Silverchair's Daniel Johns 29, a Historical Icon

Congratulations to Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns --

"Daniel Johns made history at the 2008 APRA Awards held in Sydney last night when he won the prestigious APRA "Songwriter of the Year" award.

This latest achievement makes the Silverchair frontman the first songwriter in the 26 year history of the APRA Awards to receive this honour on three separate occasions (he also won in 1995 with bandmate Ben Gillies and then in 2003 for his work on "Diorama").

In addition to winning "Songwriter of the Year" Daniel's composition "Straight Lines" (which he co-wrote with The Presets' Julian Hamilton) was named the APRA "Song of the Year" and the "Most Played Australian Work".

"It's a serious honor to be recognized by your peers in the music community" Daniel Johns said "Writing songs means everything to me so to receive these awards for the art of songwriting feels particularly special."

These acknowledgements by APRA and its members cap an extraordinary year for Daniel and his Silverchair bandmates. After a lengthy hiatus the group returned in 2007 with their fifth consecutive number 1 charting album "Young Modern". The disc was among the most acclaimed of the group's career. It went on to be certified triple platinum and swept last year's ARIA Awards.

After last night Daniel Johns now has the unprecedented honour of winning both more APRA Awards AND more ARIA Awards than any other artist in history. He recently turned 29 years old.

After touring non-stop into early 2008, Silverchair is currently on a well-earned break. The band hopes to return to the studio next year."

(Source: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=68603685&blogID=406961809)

New Fear Factory in 2009?!

This just in from the "this would totally kick ass" department:

Apparently Fear Factory's myspace has been updated with a little piece that says "New Album and World Tour in 2009!".... and that's it.

Not too long ago, some friends and I were debating if Fear Factory was possibly on the verge of announcing their breakup. Obviously since the departure of Dino Cazares, the band has struggled to catch their feet. I personally feel that they've released some of their best material post-Dino (meaning tracks moreso than entire albums, Obsolete and Demanufacture are nearly unbreakable), but that doesn't change the fact that the band has struggled to hold down a label and breakup rumors have been completely rampant for years since.

Vocalist Burton C. Bell is currently fresh off of touring with Ministry on the C U LaTour, right into his own Ascension of the Watchers. The rest of the band is doing duty on a new project called Arkaea with Threat Signal vocalist Jon Howard.

Suddenly you see why having "breakup" and "Fear Factory" in the same sentence doesn't seem so radical of a thing to say, whereas "new album" and "Fear Factory" kind of does.

Not to be a doubter of the band, because believe me, i'd LOVE a new Fear Factory album. Plus, time off and away generally gives bands a fresh outlook on their old mundane workhorse. But, We still have 6 months left in 2008, and though i'd love to consider a simple quote on a myspace as a completely official statement from the band -- all they have to do is take it down, and they can essentially deny it ever happened.

That being said, as soon as it's "officially announced" as being worked on -- i'll jump about six feet in the air, then jump on here and post about it.

Let's also give the band props -- to my knowledge this is the first major 2009 album release announcement for a mainstream metal band. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more details, and as soon as I see/hear any, i'll be sure to talk about them.

The Plight of Bleeding Through

(6/17/08 UPDATE: After contacting the band, they've informed me that DECLARATION is indeed their last album for Trustkill Records)

Anyone who is remotely interested in "how the industry works", or even just being in a band as a full-time job, knows that bands generally don't make a great profit (if any at all) off of their record sales. But what happens when the label you signed with, is not only not paying you and your band royalties (that you've actually earned), but is essentially screwing over your next album release and tour plans as well?

Bleeding Through posted a "guest blog" at Headbanger's Blog claiming Trustkill Records is doing exactly that. Click here to read the full article.

To my knowledge, Trustkill has yet to submit any kind of response to the press, and i'd be highly surprised if they did.

This begs the question though -- what the hell does a band do in this kind of situation? If you take the statement as one of 100% truth (which, i'm not inclined to doubt them at all, but at the same time we're only getting one side of the story here), the band seems to have very limited options. If Trustkill is indeed breaching their contract with the band (and already has multiple times), the obvious thing to do is go to court over it -- but with whose money and what time? I'd imagine a band like Bleeding Through barely makes enough profit to scrape by, enough to survive and tour again, but hardly live like rockstars.

Obviously, a choice had to be made, and it was -- in the form of a loan for an undisclosed amount from vocalist Brandan Schieppati's father to record a new (and I assume their last [the band has informed me that it indeed is]) record for Trustkill, also using only 25% of their advance. According to a post on drummer Derek Youngsma's myspace, "Other bands have tried (going to court) and after 2 years in court and thousands in legal fees the band had no choice but to break up. We will not let that happen."

