WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.620 Usually when you picture the creation of a definitive 00:00:03.620 --> 00:00:06.299 studio album, you probably imagine a certain 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:09.060 level of, I don't know, untouchable glamour. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.779 Oh, for sure. Like artists locked away in some 00:00:11.779 --> 00:00:14.080 isolated recording compound in the woods. Right, 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.420 with millions of dollars in studio equipment, 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:18.780 totally detached from the real world, just communing 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:20.940 with their muses. Yeah, the classic rock star 00:00:20.940 --> 00:00:25.059 myth. Exactly. But in 2014, a couple of college 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:28.320 kids... literally wrote and recorded a legendary 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:32.880 rock album between biology midterms and agonizing 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:35.619 over their dorm room setups. Which is just wild 00:00:35.619 --> 00:00:38.759 to think about. It really is. So today, our mission 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:41.340 is to unpack a truly unexpected masterpiece. 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:43.640 We're looking at You're Gonna Miss It All, which 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.880 is the sophomore studio album by the American 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:48.600 rock band Modern Baseball. Yeah, and we are utilizing 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:50.920 a highly comprehensive Wikipedia article for 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:53.759 this. It details the album's background, its 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:56.899 deeply unorthodox creation, and its lasting critical 00:00:56.899 --> 00:00:58.619 legacy. Because we really want to understand 00:00:58.619 --> 00:01:01.320 how art made in the, you know, the messy margins 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:03.920 of reality can sometimes outlive those multi 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.900 -million dollar studio productions. It is a fascinating 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:10.519 document, honestly. Because it forces us to reevaluate 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:13.980 what a masterpiece actually requires. We're basically 00:01:13.980 --> 00:01:15.859 tracking the trajectory of a couple of students 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:18.200 who went from playing acoustic guitars in their 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:22.920 bedrooms to... unintentionally defining a highly 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:26.120 specific, fiercely beloved era of music. The 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.180 Midwest emo revival. Exactly. The Midwest emo 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:31.060 revival. Okay, let's unpack this, because if 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:32.700 you are listening to this right now and you aren't 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:34.819 deeply entrenched in underground music scenes, 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.120 the term Midwest emo revival probably sounds 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:40.180 like a completely made -up string of words. I 00:01:40.180 --> 00:01:42.260 mean, it is a bit of a mouthful. Yeah. And before 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:43.920 we can even talk about the album itself, we have 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:45.500 to understand what this music actually sounds 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:48.180 like. Because when I hear emo, my brain instantly 00:01:48.180 --> 00:01:50.939 goes to the early 2000s. Let me guess. Heavy 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:54.260 black eyeliner. Yep. Eyeliner, screaming vocals, 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:57.140 and highly theatrical music videos on MTV. Right, 00:01:57.140 --> 00:02:00.260 right. But that is the mainstream pop punk interpretation 00:02:00.260 --> 00:02:03.760 of emo. Midwest emo is an entirely different 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:07.000 beast mechanically. How so? Well sonically it's 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.759 characterized by these very intricate almost 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:12.680 math rock style guitar riffs. Oh. We're talking 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:16.340 about twinkly clean guitar tones. They use unusual 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:18.919 tunings and really complex time signatures. So 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:20.939 it's actually pretty technical. Highly technical. 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:23.960 But layered over that instrumentation are vocals 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:27.340 that are purposefully untrained. They're raw 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:30.240 and deeply confessional. So it's less polished, 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:32.979 more authentic. Yeah, it sounds less like a rock 00:02:32.979 --> 00:02:35.599 god performing for you, and more like your best 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.939 friend just venting to you in a basement. I love 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:41.180 that. So the appeal is the sheer proximity of 00:02:41.180 --> 00:02:44.719 it. It's technical, but deeply unpretentious. 