This is a shocking development if it’s indeed true – it’s always disappointing to hear about potential scamming/stealing in the music industry. It’s tough enough as it is to make a living, and even worse when it’s money people depend on to survive.
We’ve got the exclusive story here – I had a brief conversation with tour manager Max Taylor Grant (based out of the UK), who discussed with me that vocalist Chad Ruhlig (LGND, For The Fallen Dreams) has apparently failed to pay back over $5k (closer to 3,000 in British pounds, a big chunk of change either way) in fees for a somewhat recent tour. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but quite often, where there’s smoke, there’s fire – so read on below for some screenshots, and our conversation.
The following was related to myself by Max Grant around 3 PM EST, February 28th.
In August / September I was hired to Tour Manage, Drive, and provide a van for LGND. I was put in touch with Chad directly via their agent, who is a friend and recommended me to him.
The bands manager, Jason, enquired about merch printers with a quick turnaround the day before I was set to pick the band up. I gave them a contact and friend and Pentland Print Co who printed their merch that night and delivered it to me personally. The price for this was £800, which was actually discounted as I had recommended them.
The tour was not by any means successful, the bands guarantees were as agreed, but many of them were door deals which were not well attended. Chad insisted on holding LGNDs money and also insisted hotels or hostels many nights as the pre-arranged accommodation was not to his liking. He also paid the band PD’s every day, despite neither of these things ever being budgeted for.
My arrangement with the band was a daily rate, and expenses covered. It took me until the 2nd week of tour to recover my expenses just from day one.
I was booked to do the tour until our Glasgow date, where another driver / TM would replace me as I was booked on another tour. The band claimed to have no money to pay this driver or his fuel and he ended up paying to finish their tour.
Chad had his girlfriend along for the full ride and, at the end, there was a problem with her flight home. She had booked for the wrong date (or so I’m told) and had to spend an extra week in Ireland before flying home. Chad changed his flight and spent the week in Ireland with her, presumably using band money.
Here’s a few of the screenshots of a conversation between (presumably) Chad and Max:
Seeing these, you really have to hope that it was all a misunderstanding, but then Chad posted this within the last 24 hours…
There’s been no response yet from Chad on the following events, other than the said status update. He’s obviously a talented and influential vocalist in the metalcore scene, but if this is indeed true, paying back what you owe someone (or at least working out something) is a good idea. It only takes one time to mess someone about, and your name is dragged through the mud.
We’ll update you with any statements from the parties at hand – but this is currently trending all over social media, so it can be expected we’ll hear something soon.
