The Full Dancetronaut/DMV Email Chain

After the last article on the Dancetronauts, Travis Richards, one of their co-owners, reached out and we chatted about the incident. He offered to send over the full email chain between the Dancetronauts/DMV so that people can judge for themselves whether or not they were fairly treated. For the record, he told me and has posted as such in multiple places that they were in fact guilty of audibly stomping on other people's art/performances, are very sorry, and wish they'd gotten formal feedback from the Org during the event so they could alter their behavior. 

Travis wrote, "We have nothing to hide. Yes, we are guilty."

Travis also requested that I include this email - dancetronauts (at) gmail (dot) com . He asks that if you were offended, email them. He wrote, "Please talk to us and give us the opportunity to let us apologize if we ruined your Burn in anyway."

That's a pretty unequivocal admission of guilt and contrition, and while they've apparently come across as being defensive to some people, to me they just seem like they know they did it, are sorry, and are hoping the community won't make them pariahs for their mistakes. They seem pretty committed to making sure those mistakes don't happen again. People make mistakes, and the BMORG shone a large spotlight on theirs, which was appropriate in my opinion. 

He also acknowledges that an early entry pass was offered, briefly, as a reward in a crowdfunding campaign, and explained that it had been set up by someone close to but not part of Dancetronauts to help out. As soon as they saw that that person had included an early entry pass, they pulled it. So technically guilty on that front, but it seems more like an honest mistake to me.

Here's the full email chain, which to be clear, wasn't sent to me (and anyone who asked I believe), in order to prove their innocence. As far as I'm concerned, as a fellow Burner, time to move on. I look forward to seeing them on the playa in 2016.

Be warned, the below is pretty long!

First up, here's what Travis sent me along with the email chain.

Travis wrote:
"And here is the break down of the formal complaints we received. 

• 32 complaints (one was the same one repeated twice)
  
• 25 mentioned the DJ plug
  
• 11 mentioned noise on Burn night, 2 of those also complained about other cars
  
• 6 didn't mention you guys at all
  
• 6 specifically mentioned other art cars as problems also
  
• 4 were for noise at places other than Burn night
  
• 1 was for moving bikes

We did indeed fuck up and we will indeed be taking this year off. No contest, no petition, we are aren't arguing, but we do want people to know the FULL TRUTH, as well as, we have no ill intent, we feel horrible and we are sorry. We already have solutions to prevent this from happening again. As for being singled, judged, assumed upon out and being made an example of... welll I guess we will just have to take those lumps. "

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: DMV Hotties 
Date: Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 5:23 PM
Subject: Re: Mutant Vehicle incidents on playa (PLEASE RESPOND)

To: Dancetronauts



Philip & Travis –

Thank you for your thoughtful replies, which the DMV council has reviewed.

The decision of the council – that Dancetronauts needs to take a year off – stands.

You are welcome to apply again in 2016.

– The DMV Council



Begin forwarded message:

From: Dancetronauts
Subject: Re: Mutant Vehicle incidents on playa (PLEASE RESPOND)
Date: WedApr 15, 2015 at 2:11:58 PM PDT
To: DMV Hotties 

Dear Terry Schoop, We want to work this out with you guys but your not really giving us a chance to.

How about working along with me and throwing some options out on the table instead of telling a group of dedicated burners that have been participating in your event for over a decade that the are no longer allowed to come as a group and release the art form that resides within our hearts.

This is not sitting well with any one person in our group and all in all is not fair to us at all.

Whats this really about??????????    Honestly!  Sound?

Facts:
1.) For the duration of the week we are always out on deep playa playing our music where we are supposed to be!
2.) When we come back to camp from outer playa our volume levels are extremely low when were inside the "Inner Circle" and always have been for years. (we know what we are doing)
3.) We NEVER play by the Temple or anywhere near it and never have, That is extremely disrespectful, distasteful and absurd to even think we would do something like that!
4.) Our group is made up of solid respectable professionals age 40+ ER Doc,US Marshal,Veterinarian,Acupuncture,Engineer and so on, we are (Not Punk ass Frat boys or scumbags)
5.) We do not go into the inner city or even the inner playa we are always out past 2 and 10 unless we are driving out there at "The correct reasonable volume"
6.) Dancetronauts are drug and alcohol free and have always operated that way.
7.) 100% perfect safety record. We have no history of hazardous behavior, recklessness, or accidents.

What does this all mean? We bring an element to your event that is needed at BM now more than ever (Its called contentiousness of earth) Inviting and supporting participants like us that actually abide by and follow your commandments is beneficial to the event. Dancetronauts setting examples for all the new participants that are not understanding just what BM is about is us doing exactly what you would want.
Now don't come at me like "How, by blasting Music?" because I'm getting tired of the snide comments we as a group have been receiving from the BMOrg. We do our thing out there as do many others. We also do a good job at safely running a huge mobile artistic performance stage and we have for years. We have built the stage up year after year to be bigger and better and now we are at a point where our show might have been just a bit to big for some of those at the burn. This does not mean we should be banned this just means we should figure out how to accommodate both parties so that everyone is happy and nobody comes out a looser. Well your not being fair and your punishing a bunch of hard working and loyal burners for no other reason except sound complaints that can be handled easily. Face it, your not putting the energy in to come to a resolve.

I read every single complaint on the sheet you sent us. 70,000 attendees and we upset the 100 that were in front of us at the burns. It's apparent that almost all the comments were from people that were at the Man Burn. In fact it was only one DJ that played way to loud and only one, it was the same DJ that was promoting "FREE" music. This will never happen again I will make sure of that! I have no control over what people could say so I believe it would be better to just not have a microphone. You have my apologies if this upset people. 