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.080 Exactly. And that perfectly sets the stage for 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:50.120 where Modern Baseball was at in 2013. Their 2012 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.879 debut album, Sports, was essentially just two 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:55.870 guys, right? Right. Bren Lukens and Jake Ewald. 00:02:56.110 --> 00:02:59.250 They created that intimate basement sound mostly 00:02:59.250 --> 00:03:01.090 as a duo. But for you're gonna miss it all, there 00:03:01.090 --> 00:03:03.069 was a massive shift in their physical setup. 00:03:03.229 --> 00:03:06.330 There was. They made a deliberate choice to expand 00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:09.530 from a duo into a massive sounding four -piece 00:03:09.530 --> 00:03:12.650 rock band. Which is a huge jump. It is. As the 00:03:12.650 --> 00:03:14.870 source outlines, they brought in Ian Farmer to 00:03:14.870 --> 00:03:18.349 play bass and Sean Huber on drums. And what's 00:03:18.349 --> 00:03:20.669 fascinating here is that they didn't do this 00:03:20.669 --> 00:03:23.710 after graduating and securing some massive record 00:03:23.710 --> 00:03:25.870 deal. No, of course not. They did this while 00:03:25.870 --> 00:03:28.090 all four of them were still actively attending 00:03:28.090 --> 00:03:31.819 college in Philadelphia. which introduces a complete 00:03:31.819 --> 00:03:34.500 logistical nightmare. Oh, absolutely. You have 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:38.099 four full -time students trying to gel as a newly 00:03:38.099 --> 00:03:40.560 formed band, and the way they actually wrote 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:43.740 the music to accommodate this chaos is just wild 00:03:43.740 --> 00:03:45.939 to me. The fragmented writing process. Yeah. 00:03:46.379 --> 00:03:48.539 According to the source, Jake Ewald mentioned 00:03:48.539 --> 00:03:50.439 that one member of the group would come up with 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:52.960 a single lyric, just one line of inspiration, 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.919 and then they would all separate to try and build 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.780 a song around it. It is a highly unorthodox mechanism 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:01.710 for song. I mean, usually a band jams together 00:04:01.710 --> 00:04:04.909 in a room to find a groove. Right. Or one primary 00:04:04.909 --> 00:04:07.469 songwriter brings a fully finished acoustic demo 00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:09.650 for the rest of the band to learn. Exactly. To 00:04:09.650 --> 00:04:11.930 put this into perspective, it's like a weird 00:04:11.930 --> 00:04:14.530 musical potluck. It's like someone showing up 00:04:14.530 --> 00:04:17.029 with just a single tomato. Just a tomato. Yeah. 00:04:17.129 --> 00:04:19.050 And everyone else having to run off to, like, 00:04:19.149 --> 00:04:21.370 separate kitchens to invent a full meal around 00:04:21.370 --> 00:04:23.670 it without even talking to each other. That is 00:04:23.670 --> 00:04:25.550 a great analogy. And you would think the end 00:04:25.550 --> 00:04:29.209 result would be a structurally unsound Total 00:04:29.209 --> 00:04:32.689 chaos. But what's fascinating here is how that 00:04:32.689 --> 00:04:36.269 isolated, fragmented writing process resulted 00:04:36.269 --> 00:04:39.329 in a sound that is incredibly cohesive. Yeah, 00:04:39.509 --> 00:04:42.170 and yet it spans so many different sonic spaces. 00:04:42.490 --> 00:04:44.889 It really does. When you look at the genre classifications 00:04:44.889 --> 00:04:48.670 for the 29 -minute runtime of the album, the 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:52.050 source notes that it spans emo, indie rock, folk 00:04:52.050 --> 00:04:55.560 rock. and even indie folk. Wow. By building the 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:58.220 songs in isolation, each member was able to inject 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:01.360 their own highly specific musical DNA into the 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.339 tracks before bringing them back together. I 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:05.100 am going to push back on this a little bit, though. 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:07.680 OK. Because when I hear about four college kids 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.600 writing songs in separate rooms and squishing 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.540 them together, and then I read that they engineered 00:05:11.540 --> 00:05:14.079 and produced the entire album themselves, well, 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:16.439 I immediately think of terrible blown out audio. 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:19.160 Ah, I see what you mean. Like, how does a self 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:21.660 -produced indie record recorded between classes 00:05:21.660 --> 00:05:24.339 actually compete with professional studio albums? 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:26.939 Well, that is the magic of the DIY or do -it 00:05:26.939 --> 00:05:30.139 -yourself ethic within this specific genre. Okay. 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:33.199 You have to remember that in Midwest emo, polish 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:36.620 is often viewed as a negative. Oh, really? So 00:05:36.620 --> 00:05:38.459 they want it to sound a little rough. Exactly. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.439 The slate imperfections, the sound of the room 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:43.839 they're recording in, the raw edge on the vocal 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.839 takes, that isn't a bug. It's a feature. That 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:49.430 makes sense. All four band members are fully 00:05:49.430 --> 00:05:52.189 credited as engineers and producers. They were 00:05:52.189 --> 00:05:54.829 manually figuring out microphone placements in 00:05:54.829 --> 00:05:58.069 cramped spaces and adjusting sound levels themselves. 00:05:58.449 --> 00:06:00.370 So the claustrophobia of the recording process 00:06:00.370 --> 00:06:02.769 actually bled into the intimacy of the final 00:06:02.769 --> 00:06:06.029 product. Yes. Beautifully said. And while they 00:06:06.029 --> 00:06:08.230 did eventually bring in outside expertise to 00:06:08.230 --> 00:06:10.449 finalize the audio. Right. Jonathan Lowe for 00:06:10.449 --> 00:06:12.490 mixing. Yep. Jonathan Lowe's credited with the 00:06:12.490 --> 00:06:15.500 mixing and Will Yip handle the mastering. Which 00:06:15.500 --> 00:06:17.759 basically ensures the album sounds good on everything 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.399 from a car stereo to cheap headphones crucial 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:23.019 stuff But the core sonic architecture was built 00:06:23.019 --> 00:06:25.959 entirely by the four of them totally hands -on 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:30.120 man that unpretentious deeply grounded approach 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:32.899 to the recording process bleeds directly into 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:35.379 their overarching identity as a band. It really 00:06:35.379 --> 00:06:37.220 is the core of who they are. Because you have 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:39.819 this genre -blending indie rock album touching 00:06:39.819 --> 00:06:42.920 on the raw nerves of growing up, changing relationships, 00:06:43.060 --> 00:06:45.879 and anxiety, you would expect the title of the 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:48.500 album to be something incredibly poetic. Or maybe 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:51.079 something brooding to fit the emo label. Right. 00:06:51.259 --> 00:06:53.339 But here's where it gets really interesting. 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:55.759 Let's hear it. The origin of the title, You're 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.540 Gonna Miss It All, is actually just a very mundane, 00:06:58.819 --> 00:07:01.139 borderline stupid joke at the expense of Jake 00:07:01.139 --> 00:07:04.360 Ewald. Oh man, the fireworks story. Yes. In an 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:06.660 interview with Dirty Water Media, the band explained 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:09.160 that they were all hanging out. watching a fireworks 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:11.639 show. The show is building up to the grand finale, 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:13.959 the biggest, most explosive part of the entire 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:17.519 night. And Jake decides that this exact 10 -second 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.040 window is the perfect moment to stand up, turn 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.439 around, and blow his nose. Incredible timing. 00:07:22.579 --> 00:07:24.420 So someone just yells at him, you're going to 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:27.139 miss it all. It is a completely throwaway comment, 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:30.259 a fleeting moment of friendly grief that most 00:07:30.259 --> 00:07:32.680 people would forget by the next morning. I just 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:35.399 love how aggressively that pushes back on the 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:37.680 perceived seriousness of the entire genre. Oh, 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:39.800 totally. We just talked about how people outside 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:42.220 the scene picture emo bands taking themselves 00:07:42.220 --> 00:07:45.360 so seriously, writing in dark rooms and weeping 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.579 over their guitars. Yeah, the eyeliner and the 00:07:47.579 --> 00:07:50.220 angst. And here's a band that takes a masterpiece 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:53.199 of emotional depth and names it after a missed 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.860 fireworks display due to a runny nose. It's brilliant. 00:07:57.180 --> 00:07:59.620 And that anecdote is practically their thesis 00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:01.939 statement as artists. How do you mean? Their 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:04.139 entire artistic identity is built on finding 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:08.660 profound, lasting meaning in the seemingly insignificant 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:10.959 everyday moments of life. Like blowing your nose. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:12.759 Exactly. Getting up to blow your nose during 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:14.939 a firework finale is a completely forgettable 00:08:14.939 --> 00:08:17.579 action. But for modern baseball, they take that 00:08:17.579 --> 00:08:20.379 mundane detail and elevate it. It becomes a metaphor. 