Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe Speaks On The Internet’s Role In The Bands Early Days
Lamb Of God‘s Randy Blythe has once again been speaking his mind on industry related topics via his Twitter. This time Blythe contributed the following reply after being asked “Where do you think you would right now career wise if illegal downloading failed to exist?”
“A pointless question. I do not owe my career to downloading of any sort, neither legal nor illegal. Bands existed before internet. Lamb of God did it the old fashioned way- we played out live, anywhere we could, when we could. Our first real following developed in Philly. We were playing punk rock warehouse shows until the warehouses couldn’t hold us anymore. We got a strong regional following, based on our LIVE SHOWS- not on the Internet, and not on a record we didn’t have.
People from labels first started to notice us in Philly- dudes from Relapse, Nuclear Blast, & other folks knew who we were, because we took it to the hoop each time and EVERYTIME we played. Still no labels were biting- I was told by some people later (label employees) it was because they thought we were too volatile as group & would break up soon. Too much craziness.
No one want to invest in a band that will break up in 6 months, & we WERE WILD. So my buddy (Mikey Brosnan, RIP) STARTED a label to put out our records becuz he believed in us. MORE people started to pay attention to us But we had already BUILT OURSELVES in the first place.
The Internet didn’t “make us”. PUTTING IN THE HARD YARDS DID. If the Internet was the way to discover bands, no band would have existed before. & all 1 zillion bands on the Internet now would have it easy. But they don’t. The way to “make it” as a band is to DO THE FUCKING WORK. Don’t expect the Internet to blow you up, because except in a few isolated instances, IT WON’T. Go play live, learn your chops, and PAY YOUR FUCKING DUES.
Then you get respect and real fans. We would not have our fan base now without our early core of fans, which had NOTHING to do w/the Internet. It had to do w/kicking ass & taking names on a shit stage for no pay, all day, EVERYDAY.”
Not to stir up shit here (I’m honestly not targeting the band or Mr. Blythe) but it would seem Lamb Of God drummer Chris Adler doesn’t share an entirely similar viewpoint. In a recent interview with Metal Sucks, Adler offered the following about the internet’s role and Mp3.com (that brings back memories) in particular during the bands early days:
“…I started putting up our music and it just steamrolled from there. Then Napster just exploded, this whole new digital age of music and I think because we were right there kind of at the top of it, as much as it has ripped the industry, as much as it does hurt established bands, it was the greatest tool for us as a young band.
There’s no way I can turn my back on that now and complain about it because that is probably the single most important factor in how we became a successful act which was being able to share our music with people that wanted to hear it and then show up at their house and rock their face off.”
One certainly can’t argue that the band got their start playing shows and doing the hard work. They obviously wouldn’t have had the recorded output to upload without it. But Blythe‘s comments may seem a bit shortsighted in terms of discounting the medium entirely, especially in the bands early stages.
I know I first heard Burn The Priest through a lovely 56k connection back in late 90′s, how about you?
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COMMENTS
No disrespect to Randy but he really comes across as just…. well STUPID! (couldn’t help myself with the caps, seems to be a theme) at least Chris Adler seems to understand the reality of the situation.
Ah! MP3.com – holy shit! Haven’t heard that name in a long time! Yeah, I think Randy has under-estimated the importance of the internet in promoting bands. If you didn’t already know, you can tell by these comments that Chris is the brains behind the operation
MP3.com opened a lot of doors, for me at least. Am I right in thinking that it paved the way for other music sites orientated around bands such as PureVolume, MySpace and (now) BandCamp?
seems like they’re saying they achieved some popularity by playing shows and working hard for exposure before they even had an album. then after they had some material recorded, the internet helped spread their music.
most of the bands i listen to are bands whose music i downloaded for free at first. i’m not gonna blow money on a CD i might only listen to once or twice. if i like what i hear, i’ll buy the album and usually most (if not all) of the band’s back catalog.
some of these bands that complain about piracy don’t seem to realize they probably wouldn’t have as many fans as they have now if it weren’t for illegal piracy. they probably wouldn’t sell as many albums and they sure as hell wouldn’t have as many people attending their shows or buying their merch (which is where bands actually make money).
i downloaded new american gospel from kazaa back in the day. i liked it enough to go watch them play at a local club. i purchased the album at the show and i’ve bought every album since and seen them live about 5 more times.
you hit the nail on the head with the shows first, internet popularity second thought. I was about to say the same thing. I actually wondered who they were, then downloaded as the palaces burn, then bought it because i liked what i heard. Then I started to see them live and yeah, they kill it nightly. seen them 3 times, but they dont hit minneapolis enough.