 As for the sound being to loud at the man burn "and" the other art burns I completely agree that we were so loud that we in fact ruined other groups performances. I feel terrible about this and now that it has been brought to my attention I would do everything in my power to make sure we never did anything to disrupt another performance experience. I did not realize that we were being so disruptive and you have my sincerest apologies. Again please note that none of the complaints were from us being in the outer playa or anywhere else inside the event at all or any times during the event. It was solely at the art burns and we understand what we were doing  that was wrong. Please understand that we are now very aware of our stages ability and will never let our sound disrupt elements of the BM event.

Answers to Untruths written:
We don't go anywhere near the Temple at all nor attend the Temple burn.  (any claims to us being there are false)
We don't sell anything or promote sales of anything.
We don't touch or move peoples bikes.  (we kindly ask people not to put bikes in the dancing area, this is for safety)
We don't throw up on people. (personally my favorite comment we received)
We don't argue, fight or get violent. (Every issue we encounter is dealt with in a respectable professional manner)

 We as a group have dedicated our time money and energy into building this art car and the performance that surrounds it solely for the purpose of attending Burning Man.
Way to much blood sweat and tears have been put in for this vehicle and its creators to not make it to its purposeful place.

Resolve is easy:   1. We leave the Sound System at camp for all of the art burns and attend them quietly with just the Space Ship.
                                  2. We do not allow any MC's or Microphones on our art car anymore.
                                  3. As always keep our sound facing outer playa.

I am humbly asking if you will please take this apology and understanding letter from me into account and please grant us the ability to bring our art vehicle to the most important event in our lives. We live and breath Burning Man and have been positive participants for over a decade please allow us to continue to grow and be a part!

We are only human, mistakes are inevitable, its what we do to correct them that matters.  Let us show you this year please allow us to attend with our car we have so much invested in.

Sincerely, Captain Philip  lead for the Dancetronauts.

On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 9:58 AM, DMV Hotties  wrote:
Hello Philip & Trav –

I apologize for the delay in getting back with you as I’ve just recently taken responsibility for DMV following the departure of Wally Bomgaars.

Our continuing concern is that your responses don’t address the core issues raised by DMV and by participants.

The key responses you sent us are:

1. "People have a choice to move away from a loud vehicle..."

In terms of the Man Burn, this is not a reasonable answer. Participants who have selected a spot to watch the burn cannot be expected to change locations in the middle of a packed crowd when a loud mutant vehicle parks behind them. Nor is it reasonable to expect them to do so.

2. "Dancetronauts bring famous DJs to the Playa..."

This has no bearing on the issues of music volume or civic responsibility.

3. "We have a safety team..."

Again, this has no bearing on the issues of music volume of civic responsibility.

4. "Other vehicles are loud..."

That other vehicles may have issues does not excuse yours from having to follow the rules that all mutant vehicles are required to abide by. The DMV is having discussions with all other vehicles that we received complaints about.

It’s important for you to understand that the complaints about your sound levels on Burn night are serious and include complaints from two Burning Man founders, several members of the DMV Council, other Burning Man staff and the DMV Manager (Wally Bomgaars) personally. It did drown out music from other nearby mutant vehicles.

5. "Lots of people like us..."

Again, this has no bearing on the issues of music volume of civic responsibility.

6. "We followed all the rules..."

No, you didn’t, Your vehicle clearly violated the Mutant Vehicle Sound Policy. The concerns we need you to address relate to the Mutant Vehicle Sound Policy and to civic responsibility.
As noted in the MV policy:

"Keep in mind that if we continue to have the level of complaints and issues that we have been having for the past few years, we may have to take greater steps to limit large sound on vehicles. Please consider your impact on the community and help us all keep sound on MVs a positive experience."
To recap:

The DancetronautS mutant vehicle was issued a conditional license for 2014 based on sound policy violations from 2013.

Following the 2014 event, as previously mentioned, we received more sound complaints about the Dancetronauts mutant vehicle than any other vehicle in the history of the event. Despite multiple requests, you have not provided a satisfactory response to these complaints nor provided a plan to address them for 2015.

Additionally, in 2014, we were notified Dancetronauts were offering among other things, Early Entry passes and access to their mutant vehicles as a perks as part of your Indiegogo fundraiser. Early Entry passes were created specifically to allow artists, theme camp organizers and mutant vehicles owners early access to the event site to prepare for the event. It was a violation of the Early Entry pass policy to offer them as a perk.

This combination of infractions and your inability to provide a satisfactory response and resolution leave us no option but to deny a license to the Dancetronauts mutant vehicle for 2015. You are welcome to apply next year for 2016.

Sincerely,

Terry Schoop and the DMV Council


On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 3:48 PM, Trav Nasty wrote:
Dear Chef Juke,

Thank you for sending the complaints. The majority of which are practically copy  & pasted from blogs, posts & many of the same authors. Many we received most personally on our social pages and personal inboxes as well.
Which all boils down to, IF, one DJ hadn't made some poor word choices on the mic, you would be left with what any large art car with sound is... A few sound complaints. 

The majority of the complaints, repetitive, exaggerated, inaccurate and all sighting the exact same incident, which is factual, just in their own words. Yes we have many complaints, but they are all about the same thing, we had several thousand people out front our vehicle who experienced it that night. This was not an ongoing thing throughout the week or were there multiple
Incidences. One night, one burn, one DJ...

Too loud? Not any louder than any other large sound vehicle.

Obnoxious, big yes, we win and own that.

Anyone who says their burn was ruined or affected by us, had the right and freedom to move and go freely. I imagine this happens all the time, all week, which is why we all choose to go, stay and be during out burn. No Victims at the burn. I am sure this will only result to people avoiding us in future years to come. Just like I personally avoid the 'Black Hole', Mayan Warrior or the crazy loud obnoxious punk hardcore metal camp that exists and handful of others. Hard to call some of those very harsh opinions and judgements that people want to express as actual valid complaints. People want to rant about what they like and for like and be a critic for you guys, lol. Or the additional false info like our dancers get paid or any of us for that matter. Dancetronauts, rather than douchetronauts, most deservingly should be ridiculed as 'Debtronauts'. I don't need to defend anymore erroneous claims.

