AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED’S J. RANDALL TAKES ON SCION
Image from J. Randall’s blog. I’m assuming he made this; the car model is actually called the “Hako.”
Hey, remember yesterday, when we told you about that free EP that Magrudergrind are giving away in conjunction with Scion? Well Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s J. Randall apparently isn’t too happy about Magrudergrind associating themselves with the corporate entity — or any metal band associating themselves with the corporate entity.
In a recent blog, Randall criticizes Integrity for failing to live up to their name “w/ their recent Scion showcase at the ROXY,” and then takes Magrudergrind to task for working with Scion, too: “Heres a band that was to ‘punk’ to give Relapse a record but is down to float a fuckin’ ‘SCION’ logo on the front of their album cover? WTF?” Randall doesn’t even think Scion is getting anything out the deal:
“Now I ain’t some crust monk who’s taken some gutter punk vow of poverty, running around hating on mother fuckers trying to make a little coin off their shit -but I doubt there is much money changing hands here at all. Scion hit me up awhile ago asking if I was into doing a video for some band, me being a bit of a dirty car salesman myself hit ’em back to find out what they where looking to spend and that pretty much ended that. As costs in the advertising/marketing world go compared to sponsoring a pro athlete or getting a actor to endorse your product ‘extreme metal’ is a fuckin’ prostitute, jerk you off, blow you in your Scion xBS for a couple bucks. But hey Scion you get what you pay for -no ding dong is running out to buy one of your hipster crap wagons because you did some metal/hardcore showcase, your just publicly outing some poor band as your whore.”
I know that the intersection of the corporate world with the metal world is always a touchy subject — hell, this is the second time it’s come up today alone.
But I’m honestly not sure what Randall’s point is. So far, Scion has given the metal world free concerts and free albums, and helped a really talented unsigned band, Iron Thrones, get some pretty major exposure. In exchange, sure, their name and logo has popped up a whole bunch of places it normally wouldn’t — including on the cover of the aforementioned Magrudergrind Crusher EP — but it’s not like they’ve asked the bands to actively endorse their products. I mean, I haven’t heard a Scion jingle by Magrudergrind, y’know? They didn’t record a song just for a beer commercial or anything. They basically let a huge company foot the bill for something they were gonna do anyway — make ugly, ugly grindcore. And if, as Randall asserts, “no ding dong is running out to buy one of your hipster crap wagons because you did some metal/hardcore showcase,” then, really, shouldn’t metal musicians and fans just be happy they’re getting so much out the deal for so little? (It’s also worth noting that Randall’s bandmate in Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Scott Hull, played 2009’s Scion-sponsored free festival in Atlanta with his other band, Pig Destroyer. I have to wonder what Hull would make of Randall’s comments.)
Read the rest of Randall’s blog here, then let us know what you think in the comments section. And if you haven’t already, check out the excellent interview “Grim Kim” Kelly’s did with Randall for MetalSucks here.
-AR
Additional reporting by Gary Suarez.