Damn straight about the twin cities, fuckin sucks being in the Bible belt man! My buddy down south gets spoiled since LOG usually plays at least 2-3 times a year in his general area, not to mention a ton of other awesome bands, especially new up-comers like this town is poison and the like.
Randy seemed to be completely missing the point. The guy didn’t ask if the internet helped them break into the business, he asked how it’s affected where they are today. I’m pretty sure their fanbase didn’t stop growing once they got signed, so it’s ridiculous to act like their early touring days are entirely responsible for how huge they are today.
Personally, it was a combination of a live show/downloading songs that got me into them. They were headlining a show with another band I wanted to see (Chimaira, I think). So, like usual, I downloaded a bunch of their songs and ones from the other bands playing that I wasn’t familiar with, to see if what I was in for. From there, I definitely made sure to stick around for their shirt and bought a shirt afterward. Meanwhile, I can never get into a band from a live show alone, since I tend to be way too picky about vocals, which can sound drastically different between recording and live play. At most, seeing a band live might drive me to check out their recorded stuff, before really forming an opinion.
First song I heard was “The Black Dahlia”, downloaded from the internet somewhere, and I liked what I’d heard. I wasn’t sold though so I downloaded a few more songs. I liked it but I wasn’t impressed until I heard “Ruin” and “11th Hour.” It was those songs that led me to see them on the Headbanger’s Ball Tour when they played @ The Palladium in between Shadow’s Fall and Killswitch Engage (also played: Unearth). In a gigantic cow suit, Randy Blythe destroyed that crowd as thoroughly as any that had been decimated in Worcester, MA, before. I also love that Lamb of God got a bigger reaction than any of the New England bands that played, heh.
I would never have bothered spending money to see one band I liked (KsE), but hearing LoG on the internet made me go see them live. That one show was enough to get me hooked. So, uhh, Randy I think is discrediting all too many people. Hard work got the shows and the music the respect it deserved, but once the music was respected it still needed an audience. The internet made it happen for them. I would look up show listings online, listen to bands online and tell friends on forums across the internet to check out said bands if they were good.
If Randy doesn’t like the band’s music being available, the band shouldn’t distribute digital copies of anything and issue endless cease & desist letters. Maybe they should take the law to the full extent of it and start suing heads. I’d kind of like to see Lamb Of God be the Metallica of our generation. It was because of Metallica that filesharing had to evolve. Maybe LoG will inspire the next counter attack. To paraphrase/parody Mr. Blythe: “Ask me why I hate, why I pray to see the users that loved us in cell block eight. I’d gladly lose my fans; the revolution won’t come too late.”
If it wasn’t for this website, I would not have the Burn the Priest cd that I believe I purchased from mp3.com Thanks again Wook!
A MONOLITH of STUPID = Randy Blythe. Capital letters make it mean more stuff.
For reals. Jeez Louise this guy is getting old & seems like a real hot headed douche.
i love randy and his band but… i remember downloading black label and well… that’s how I got into them….. so idk what he is talking about hahahaha
Will this guy just shut up already. Put out another record and quit bitching
I’d take it a step farther and say the internet is the main reason most people actually discover new music. It may be true that being out in the shows got you local fans and a record deal…but the popularity they reached is not defined (solely) by their live shows. I’d have NEVER bought a LOG album if not for theprp. Hell, I remember back in the MP3.com days that was how I discovered artists I enjoy to this day.
Saying the medium is irrelevant to your success just smacks of ignorance.
“I know I first heard Burn The Priest through a lovely 56k connection back in late 90′s, how about you?”
Didn’t care then. Don’t care now.
Do you think that if Randy and David from Disturbed were put in the same room together, Randy would end eating David out of anger or swallow arsenic as an escape? I say a TV station does a Big Brother show or Real World something, but only band frontmen. I’d watch that! More than likely to see David downloading LoG and Randy so furious someone uses the internet so he starts throwing David’s food out of the fridge… Then, mix Fred Durst in this. Man, this would be ratings!
“lamb of god damn doesn’t this guy ever shut the fuck up”, we get it you don’t care thats why you keep blogging
If Randy wasn’t an asshole, Lamb of God would probably suck.
Vagisil, aisle 9…. I downloaded new american gospel off of napster. Loved it, went to see them with God Forbid, E-Town and Candiria at the Birch Hill. And then again at the Birch Hill with In Flames and Killswitch. Besides Candiria, the wall of death stole both shows, ofcourse. Bought the album and a LOG shirt. I still say somebody has some sand in their vagina, though.
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