Unlocking the Truth sign a million dollar contract with Sony

Woah.

Daaaaaaamn. OK, cancel that comeback.

That's seriously the most tragic series of deaths in the family that I've ever heard of. My day has nearly been ruined from reading that. Shit.

I hereby dub Shawn of Fire "Captain Bring-Down!"

F**kin' hell that was depressing!!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Surely this can't be the first time something like this has happened?

How'bout "Old Skull," the late 80s punk band made up of grade-school kids?



I always wondered what happened to these kids. Shoot, they're probably still young enough to mount a comeback

Wow. That is f*cking HORRIBLE!   

name sounds horrible for a band. never heard of them.

Eyesore wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Surely this can't be the first time something like this has happened?

How'bout "Old Skull," the late 80s punk band made up of grade-school kids?



I always wondered what happened to these kids. Shoot, they're probably still young enough to mount a comeback

Wow. That is f*cking HORRIBLE!   

Very much so.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I hereby dub Shawn of Fire "Captain Bring-Down!"

agreed.....! lol...


But seriously.... that is beyond tragic for any family.....

Fat Freddy wrote:

I really want to root for these kids, but they'll never sell 250,000 copies of their debut album. They'll get chewed up & spit out by this time next year.

That's another reason to support the statistics to count digital sales along with physical sales.

Wow. There's very few rock bands that can sell 250k copies these days. That's an extremely unrealistic hope for a new band (and for a veteran band as well).

Looks like these kids (or at least, whoever is handling their business affairs) wised up cuz they're in the process of getting out of their "deal" with Sony...without releasing a note of music.

Blabbermouth wrote:

According to Billboard.com, UNLOCKING THE TRUTH — the heavy metal band from Flatbush, Brooklyn made up of three African-American boys, guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse, bassist Alec Atkins and drummer Jarad Dawkins — is severing ties with Sony, less than a year after signing with the major label.

"Our attorneys are working on our exit from Sony now," Malcolm Brickhouse said at the world premiere of "Breaking A Monster", a documentary about the band's rise to success.

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH manager Alan Sacks confirmed to Billboard.com the group was in the process of leaving Sony.

The members of UNLOCKING THE TRUTH famously got permission from a New York judge last July to sign the Sony deal. The musicians needed the judge's approval because they are minors.

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH last summer recorded its first single, "Monster", but the song has yet to be released.

As part of its guaranteed two-album deal with Sony, UNLOCKING THE TRUTH was reportedly due to receive $60,000 to record the first disc and possibly as much as $325,000 for the second CD. Sony reportedly had an option to release a total of five albums from UNLOCKING THE TRUTH that could have pushed the label's financial investment to around $1.7 million ($325,000 for the second album, $400,000 for the third, $450,000 for the fourth and $550,000 for the fifth). It should be noted, however, that the band was only supposed to see the real money after an initial $60,000 advance if their debut album sold more than 250,000 copies, a prospect that seemed highly unlikely in an age of diminishing record sales.

Quote :

"Our attorneys are working on our exit from Sony now," Malcolm Brickhouse said at the world premiere of "Breaking A Monster"

How does that work exactly? Is this something that will keep them tied in legal red-tape till the end of time? Sounds like quite a mess to me.

Quote :

How does that work exactly? Is this something that will keep them tied in legal red-tape till the end of time? Sounds like quite a mess to me.

Depends on who initiated the "break" - them or Sony. Maybe the novelty wore off, or maybe someone at Sony finally listened to their music and said "Y'know what? These kids are actually kinda terrible, maybe we'd better bail out now."

Yea, I guess so. Sounds to me like the band is trying to get out of the deal. So I guess it depends on how badly Sony wants to hold them to it or just lets them go.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Quote :

"Our attorneys are working on our exit from Sony now," Malcolm Brickhouse said at the world premiere of "Breaking A Monster"

How does that work exactly? Is this something that will keep them tied in legal red-tape till the end of time? Sounds like quite a mess to me.

I don't know the particulars here, but contracts with minors are usually voidable at the discretion of the minor - meaning that the minor can walk away from the contract whenever they want.

I'm sure that'll play a big part of it.

Back to the basement where they belong for another five years.

I don't even know why they were signed to begin with... there's so many other bands out there that are better and deserve to be signed.

Quote :

I don't even know why they were signed to begin with...

They have a good "gimmick"... and major labels love gimmicks...

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

I don't even know why they were signed to begin with...

They have a good "gimmick"... and major labels love gimmicks...

"Three black kids, think 'Urkel' that, get this, play heavy metal!! We can't lose!! We'll make millions!! Pass the coke!!"

Quote :

"Three black kids, think 'Urkel' that, get this, play heavy metal!! We can't lose!! We'll make millions!! Pass the coke!!"

Yup, that's pretty much it...

I was just watching Nickelodeon with my kid and Unlocking The Truth randomly turned up in a commercial for Air Heads candy:

Well, at the very least, it would seem they're still together and making music after the dust has settled. That's good(?), I guess.

So their album is finally going to be released June 17th...

Quote :

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH — the heavy metal band from Flatbush, Brooklyn made up of three African-American boys, guitarist/vocalist Malcolm Brickhouse, bassist Alec Atkins and drummer Jarad Dawkins — will release its full-length debut album, "Chaos", on June 17 via premier independent music distributor Tunecore. The set was produced by Johnny K (MEGADETH, POP EVIL, DISTURBED) and captures the young band's explosive live energy, resulting in a tight, powerfully heavy yet melodic full-length offering.

Of "Chaos", Brickhouse commented: "We can't wait for everyone to hear our album. We've worked very hard to give the fans something they'll love and never forget. We hope they are able to relate to the songs the way that we do and have the time of their lives listening to them. We know that this album will blow you guys away."

Looks like they ditched the "Urkel-look" in favor of something more metal too...