Toronto DJ/producer BAMBII performed at Coachella's Do LaB tent during the festival's first weekend, and now says she wasn't paid and was "severely misrepresented and embarrassed in front of thousands" due to malfunctioning stage equipment.
She wrote in a since-expired Instagram Story that prior to her performance, a fellow performer warned her that the sound had been "chipping out to dead silence for sometimes minutes at a time pretty much during every single song." The producer added, "Though some effort was made after my team and I pushed the issue I believe there was a comfort with letting the artists play below industry standard because we were primarily all seen as up and coming female artists."
BAMBII continued in another story post, "I know the move would be to just post the picture in front of the giant crowd and feed the illusion of success but in reality I wasn't being paid, flew myself out, and spent thousands of my own money to invest in an opportunity and essentially was severely misrepresented and embarrassed in front of thousands. Like so many other artists on that bill it took a lot of hard work to even get to the position to be booked, music is my entire life and I believe at a bare minimum the least a festival as reputable as COACHELLA could provide artists they aren't paying....is a WORKING SOUND SYSTEM."
In a concluding post, the artist added that she opted not to share a "TY so much Coachella" post because "it kinda normalizes these unfair exchanges and how these spaces exploit our aspirations of being on their platforms. ... I care too much about music to be out here lying about how it truly operates."
BAMBII has since posted her return to Toronto. Do LaB's programming is due to resume alongside Coachella next weekend (April 18–20).