As one of the most respectable professional drummers in Singapore who’s currently playing for dozens of local renowned acts (including The Sam Willows, Inch Chua, and Dru Chen), T would certainly command a decent price for his talent.

Unfortunately, some people still believe that a small token fee and a little “exposure” is good enough payment for creative services. In a Facebook post yesterday, T wrote about a “foreigner dude” who tried to get away with paying peanuts for the drummer to play a show on Sunday. The show itself would last 25 minutes, and T would be playing for the man’s daughter — who apparently is “very popular right now”.

The way that the “foreigner dude” offered to lock down the deal was apparently pretty shady too, according to T’s account. The show organizer offered him a paltry $100 after noting that T’s fee was too high, and tried to quickly confirm the details before the drummer could even say no.

T then texted the man, politely declining to play the gig as the pay grade “is way below market rate”. The message was responded with a passive-aggressive retort, guilt-tripping the drummer and threatening to besmirch his reputation in the industry. Very petty stuff.

“Moral of the story is, say NO and don’t let these people who don’t know shit about our music scene teach us what’s right or wrong especially when they try to underpay us,” wrote T.

Other local musicians chimed in, offering messages of support for the drummer and derision for organizer, who’s now the one getting his name tarnished within the music circle.

Editor’s Note: Article amended out of privacy concerns.

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