Ross Patel is an exporter. But his stock in trade is not fresh food or car components in crates. It is musicians in minivans. Even so, like his counterparts in UK farms and factories, Patel is running into problems at the EU border.
Since the UK left the EU on December 31, Patel has been immersed in the jargon of cabotage, carnets and country-specific work permits as he tries to work out how travelling musicians can continue to ply their trade in the EU. Electronic trio Elder Island, the biggest act he manages as co-founder of music talent agency Whole Entertainment, are planning a 17-date tour of EU countries next year. Postponed three times already because of Covid-19, the tour has fallen into the tangle of regulations that now apply to UK exporters.
“We’re already losing money on this tour because of the impact of Brexit,” he says. “I don’t know how we’re going to make it work.”
Another musician, Simone Marie Butler, bassist with the well-established rock band Primal Scream, says less well-known groups now “have to be really well informed before saying yes…
