Aussie Promoter & 'MAFS' Star Defends Accusations As More Bands Allege Non-payment
Channel Nine has issued a statement to The Music.
Aussie tour promoter and Married At First Sight contestant Nasser Sultan has denied recent allegations of non-payment of international and local bands.
Nasser, who heads up Nightmare Music, told Fairfax the allegations are a "he said, she said" situation and that the accusers "have no basis".
The Music broke the story this week that bands such as Tumbleweed, Nashville Pussy and Monster Magnet allege they are still owed money from tours with Nightmare.
Serenity Furjan of public relations consultancy Rocknrollbrat told Fairfax she worked with Sultan and Nashville Pussy on the US outfit's Australian tour last year and are still owed $3200 in outstanding touring fees.
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Brisbane band Heavy Roller, who also allege they are owed $150 by Sultan and Nightmare, supported Nashville Pussy on the tour last year.
Band member Luke Earthling claims that after multiple emails and phone calls, Sultan just replied with "excuses, deflections and lies".
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"My final contact with Nasser was a phone call that ended with Nasser screaming that our band was probably shit anyway and didn’t deserve to be paid," Earthling said in a statement given to The Music.
"He kept saying it’s only $150 bucks it means nothing to me and I kept replying, 'Exactly, it’s only $150 pay the money!'"
The statement continues, "There’s sharks operating in the music industry preying on people’s goodwill and trust and it needs to be called out. It’s near impossible to have recourse when you aren’t paid for a gig. The money for us wasn’t that big a deal - we would’ve played with Nashville Pussy for beers - but the principal of the matter is we had a deal and we did our end - promoted the gig, supplied a stage manager, provided a merch person and played a smokin' rock show.
"People in the music industry deserve better."
A spokesperson for Nightmare told Fairfax the allegations are "categorically untrue" in a statement.
"Nightmare music has honoured all contractual agreements, as per the signed contracts, terms and conditions with all artists," the statement reads.
When contacted by The Music, a Channel Nine spokesperson said, "We do not comment on the professional lives of the participants".
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