One of the biggest pet peeves of musicians, and indeed art practitioners: Other people taking their work for granted.

While this incident doesn't involve exposure dollars, almost equally problematic is a person who pays too little.

Local drummer Teo Jia Rong went through not only having his skills undervalued, but also wound up facing threat and insult in the process.

Conversation took place over the phone; not given chance to decline

You might not recognise Teo's name, but he's definitely a known figure in Singapore's music industry. He's played for the Sam Willows, Inch Chua, Dru Chen and L.A.B., for instance, and often collaborates with numerous local and international musicians.

Teo tells Mothership he was first contacted by a good friend of his, Tama Goh, who linked him up with a friend of his friend for what he understood would be a possible show he could do.

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The man, whom we will call Mike, called Teo on the phone to tell him about the gig: a fundraising event for children with cancer.

Teo would be playing drums for Mike's daughter, who will sing — according to Teo, she was touted by Goh's friend as being "very popular on iTunes, Spotify and the UK charts".

He says Mike then requested a quote for a 25-minute show:

"He asked what my rates are and eventually said with that kind of money, he could bring a drummer from Phuket to play. I was honestly quite offended by that but I didn’t say anything. He went on and offered S$100. I thought for a while and replied 'I would have done it for charity' but before I could say 'but', he cut me off and said something like 'that’s settled then'. He went on saying he’ll send me the details and what not. By that time, I was too stunned to say anything."

Teo then texted Mike to formally decline to perform at the event.

Here's the exchange he posted on Facebook:

But it's a charity gig?

Teo says he did seriously consider taking it on — especially bearing in mind the fact that it was a concert for charity. In fact, he even did something like this last year for veteran jazz songstress Anne Weerapass, playing alongside many other musicians whom he looked up to.

But that said, he qualifies, it was his choice to do so — Weerapass is a friend of his, and despite being only given a token for his participation, Teo says that was a worthwhile experience for his own personal growth as a musician.

The circumstances here are significantly different, he notes. Mike is a stranger, and he had not heard of Mike's daughter before either.

Support for Teo

A number of people commenting on his post backed him up in his stance:

More support from a musician

Singaporean musician Tim De Cotta, a close collaborator and bandmate of Teo's (they play in local group The Astral Journey together) also caught wind of Teo's experience, which he also posted to his Instagram stories, and shared his thoughts on his own stories:

But perhaps what's most puzzling is the fact that Mike's daughter is supposed to be a "very popular" singer, because that should actually mean that this guy would have known better.

Ultimately, whether you're the most scheming businessman or the most charitable client, there's always that old saying: you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Tit for tat.

Here's Teo's Facebook post:

Top image photos courtesy of Teo Jia Rong, via Teo Jia Rong's Facebook post

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