This article was written by Chris Lose.
As touring ramps up and reliable labor dwindles, many of us will be asked to go above and beyond. As I mentioned in the August article (“Unpaid Labor,” PLSN, Aug. 2022, page 44), going above and beyond is noble, but allowing ourselves to be taken advantage of is harmful to us and our entire industry. This article is an extension of the unpaid labor that I had mentioned in August. Unpaid labor is almost never acceptable, but there is a gray area that deserves a deeper dive. Double dipping costs a person a possible job, while also maximizing the output of a current employee. Double dipping is simply someone who is obtaining an income from two different sources. Double dipping has an illicit connotation, but many of us do it. Some of us do it ethically, and some of us find ways to be more creative. Many of us are looking for effective ways to maximize our income to output ratio. Double dipping has verifiable economic benefits and egregious drawbacks that need to be considered.
PM/FOH/LD/SM
The most common form of double dipping is when one person wears two hats: production manager and crew member. This position is most often the PM/FOH Audio. The FOH Audio Engineer is already in a place to interact closely with artists and business managers. They are usually the first ones to be made aware of seating capacities, sold out crowds, and local venue specifications. Jumping from FOH Audio to Production Manager is not a colossal leap. If the tour is of a proper size, one person can comfortably fill both roles. Bean counters love this sort of situation. This arrangement effectively frees up a bunk on the bus, reduces the number of mouths to feed, and eliminates any confusion between PM and FOH. The benefits usually outweigh the negatives. The weakness of this arrangement is most apparent when the FOH Audio Engineer needs to take off their audio hat during the show to tend to a Production Manager emergency. This situation highlights the inherent problem with wearing two hats. One person can’t physically do the job of two people when they need to be in two places at once. The same person cannot be mixing FOH while also confirming that the mega-fan who snuck into the dressing rooms during the second set is also the one who copied her laminate from someone who posted their credentials online a week ago. On paper, this situation is a win-win situation. In reality, if the proper personnel are not in place, this agreement can be overly taxing.
Client Designer/Vendor Crew
Another common form of double dipping is when the lighting designer chooses a vendor to supply the lighting for the tour and asks the vendor to pay him/her to be a crew member. I ran into this situation early in my career. I was the lighting crew chief on a mid-sized tour. We were only carrying a floor package and a few trusses. Reasonably, it was a two-man load-in, but the bus was already full of backline techs. The designer offered to be my second tech on the load-ins. He was more than capable and easy to work with. We are still great friends. Everyone recognized the space, money, and time we could save. However, it didn’t work out as smoothly as expected. There are daily requirements of a designer that pull them away from their role as a technician. A designer should always prioritize their role as designer over their role as technician. Quite often, my two-man load-in became a solo affair because someone wanted to discuss the lighting in their Instagram feed. The major flaw with this setup is the power inequity. My designer, who should be my client, was also my assistant. I can’t discipline a client the same way that I would a technician when they make a decision that doesn’t work out as expected.
Working on Retainer
This situation is happening to fewer people as the industry becomes more corporate, but it still exists. There are a handful of bands that still have loyalty to their crew members and pay them to stick around, no matter what. I have heard stories of crew members being at home for three months on retainer. Any roadie worth their salt will inevitably get an offer to go out and do a corporate gig, one-off, or fill-in gig while checking their Facebook at home. If they check their calendar and they have the days available, they’ll take the gig. Dollar signs fill our eyes when this happens. It’s so easy to say, “Yup, I’m available, book the flights.” It’s easy to forget that the whole reason they are on retainer is to be at the beck and call of their primary employer. If they have forgotten to ask permission to take an outside gig, they can end up in a jam. For instance, if Bobby is being paid retainer to be on standby for Rock Zombie while he is on a plane to Anaheim when he needs to be in New York the next day, Bobby is going to have two very disappointed clients.
Triple Dipping
The most difficult triple dip that I ever attempted happened in 2012. I was on salary with the venue as the house lighting designer at The Joint in Las Vegas. We also had a Ded Flatbirds residency in the venue. The Ded Flatbirds needed a media programmer to run the show. They also decided to do a DVD shoot that required additional lighting. I was also the touring account rep for Morpheus Lights at the time. During one DVD shoot, I was simultaneously the house LD, the media programmer, and the lighting account rep. I would jokingly email myself asking if I could get a great deal on some add-ons that I had requested for the DVD shoot. Before entering such a cluster, I made sure that everyone was aware of what I was doing. Of course, I stood to benefit monetarily, but I was also the best person for each job. I was in the perfect spot to meet everyone’s needs. I made sure to confirm with everyone involved that they understood that I did not have any conflicts of interest. My primary interest was a great show and a professional DVD. Unfortunately, the house of cards tumbled during load-out when someone damaged the video wall with a lighting truss. I had to fill out three separate incident reports. One for the house insurance company, one for the lighting vendor, and one to explain why I was responsible in so many ways.
Transparency
The secret to double dipping is transparency. Open communication keeps these avenues open. Everyone involved needs to be aware of any possible conflicts of interest. Bobby will most likely be able to take the second gig in Anaheim as long as he respectfully asks permission. When we are good at our jobs, people will constantly ask us to provide more and more services. Sometimes, they will have our best interests in mind, but often they either won’t or can’t. It is up to us to find the optimal pay to work ratio.