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:22.899 Right. It becomes a metaphor for missing out 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:25.980 on your youth. Or, at the very least, a permanent 00:08:25.980 --> 00:08:28.759 inside joke stamped onto a piece of art that 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:30.860 thousands of people will connect with. They aren't 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:34.299 trying to write grand sweeping stadium anthems 00:08:34.299 --> 00:08:37.100 about saving the world. They're writing about 00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:40.320 the hyper -specific, slightly awkward moments 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:43.220 of their actual lives. Which is so much more 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:45.820 relatable. And that level of authenticity is 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:47.960 exactly what allowed them to connect with their 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:50.919 audience. But, you know, It's one thing to record 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:52.679 an authentic album with your friends in college. 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:54.820 It's an entirely different animal to get the 00:08:54.820 --> 00:08:56.720 rest of the world to actually listen to it. Oh, 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:58.820 absolutely. Recording the music is only half 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:01.620 the battle. Distribution and audience acquisition 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:04.879 are where most bands fail. Right. And in 2014, 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:07.299 the internet was obviously fully operational. 00:09:07.379 --> 00:09:09.519 They could have just dropped the album on a streaming 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.519 site and hoped the algorithm picked it up. They 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:13.639 could have, yeah. But the source details that 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:15.960 after the album was officially released on February 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:19.539 11th, 2014 by Run for Cover Records, their promotion 00:09:19.539 --> 00:09:22.039 strategy was heavily reliant on an absolutely 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:24.919 brutal physical touring schedule. Just relentless. 00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:27.919 Why subject yourself to the physical punishment 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:31.460 of living in a van for a year when digital distribution 00:09:31.460 --> 00:09:34.659 exists? Because an algorithm might give you a 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:37.960 spike in listeners for a week, but physical touring... 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.879 builds a bulletproof, long -term fan base. OK, 00:09:40.940 --> 00:09:42.779 that makes sense. If we connect this to the bigger 00:09:42.779 --> 00:09:45.360 picture of how the music industry operates, especially 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:47.799 for independent bands, you have to look at the 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:50.159 mechanics of being an opening act. OK, lay it 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:52.620 out for me. When modern baseball went out to 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:55.240 support established bands like the Wonder Years, 00:09:55.659 --> 00:09:59.139 Bayside, Real Friends, or Say Anything, they 00:09:59.139 --> 00:10:01.340 were stepping in front of crowds that bought 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:03.720 tickets to see someone else. So every single 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:06.500 night is basically an audition. Precisely. Yeah. 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:08.700 You have roughly 30 minutes while the crowd is 00:10:08.700 --> 00:10:10.860 filtering in, probably buying a beer or looking 00:10:10.860 --> 00:10:12.720 at their phones to make them care about you. 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:15.500 That sounds terrifying, honestly. It is. You 00:10:15.500 --> 00:10:18.220 have to forcefully convert the Headliners fans 00:10:18.220 --> 00:10:22.279 into your fans. You are taking these 12 highly 00:10:22.279 --> 00:10:25.059 personal tracks, songs like Broken Cash Machine, 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:28.000 Charlie Black and Pothole, and you're delivering 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.659 them directly to the people. City by city. Night 00:10:30.659 --> 00:10:33.740 after night. relying entirely on your live energy. 00:10:34.019 --> 00:10:36.200 And the physical toll of that is staggering. 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.139 I mean, the source outlines them supporting the 00:10:39.139 --> 00:10:41.659 Wonder Years in North America in March and April, 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.899 then immediately flying across the Atlantic to 00:10:44.899 --> 00:10:47.740 support real friends in the UK and Europe in 00:10:47.740 --> 00:10:50.320 May. No, break it all. Then coming back to the 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.539 US to headline their own tour in June with tiny 00:10:53.539 --> 00:10:56.340 moving parts, the hotelier and sorority noise. 