Death Cab talks about PJ in new Spin...

RiotAct10

I searched for this and didn't see it posted, so I hope it is worth me taking the time to type this out....

Spin: As a band, you're in uncharted waters now. You put out an album on Atlantic that did well [2005's Plans], now you've got another, and we're doing this interview in [late Atlantic Records founder] Ahrnet Entegun's office. Are there any bands you guys feel like you can turn to for guidance or advice about how to make this work?

Ben Gibbard: Honestly, I don't think we have to look further than our own city. Look at Pearl Jam. I can't think of a band that has their organization and their relationships and their sense of self and sense of band more in tune. And clearly, they've been through way more than we'd ever imagine going through.

Chris Walla: When everything blew up for them in 1991, they hadn't been making music together for that long. The three of four records that followed Ten were, I think, better and better as they sold fewer and fewer copies.

Nick Harmer: The parameters have changed even in the past two and a half years and continue to change. What does a music career entail anymore? I mean, when the world tells you that your music should be free, cutting off what has historically been one of a band's largest revenue steams...We're in kind of this no-man's land now, as far as advice goes. Pearl Jam's advice about how they ran their career is good to a point, but no band is ever going to sell 25 million copies of their first album anymore. Ever. So there's no way that holds up any more than if Vampire Weekend called me and said, "Hey man, we don't know what we need to do anymore." I'd be like, "I don't know either, man!"

You can read the full article here.... http://digital.spin.com/spin/200805/?pg=83&pm=2&u1=friend


Also, here is a clip from the main article, about My Morning Jacket....

A storm. It's a perfect metaphor for how forceful MMJ's live act has grown through nearly ten years of touring. Eddie Vedder got his first hint of their stage ferocity the morning after friends caught them live. "I remember a tangible electricity was still pulsing through the people who had seen them the night before," he says.
In 2006, Pearl Jam invited MMJ to open for them on nearly two dozen dates in Europe and the States. Vedder recalls being interviewed backstage during one of MMJ's first soundchecks. "I was telling the guy how much they reminded me of the Band, whose music was a big influence on me. And as we were talking, through the wall- I thought I was dreaming, but they were playing the Band's "It Makes No Difference." So I looked at the cat-'Okay, interview over'- and ran out and watched them play it, and it was so, so exciting." Vedder sang the song with MMJ almost every night thereafter.

augustwest

nice find

it makes no difference was such a surprise when it happened...to hear ev sing those danko lines was um well...perfect. they nailed it

Yellow Ledbelly

Hearing Ed do "It makes no difference" with MMJ was a great joy for me. The Band created some of the greatest music ever put on wax, just amazing what a talented group of individuals they were.
I would die a happy man if they get together at Bonnaroo and do that song together again

NeverbeenLedbetter

good article, speaks to how PJ is select group of professionals in the music industry

haas

augustwest wrote:

nice find

it makes no difference was such a surprise when it happened...to hear ev sing those danko lines was um well...perfect. they nailed it

anyone know where one can find that.. is it on toutube

yahamita

Deathcab will be here in Bend,OR May 24th with the Decemberists.. The Memorial Day weekend will bring Spearhead, and Modest Mouse along with deathcab for the entire weekend.

gozzo5058

augustwest wrote:

nice find

it makes no difference was such a surprise when it happened...to hear ev sing those danko lines was um well...perfect. they nailed it

does anyone have a boot of cleveland 06's vedder/mmj's it makes no difference?

Unkept

Ah man. Brings back memories of 04 in Toledo with Death Cab opening. But maybe the best musical moment at a concert might have been in Cleveland 06, when Eddie stayed out after his pre-set, introduced MMJ, and sang 'It Makes No Difference' which is my favorite Band tune, and one of the best songs ever written. I was in the fifth row I think, and it just blew my damn mind. I thought, "Well Pearl Jam hasn't played yet, but if that is all I heard tonight, that'd be ok", fortunatley PJ played a great show, and it remains my favorite PJ show I've seen. Being in the 5th row helped, but it was a great setlist, and great vibe onstage.

