Your Kommunity FK Review Equals Slander
Over the last handful of years, I’ve managed to garner a reputation as a bitch in certain circles. I’m a bitch because I’ve always done things my way. I’ve never kowtowed to labels, bands or club promoters, and I’ve always spoken my mind. As a writer with an audience, I’ve always felt indebted to tell the truth. As a reviewer, it’s my job to share my opinion. I don’t get paid to write, therefore the only payment I receive is knowing that someone, anyone, is reading my work and (maybe) enjoying it. When you write reviews, especially anything remotely unflattering…you must prepare for retaliation.
Today, I received the following letter regarding my “review” of Kommunity FK’s performance at the Knitting Factory this year.
Hello,
My name is [name omitted]. I run the Kommunity Fk Kontingent. I am writing to you regarding your review of Kommunity FK’s live show at the Knitting Factory.
Kommunity Fk does not give a shite if you like the band or not, but what is a problem is parts of your article are ill-informed and slanderous.
Patrik Mata has been clean and sober for 9.5 years. No alcohol, no drugs, INCLUDING POT. The fact you are telling your readers that Patrik Mata was stoned and has been stoned for years in your opinion is lude and slanderous.
You obviously are not a journalist for the fact you do not even research the projects you write about. Sherry Rubber has been the lead guitarist for Kommunity FK for over a decade now.
It is clear to me by your unstudious review that you have obiously been blowing the Last Dance (who in my opinion suck and wouldn’t even beable to be the genre of music they are if it wasn’t for bands like Kommunity FK breaking the Gothic/Alternative grounds all those years ago). We know who ‘SABOTAGED’ the sound that night at the Knitting Factory. If you were a real journalist you would have researched that particular dilemma of the show you reviewed and would have discovered there are many wittnesses of who was ‘lurking’ around the sound boards when Kommunity FK perfomed – as well as – the fact the sound man of 3 years of the Knitting Facotry was fired that night because of the saboteurs.
Like I wrote previously nobody from this camp gives a shite what you think of Kommunity FK. And just to let you know it was Patrik Mata who contacted Release The Bats (who are very close to Kommunity FK) and had them be part of that historic night….but again-if you were a real journalist you would have known that as well.
Please correct your slanderous lines and wrong names in your poorly conceived article.
…and this was my repsonse:
I’m sorry you’re upset. Kommunity FK are a great band and Jenn and Dave are a dedicated and integral part of the deathrock community.
After this review went online, I received several email telling me I was dead on. I’d never seen KFK before, so I had nothing to compare it to. I write my reviews as a fan, not a journalist. It’s not my job to investigate who sabotaged the sound or find out why the sound was bad. All I know is, it was, and that’s that. As for Patrick being “stoned”, I merely pointed out what it looked like. I’m sorry, but people who don’t smoke pot, don’t brandish pot leaves on their equipment. Not that I have an opinion on pot, one way or the other. I could care less. I’m just saying. Myself and anyone else there, would naturally draw their own conclusions.
In my article, I gave props to Patrick for forging new ground and being a leader in the deathrock genre. I’m not sure why you pointed out that Patrick was the one who contacted Release the Bats. I can’t see that I mentioned that nor what the importance is. Either way, I respect Release the Bats and acknowledged the work they put into the event. I even stated that I look forward to the next.
As a writer (not a journalist) I write what I see and feel. As a photographer, I enjoy photographing bands that give me something exciting to photograph. Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. This is my opinion. I don’t write reviews to “please” bands and labels. That would be unfair to the people who actually buy music.
You can’t please all of the people all of the time. If members of the Kommunity Kamp are scorned at every bad review, perhaps you’re in the wrong business. Bad reviews come with the good. For being in the business as long as Patrick has, I’m sure he’s quite aware of how things work. As a band manager, you must also. I don’t feel this was a “slanderous” review. I made every attempt to excuse the mishaps of the evening and gave credit where credit is due.
It’s in poor taste, as a representative of any band, to bad mouth writers who don’t write glowing reviews. It is also remarkably unprofessional. I don’t blame the band for the sound, but someone in the Kommunity Kamp should have noticed the problem and fixed it; rather than letting it continue throughout the entire show. That’s just bad management. I’ve never seen anything like it. No reviewer anywhere would stick around and “interview” witnesses to the lurkers at the sound table. No one cares who sabotaged the sound…all people care about is that it wasn’t good and no one fixed it. If you’re asking me to exaggerate the truth, I’m afraid I must refuse wholeheartedly.
About the name change, the error was my fault. At the time I wrote the review, the website hadn’t been updated and Tracy’s was the only name I found. I do apologize for the mistake and will correct it immediately.
I stand by my article. Please understand that I cannot re-write my reviews on the basis that I might bruise someone’s ego. It was not my intention to piss anyone off, but as I said earlier, you take the good with the bad and you can’t please everyone. For every review I write, there is the chance someone won’t agree with me. I will not sacrifice my integrity and change my opinions based on one nasty letter. I wouldn’t do it for a thousand. As someone with a strong opinion such as yourself, I know you understand.
If this is how Kommunity FK deals with the press, perhaps it’s time to find new representation. I know, I know, you don’t give a shite about what I think. You should, however, care what your fans think. I’m a fan.
Yours sincerely, Cinka
Editor, Dark Culture Magazine
www.darkculture.net
My boyfriend so cleverly pointed out that people love you when you write good reviews and despise you when you don’t. I must take these things with a grain of salt. I do, however, love writing long letters of retort.
Leave a Reply