The decision has to be an extremely rough one, and the band obviously had to gamble. For the best record possible, they enlisted the services of Devin Townshend (of Strapping Young Lad fame -- who has also produced the likes of Soilwork and Lamb of God), but have since been unable to pay back Townshend for his work. It makes me wonder how much the band knew exactly going into recording their new album, and if they already weren't receiving what they were owed before that point. It seems like quite the gamble to go in without being paid already, and record an album with the risk of not being able to pay the people you employ to create it. You can say all you want about enlisting the likes of Devin Townshend, who I would guess demands a pretty penny for his services (he deserves it for the work he does), but if I were in a band and had the opportunity to make a record -- regardless of the situation -- i'd take the best available services to make the best damn record I could.

Really, of course, there's no clear "good" option here. Bleeding Through seem to be taking the road that most quickly removes them from their contractual obligations. On one hand, i'm completely inclined to applaud this -- it for sure gives the fans what they want if the record can hit stores. However, if they've recorded an album that isn't the last in their contract with the label, i'd be inclined to call it a bad move. If you're already not getting paid for one record, what is the likelyhood you'll get paid for another? If Trustkill has also breached contract on numerous occasions (as the band says), the legal fees to void the contract may even be worth it.

This would be (and of course IS) a tough situation for any band, with no right answer. But if you're looking for any example of how difficult it is to be in a band, and how easy it is to get taken advantage of even if you have a GOOD deal, here it is for you. It seems that just about nothing in the recording industry is guaranteed, even payment (for a band OR producer, or maybe even record label), except maybe, for stories like this one.

Best of luck to the band, and hopefully to the label as well. Though I feel for the band's plight, I wouldn't necessarily wish any independent label to go under. Even in today's download age, it is still currently easier for a band to get noticed nationally and worldwide with help from any label, than none at all.

Look for Bleeding Through's new album Declaration to be released, maybe, sometime this fall.

Puzzled: Nine Inch Nails' physical release of The Slip

I'll be probably the first to admit, especially recently, that i'm a devoted fan, follower, possibly worshiper of Trent Reznor (see: Nine Inch Nails). Of all the crazy experiments that have happened in the post-Napster era of the music industry, he's the only person in the industry who has a wide audience to voice to, who has "gotten it".

The New York Times did an interview with him that apparently landed in Saturday's edition (June 14), where he said this:

"I don't agree that (music) should be free, but it is free, and you can either accept it or you can put your head in the sand."
(Note: I don't get the Times, so i'm quoting from blabbermouth)

This coming from the man who recently made $1.6 million in the first week his all-instrumental release Ghosts I-IV, was on sale -- ONLY on the internet. I'd bet that's far more than he ever made off of a royalty check from Interscope or TVT. Though, the expenses all of that requires probably cost a pretty penny...

Onto the point --

In a June 13th posting on nin.com, Reznor announced the physical release of the to-this-point free internet-only album The Slip. The set, which comes as a 2-disc digipak in CD form, is completed by a DVD featuring rehearsal footage for this summer's upcoming "Lights in the Sky Tour", a 24-page art booklet, and stickers. I figure, regardless of the fact that I already have the free album, i'd be willing to pay $10-$12 plus shipping for the extras and art, etc.

Herein lines my problem. From what I gather in the posting, the US/Canada/Japan release is a strictly limited edition pressing of 200,000 individually numbered copies. Ok, limited edition... i'm not SO amped over this that i'm going to hover over nin.com the day of release and try to score a copy. What puzzles me however, is that the UK/Australia/all other territories release is NOT limited (and thus not numbered), but is otherwise completely identical to the limited edition package. What?!?

Don't get me wrong, i'm not angered by this so much as confused. Since the release of Year Zero and his subsequent leaving of Interscope, Trent has been a one man tour-de-force for experimental industry tactics. While everyone else has been either suing, crying wolf, or just digging their head in the sand - Reznor has been on the complete forefront of new-age DIY recording industry economics. But in the wake of the ridiculously successful Ghosts I-IV release, what logic dictates that North America/Japan would get only a limited physical release of his new album, whereas everywhere else gets it standard? I'd assume that the point i'm missing is that releasing a physical recorded product in the US is a pain in the ass, even with the right distribution methods. That, OR somehow logic says that we're only going to buy something if its special and limited these days. Maybe it's even just that by doing a limited release, The Slip is essentially guaranteed to sell out here. Really, I have no idea...

My feeling is that, as a semi-avid fan -- someone who actively keeps up with the band but is by no means a collector, and is generally mostly too broke to afford all but select album purchases these days -- I am one of the many fans who would gladly throw in my $15 total to check out the DVD, artwork, and maybe even have some stickers. I'd even be MORE glad if the only place I could get it was nin.com, and shipping wasn't instantly guaranteed because they only keep a limited number of pressings on hand at any given time. I'd rather give my money directly to Trent than to Trent by way of Best Buy. But i'm not so gung-ho about this that i'm going to line up to buy it immediately, and why would I pay for an import (if it is actually being released in stores in the UK), unless it's cheap? I already have the music. Plus, in all likelyhood, Trent's fans are going to put the DVD up as a torrent anyway.

I just feel like i'm kind of missing something here. I've understood the logic up to this point, have completely championed it to everyone I can get within earshot, but I don't get this.