How Rich Musicians Used Covid Funds

Money

Business Insider has published a report about how a bunch of very well off artists abused Covid grants. It’s behind a paywall, but there’s a good breakdown on Twitter/X:

Alice in Chains members paid themselves $3.4M from grant the same year they made $48M selling their catalog. Meanwhile, their longtime guitar tech Scott Dachroeden — the exact type of worker this grant was meant to help — had to rely on GoFundMe when he got cancer.

And a summary on Stereogum:

Lil Wayne got a taxpayer-funded $8.9 million grant, and he “spent more than $1.3 million from the grant on private-jet flights and over $460,000 on clothes and accessories, many of them from high-end brands like Gucci and Balenciaga.” Wayne also reportedly used $175,000 of that money on “a music festival promoting his marijuana brand, GKUA” and also used the grant for “flights and luxury hotel rooms for women whose connection to Lil Wayne’s touring operation was unclear, including a waitress at a Hooters-type restaurant and a porn actress.”

Dark Mode

Dark Mode

Dark Mode has existed as a perk for supporting members since 2016. It was brought to the main website in December of 2017. However, over the years as the website has been updated, so has Dark Mode, and none of the previous posts showcase how it currently looks on the main website and in the community.

This post is to give you a little preview of what life on the dark side looks like. As a supporting member you are able to set your theme on your supporter options page, or your forum browsing preferences page. Your choice will work across both sections of the website. You can choose to view the website in the Light or Dark theme, or select the “automatic” mode and the theme will be set to what your operating system theme choice is. This is a great option if you have your operating system change over to its Dark theme at sunset because then the website will automatically switch as well.

Dark Mode will also work on third party auto-embeds that support a dark theme and, of course, also works on mobile devices. And, because it’s a supporting member perk, it never has any advertisements on it.

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Green Day Announced Audiophile ‘Dookie’

Green Day

Green Day will release an “audiophile” version of Dookie on January 24th.

Spread across 4 sides at 45rpm from the original analog master tapes, Dookie has never sounded better! This One-Step version is strictly limited to 3,000 copies. The album is housed inside a top quality, foil-stamped, uniquely designed numbered slipcase.  The enclosed gatefold double LP will feature an “Old Style” double gatefold tip-on jacket with original artwork.

Interview: The Clamor

The Clamor

Recently I was able to connect with Aaron Louis, better known as the solo project called The Clamor, to discuss what went into the writing and recording process of the latest single, “Staircase Stomp.” The song navigates the recognition of a sense of emptiness and unmet desires in life, coupled with an internal rebellion and the quest for comfort and connection. The Clamor are onto something great here, and more music will be coming soon in the new year.

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Pete Wentz on a Mission to Make Tennis More Inclusive and Less Elitist

Fall Out Boy

Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy talked with BroBible about trying to bring tennis to the masses:

For Wentz, tennis isn’t just a hobby—it’s personal. “I love tennis. I grew up with it. Tennis has enriched my life,” he told BroBible in an interview at the LA event. “But it also has this air of being impenetrable. It’s not just elitist; it feels like something only certain people are allowed to be part of. The goal of this club is to change that. To make tennis accessible, interesting, and even a little rock-and-roll. If you want to try it, you should try it.”

Interview: Shane Told of Silverstein

Silverstein

This past week I was able to schedule a Zoom call with the lead vocalist of Silverstein, Shane Told, to discuss the band’s “25 Years of Noise” tour with Thursday, as well as what went into the writing and recording process of their recently announced two new albums, Antibloom and Pink Moon. Shane dove deep into how the two records were shaped while recording in Joshua Tree, and how the vibe of that place started to seep into the new material. I also asked Shane to walk me through the “personality” of Silverstein’s last five LPs, plus much more. Antibloom will be released on February 21st via UNFD and pre-orders are on-going here.

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Reports: Brand New Perform Live With New Music

Brand New

NME are reporting that Brand New performed a show in Nashville over the weekend where they played two new songs:

When another fan asked for more details, they went on to explain that Lacey was rumoured to have previously performed “a private family and friends solo show around Christmas”, adding that “this year it was today with the whole band and they played new music”.

There are various other confirmations on Reddit as well.