UPDATE: 8/13/2025 – According to Instagram, Thor Harris further explained about not getting paid after performing at the Sultan Room in Brooklyn.
” UPDATE: Hi. Varun (Sultan Room owner and self proclaimed “community builder” )and Greg Fox (our mutual friend) would like for me to “ add some context “ to this post. said Harris.
The artist adds: “Varun and I had a mostly polite conversation the next day . I doubt that would have taken place if I didn’t have a big platform and ten million friends. He told me lots of bands get paid nothing to play there and don’t mind ,cos it’s good exposure. Isn’t that what Daniel Ek says about Spotify ? The promoter (the awesome artist who opened the show -not Varun )paid us a little money the next day. I thought about taking the post down , but that seemed like a disservice to the hundred or so artists who told us they got stiffed by Sultan Room .”
Harris concludes by saying: They seem quite angry with me for posting their settlement sheet . I will have it framed when I get home ( Austin ) from this tour . Then Varun told me I was uninformed and a failing artist , which is true at least in terms of AmericanCapitolism©️. I hope this clears up this whole mess for us all . I seem to have torn open a ziplock bag of shit and maggots . But I don’t think I’m the one who left it in the fridge . I’ve heard sunlight is the best disinfectant. Yours truly , Thor”
According to Stereogum.com, on August 9, the former Swans and Shearwater drummer Thor Harris headlined show with More Eaze and Lumberob at the Sultan Room in Brooklyn. After the gig, Harris posted an image of his settlement from the venue, which showed he and his bandmates were paid nothing. In the text over the image, Harris wrote: “@thesultanroom Paid us zero dollars tonight for a beautiful show.”
The breakdown shows that the venue took a slight loss on the evening, after selling 46 tickets for a room that holds 280. Harris’ Instagram post has kicked off fresh round of discourse about the economics of touring among independent musicians. In his post, Harris tagged the venue’s talent buyer and his own manager, neither of whom has commented. In the comments of his own post, the artist wrote: “Hey @thesultanroom . What’s ‘ House Nut ‘?” In another comment, he added, “I’ve never had a club say ‘you get nothing.”
“House nut” is a term referring to venue’s expenses for the concert and in this case, $400 for sound and lights, $400 room fee and $50 for marketing. Until those expenses are recouped, the artist doesn’t get paid anything unless they have a guarantee. According to the expense breakdown that he posted, Harris was due “80% of Net Revenue after Taxes, Fees, and Agreed Expenses.”
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