I personally, before all this, had already reached out and resolved the communication gap with the fire brigade. And that has been resolved and future resolve with the fire brigades before hand to ensure they have their show, music etc that we can help accommodate. Just like we always do, just like we did with Flameology this past weekend in Las Vegas. And if this had been communicated before and or during and not AFTER, this would have never been an
Issue at all.

So let's talk RESOLVE. And obviously we are a part of a possible
Larger problem when it comes to people complaining about large art cars and their
Mobile sound systems. Whatever you guys decide, let it be across the board, not just single us out. We are already the scapegoat, that's fine, but we do expect everyone to be held to the Resolve.

We weren't anywhere we weren't supposed to be.
There is no safety issues. And by the way the caution tape was in front of Boogie Man Castle because of SAFETY and his large fire effects that we team up
With him for Burn Night. Other than one persons plug, we didn't do anything we shouldn't have.
 
So...
No mics on burn night?
No music burn night?

We we're never near, aimed at Temple or even in attendance for Temple Burn.

Alien Siege complaints is the same group
Of bloggers jumping on. There's no other complaints or do we have a history or record of ruining art installations, burns etc. Thursday night/Friday morning we demonstrated this for Embrace burn. I think there's a slight difference between this years complaints and any previous years, which is funny for a group and art car which has been doing the same thing, with the same group, same art cars, same sound system, in the same spots for 5 years on the playa now. This is not a right or entitlement on our part, I just want to point out not much has changed and what has, has only improved.

Guilty of loud noise, specifically on burn night.
Guilty of a dj promoting his album on that same burn night.
 
We are awesome and in-compliance and want resolve so we can live up to the perfect image we have created for ourselves. We already have our own work cut out for us to win back the many we let down in the such a 'forgiving' community. We are mindful, conscious burners who do a very good job of as hearing and respecting all rules and burners. After all we are contributors who do a lot for nothing at this event, so if we are not wanted, please make it public so we can start planning next years new camp and artcar. Because you can take away our privilege of this art car, but you can't take away the burner. The BORG are partly responsible for this and this culture and now we are being punished for living it.

What would you like us to do?


On Oct 30, 2014, at 1:24 PM, DMV Hotties wrote:

Phil,

Thanks for your email.  As I noted to Trav, we've compiled the specific complaints about the Strip Ship and Bass Station that the DMV received via email and the online feedback form; these are in the attached file.  The DMV reads ALL of the feedback sent to us and we would suggest that you do the same.

Please review these specific concerns from your fellow burners regarding your vehicle and let us know if you have any further thoughts on the feedback.

Sincerely,

-Chef Juke for the DMV Hotties & Council

On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 11:38 AM, Philip  wrote:
Ok I totally understand and really do want to settle everything.
 As you know the Dancetronauts have been doing there thing with passion and professionalism for several years now and as we have grown we have learned many things. We always listen whenever we have made mistakes or made someone unhappy and make the changes in our lives to help accommodate the widest range of demographic we can. This is no easy task as you can never make everyone happy. But what we do try and do is minimize any negative impact we may have along our way and I feel that this is a case of that. We are very apologetic of the fact that we disturbed a several peoples experience at Burning Man with whatever we were doing as a group in our chosen area. We have been doing the same things each year at the same places so that our followers and people that are not have a really good Idea of where you might find us. For an amazing or not so fun experience depending on how you view us. There are things I don't like at Burning Man, I let them be, That's what its about right? Social acceptance? I have been attending BM since 1999 and know just about every aspect of how it works, Including having made very close friends with Larry Harvey and his entire family and the people that have been around him from the start. I should know more than many about how Burning Man works in entirety because I know things that the average person does not by being around the family of people that have created it.

In our defense: I choose to stay away from those "Art Cars" or "Camps". that I do not wish to be around. The Playa is an outrageously huge place and everyone has the "Choice" to be effected by something. I don't go and scream at peoples Camp gates about how "plug and play camps are wrong"
Or many of the other things that some of the people complaining about us have been doing ( when I did my research I'd found out that many of the bloggers speaking about us and causing a stink were actually attacking almost everything, even at many times contradicting there own selves.)

 First off we are SOBER when we operate at all times! That means everyone representing us in a suit or hottie outfit is in any way under the influence.

Dancetronauts play it safe, we have a 20 person dedicated team with a US Marshall, 2 EMT's,3 Fire Dpt and an ER DOC! To add we also have 10 spotters with CB radios reporting at all times. Our fire effects are certified by the Las Vegas Fire Department and nationwide our record with the Sheriff, BLM, Rangers is spotless and impeccable. In fact we have won their award for excellence every year since we have been on the Playa with this set up and get visited by them all every year to show us their support by shaking all our hands and taking pictures with us.We work for the utmost in respect for what we do as a group.

What we did wrong?
We did promote ourselves as a group,as does OT,APEX,White Ocean,Charlie,Question? and all others. We know our limitations and stay within them.
We did promote our music. It is available for free as our gift!  again there is nothing wrong with promoting our art for free.
We did play loud dance music, as does the car right next to us (Kaliope 100,000watts, Robot Heart 100,000watts, The Mayan warior 200,000WATTS!)
We did make thousands of people come together and dance and have a powerful experience that they came to Burning Man for.
We did our best to be observant and execute everything we do in a professional manner.
We did follow all the rules of Burning Man as we have done for years.

I hope this response sheds some light on how me, "Philip Plastina" the Creator and Father to all of these Dancetronauts, moves through life with concern and a genuine heartfelt passion for everything around me. You have my sincerest apologies towards anyone we did affect in a negative way, Regards.





On Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 8:10 PM, DMV Hotties <[email protected]> wrote:
Phil,

To clarify, we asked you for a response to the fact that the DMV had received a number of complaints about your vehicle sound and Promotion activities and we didn’t receive a response until we included Trav.  Trav indicated that his comments were not the formal response and implied that one would be forthcoming.

 
As far as the DMV is concerned the concern and the issue has not been resolved and we certainly need more discussion regarding both what happened on playa and what, if anything, needs to be done to resolve any concerns.

 
Please do follow up with us when you are available.

 
Sincerely,

 
-Chef Juke for the DMV Hotties



On Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 10:26 AM, Philip Plastina <[email protected]> wrote:
Yes, my main guy TravNasty has written back and fourth several times. I thought we were coming to a resolve? We are in Las Vegas right now for Halloween performing for the street parade with other art cars. I will be available to correspond with you in a few days if this is not the fact. But I really think that this is been resolved we are good at things like this. Please let me see where we're at with this and I will let you know

On Oct 27, 2014 7:05 AM, "DMV Hotties" <[email protected]> wrote:
Philip,

We still haven't heard back from you regarding our original email.

Sincerely,

The DMV Hotties

On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 5:54 PM, DMV Hotties <[email protected]> wrote:
Trav,

Thanks for your email.

Some clarifications may be in order.

We originally sent our email to Phil directly as he was listed as the applicant for the Strip Ship and Bass Station.  We added you as you were included in the message regarding Decompression.  In regards to Decompression, the event team checks with the DMV regarding Mutant Vehicles invited to ensure they are in good standing with the DMV, given the number of complaints we received this year, this was not the case.  There are any number of vehicles that are not invited to decompression each year, yours was just one.

Next, we only are considering the complaints that were made directly to the DMV through email or through Burning Man's FLIP online feedback system.  We did not consider complaints posted to forums, etc. or complaints that were duplicated in forums/email

In regards to the temple, the complaint was that your vehicle played loud music near the temple, not at the temple burn specifically.

Finally, we certainly will forward you text of the specific complaints.  We wanted to get a general response from the Dancetronauts prior to going into the details of the complaint.

To be clear, our main focus is trying to get a clear understanding of what happened, the validity of the complaints we've received, to make sure you and your team understand the scope of the complaints and work to find a resolution to the issues raised.

I also should note that while there certainly was a small group of interconnected folks who lodged complaints right after the event, the complaints were not by any means isolated to any one group or duplicated.  We received complaints from a large number of Burners who were not connected including some from within the Burning Man organization as well.

Sincerely,

-Chef Juke for the DMV Hotties & Council



On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 2:24 PM, Trav Nasty <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Chef Juke,

My Name is Travis aka Cpt. TravNasty, other half of Dancetronauts. I just got this, which would have been nice to resolve sooner, so we didn't get punished and banned to participate at SF Decom this year.

Couple things I'd like to interject before a formal response which will only adhere to the facts. Because the exaggerations are being a little blown out of proportion. For instance we were not even at or in attendance for Temple Burn.

And I would like the opportunity to review the complaints to decipher which are even accurate or indeed from numerous people and not just the same handful who are re-creating them. As far as, what I can gather, see in posts, it's a handful of the same disgruntle's. Some who did not even attend the burn, yet still campaigning and gathering their friends to further continue to make complaints which are not even accurate. Something unknown to the public, is Dancetronauts has been being attacked by a group of 'haters' who have been harassing us and referring to as the 'Douchetronauts'. This is something we have dealt with and I think every larger camp who might get more attention from others, naturally creates jealousy and sabotage. Now that we goofed up, here's our chance and let's get everyone who dislikes us (for any reason) to jump on the bandwagon... YA!! Let's get em' kicked off the playa! YA! Biggest corporate is ex-member of Roots Society Simon De Playa, who got burned for having sound complaints and music violations years ago, apparently he feels the need to call out and jump on anyone else now in the same fashion he was crucified to the cross on. The complaints, attention and gathering complaints from him and his forum posting and him repeatedly making it not even about the issue, just personal attacks on Dancetronauts. To, I believe it was yourself? Or someone from DMV, whom even interjected with the notice, of violent, vandal and illegal threats should not be involved. Very burner like, I am glad these are the complaints and 'burners' whom you are taking seriously. But our 6 years as a theme camp and even longer, as art car owners, are the ones being punished.

Here is video taken up on stage that night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9KGYdeiaKg. Wish we had an aerial that even shows we set up even further back from the art car line that forms around the man. Because of our fire effects and team up with Boogieman Castle. And you can see all the unhappy people who we forced to stick around after the burn. This would be us at full volume in the peak of the night.
Here is another more random video posted of burn night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcIivyGmbHw

We are NOT even the loudest and we've done the decibel ratings test, Insomniac Wide Awake Car and Mayan Warrior are two (there are others) that are much louder. Ours just sounds better, because unlike all the others, we hand built ours, it's all custom, our stage and sound is our art and then we have another large mutant vehicle the 'Strip Ship' tow it. We built this for Burning Man, they bought there's and it's meant for indoor commercial club use. More than 50,000+people at burn night who didn't even see or hear us, handful of thousand that stuck around and did, and a handful who want to complain we are too loud for Burning Man, on Burn night?? People can have a conversation almost directly in front with what we have designed, we are not piercing ears or is anyone in discomfort or being involuntarily forced to listen or stand directly in front of it. Everyone but the fire conclave performers had that opportunity.

Even though this isn't part of the violation, this is what I personally felt the apology was owed. Since, I have already already spoke with and apologized to the L.A. fire conclave, who was positioned out in front. Who after speaking, we agreed a little communication before hand or during would have been nice, since we would have gladly shut off, broadcast their music or anything for that 20mins. Although their exaggerations were calmed after someone posted a video on youtube of their performance where you could hear a clutter of various music, coming from various art cars and directions. Their drum circle was subject to the background noise no matter what, but indeed NOT drown out or was their excessive sound being pounded on them.