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:59.419 Just non -stop. Then hitting Riot Fest in Chicago, 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:02.070 going back to the UK and and back to the US for 00:11:02.070 --> 00:11:04.169 two more consecutive tours to finish out the 00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:06.470 year. It's exhausting just listening to that 00:11:06.470 --> 00:11:08.870 list. It's like working three full -time jobs 00:11:08.870 --> 00:11:11.210 while somehow still technically being a college 00:11:11.210 --> 00:11:13.649 student. So what does this all mean for their 00:11:13.649 --> 00:11:16.529 trajectory? It means it wasn't an overnight viral 00:11:16.529 --> 00:11:19.730 fluke. It's the ultimate example of sweat equity. 00:11:20.090 --> 00:11:22.669 It is a master class in grassroots promotion. 00:11:22.750 --> 00:11:24.629 Just forcing people to pay attention. Exactly. 00:11:24.990 --> 00:11:27.429 They force the independent music world to pay 00:11:27.429 --> 00:11:30.710 attention by simply refusing to go away. and 00:11:30.710 --> 00:11:33.809 that chaotic communal energy translated directly 00:11:33.809 --> 00:11:36.690 from the stage back to the album. The source 00:11:36.690 --> 00:11:39.860 specifically notes that the track Your graduation? 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.440 Oh, what a track. Yeah. Which was released as 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:44.940 a single and had a music video drop in March 00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:48.259 of 2014. It actually features their drummer, 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:51.399 Sean Hober, taking over lead vocals for a section 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:53.860 of the song. Which is such a cool dynamic. When 00:11:53.860 --> 00:11:55.940 you picture that in a live setting, a drummer 00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:58.779 suddenly screaming the lead vocals, it practically 00:11:58.779 --> 00:12:01.580 demands audience participation. It breaks down 00:12:01.580 --> 00:12:03.840 the barrier between the stage and the crowd. 00:12:03.940 --> 00:12:06.600 It creates a moment of pure catharsis that a 00:12:06.600 --> 00:12:09.759 passive Spotify stream simply cannot replicate. 00:12:10.059 --> 00:12:13.039 OK, so they put in the work. They utilize this 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.080 fragmented DIY recording process. They embrace 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:18.159 their quirky humor and they toured until the 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:20.419 wheels literally fell off the van. Yep, they 00:12:20.419 --> 00:12:22.220 did a heavy lifting. But I want to look at the 00:12:22.220 --> 00:12:25.019 actual mechanics of success here. Let's transition 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:27.799 from the raw emotion and the sweaty venues to 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:30.019 looking at the hard data. Let's do it. Did this 00:12:30.019 --> 00:12:32.909 grueling schedule actually move the needle? financially 00:12:32.909 --> 00:12:35.350 and critically. The numbers are incredibly telling, 00:12:35.669 --> 00:12:37.690 but you have to view them through the correct 00:12:37.690 --> 00:12:40.049 economic lens. OK, hey, me with the stats. According 00:12:40.049 --> 00:12:42.789 to the Wikipedia source, you're going to miss. 00:12:43.690 --> 00:12:47.289 It all peaked at number 97 on the US Billboard 00:12:47.289 --> 00:12:51.190 200 chart. OK. And it hit number 15 on the US 00:12:51.190 --> 00:12:54.799 Alternative Albums chart. In terms of sheer sales 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:57.899 volume, by September of 2014, it had sold over 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:01.899 12 ,000 copies globally. And by May of 2016, 00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:05.159 it had sold almost 30 ,000 copies in the United 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:07.039 States alone. I'm going to stop you right there, 00:13:07.059 --> 00:13:08.539 because I think a lot of people listening might 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:10.539 be experiencing a bit of cognitive dissonance 00:13:10.539 --> 00:13:13.720 right now. How so? Well, when we talk about definitive, 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.139 highly successful albums, the average person 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:18.519 is conditioned to think of Taylor Swift or Drake 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:20.820 moving a million units in the first week. Oh, 00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:23.769 sure. The pop star metric. Yeah. So hearing that 00:13:23.769 --> 00:13:25.649 an album sold 30 ,000 copies over the course 00:13:25.649 --> 00:13:27.470 of two years might sound like a massive failure 00:13:27.470 --> 00:13:30.330 to a casual listener. Why is 30 ,000 considered 00:13:30.330 --> 00:13:32.950 such a triumph for this band? This raises an 00:13:32.950 --> 00:13:34.909 important question about the economics of niche 00:13:34.909 --> 00:13:38.269 music. You cannot compare an independent emo 00:13:38.269 --> 00:13:41.710 band on a small label like Run for Cover Records 00:13:41.710 --> 00:13:45.850 to a mainstream pop juggernaut backed by a major 00:13:45.850 --> 00:13:48.049 label conglomerate. It's apples and oranges. 00:13:48.490 --> 00:13:51.090 Completely. The economic mechanism is totally 00:13:51.090 --> 00:13:54.230 different. In the mainstream pop world, you need 00:13:54.230 --> 00:13:56.610 millions of passive listeners streaming a song 00:13:56.610 --> 00:13:59.370 to generate a fraction of a penny per play. Right. 