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Nate Barcalow Discusses Finch Break-Up

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Nov 16, 2016.

  1. Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

  2. Ben Lee

    I drink coffee and dad my kids Supporter

    I feel like a label asking you to work with a producer isn't really all that weird. It probably was a soft way to say "we think a producer can make this better."
     
  3. mikalcheuk

    Newbie

    anyone know which producer they worked with?
     
  4. canvasofwinter

    Horrendous Space Kablooie

    I feel like this band never got out of the shadow of WIITB.

    They (and especially Nate) have continually tried to do darker, more experimental stuff, and every single time, they get punished for it. In this case, it sounds like the label was literally trying to push them to write happier, poppier songs.

    I think the results speak for themselves. The two songs they apparently made with the producer -- Monuments and These Buildings are Burning -- sound limp and forced, while Phantasma sounds like some of their best material ever.
     
  5. aniafc

    Trusted

    Last time they tried to be experimental, it failed. Of course the label wanted them to write poppier songs more similar to WIITB -- and a lot of fans wanted that, too.
     
    Raku and canvasofwinter like this.
  6. beachdude

    I'm not brave Prestigious

    Totally agreed. It's a bummer that they're mostly remembered only for WIITB among casual listeners when SHTS and the stuff afterwards were way more interesting.
     
    angrycandy and canvasofwinter like this.
  7. canvasofwinter

    Horrendous Space Kablooie

    Yeah, I recognize that a lot of people like WIITB the most, and that it's just a different strokes type thing. But that's also my point: I can't think of another band, ever, that has a fanbase this impossibly polarized. It's insane, and it's pretty clearly what keeps killing them.
     
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  8. skurt

    Sleekest of beaks. So Good.

    WIITB is my least favourite Finch release.
     
    mattylikesfilms and beachdude42 like this.
  9. Yellowcard2006

    Trusted

    Nate's story seems to match up with the one the other guys posted except it's actually more honest about what happened.
     
  10. mattylikesfilms

    Trusted

    Not to chose sides but I get where Nate is coming from. That's kind of shitty of the guys to post about Speak The Truth on instagram but not talk to Nate about it prior. I'm sure there's frustrating things Nate did as well since it takes two to tango but even if they needed the break- they should have communicated better to him. Dysfunctional band is dysfunctional right?

    PHANTASMA is great, it's a shame the guys/label didn't 100% stand by it. "Monuments" and "Burning Bridges" are fine but they're also generic Finch tunes pandering to "fans" who refuse to give up on WIITB. I get it. That record was my The Shape of Punk To Come when I first heard it. It forever changed me and I love that record for that but hear me out guys...

    It's not the best stuff from these guys. Not even close. In fact by the time that record cycle was over- the scene they help start (screamo emo whatever) was already over saturated and the band HAD to evolve or else they would die out fast. Did I want to hear another record like WIITB in 2005? Hell no. Say Hello to Sunshine BLEW ME AWAY when I first heard the leaked songs on KaZaa (lolz) and I did the cd bundle pre order when it was available cause I'm a true fan. I love that record and it's a shame it didn't catch on. Ever since that "flop"- the band has been tip toeing trying to please both sides of their fan base and that's why we got Back to Oblivion. A half killer half filler record that didn't meet its full potential. PHANTASMA easily beats that record for me and I can only dream how amazing World of Violence would have been if they band said fuck it and stuck to their guns and finished it instead of worrying about another SHTS-esque flop. I get why they would worry, I 100% get it, but it's the most tragic thing about this band. I would take a record like PHANTASMA over a record of songs like "Monuments" or WIITB type songs any day of any week.
     
  11. mattylikesfilms

    Trusted

    Gotta respect the fact that Nate didn't want to just tour and play old songs. He wanted to make a new progressive record and the demos of PHANTASMA alone is some of their most progressive stuff to date.

    Now if we could just figure out what the hell happened to R2K since he left before they even recorded demos..
     
  12. Ben Lee

    I drink coffee and dad my kids Supporter

    Totally fine to want to be a progressive band and take those risks, but don't ask a label to take them for you. Release it yourself if that's the case.
     
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  13. mattylikesfilms

    Trusted

    He wanted to. He brought up the idea of crowd funding to the band and I know I would have donated a generous amount to see a final product.
     