We have no right, it's not our spot, but we have been in the same spot at the burn the past 5 years doing the exact same thing, with pretty much the same sound system and it shouldn't be any secret to anyone, we are pretty predictable and if you don't like our scene or music, their is whole city of 65,000+ with plenty of places, scenes, room  and anyone can go elsewhere. I understand there is some serious rules, terms, we don't take lightly, but some of these complainers make it seem like we are torturing or holding them hostage in front of our stage.

We took the sound complaint last year serious, which is why when we had our Embrace Burn event on Thursday you can see (attached) how far out we set up because we are mindful and do make this effort. And Alien Siege... lol, must have been the same people who heard us at Temple?? We are talking about 1 night and 1 Dj. It really wasn't about being too loud, or 'other' art installations or any 'other' night. Simon already tried to make it about being too loud and wanted it to be, but even that failed. It was because 1 DJ pissed people off with his big mouth on burn night.

Dancetronauts is big and loud because so is our audience and performers. Skrillex, Diplo and Major Lazer played successfully Tuesday and Thursday am at Embrace with NO complaints, right? Not sure how many others are bringing multi Grammy Award winning artists for free to burners to enjoy. It's all part of what we bring and offer the playa that nobody else does, we are a piece of mobile sound art with amazing performers who bring a specific niche and sound experience to playa that nobody else does. And I think with the exception to whatever emails you may have received, we do a pretty good job 99% of the time. We didn't play at temple, we don't play at small interactive art pieces with their own music and/or performances. We didn't sell anything nor have we made money, I think in hindsight, the DJ realizes if there was any hope of anyone wanting to know or download his album, he may have turned more burners off, than on ... There is A LOT we don't do and what we did do, or get complaints about, is being too loud for burn night? At the man burn? Like we were the only art car there, playing loud music, only one noticed or heard? That we trapped these people and eliminated any other chance of them hearing or seeing anything else? I being a responsible member for Dancetronauts had no way of knowing or controlling what another human being might do or say, at any given time. We had one guy get on the mic and start chanting 'Cinnamon roll, cinnamon roll, cinnmon roll' WTF is that? It catches us off guard as well, we do the best to prevent what we can, but it's live shows, with live music and equipment. Did you get any complaints about Dancetronauts trying to sell cinnamon rolls off the Strip Ship too?

A DJ/producer shared his music. Offered a free download of his album and talked about a track he worked on all year, especially for Burning Man, called 'Coming Home' that he then offered and handed out copies personally, however many of his (100) copies he brought out, as his playa gift.
Rude, obnoxious, breaking the rules, shameless self promotion, is left to the interpretation and the complaints you received. We can cover all in our formal response once we get down to the facts of the multiple instances we are in fraction of. Because being threatened of not being able to bring our art, creation(s), theme camp and spend another $XX,XXX next year to bring it again... is a very personal and bitter feeling right now, so please excuse any passion that may dilute our sincere work and effort that we make and try to be flawless on. Honestly, we try really hard to make everyone happy, to obey the guidelines, to be be perfect. Truth is we're not, we are regular people and humans who make mistakes and this year we made a few. We take great pride and responsibility with our privilege of having and art car, which is why we haven't seriously screwed anything up. We have made some mistakes.... What those mistakes actually affected? Or how many people it actually impacted,in a negative, unforgiving way? Thought when these things happen, we lose fans and the following, it sorts itself out. We become the black plague to them and they poison as many people around them as possible to feel the same. We take that heat, not BM, not DMV... we are not unsafe, we are no reckless, we have not harmed anyone, we are BURNERS! And to now not even be allowed to bring the 'Strip Ship' with no sound, no fire, no performers, etc to S.F. Decom and still be denied to participate with the other camps, okay, we will swallow it. 

This is where we get a beer and laugh, right?
Phil can formally respond on behalf, but that's my 2 cents.
Thank you Chef Duke for doing a great job and attending to all matters on the playa to ensure we all only improve. WE GET IT! And we do and will always work with you guys to improve and role model things the right way.

Live, Love, Laugh, Dance
Cpt. TravNasty



On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 11:11 AM, DMV Hotties wrote:
<Adding Trav>
Phil,

We still need to hear back from you regarding this.  The DMV follows up on all complaints regarding Mutant Vehicle operation and we want to hear from you regarding the incidents lists. 

Also please note that your vehicle's future licensing may be affected based on the complaints and/or if you do not respond.

Sincerely,

-Chef Juke for the DMV Hotties and Council

On Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 4:41 PM, DMV Hotties  wrote:
Mutant Vehicle: Strip Ship & Bass Station
Registration #: M14-0543
Owner: Philip Plastina

Phillip,

We are writing to you regarding numerous reports of incidents involving your vehicle at this year's Burning Man.

The DMV received multiple complaints regarding the Strip Ship & Bass Station this year, falling into several categories. This email primarily notes two of them: Sound levels and promotional activity.

 

1) Sound levels

On a number of occasions, the sound levels of the vehicle, especially while in close proximity to art installations/events was perceived to significantly exceed the levels outlined in the Mutant Vehicle Sound policy:

(http://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/playa_vehicles/sound_policy.html)

Specifically, we received a number of complaints regarding your vehicle's sound volume at the Alien Siege Machine Burn event, the Temple, and most notably at the Man Burn.

It is also important to note that your vehicle was CONDITIONALLY invited for 2014 due to sound level complaints in 2013. This means this is the second year in a row that participants have had issues with the sound levels of your vehicle.

2) Promotional activity

On a number of occasions, again most notably at the Man Burn, we recieved reports of DJs on your vehicle promoting their upcoming albums.  This directly conflicts with the Decommodification principle of Burning Man.

