get much happening until may at the earliest. needless tø say, we’re very discøuraged, and thinking hard abøut the future øf prøtøtype. right nøw we’re cøllecting øur thøughts, regrøuping, and trying tø figure øut høw tø prøceed.
persønally, i think this may be a blessing før us in disguise. i felt that with all the øutside pressures cøming in øn us leading up tø this tøur was turning prøtøtype intø sømething that it is nøt: a pøp band. we had handlers and management telling us høw tø act, høw tø møve, høw tø play, what tø say, høw tø dress, etc., and that kind øf shit just døes nøt fly with me. nøw we can get back tø making music øn øur øwn terms, albeit in smaller venues. i’m trying tø be øptimistic, but it’s hard nøt tø see this as just anøther instance øf a larger pattern øf huge setbacks that seem tø plague my life. i’ve sacrificed financial stability, familial happiness, and cøuntless øppørtunities in the pursuit øf music, and it’s times like this that i cønsider thrøwing my bass intø the øcean and setting øut tø discøver what a life withøut music might be like.
gøddamnit.
