Fish's Misplaced Trust
For anyone who has had trouble ordering merchandise from Onkel Fish, he has provided an explanation.
Up until last week I have been unable to provide details regarding a situation that began to unfold in June this year and which has dominated my life since. Due to a legal action being in progress I was restricted from providing information that would explain the problems I have been encountering with the fan club merchandising service since the beginning of 2004. Problems which have enraged a lot of my fans and badly damaged my business and career in both financial and professional terms. I was very aware last year of the continuing complaints against our mail order service; complaints which grew in intensity in the summer of 2004 and resulted in a total loss of confidence from our business customers. At the time I was informed by my office manager - Kim Waring - that the problems lay with the postal and courier services and trusted her judgement. I backed her, despite a highly vocal outcry amongst the fans on various web sites and forums and publicly denounced those who were attacking our service. I now find my confidence was not only severely misplaced but in fact cynically betrayed by someone I considered not only a valued employee but also a friend and confidante. I am severely embarrassed by this revelation and would like to extend my sincere apologies to those whom I berated during the period concerned. Up until June this year when Kim Waring handed in her notice I had absolutely no idea of what had been going on behind my back while I was on tour and even while I was working in the studio.
It's a lengthy explanation of how his assistant betrayed his trust and siphoned money from him. While not as interesting as posts Fish has made in the past about divorce and his music, I think it's interesting how the Internet has fostered direct communication between artists and fans. Fish posts to the Freaks mailing list and gives fans first-hand reports of life on tour, progress on the recording of his albums, and accounts from his personal life. Such communication was unthinkable back in the pre-Internet days when comments from the musicians themselves directed to fans were in short supply and usually came in the quarterly newsletters of fan clubs.
It's been a while since there's been any news from Onkel Fish. His last album of new material, Field of Crows, came out in 2003. I suppose the last time there was any news was when The Jacket was released earlier this year as he played a mental patient in the film. Hopefully he'll get into the studio next year.
Up until last week I have been unable to provide details regarding a situation that began to unfold in June this year and which has dominated my life since. Due to a legal action being in progress I was restricted from providing information that would explain the problems I have been encountering with the fan club merchandising service since the beginning of 2004. Problems which have enraged a lot of my fans and badly damaged my business and career in both financial and professional terms. I was very aware last year of the continuing complaints against our mail order service; complaints which grew in intensity in the summer of 2004 and resulted in a total loss of confidence from our business customers. At the time I was informed by my office manager - Kim Waring - that the problems lay with the postal and courier services and trusted her judgement. I backed her, despite a highly vocal outcry amongst the fans on various web sites and forums and publicly denounced those who were attacking our service. I now find my confidence was not only severely misplaced but in fact cynically betrayed by someone I considered not only a valued employee but also a friend and confidante. I am severely embarrassed by this revelation and would like to extend my sincere apologies to those whom I berated during the period concerned. Up until June this year when Kim Waring handed in her notice I had absolutely no idea of what had been going on behind my back while I was on tour and even while I was working in the studio.
It's a lengthy explanation of how his assistant betrayed his trust and siphoned money from him. While not as interesting as posts Fish has made in the past about divorce and his music, I think it's interesting how the Internet has fostered direct communication between artists and fans. Fish posts to the Freaks mailing list and gives fans first-hand reports of life on tour, progress on the recording of his albums, and accounts from his personal life. Such communication was unthinkable back in the pre-Internet days when comments from the musicians themselves directed to fans were in short supply and usually came in the quarterly newsletters of fan clubs.
It's been a while since there's been any news from Onkel Fish. His last album of new material, Field of Crows, came out in 2003. I suppose the last time there was any news was when The Jacket was released earlier this year as he played a mental patient in the film. Hopefully he'll get into the studio next year.
posted by Palmer at 3:23 PM
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