In addition to the two areas of concern above, prior to the event there was an additional issue raised with your offering Early Admission passes as premiums on your indiegogo fundraising campaign

The DMV takes all complaints regarding vehicle operation at the event seriously and we work to follow up on every complaint, big or small.  That being said we want to clearly indicate to you the significance of the level concern that has been raised with your vehicle this year, both with the DMV directly and with other areas of the Burning Man organization.

In the month since the event ended, the DMV has received more complaints regarding Strip Ship than we've ever received regarding any other vehicle, by a far margin. 

We are asking that you please reply via email with any information you can provide related to the above incidents and concerns.


Sincerely,
-Chef Juke for the DMV Council

--
<DancetronautsSound.txt>
--

Begin forwarded message:

From: Trav Nasty 
Subject: Re: Mutant Vehicle incidents on playa (PLEASE RESPOND)
Date: TueApr 14, 2015 at 7:09:59 PM PDT
To: DMV Hotties 

Hi... Nice to meet you Terry.

And yes it has been sometime. We have been patiently awaiting to hear back from DMV to work on resolutions with full compliance on OUR part. Since we had already been punished and banned from our art cars attending the 2014 decompressions (even our 'Strip Ship' vehicle which has no sound or violations). Now further denying us Is maximum punishment without any resolve. Pretty disappointing this is the BORGS resolution, without even working out any solutions with it's artists.

Sincere thanks for solely picking out items you could belittle and disregarding any attempts to resolve anything. Those items you highlighted were not said in our defense, or in anyway, not acknowledging our mistake. Which is why my clearly stated informal response to Chef Duke since, I am not the registered art car owner. Was to clear up the that the overwhelming number of complaints could be summed up from the couple hours they came from, specifically after we had one of our Dj's promote his free album (yes, shameless self promotion, we know) & when you have 1000's of people in attendance ENJOYING themselves and 100's who are not within listening distance, it pissed off a lot of folks and sent a ripple through the crowd for the next couple hours of 'F-this guy' and who is this guy and 'Dancetronauts' takes the hit, no excuses.

Our famous Dj's are award winning Grammy artists who choose to play on the sound, art and stage we have hand built and created. We have thousands who appreciate it and just because some may not like the; music, style, artists, etc of what we do or offer because it doesn't fit their ideal of what should and shouldn't be at Burning Man, that we should no longer be invited? Hey, some people don't like steampunk! But that's the beauty of Burning Man, or so I thought?

And my continued points of what we bring to the community is part of our civic responsibility that I was only trying to show some positive light on. That 99% of the time, we do a great job! And we do and we give a lot to the community and that the civic responsibility is not in question. There should be no impression or should we be punished by your board members that we are out of control, unsafe, maniacs and no longer invited. We are a collective alike. Conscious, mindful, intelligent, talented, responsible artists and like to have fun, again, sorry if 'Dancetronauts' got carried away for a moment with volume level and if we need to agree to certain parameters around our sound, time, placement etc. Then we are all ears?

Otherwise this is obviously personal by your elite group of BORG members and somebody's  bruised ego has now made the impression of Dancetronauts that this hard working group of responsible strangers, you've never had any personal interaction with, are NOW some rampant liability or have really ruined or harmed anyone?

We are guilty of the the infraction that our sound was too loud at Burning Man, on burn night, of all places, which we admit was indeed being played loud, yet at a safe volume (among dozens of others). We built this for burning, the only fully hand built custom sound system on the playa, this is our art. if you can't bring music and play our art at burning man, then where on else on earth can you? We live and are a part of this community and EDM, which does this and supports Burning Man year round.

There are no victims here. 65,000+ other people on this night who had no clue or could hear about our presence. The Art Car gets there hours early and stays hours after, year after year, we don't move for 6+ HOURS and we are a registered as a SOUND VEHICLE. We do apologize if was overpowering to anyone else and who also couldn't move, if it had been properly communicated we would have turned it down. And something we could resolve or work with fire conclaves in the future about. But no surprises and yes anyone who felt so entitled to their 'spot' could have stayed, suffered and complained OR they could have walked 100ft in another direction and been inconvenienced for that short amount of time to then enjoy the rest of their burn however they felt was best for them. I feel like I am explaining freedom, so I will stop. Since this can and may be disregarded or meaningless excerpts taken out of context like my previous email.

We have ALL taken full responsibility and accountability that our mutant vehicle was being played too loud at a particular time that many felt was inappropriate. The sound has volume, which is something we can control and feel 99% of the time we do. There is solution and resolve, we can and have played at appropriate times and levels for hours, days and years. Now ONE DJ, his set and these hours, have completely jeopardized everything we've been working on for the past 7 years on the playa. We are a part of Burning Man & bring something that nobody else does. So many solutions and resolutions, yet our efforts for resolve go neglected for months and an email from a stranger just saying no and that we haven't presented enough resolve is much easier? Please don't take this away from us on account that DMV refuses to work with us on the numerous solutions that can prevent this from happening in the future;

- No microphones for DJ's or emergency announcements only
- All music off at Burn Night
- Or just Dancetronauts silent on Burn Night
- Separate Art Car or Sound Perimeter that all cars to be behind if they are playing music.
- Since Borg has their ideal ways of how everyone should burn, why don't they just broadcast what they want to hear and all sound vehicles could play it? Sad our passion and amazing sound system and creation isn't being utilized or there is no organization to prevent this by taking control of the entire 3hrs we were so disruptive. You want Burn to be and sound a certain way... then let's make it happen! Rather than denying creations to YOUR event.
-We would have loved to work with the fire conclave and play their music so people could hear it for their performance.

We know how, when and where volume and sound needs to be, because we have been doing it successfully for 7 years and this last Burn on Burn night we pushed the limit and thank you for working with us and informing us of these occasional mistakes when they do occur. We have already discussed some of the further steps of our own to set certain volume levels that can't be exceeded. As well as, let our Dj's, artists and crew know ahead of time of these very important differences of playing at Burning Man compared to the default world and so on.

