CHIMAIRA Frontman Discusses State Of The Music Industry

Zach Shaw of MetalInsider.net recently conducted an interview with vocalist Mark Hunter of Cleveland, Ohio metallers CHIMAIRA. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

MetalInsider.net: What would you say is your biggest concern facing musicians right now?
Hunter: Well, the reality is, the format that we were all releasing music on is virtually dead. So it becomes very difficult to understand how there's any revenue, how there's supposed to be a relationship between the artist and record label if neither are getting the revenue that they need to do the job.

MetalInsider.net: Would you say that the labels are more at blame for the current problems, or the fans for illegally downloading?

Hunter: I don't think you can point a finger, honestly. For example, it's really easy for an artist to blame the label for something. But at the same time the artist can be making stupid mistakes that they're unaware of, and the only person they can blame is the label when the label might not have any idea what that issue is. So you can't just blame people and you can't just expect things to revert and go back to normalcy, but you also can't keep these issues hidden from the young aspiring band, maybe people currently in the industry wondering why everything is so weird. I think it's just time to realize the fact that the industry has changed and it's time to adapt.

MetalInsider.net: What would you say is the best way for musicians and the industry to adapt?

Hunter: OK, well, I think it starts with the artist having to be good. And right now, what has been happening, labels will maybe get lucky with one band or they see success that another label is doing with one band. So you get a lot of copycatting and imitating. And I think what this period of time that we're in [needs] is a reorganization, and you have to squeeze it so hard that you get rid of a lot of the bands and labels that are just trying to grab onto a quick cash grab. I think there needs to be an emergence of extreme originality. And it's so difficult to believe that I can't hardly find a metal band anymore that doesn't sound exactly like the metal band that was just released last week or the week before that. It's just this wholeI don't know what it is, this Pro Tools generation. But I think that you're going to, hopefully, see the end of that.

MetalInsider.net: During some of your tweets, you explained how a record deal breaks down (with the label making 6-7 times more than the band). Though you highlight how labels are an important source of funding for promotion and production, you also admit that CHIMAIRA is currently at a status where (though still not the biggest band) you can still get major media coverage without labels. Why, then, did the band decide to sign a recording deal with eOne Records last year when you guys were free agents? Did the band ever consider going DIY?

Hunter: Yes, honestly, once we became free agents, that was the goal. We were fully intent on pushing forward and being completely independent. And I thought to myself, "OK, well if we wanted a publicist, we would hire the same publicist who was working for us at the same time, Maria Ferrero [Adrenaline PR]," and I would go to Maria and say, "Hey, we're without a label, could you do me a favor?" Maybe she would have, maybe wouldn't. Either way, we would've paid her to do this service. Then there's radio, we would've contacted the radio department. Marketing, we would've contacted Marc Shapiro [Branch Marketing Collective]. So all the people that our label were contacting to hire and outsource, we could do the same exact thing. Now then the biggest obstacle from that point would be getting it distributed, how you're going to get it in the stores. We would've tried to do what's called a "distro" deal with RED Distribution, who are familiar with CHIMAIRA as they've distributed all of our other albums. So it's essentially what's called "cutting out the middle man." But what we came to realize was the bankroll, and getting that initial funding to do those things. To record an album costs us anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000. Then there's hiring a publicist, perhaps it's around anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 a month? I don't even know these costs, I'm kind of making them up. Let's just say you're up to about $100,000. Well, it would be nice if CHIMAIRA had 100 grand parked in the savings account to go forward and do that, but unfortunately we did not. So at that time, it made more sense to sign up with a team that would help us promote and reach further than we could on our own. And another giant factor in that was Europe. The market over there is completely different than it is here, and we knew that we know nothing about that. It would've been career suicide to try to do that on our own over there right now. So as we're still part of the paradigm shift, it's essential to hold onto it while we can because they still do help. I don't see them as such a negative, but my purpose for informing people, bands, fans, and aspiring musicians is maybe they'll appreciate what the artists are doing just a little bit more and what they go through. It's not what it's cracked up to be. Yes, if we were Lil Wayne, we'd be making a lot of money, but that's not the case. This is below minimum wage for so many people, below the poverty line for so many people, and all of it is for an appreciation of art and the connection with the fans. So if they realize that, maybe when the go see the bands, they go off a little harder or instead of buying 15 beers at the show, maybe they buy 14 and a t-shirt. These things are important because otherwise all of our favorite bands are going to eventually start dropping like flies. It's already happening. It's not going to start happening, it's happened.

MetalInsider.net: I was curious then whether eOne has met your expectations or not so far (with CHIMAIRA's new album, "The Age Of Hell", having been out since August).

Hunter: I take no issue with eOne at all. There has been a really good communication with the team there, and I feel they did a solid job, and they had many obstacles. For example, Best Buy, who was the number one seller for CHIMAIRA for our entire career, made it extremely difficult for us to get our product in the store. So if you're a metalhead and all your favorite mom-and-pop stores are closing down, you're going to Best Buy because it's cheap and you know stuff is there. Well, if our record's not there and you want the physical product, where are you getting it? F.Y.E., for $16.99? I don't think so! So there's Hot Topic, but you have the whole stigma that some metalheads don't even want to walk in there [laughs]. So it makes it extremely difficult and our backs are against the wall. But do I think eOne did a good job? Yes. I mean, they did everything that we've had done in the past, and they went a little outside the box as well and really let me be the nut that I am and be in charge of the little guerilla marketing ideas I'd have in the middle of the night. They were really interested in everything that we've had to say. Do I think there could've been better sales or stuff? Yeah. Do I think that's their fault? No. I think that they did what they could do with what they were given, given the circumstances and the time that we live in.

Read the entire interview from MetalInsider.net.