So I've been mixing a record for a local band for...oh about 2 years now. Basically these guys would bring me 2-3 tracks every 3-6 months to mix for them (electronic based music...not many real instruments). Despite the fact that it's pretty stupid to mix over that kind of time period and expect any kind of consistency, I "finished" with them in January. We had completed 12 tracks but I also had 2 Protools sessions from them that were never even opened or discussed.
Then out of no where they called me yesterday to ask me to recall 4 of the 12 mixes I had done, mix 4 new tracks, and do recalls on the 2 tracks we've never even opened.........all by the end of the week. Turns out the band had already announced their cd release, and planned a big show without actually having a finished record.
Unfortunate for them, I had just commit to 2 back to back long term projects that would keep me busy until mid july straight. I explained to them that if they had booked in advance I would of been able to do it, but I'm now 100% committed to other projects and have no days off to do it. At this point the band leader gets super pissed that I've "fucked" them and demands all mixes/PT documents/anything else I got of theirs. Being the professional I am I already have consolidated mix sessions/full mix prints and stems/ and detailed notes of everything.
As I handed over all the files band leader says
Band Leader-"We're the song XYZ and YYZ?"
Me- "we never started it. U told me to wait for new vocals you were recording."
Band Leader- "That's fucking bullshit dude, we did both of those songs in may of last year, where the fuck are the files?"
Me- "No we didn't, I have detailed logs of everything we did, including when I gave you rough mixes and what songs we worked on each day you came in."
Band Leader- "Fuck that I have a cd at home with a rough mix on it that YOU gave me. Give me the fucking Files."
Me- "I never did anything on that song. If you have a rough mix of it, it's your own rough mix. As I've said I've got logs of data, and studio invoices (I worked out of a local SSL studio for all of this) that show which songs were done which days."
Band Leader- "Fuck this I'm calling Producer X and telling him you lost files".
So about 20 minutes later I got a call from the producer...
Producer- "You're really fucking us here man where are those files?"
Me- "Already explained to band leader. We never worked on that song, and I have my own paperwork and STUDIO X's invoices to prove that. Your band is unorganized, and has no idea what was done when."
Producer- "He has a rough cd from you. Explain that."
Me- "If he does in fact have this rough cd, I want it. All my cd's are custom labeled and have dates and invoice numbers on them. Those invoice numbers correspond to studio invoices. If in fact it exists, which it doesn't, I can match the number to a studio invoice, see what songs were worked on, and figure out where the files went. But none of this happened, he's making it up cause he fucked up and forgot to mix 2 songs. I do triple back ups and have never lost a single file... ever. Especially not an entire 2 songs."
Producer- "........."
Me- "I'm making PDF's of all my invoices/studio invoices for you right now. You can figure it all out. Sorry it didn't work out but they are really unorganized and I simply don't have the time to baby-step them through all this. "
Producer- "just got an email from the singer. He "lost" the rough cd. What now? How can we fix this? We need those files badly man."
Me- "Did you just hear what I said? The files don't exist, it was never worked on. There's no files to have."
At this point the producer gets into a rant about how he's going to make sure that I never get any work again cause I've really screwed them financially and he'll make sure all his producer friends knew about it. I explained to him that while he's free to do whatever he wants, he'll look like an idiot pretty quickly. I explained that while I'm still a little fish in a big pond, I'm a well liked fish cause I am incredibly organized/thorough and most importantly, very good at what I do. I also explained to him that his own reputation was incredibly tarnished in this city because of a few incidents involving booking studio time and not paying for weeks/months on end.
Producer X hangs up on me.
So at this point my blood is boiling pretty good, despite the fact I know I'm 100% right about the files and there is really nothing they can do. I am pretty fucking pissed that he's more then likely going to go out of his way to try and fuck me though.
Guy I'm working with now is laughing behind me and he just called the studio manager to tell him the story cause everyone thinks this is way funnier then I apparently do.
Lesson learned for the day:
Make a band member sign off on what was completed that day. That way there is never any doubt.
Then out of no where they called me yesterday to ask me to recall 4 of the 12 mixes I had done, mix 4 new tracks, and do recalls on the 2 tracks we've never even opened.........all by the end of the week. Turns out the band had already announced their cd release, and planned a big show without actually having a finished record.
Unfortunate for them, I had just commit to 2 back to back long term projects that would keep me busy until mid july straight. I explained to them that if they had booked in advance I would of been able to do it, but I'm now 100% committed to other projects and have no days off to do it. At this point the band leader gets super pissed that I've "fucked" them and demands all mixes/PT documents/anything else I got of theirs. Being the professional I am I already have consolidated mix sessions/full mix prints and stems/ and detailed notes of everything.
As I handed over all the files band leader says
Band Leader-"We're the song XYZ and YYZ?"
Me- "we never started it. U told me to wait for new vocals you were recording."
Band Leader- "That's fucking bullshit dude, we did both of those songs in may of last year, where the fuck are the files?"
Me- "No we didn't, I have detailed logs of everything we did, including when I gave you rough mixes and what songs we worked on each day you came in."
Band Leader- "Fuck that I have a cd at home with a rough mix on it that YOU gave me. Give me the fucking Files."
Me- "I never did anything on that song. If you have a rough mix of it, it's your own rough mix. As I've said I've got logs of data, and studio invoices (I worked out of a local SSL studio for all of this) that show which songs were done which days."
Band Leader- "Fuck this I'm calling Producer X and telling him you lost files".
So about 20 minutes later I got a call from the producer...
Producer- "You're really fucking us here man where are those files?"
Me- "Already explained to band leader. We never worked on that song, and I have my own paperwork and STUDIO X's invoices to prove that. Your band is unorganized, and has no idea what was done when."
Producer- "He has a rough cd from you. Explain that."
Me- "If he does in fact have this rough cd, I want it. All my cd's are custom labeled and have dates and invoice numbers on them. Those invoice numbers correspond to studio invoices. If in fact it exists, which it doesn't, I can match the number to a studio invoice, see what songs were worked on, and figure out where the files went. But none of this happened, he's making it up cause he fucked up and forgot to mix 2 songs. I do triple back ups and have never lost a single file... ever. Especially not an entire 2 songs."
Producer- "........."
Me- "I'm making PDF's of all my invoices/studio invoices for you right now. You can figure it all out. Sorry it didn't work out but they are really unorganized and I simply don't have the time to baby-step them through all this. "
Producer- "just got an email from the singer. He "lost" the rough cd. What now? How can we fix this? We need those files badly man."
Me- "Did you just hear what I said? The files don't exist, it was never worked on. There's no files to have."
At this point the producer gets into a rant about how he's going to make sure that I never get any work again cause I've really screwed them financially and he'll make sure all his producer friends knew about it. I explained to him that while he's free to do whatever he wants, he'll look like an idiot pretty quickly. I explained that while I'm still a little fish in a big pond, I'm a well liked fish cause I am incredibly organized/thorough and most importantly, very good at what I do. I also explained to him that his own reputation was incredibly tarnished in this city because of a few incidents involving booking studio time and not paying for weeks/months on end.
Producer X hangs up on me.
So at this point my blood is boiling pretty good, despite the fact I know I'm 100% right about the files and there is really nothing they can do. I am pretty fucking pissed that he's more then likely going to go out of his way to try and fuck me though.
Guy I'm working with now is laughing behind me and he just called the studio manager to tell him the story cause everyone thinks this is way funnier then I apparently do.
Lesson learned for the day:
Make a band member sign off on what was completed that day. That way there is never any doubt.
), good thing you document everything. I gotta do this, too.