To error is to be human,
TravNasty


P.S.
Last and final time. The indie gogo fundraiser was set up by a 3rd party and that small typo was taken down within 24hrs of it being posted. WE ARE FULLY AWARE and it was immediately resolved. No such offering or exchange actually took place. But thanks for bringing it up every chance you get and pinning us to the cross relentlessly about it. Wish we didn't need to do fundraisers to raise the $$,$$$ we need to get our camp, infrastructure and art cars to the burn, but it's either that or our tickets go to more spectators instead.


On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 5:54 PM, DMV Hotties  wrote:
Trav,

Thanks for your email.

Some clarifications may be in order.

We originally sent our email to Phil directly as he was listed as the applicant for the Strip Ship and Bass Station.  We added you as you were included in the message regarding Decompression.  In regards to Decompression, the event team checks with the DMV regarding Mutant Vehicles invited to ensure they are in good standing with the DMV, given the number of complaints we received this year, this was not the case.  There are any number of vehicles that are not invited to decompression each year, yours was just one.

Next, we only are considering the complaints that were made directly to the DMV through email or through Burning Man's FLIP online feedback system.  We did not consider complaints posted to forums, etc. or complaints that were duplicated in forums/email

In regards to the temple, the complaint was that your vehicle played loud music near the temple, not at the temple burn specifically.

Finally, we certainly will forward you text of the specific complaints.  We wanted to get a general response from the Dancetronauts prior to going into the details of the complaint.

To be clear, our main focus is trying to get a clear understanding of what happened, the validity of the complaints we've received, to make sure you and your team understand the scope of the complaints and work to find a resolution to the issues raised.

I also should note that while there certainly was a small group of interconnected folks who lodged complaints right after the event, the complaints were not by any means isolated to any one group or duplicated.  We received complaints from a large number of Burners who were not connected including some from within the Burning Man organization as well.

Sincerely,

-Chef Juke for the DMV Hotties & Council



On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 2:24 PM, Trav Nasty  wrote:
Hi Chef Juke,

My Name is Travis aka Cpt. TravNasty, other half of Dancetronauts. I just got this, which would have been nice to resolve sooner, so we didn't get punished and banned to participate at SF Decom this year.

Couple things I'd like to interject before a formal response which will only adhere to the facts. Because the exaggerations are being a little blown out of proportion. For instance we were not even at or in attendance for Temple Burn.

And I would like the opportunity to review the complaints to decipher which are even accurate or indeed from numerous people and not just the same handful who are re-creating them. As far as, what I can gather, see in posts, it's a handful of the same disgruntle's. Some who did not even attend the burn, yet still campaigning and gathering their friends to further continue to make complaints which are not even accurate. Something unknown to the public, is Dancetronauts has been being attacked by a group of 'haters' who have been harassing us and referring to as the 'Douchetronauts'. This is something we have dealt with and I think every larger camp who might get more attention from others, naturally creates jealousy and sabotage. Now that we goofed up, here's our chance and let's get everyone who dislikes us (for any reason) to jump on the bandwagon... YA!! Let's get em' kicked off the playa! YA! Biggest corporate is ex-member of Roots Society Simon De Playa, who got burned for having sound complaints and music violations years ago, apparently he feels the need to call out and jump on anyone else now in the same fashion he was crucified to the cross on. The complaints, attention and gathering complaints from him and his forum posting and him repeatedly making it not even about the issue, just personal attacks on Dancetronauts. To, I believe it was yourself? Or someone from DMV, whom even interjected with the notice, of violent, vandal and illegal threats should not be involved. Very burner like, I am glad these are the complaints and 'burners' whom you are taking seriously. But our 6 years as a theme camp and even longer, as art car owners, are the ones being punished.

Here is video taken up on stage that night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9KGYdeiaKg. Wish we had an aerial that even shows we set up even further back from the art car line that forms around the man. Because of our fire effects and team up with Boogieman Castle. And you can see all the unhappy people who we forced to stick around after the burn. This would be us at full volume in the peak of the night.
Here is another more random video posted of burn night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcIivyGmbHw

We are NOT even the loudest and we've done the decibel ratings test, Insomniac Wide Awake Car and Mayan Warrior are two (there are others) that are much louder. Ours just sounds better, because unlike all the others, we hand built ours, it's all custom, our stage and sound is our art and then we have another large mutant vehicle the 'Strip Ship' tow it. We built this for Burning Man, they bought there's and it's meant for indoor commercial club use. More than 50,000+people at burn night who didn't even see or hear us, handful of thousand that stuck around and did, and a handful who want to complain we are too loud for Burning Man, on Burn night?? People can have a conversation almost directly in front with what we have designed, we are not piercing ears or is anyone in discomfort or being involuntarily forced to listen or stand directly in front of it. Everyone but the fire conclave performers had that opportunity.

Even though this isn't part of the violation, this is what I personally felt the apology was owed. Since, I have already already spoke with and apologized to the L.A. fire conclave, who was positioned out in front. Who after speaking, we agreed a little communication before hand or during would have been nice, since we would have gladly shut off, broadcast their music or anything for that 20mins. Although their exaggerations were calmed after someone posted a video on youtube of their performance where you could hear a clutter of various music, coming from various art cars and directions. Their drum circle was subject to the background noise no matter what, but indeed NOT drown out or was their excessive sound being pounded on them.

We have no right, it's not our spot, but we have been in the same spot at the burn the past 5 years doing the exact same thing, with pretty much the same sound system and it shouldn't be any secret to anyone, we are pretty predictable and if you don't like our scene or music, their is whole city of 65,000+ with plenty of places, scenes, room  and anyone can go elsewhere. I understand there is some serious rules, terms, we don't take lightly, but some of these complainers make it seem like we are torturing or holding them hostage in front of our stage.