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  14. angrycandy

    I’m drama in these khaki towns Supporter

    not trying to be rude at all but did you watch the interview? Nate states that the producer the label set them up with was writing songs for them and not just a producer there to help flesh out the songs. He states in the interview that they were in the process of doing a crowd-funded record but the band said to give it a few months and continued to work with this producer. I don't know if you listened to the demos Nate released or the 2 songs the rest of the band released, but it's pretty clear who had the best intentions here and they're not making pop-punk songs with Buddy Neilsen in 2016 either
     
  15. Muzick

    Newbie

    I definitely didn't.
     
  16. Ben Lee

    I drink coffee and dad my kids Supporter

    I watched the entire thing, and none of this seems surprising. He didn't want a producer, the label and band did. He wanted to branch out, the band and label didn't (as evident by what they just released with buddy.) but then he still says this all came as a surprise? Seems pretty cut and dry.

    That's all I was saying. What people here might like (I'm a bigger fan of SHTS and the more experimental stuff too) isn't going to be what a label likes. If the timeline really is the way he says, he should've seen this coming in that first conversation with the label when they suggested a producer.
     
  17. mattylikesfilms

    Trusted

    The only thing is the whole band wrote PHANTASMA so it's not like it was always clear that the other members wanted to write poppier stuff. Also, a label suggesting a Producer is common but having said producer step out of line and straight up write stuff for a band that knows what they're doing is another thing. Not being a dick, just stating my take on it.
     
  18. kyleadams

    formerly thisisalchemy Prestigious

    If I remember right, the producer debacle happened during the recording of Say Hello To Sunshine. Some producer wanted to take the songs and make them more palatable, but they ended up saying no thanks and released what is still one of of my favorite albums of all time.

    Nate, I'll play drums in your next band.
     
  19. mattylikesfilms

    Trusted

    Mark Trombino, who did WIITB, told the band he wouldn't do the record unless they added in more choruses/accessibility to the record. They decided to go with Jason Cupp who no one at the label heard of and somehow they got away with it.
     
    Bryan Diem likes this.
  20. canvasofwinter

    Horrendous Space Kablooie

    Wow, really? I never heard that, but it's super interesting. Is there a source for it?

    Did he? I was trying to figure this out too, but I think he might've been around for these demos. Nate says they recorded these over the summer of 2015, and R2K was around until their holiday 2015 shows, I think.
     
  21. canvasofwinter

    Horrendous Space Kablooie

    Sorry for the double-post, but I'm really into this discussion and I think the post break helps separate out my thoughts.

    One of the really frustrating things about this band and WIITB is that their other stuff could totally find an audience. The Phantasma demos are dark, but they're still really catchy. There's a huge audience for that style of music. See Deftones, for one example. Finch just... I don't know, either they never found it, or the perception of WIITB as a really poppy record prevented that audience from finding them. In an alternate universe, I could see Finch as a band that was ultimately praised for branching out, exploring deeper music, and refusing to follow the pack.
     
  22. mattylikesfilms

    Trusted

    I remember reading an interview with Nate in alt press around the release of SHTS and he mentioned Trombino not being happy with the demos. Makes sense too considering the big departure in sound.

    Also Daniel answered questions on the Finch fb page about everything and he mentioned that it was the four of them (not including R2K) that recorded the demos.
     
    canvasofwinter likes this.
  23. mattylikesfilms

    Trusted

    Oh 100% dude. I felt the same about Emanuel when they released Black Earth Tiger. The thing too is PHANTASMA has somewhat catchy tracks as well (in its own experimental dark way) with "All For You" and "What You Are". I could see WYA being played on Sirius rock radio.
     
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  24. canvasofwinter

    Horrendous Space Kablooie

    Black Earth Tiger is so good.

    And yeah, it's bizarre. I think most labels would be super pumped about a record like Phantasma, coming from basically any other band. All I can imagine is that the label wanted WIITB 2, and they pushed so hard for it that the band dissolved again.

    I wish Nate would do a solo project in the vein of darker Finch. I bet that would get crowdfunded super quick. I do really like R2K and Grizz, but Phantasma sounds great even without R2K apparently, so I dunno...
     
    mattylikesfilms likes this.
  25. canvasofwinter

    Horrendous Space Kablooie

    Also, I'm re-listening to the Speak the Truth songs, and it's eerie how much THOSE sound like WIITB.