Manchester Orchestra Band • Page 148

This is quite the take considering all the stuff they've put out since ABMTTS, either for free or behind the Patreon paywall.

 

Patreon is for hardcore fans.

There is a market between hardcore fans and really casual fans. Since they have done this tactic before with Let My Pride EP, saying it could beneficially again is an acknowledgment that the band has made a good decisions before with doing this.

Just like I think it’s a good decision copying Mark Hoppus producing other bands and doing lots of guest and collaborative work.

I don’t why objecting to the idea of them putting out two new songs (and only 1 from the album) seems like a bad idea to some people.

Just like releasing something Christmas related is never really a bad idea.

There feels like so much fixation on BMTTS with people here. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a new studio track during a time like this.

As posted before me, imagine if they dropped something like an “I know how to speak” right now. Non album track. But huge for the fans. At this point it should wait until after the BMTTS film, but it wouldn’t hurt them.

Yes, they’ve been busy and taking care of fans. I just don’t see the harm into slowly transition into new material, even if they don’t want to drop a full length until they can have some shows.

 

In other news, the amount of press and effort they are putting into this Black Mile Live concert leads me to believe we are absolutely at LEAST getting a teaser/single for a very soon LP6 drop.

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question but do we know if the concert video will be available to watch "live" only once or if it'll be streamable afterwards as well?

 

I don’t think anyone is objecting any new music, we will take what we can get... but your logic is that they put out a two song ep to tide people over. What some people are pointing out is that they have already put out a ton of stuff to tide people over. Personally if they have b-sides I enjoy the flip side of what you are saying and prefer what they did last time around. Put out album when it’s ready then drop a b side after the fact to keep momentum going.

 

To your point: there was a lot of talk in this space recently about how the band is hopeful for the next album to get new fans and grow the base. Patreon doesn’t do that. I can’t be alone in being a guy who considers MO one of my favorite bands, and I don’t subscribe because another monthly bill just isn’t feasible. Patreon doesn’t fully serve the current fanbase, and, I’d argue, was never meant to try (the point of the Patreon is income for the band). If Andy and the rest want to grow the fanbase, Patreon isn’t even in the conversation of how they would go about doing that. Releasing singles that can go on playlists on the streaming services? That definitely can.

 

Patreon isn’t meant to grow any fan base, as has been said. Your kid sister doesn’t know about their Patreon, nor does she probably care. It’s for the base that want extras and want to support the band in this fucked time. It’s solely for income, or at least mostly. Which isn’t a bad thing. It’s just the reality right now.

I anticipate something new being teased, at the very least. Maybe a new video?

 

My biggest concern (and I assume theirs as well) is that this IS a next step breakthrough record, and we fail to see it launch them because of the state of the world.

If they think they can realize their goals in the face of the unfortunate adversity, I’ll trust them in that.

When/If the album drops in this crazy time and circumstances, it’s up to us to turn up our promotion and get people in our bubbles to care as much as we do.

I don’t want this to get lost.

 

Honestly, I’ve read people claiming to know things say different things. I don’t think the band has said anything other than Friday at 8 ET.

 

We’ll do what we can, Andy sir.

 

So coming out of LAVLAC they had released the Sacred Heart bside and the Brother cover. Awesome.

Then going into METN, they released Let My Pride EP which Had Hot One from the album and I Was Lid.

Brilliant.

There were still more METN bsides, covers, live recordings and a companion too. I just think it was smart to transition between records like that and not just go into a new album single.

I know some people may disagree and argue that they are releasing content, but Kevin Devine has just recently done the same thing I’ve been saying for a while.

Been a while between albums. But, that said, he’s done the Devinyl Series, very active with Patreon, Bad Books, Kenny O’ St. Patrick’s Day stuff, lots of compass, covers, alt versions, worked on a new record, plus dropped a 3 song EP a few months back. Just an example.

 

Well, you're in for a real treat @.K. because they're about to drop an entire album to hold you over for their next entire album.

 

You cannot possibly equate anything they did pre-SM to what they do today, business wise.

The tour EP was just something to release and sell, I don’t believe there was any grand plan behind it. The Let My Pride Be EP was something to accompany the What’s Left Behind doc. Again, no grand plan. I Can Feel a Hot One didn’t ‘hit’ until METN came out. These releases were just a means to an end. The ‘hold over transitional release’ thought probably never even entered their minds, because they never left the road in those days. They just kept playing. There wasn’t time for the fans to get restless.

This band is not the same band after maybe SM, but especially after Cope. I cannot underscore this enough.

 

Have they not been kind of in control of their own destiny with Favorite Gentlemen though?

Band took off because of what they did pre-Simple Math. Things need to change over the course of the band, but you can take some of the good from the old model, and scrap what doesn’t work.

Version 2.0, or I guess 3.0 now.

 

I get the desire to wait to release their next LP if they are attempting to make the most of the momentum from The Gold. But they have to know that the momentum only lasts so long. Considering that, and that the path out of the pandemic is a lot longer than most people are willing to admit, I have to think they've had conversations about when to release LP6 even if touring isn't close to back to normal.

 

That’s sort of my point in a way, they did much of what they did in the beginning ~just because~.

They now play things with a good amount of business strategy, in addition to wanting to maintain artistic integrity.

 

You know a cool way to announce a new album? Play all of your last one for the internet and then spread the word at the very end.

 

This is the conversation that EVERYONE is having, or has had. In most every business, but especially in any sort of entertainment business.

It’s a catch 22.

Wait, and maybe lose out on your previously established and earned window of interest.

Or go, and it’s forgotten in the shuffle and interest wains for lack of proper execution because of the situations at hand.

 

Sometimes as bands go I find they have a tendency to over think things.

For example, the production sound on Cope. They wrote a huge sounding record and it some how still sounds a little flat or throttled no matter which speakers I listen to it on.

Also, leaving certain songs off Simple Math.

I don’t feel like at any point I’ve questioned artistic integrity in this band or an any side project they’ve been part of.

 

I agree. But you have examples where an artist was still able to expand their audience in spite of the conditions i.e. the Phoebe Bridgers phenomenon. Granted, she has a different sound that lends itself to enjoying at home and was maybe less known than MO prior to the pandemic, so there was more potential there, but its proof that growth can still happen.

I think all artists, in tandem with the live event industry, will have to figure out a new path forward if they want to maintain relevance because waiting it out and hoping things go back to exactly as they were pre-COVID is not a realistic goal. The virus is not going away, it's mutated already and the vaccines now or in the future will not be cure-alls. This means it'll just be something we always have to be aware of, and careful about, which is going to lead to re-designs of modern day activities.

 

Phoebe is incredibly online and a majority of her demographic is 15-30 year old, very online women. She's also a bit younger and her fans are great at word of mouth and social sharing which really helped to propel her.

Julien didn't get, and won't get the same level of popularity because she's a lot less online.

Each era is a bit different for how a band can launch. Thrice somehow became super popular on "dad rock" radio stations with Black Honey and Hurricane after years and years of not having big radio hits.

Best thing they can do is get a few "The Gold" off of this album to a higher degree. Big singles that are all over spotify playlists and features and Alt nation plays and playing in stores and SNL/Colbert/Kimmel appearances, etc. maybe Tiny Desk Concert.

 

manchester didn't do any late night show runs with Black Mile, right...am I misremembering? That seems odd as they pushed hard with that album.

 

They played The Gold and The Alien on Kimmel. No idea why it's private now. Was also weird that they removed The Moth live music video on Youtube a while ago as well.

 

They had done Letterman before and he seemed to like them. That option is gone now though.