Bomb the Music Industry! Calling it Quits
Have you ever encountered an event so upsetting it leaves you stunned in disbelief? This is the best way to explain my emotions when Bomb the Music Industry! finished up what might very well be their last tour this week in South Dakota. The Brooklyn do-it-yourself punk rockers have broken up after an eight year run, according to their website. The final tour had nothing to do with the band members not getting along. In fact, the reasoning behind the split is probably something you would never expect from a punk band. The band states that the break up is mainly due to “weird vortexes of time where we float in between weird jobs that further us in very little ways as human beings”.
Why should anyone care about my all-time favorite band breaking up? I mean, millions of bands break up; BtMI isn’t the first to do it and certainly won’t be the last. But even if you hate punk rock; even if you have never heard anything from the band’s seven album discography; Bomb the Music Industry! matters to the music world.
It’s not just their name that suggests that this band rebels against the current music industry standards. Bomb the Music Industry! prides itself on doing things differently than most musicians. They offered donation-based music downloads, free spray-painted band shirts and only playing all ages shows under ten dollars. But above all they cared about their fans. In fact, if a fan learns one of their songs on an instrument, BtMI would invite them onstage to play along. Some of my best music memories are from the incredibly enthusiastic BtMI shows.
Once while playing at a retirement home recreation room, the band played so hard that the electricity cut out went out mid-song. Without skipping a beat, front man Jeff Rosenstock put down his electric guitar and picked up a battery operated keyboard and started playing a brand new song. The whole incident was so smooth. It almost seemed planned.
Although the split is upsetting for fans, it is important to take the good from the situation. The fact that BtMI was able to last eight years on donations, ten dollar ticket sales, fan appreciation, side jobs and most importantly amazing punk rock is an incredible feat in today’s radio controlled music scene. Their success proves that bands who are just starting out have other options than simply trying to please big record company CEOs. BtMI recently had an original track played on The Office and did a cover of the opening theme song for Showtime’s Weeds, which demonstrates they are better known then just around the punk community.
BtMI leaves the scene, not only giving it’s fans free music, but hope for a different approach for so many up and coming bands. New England’s own Riot Grrrl band, Doll Fight, has taken BtMI’s fan appreciation approach with free spray painted band shirts. Doll Fight states on their website “one of my favorite bands is called Bomb the Music Industry. One thing that I love about them is how far out of their way they go to connect with their fans, and to make themselves super accessible. Doll Fight! is taking a lesson out of their book and doing something BtMI has done for years.”
Those years have seen many changes for BtMI from playing basement shows to touring the world, there successes has been incredible. The band even says that they were “never really supposed to be a touring band that put out records, had a steady line-up, made money off of anything, continued anywhere outside of our houses.” I even had the opportunity to book and promote BtMI for a show at my school, Fitchburg State University, which is something not many people can say about their favorite band. I owe a lot to the fact that the band is so fan-friendly.
Although they may be breaking up for good, or at least a “serious minute” (according to the band), they say still hope to record a hardcore album in September. If you missed the greatness that was Bomb the Music Industry!, you can check out the discography for free as well as tons of other free music HERE!!!! Or read the entire blog post by the band HERE!!!
Adam Testagrossa snapped this awesome pic of Jeff Rosenstock and I at the Fitchburg State University Show
About the Author
Dave Mandaglio Dave is a college senior at Fitchburg State and an avid gamer. With a love for local and glocal music, Dave is co-creator and host of WXPL’s The Local Flavor. Born and raised on the Jersey shore, Dave proves there is more to The Garden State than bad smells and Snooki.
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