Toronto Psytrance Promoter Unwisely Trashes Ektoplazm

Every site owner receives some form of “hate mail” from time to time. It is some small measure of success–if people care enough to spew digital vitriol in your direction then you must be getting somewhere! I have been the target of a fair amount of abuse over the years but the letter I am about to share really takes the cake. Usually I abide by the implied confidentiality of email but this is an exception worthy of ridicule. It was unwisely sent by Danna Luna of the “Fx-SymboL Bookings and Artist Management Agency,” an organization that has been trying (unsuccessfully, as near as I can tell) to put on psytrance events in Toronto for a while now. The subject of her ire? Ektoplazm’s event listing policy, in which I lay out the conditions for promoting events on my web site (in short: book our acts, pay for a listing, or show me how awesome your parties are). Here is her nasty email:

Hey I tried to promote an event. But Ektoplazm seems to be very selective. MORE like MONOPLAZM or MYSELFPLAZM. I think it’s kind of unfair for the PEOPLE to CHOOSE the events to promote, yourself. Instead of letting the PPL decide if it’s a GOOD EVENT or NOT.

I think PPL would stop visiting if they knew that they are trusting in a site that SUPPOSEDLY brings the COMMUNITY TOGETHER, if they knew how hard is to get you NOT TO PROMOTE, BUT AT LEAST TO INFORM of an event.

SOUND Liberation???? MORE LIKE SOUND SLAVERY.

I hammered out a quick response before finding out who was behind the letter. Here it is:

Yes, I am selective in what I promote. The reasons are outlined in the help section of the web site.

I do not recall receiving an email from you about promoting your party, whichever one it is. At any rate, your complete lack of professional conduct tells me that I probably wouldn’t want to promote it anyway.

I do not claim to provide a comprehensive listing of all psytrance-related events in Toronto. Ektoplazm is not a public site like Facebook, MySpace, or any of the garden variety EDM message boards out there. The events I post are organized by friends of mine or feature acts and DJs affiliated with Ektoplazm.

I am also open to paid event listings assuming the organizers meet a minimum quality standard of some kind–something I can only find out by attending one of their events myself or hearing good things from people I trust. And no one I know has anything good to say about this promoter’s work thus far. Not only that, but Danna approached me some months ago to try and licence the Ektoplazm name for an event she was planning. I didn’t need to be involved at all; as near as I can tell she just wanted to pay me off to add some credibility to her production company. Perhaps my rejection of her sketchy proposal has something to do with the antagonistic tone of her letter? Oh, and she wanted to bring Skazi to town. Now that’s comedy!

I have a bit of unsolicited advice for new psytrance promoters trying to break into the Toronto scene: start small and build credibility before going all out. You need to demonstrate an ability to handle the basics before expanding into larger venues and booking international acts. If you do not start small your production company will fail. Very few people are willing to risk paying $20 or $30 to attend an event organized by a crew unfamiliar to them. It doesn’t matter who you bring in–most psytrance fans in Toronto come out for the production company, not the musical guest from overseas. Exceptions can be made for the biggest names in the business–but in that case you have a different set of problems to deal with.

If you want my help in promoting your event you are going to have to play by my rules. It might seem harsh (though it really shouldn’t) but I am not here to give unconditional support to every new promoter that comes along. Show me that you can throw a good event by inviting me out and I might show up. Otherwise you’re on your own. If I hear good things from my friends then I’ll make it a point to attend one of your events. If I do not hear good things (or if I hear nothing one way or another) then I am not likely to risk my time or money–just like most people in the Toronto psytrance scene.

There is one respect in which I am not like most other people, however: if you send me a completely ridiculous email I might make an example of your shenanigans. And that isn’t going to help you get anywhere at all.

Photo credit: ms oddgers.