We took the sound complaint last year serious, which is why when we had our Embrace Burn event on Thursday you can see (attached) how far out we set up because we are mindful and do make this effort. And Alien Siege... lol, must have been the same people who heard us at Temple?? We are talking about 1 night and 1 Dj. It really wasn't about being too loud, or 'other' art installations or any 'other' night. Simon already tried to make it about being too loud and wanted it to be, but even that failed. It was because 1 DJ pissed people off with his big mouth on burn night.

Dancetronauts is big and loud because so is our audience and performers. Skrillex, Diplo and Major Lazer played successfully Tuesday and Thursday am at Embrace with NO complaints, right? Not sure how many others are bringing multi Grammy Award winning artists for free to burners to enjoy. It's all part of what we bring and offer the playa that nobody else does, we are a piece of mobile sound art with amazing performers who bring a specific niche and sound experience to playa that nobody else does. And I think with the exception to whatever emails you may have received, we do a pretty good job 99% of the time. We didn't play at temple, we don't play at small interactive art pieces with their own music and/or performances. We didn't sell anything nor have we made money, I think in hindsight, the DJ realizes if there was any hope of anyone wanting to know or download his album, he may have turned more burners off, than on ... There is A LOT we don't do and what we did do, or get complaints about, is being too loud for burn night? At the man burn? Like we were the only art car there, playing loud music, only one noticed or heard? That we trapped these people and eliminated any other chance of them hearing or seeing anything else? I being a responsible member for Dancetronauts had no way of knowing or controlling what another human being might do or say, at any given time. We had one guy get on the mic and start chanting 'Cinnamon roll, cinnamon roll, cinnmon roll' WTF is that? It catches us off guard as well, we do the best to prevent what we can, but it's live shows, with live music and equipment. Did you get any complaints about Dancetronauts trying to sell cinnamon rolls off the Strip Ship too?

A DJ/producer shared his music. Offered a free download of his album and talked about a track he worked on all year, especially for Burning Man, called 'Coming Home' that he then offered and handed out copies personally, however many of his (100) copies he brought out, as his playa gift.
Rude, obnoxious, breaking the rules, shameless self promotion, is left to the interpretation and the complaints you received. We can cover all in our formal response once we get down to the facts of the multiple instances we are in fraction of. Because being threatened of not being able to bring our art, creation(s), theme camp and spend another $XX,XXX next year to bring it again... is a very personal and bitter feeling right now, so please excuse any passion that may dilute our sincere work and effort that we make and try to be flawless on. Honestly, we try really hard to make everyone happy, to obey the guidelines, to be be perfect. Truth is we're not, we are regular people and humans who make mistakes and this year we made a few. We take great pride and responsibility with our privilege of having and art car, which is why we haven't seriously screwed anything up. We have made some mistakes.... What those mistakes actually affected? Or how many people it actually impacted,in a negative, unforgiving way? Thought when these things happen, we lose fans and the following, it sorts itself out. We become the black plague to them and they poison as many people around them as possible to feel the same. We take that heat, not BM, not DMV... we are not unsafe, we are no reckless, we have not harmed anyone, we are BURNERS! And to now not even be allowed to bring the 'Strip Ship' with no sound, no fire, no performers, etc to S.F. Decom and still be denied to participate with the other camps, okay, we will swallow it. 

This is where we get a beer and laugh, right?
Phil can formally respond on behalf, but that's my 2 cents.
Thank you Chef Duke for doing a great job and attending to all matters on the playa to ensure we all only improve. WE GET IT! And we do and will always work with you guys to improve and role model things the right way.

Live, Love, Laugh, Dance
Cpt. TravNasty



On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 11:11 AM, DMV Hotties  wrote:
<Adding Trav>
Phil,

We still need to hear back from you regarding this.  The DMV follows up on all complaints regarding Mutant Vehicle operation and we want to hear from you regarding the incidents lists. 

Also please note that your vehicle's future licensing may be affected based on the complaints and/or if you do not respond.

Sincerely,

-Chef Juke for the DMV Hotties and Council

On Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 4:41 PM, DMV Hotties  wrote:
Mutant Vehicle: Strip Ship & Bass Station
Registration #: M14-0543
Owner: Philip Plastina

Phillip,

We are writing to you regarding numerous reports of incidents involving your vehicle at this year's Burning Man.

The DMV received multiple complaints regarding the Strip Ship & Bass Station this year, falling into several categories. This email primarily notes two of them: Sound levels and promotional activity.


1) Sound levels

On a number of occasions, the sound levels of the vehicle, especially while in close proximity to art installations/events was perceived to significantly exceed the levels outlined in the Mutant Vehicle Sound policy:

(http://www.burningman.com/on_the_playa/playa_vehicles/sound_policy.html)

Specifically, we received a number of complaints regarding your vehicle's sound volume at the Alien Siege Machine Burn event, the Temple, and most notably at the Man Burn.

It is also important to note that your vehicle was CONDITIONALLY invited for 2014 due to sound level complaints in 2013. This means this is the second year in a row that participants have had issues with the sound levels of your vehicle.

2) Promotional activity

On a number of occasions, again most notably at the Man Burn, we recieved reports of DJs on your vehicle promoting their upcoming albums.  This directly conflicts with the Decommodification principle of Burning Man.

In addition to the two areas of concern above, prior to the event there was an additional issue raised with your offering Early Admission passes as premiums on your indiegogo fundraising campaign

The DMV takes all complaints regarding vehicle operation at the event seriously and we work to follow up on every complaint, big or small.  That being said we want to clearly indicate to you the significance of the level concern that has been raised with your vehicle this year, both with the DMV directly and with other areas of the Burning Man organization.

In the month since the event ended, the DMV has received more complaints regarding Strip Ship than we've ever received regarding any other vehicle, by a far margin. 

We are asking that you please reply via email with any information you can provide related to the above incidents and concerns.


Sincerely,
-Chef Juke for the DMV Council