Rock and Roll and Taxes

Rock and Roll and Taxes

When was the last time I had checked the mail? It was a valid question that my manager, Stacy was repeating to me. “Um, yeah what?” was my reply. Smart.

“Alex, I said when was the last time you checked your mail? You know the place you get letters from grandma, bills, important tax documents sent to,” she replied, she seemed agitated.

“Oh yeah, the mail. Yeah, I haven’t got one of those,” I replied.

“Alex everyone has “one of those”!” Stacy was yelling now. That was never a good sign. “How can a famous, professional musician not know this?!”

She is infuriated now I can tell. “You have millions of fans, a hit song, and are on the shortlist for standout Rockstar of the year and you won’t be able to attend the ceremony because where will you be? In jail, that’s where all because you haven’t paid taxes, like ever!” Stacy took a long breath and rubbed her temples.

“Could I, like, pay them now?” I asked. Her face turned red.

“I will set up a meeting with a bookkeeper and we will try to get in front of this,” she replied. “I’m serious though you might be going to jail.”

 

A day past and then my alarm went off at eight. I don’t mean eight PM, I was actually up at eight AM. It was a first for me. I rolled out of bed and got ready. Stacy was waiting outside and we drove to the meeting.

As we walked in the air seemed to drop ten degrees. Two men sat behind a desk with very serious looks on their faces. I could tell they meant business so I thought I’d let Stacy do the talking. Supposedly, this was the best bookkeeping company in the area. We introduced ourselves and they all started talking. I swear I tried to pay attention but my eyes glossed over and honestly, I spaced out. About an hour later I recognized the agent with the bald head was speaking to me. I almost giggled because I realized he looked like Mr. Clean but I held it together.

“Mr. Starfield? Can you agree to these terms?” Crap what… I looked at Stacy. She had her say yes or I’ll kill you face on.

“Yes sir, of course. I’m sincerely sorry again for the hassle and inconvenience I may have caused,” I replied glancing at Stacy. Yay, I thought, now she was wearing her “good boy” face which was way better than the killing me face.

“Alright, we will have the documents drawn up and sent over,” muscular agent was talking now. He looked like Hulk Hogan, but again I didn’t laugh. Go me!

“Ahh, yes,” I replied, “You mean by mail of course.” I smiled.

“Um yes… I mean by mail Alex,” the agent replied.

Stacy looked ready to slap me. “On that note,” she chimed in, “thank you gentleman so much for your time. We will be in touch soon.”

We all shook hands again and Stacy and I exited. “I think that went well!” I said, “So what exactly did I just agree to?” Stacy rolled her eyes and got in the car. I reached for the passenger side door but it was locked. “Um, Stac? The car door is,” and off she went. Geez well, I guess I’ll have to check my mail from now on.

These were the guys we were working with if you were curious:

Smart Bean Inc
17291 Irvine Blvd #104
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 503-8108

Rock For The Cause

Rock For The Cause

ArrowSith Presents Green Is The Safest Color Benefit Concert

While the wild humdrum of anti-war sentiment may be settling, activism is a far cry from over. New band, ArrowSith, takes the stage this Friday in support of environmental causes for their benefit concert Green Is The Safest Color. Tickets are $3 at the door with a table for further donations. The raised funds will go to a myriad of causes including clean water, less plastic, and natural pest control.

ArrowSith recently took off, hitting #1 on the charts with their new hit single “Before You There Was Me.” The band formed earlier this year lead by frontman Steve Miller (not of Steve Miller Band notoriety), drummer Gary Woodworth, bassist Ernie Hamsterdamn, and keys/percussionist Lillian Farly. Brought together by their mutual appreciation for archery and George Lucas’ revolutionary Star Wars film, ArrowSith brings a spirited angst in their music to illustrate their passion for change.

ArrowSith preaches a message of action through both song and interview. “I can inspire change with just my guitar and a few powerful lyrics. I can multiply that with the addition of each of my bandmates.” Steve Miller explains, “We are young. We are dreamers. We see a world full of chaos and injustice and we still believe something can be done. We have talent and a platform and we intend on using them. We don’t think it’s foolish to try and stop the corporate greed. We think it’s foolish to sit back and do nothing.”

Green Is The Safest Color intends on bringing validity to ArrowSith’s message. Alongside the benefit concert, all profits from merchandise sold at the event will go toward funding a new initiative for environmental education. ArrowSith plans on debuting three new t-shirt designs at the event: one advocating clean water, one advising less plastic, and one supporting natural termite control.

Lillian Farly, who spearheaded both the benefit concert and the new initiative, further describes ArrowSith’s aim. “We have all these activist songs and catchy phrases but that only goes so far. I noticed a lot of issues root from not knowing. If a farmer doesn’t know the pesticides they’re using are harmful, how can they be expected to stop? I didn’t want ArrowSith to be all talk and no action so I went to the band with my concerns. They agreed and we got to talking and I proposed the idea for the initiative. I had no idea how we would pull it off, but together we came up with the idea for Green Is The Safest Color to raise money and awareness. Now that we have some success we can finally maybe pull it off.”

ArrowSith is only in the early stages of actualizing their education initiative. However, supporting Green Is The Safest Color on Friday with attendance or donations is an immediate way to pledge support for their cause. It is never too late to make a change. The environment may be suffering, but ArrowSith and likeminded groups won’t let it happen for long.

Natural Science Exterminating
11642 Knott Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92841
(800) 246-7378