NY PJ1

i heard a certain someone on the board is married to someone in that band

RiotAct10

gozzo5058 wrote:

does anyone have a boot of cleveland 06's vedder/mmj's it makes no difference?

I do. Send me a message with your email address and I will send it your way. It is audience recorded of course, but its actually a pretty good recording.

Also, if anyone wants just MMJ doing the song, it was on a Band tribute album, and you can but it on iTunes.

Igottago

Getting a little more into what the guys are saying, this is exactly why the internet and mp3's are actually a double edged sword. Its OK for a band like Radiohead or NIN to give away their music, they already sold millions of records. But the failing infrastructure of record labels is now hurting the mid sized bands like Death Cab..what do they do? They aren't making millions, how do they continue as a band and still make a living at it? They bring up some really good points, and as trendy as it is to say "fuck the major labels", I still think music needs an infrastructure and a business model, unless we are happy with real bands making the same amount as the busker at the local train station.

blueeyedevil

Igottago wrote:

Getting a little more into what the guys are saying, this is exactly why the internet and mp3's are actually a double edged sword. Its OK for a band like Radiohead or NIN to give away their music, they already sold millions of records. But the failing infrastructure of record labels is now hurting the mid sized bands like Death Cab..what do they do? They aren't making millions, how do they continue as a band and still make a living at it? They bring up some really good points, and as trendy as it is to say "fuck the major labels", I still think music needs an infrastructure and a business model, unless we are happy with real bands making the same amount as the busker at the local train station.

I see where you are coming from, but in the music business artists have normally made far more money from touring than from record sales. I know there are exceptions, but most bands make very little off album sales, especially when they are on their first contract.

I'm not implying that the artists don't deserve every penny they can make for their efforts, but I think it's really the labels that are taking the beating right now. While I am not completely in the "fuck the major labels" camp, I also see how their greed has hleped to destroy their own empire.

Good music, mark my words, shall survive.

augustwest

Igottago wrote:

Getting a little more into what the guys are saying, this is exactly why the internet and mp3's are actually a double edged sword. Its OK for a band like Radiohead or NIN to give away their music, they already sold millions of records. But the failing infrastructure of record labels is now hurting the mid sized bands like Death Cab..what do they do? They aren't making millions, how do they continue as a band and still make a living at it? They bring up some really good points, and as trendy as it is to say "fuck the major labels", I still think music needs an infrastructure and a business model, unless we are happy with real bands making the same amount as the busker at the local train station.

blueeyedevil covered it well...basically the bands never made that much cash off selling albums in the first place...rather it was the record company's who took the profits and then in turn paid off mariah carey 25million to break a contract(sony music SUCKS)...what was sony music thinking...bet their current leader thought that was a bonehead move!

anyways for what it's worth...hit the road hard build and your fan base from the ground up, once you have won them over they will buy every little thing you put out...kinda like selling towels and um posters and um

yahamita

NY PJ1 wrote:

i heard a certain someone on the board is married to someone in that band

NO!!!! Really? hahahahah

RiotAct10

augustwest wrote:

anyways for what it's worth...hit the road hard build and your fan base from the ground up, once you have won them over they will buy every little thing you put out...kinda like selling towels and um posters and um

Beer Koozies... Lighters...Socks...

josevolution

augustwest wrote:

nice find

it makes no difference was such a surprise when it happened...to hear ev sing those danko lines was um well...perfect. they nailed it

no doubt back in 06 at east rutherford i stood there against the rail up front and it seemed like i was in a dream state i thought it was just me and them i could of walked out of there after that song and been truly happy .....:D

demetrios

NY PJ1 wrote:

i heard a certain someone on the board is married to someone in that band

sweet!

any of ya in the Official DCFC #1138 Union Local Fan Club?

IAmMyself

Thanks