New song tomorrow on Absolutepunk.net at 3 as part of an awesome chance to get weekend passes to Today’s Mixtape Festival. Don’t miss out! @absolutepunk @jakeecc #todaysmixtapefestival #bellwether #poppunk #thestorysofar #manoverboard #transit #defeater #ironchic #shaihulud #backtrack #turnover #hostagecalm #citizen
Bellwether is a five-piece pop-punk band from Long Island, New York. Their debut EP “Elephant in the Room” was released September 19th 2011 via Meadowbrook Records.
FFO: Blink-182, Set Your Goals, Giants At Large
1. With All Due Disrespect (4.5/5)
Definitely a strong way to start the…
Long Island’s Bellwether have opened for bands like Man Overboard, The Story So Far, A Loss For Words, With The Punches, and many more. PropertyOfZack is happy to be posting an interview conducted with the band. Check it out below!
Where are you from?
We are from various parts of Long Island, NY and Brooklyn.
Who are your major influences?
As individuals, each member of the band has an array of different influences, from Rancid to Kevin Devine to August Burns Red to Jawbreaker; the differences often lead to derisive remarks and personal insults over long van rides. More to the point, and to avoid being yet another “pop-punk band thats afraid of the pop-punk label”, our influence as a whole and in terms of the sound we go for is rooted strongly in late 90s/early 2000s pop-punk like Blink, NFG, The Movielife, The Starting Line, early Brand New, and early TBS.
What local bands influenced you when you first started in local music?
A band that influenced my interest in and desire in being a part of the local scene was Show Me Action. A friend brought me to see Show Me Action in 2007, just after they had gotten back from being nominated for an MTVU woodie. The way this band I had never heard of before (at that time, I found out about bands via Fuse and absolutepunk) was able to overpack a 200ish capacity place was remarkable. Furthermore, it was eye-opening to the types of experiences you can have with bands/shows that you don’t see hyped on the internet as much as others.
What are your future tour plans?
We’re going to be heading out on an 11 day spring break tour in April. Info on it can be found on our Facebook page or BellwetherLI.com. We’ve been and will continue to be doing weekend tours throughout the spring, and are about to put together an extensive summer tour with our friends in American Verse (if you don’t think we should mention them by name then make some allusion). In the fall we’re at the very least gonna be doing frequent weekends, as we plan on putting out lots of new music in the near future, as well as a music video for “In Memoriam.”
What are the topics your EP hit?
The Elephant in the Room covers lots of situations/thoughts I had over the course of my college experience. “With All Due Disrespect” is about my disgust with the “image-first/music-who gives a shit” ethics of so many bands, local and national, in the scene. “Wishbone” is about being overwhelmed and distanced from the people closest to you in post-high school life; the fishbowl life cracks into an ocean and you’re not really sure where you or other people stand. “Chance” is about the “what is this? What are we?” anxieties when you contrast a freshly started promising relationship with the way all the bad ones went. “In Memoriam” is the most serious song I’ve ever written; it was written the day after my friend died in a car accident on the way to his job (volunteering at Anchor, a special needs summer camp). Floral Park (my hometown) has had numerous young deaths, pretty much annually for the past decade, and this song is about growing up with that painful reality. “Yup, You’re a Shitty Person” and “Debt Consolidation” are about, obviously, what was a tumultuous long distance relationship gone badly; they cover the triumphant “better off” and the frustrated “this was a lie and a waste” feelings that come after, respectively.
Check out this interview I did for Bellwether on POZ. All sorts of stuff regarding tour plans, new music, song meanings, and so much more. PLEASE REBLOG.
BELLWETHER’S EP UP ON ABSOLUTEPUNK’S FREE MUSIC FRIDAY
Pick it up and spread this around!
For Fans of: A Loss For Words, Handguns, The Story So Far, The Wonder Years, Taking Back Sunday
Reblog/repost!
(Album cover by Dan Buksa, first photo by Hingwa Moy, second photo by Rob Menzer)
Read everything below and then refer back to this writing.
My friend Laura Murray is a fantastic photographer and a fantastic supporter of the music scene. She takes some of the best live shots and promos I’ve seen. And beyond that she is a genuinely nice person and conducts herself as the utmost professional. The combination of her love for music as well as the passion she puts into her photography, she would have been elated to have been told that All In Merchandise wanted to use her shot for this shirt. Such a thing should’ve been an unadulterated moment of joy and pride. Instead it’s come to all of this fighting to be heard and get what is owed. Ironically, I’m not even sure Laura would have asked for much money. But it is the disrespect from not even being contacted before printing these shirts (and the later re-printing of these shirts after they sold out AND after they had been contacted numerous times) that has brought it to this.
I know she didn’t want it to come to this. And if it doesn’t get resolved soon, she’s gonna have to take it to the legal level.
It is probably best that the people at All In Merchandise be contacted.
By email: Info@allinmerch.com or Social@allinmerch.com (something tells me that first one will be checked but both wouldn’t hurt)
By phone: 518.674.5759
On facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/All-In-Merchandise/153880694664796
Spread the word about this. Thanks.
Haaaha, look at what my friend got me last night.
Before I get into this, first let me say that I really like The Story So Far. In fact, a member has reached out to me trying to help and fix the situation (thanks again).
However, AllinMerch.com does not seem to have the same etiquette. That’s my photo, and I was not told that it was going to be used. Which I find a little weird because honestly, I feel like you would have to rip that resolution size off of my flickr, which has MY CONTACT INFO ALL OVER IT. Whatever, I emailed them a few times and sent them invoices to collect the few dollas that are rightfully mine, cause ya know, I took that photograph and it’s copyrighted (BTW, you guys only had to sell about 7 shirts in order to make up for what I was asking, which shouldn’t be an issue because I see that you had to reprint it………….). I didn’t wanna put all this shit out on the internet (I deleted the screencap along with all of the comments from my Facebook within 15 minutes of when I first found out about it), but after a few weeks of being blatantly ignored have gone by, I really couldn’t care less anymore. (By the way… I KNOW that you guys have read them and that you are aware of the issue, which makes this even shittier). Actually no, what’s shittier is that I’ve been told that a few of you guys that run the company belong in bands that I have paid to see and bought EPs/merch from. Hmm.
The worst thing you can do is completely and rudely ignore someone (thus pissing them off further) who is asking for payment because you are MAKING MONEY OFF OF SOMETHING OF THEIRS THAT IS COPYRIGHTED WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE…..HINT…HINT…..
