The Faceless’ Manager Responds to Promoter Calling Both the Band and Himself “Incompetent”
E.J. Shannon, manager of The Faceless (as well as Aegaeon and Inanimate Existence, amongst others), has responded to this morning’s accusations leveled by Soundworks Touring against the band. In case you have a short memory: the group dropped out of a tour of Australia and New Zealand at the last minute, which Soundworks blamed on “complete incompetency by the band and their management, and… a total lack of respect for Soundworks Touring, and more importantly their fans.” Shannon has now responded on Facebook (embed at the bottom of this post, screencap here):
“Hey everyone, The Faceless’ manager here. I would like to publicly address the situation with The Faceless and this post.
“The Faceless has missed four flights that I have booked to get them to Indonesia/Australia/NZ. I have given them every opportunity to make it overseas and play the shows that they should be playing right now. I have been on the phone with the band for 8+ hours every day for the past week, telling them that they NEED to get on their flights and play these shows, and trying to figure everything out and make their AUS tour happen. Without going into too much detail, the band just simply was not prepared for these shows.
“When Soundworks says that they have been ‘lied to’ they are referring to me calling them and saying ‘The Faceless is going to make it on their flight tonight. This time it will actually happen’ four different times. Unfortunately, every time that I have told them that, the band has missed their flight.
“The members of The Faceless have not personally been in contact with Soundworks at all. I have been the messenger between Soundworks and the band. This is why Soundworks is calling me out on this post when they should actually only be calling out the band. I too have done everything in my power to bring the band to Australia for their shows.
“Two days ago after The Faceless missed their fourth flight, I called the band and told them that I will not be managing them anymore. The Faceless has hurt a lot of people by missing these shows. They have hurt the fans, Soundworks, me, and everybody else involved in organizing the shows that have been booked for this month. They have also unfairly hurt my reputation as a manager. So until The Faceless gets it together, I will not be managing them. I am really hoping that the band can get things worked out so that they are prepared to tour again in the near future, at which point I will gladly start managing them again. I have done everything that I can for this band, and I would love to see them succeed. The members of The Faceless are great people, and they have become some of my best friends. I love them, and want to help them. Unfortunately, they just don’t have it together right now.
“I will gladly answer any questions here, or you can email me [email protected]”
Shannon’s claims are not entirely surprising. Behind the scenes, we’ve been hearing stories about The Faceless — and mastermind Michael Keene in particular — being difficult to work with. It’s a big part of the reason why this band seems to have trouble keeping up momentum with regards to album releases and tours.
That being said, I’ll be curious to see if Keene or anyone else from the band responds. Perhaps there’s a third side yet to this story.
Thanks: TJM