00:13:59.750 --> 00:14:02.610 But in the independent scene, 30 ,000 physical 00:14:02.610 --> 00:14:06.610 copies sold represents 30 ,000 highly dedicated 00:14:06.610 --> 00:14:09.750 converted fans. So it's the quality of the fan, 00:14:09.990 --> 00:14:12.269 not just the sheer quantity. Exactly. Those 30 00:14:12.269 --> 00:14:14.289 ,000 people aren't just streaming a song in the 00:14:14.289 --> 00:14:16.269 background while they do the dishes. They are 00:14:16.269 --> 00:14:18.330 buying a physical vinyl record. They're buying 00:14:18.330 --> 00:14:20.769 the merch. They are buying a $30 t -shirt. They 00:14:20.769 --> 00:14:23.190 are paying for a ticket every single time the 00:14:23.190 --> 00:14:24.929 band comes through their city. That makes total 00:14:24.929 --> 00:14:28.230 sense. Economically, moving 30 ,000 units without 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:31.070 a million dollar radio and marketing budget means 00:14:31.070 --> 00:14:33.769 you have established an incredibly healthy, deeply 00:14:33.769 --> 00:14:36.789 sustainable career. It's real, tangible support. 00:14:37.610 --> 00:14:40.710 Charting on the Billboard 200 at number 97 means 00:14:40.710 --> 00:14:43.590 they pierced the bubble. They broke out of the 00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:45.309 underground basements and actually forced the 00:14:45.309 --> 00:14:47.029 mainstream metric system to acknowledge them. 00:14:47.230 --> 00:14:49.350 And the critical reception backed up that fan 00:14:49.350 --> 00:14:52.649 loyalty as well. The album scored a 76 out of 00:14:52.649 --> 00:14:55.590 100 on Metacritic, which aggregates professional 00:14:55.590 --> 00:14:58.450 reviews. That's a very solid score. Yeah. They 00:14:58.450 --> 00:15:00.590 secured highly favorable write -ups from outlets 00:15:00.590 --> 00:15:03.009 that heavily dictate indie music tastes like 00:15:03.009 --> 00:15:05.909 Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, and Absolute 00:15:05.909 --> 00:15:09.129 Punk. But you know, The true measure of an album's 00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:11.690 success isn't really found in the initial 2014 00:15:11.690 --> 00:15:14.629 sales figures or the immediate reviews. No. Not 00:15:14.629 --> 00:15:17.450 at all. The real metric of a masterpiece is its 00:15:17.450 --> 00:15:20.470 long tail. It's how the album is viewed and discussed 00:15:20.470 --> 00:15:23.220 a decade later. And the source provides concrete 00:15:23.220 --> 00:15:25.399 evidence of that long -term footprint. Remember 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:27.580 that track we discussed your graduation? The 00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:30.360 one with Sean Huber on vocals. Yeah. It actually 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:33.279 made Vulture's highly competitive retrospective 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:36.440 list of the 100 greatest emo songs of all time. 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:39.299 Which is huge. Earning a spot on a definitive 00:15:39.299 --> 00:15:42.580 curated list like that secures the song's permanent 00:15:42.580 --> 00:15:45.039 place in music history. It really does. It basically 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:47.799 signals that when music historians or future 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:50.299 generations look back at what the 2010 sounded 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:53.639 like, your graduation is considered a mandatory 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:55.700 syllabus track. And the ultimate confirmation 00:15:55.700 --> 00:15:58.940 of that legacy came even more recently. The source 00:15:58.940 --> 00:16:02.279 cites a 2024 piece from the Duke Chronicle that 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.100 explicitly states, You're going to miss it all. 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:08.000 And I quote, solidified their placement in the 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.259 canon of indie rock and Midwest emo revival. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.620 The canon. They literally used the word canon. 00:16:14.659 --> 00:16:17.080 They are officially part of the required reading 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:19.259 for the genre. Which proves the overarching point 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:22.399 of this deep dive. Cultural impact almost always 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.159 outlasts initial commercial metrics. You might 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:27.580 only sell 30 ,000 copies out of the gate. But 00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:29.759 if those 30 ,000 people internalize the music, 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:32.019 if they go out and form their own bands inspired 00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:34.639 by your DIY ethics. Which so many did. Yeah. 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:37.720 And if those 29 minutes of music become the permanent 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:40.100 soundtrack to their defining life moments, your 00:16:40.100 --> 00:16:42.970 art achieves a kind of immortality. It is incredibly 00:16:42.970 --> 00:16:45.149 inspiring to look at the mechanics of this journey. 00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:47.649 You have a group of four friends balancing college 00:16:47.649 --> 00:16:49.909 classes with the claustrophobia of self -production. 00:16:50.929 --> 00:16:53.950 They utilize a highly fragmented approach to 00:16:53.950 --> 00:16:56.730 writing, passing a single lyric around like a 00:16:56.730 --> 00:16:59.950 baton to build an entirely new sonic house. The 00:16:59.950 --> 00:17:02.830 tomato potluck. The tomato potluck. They accidentally 00:17:02.830 --> 00:17:05.509 named the record after a mundane joke about blowing 00:17:05.509 --> 00:17:07.930 your nose during a fireworks show. Still my favorite 00:17:07.930 --> 00:17:11.910 part. And then through sheer unrelenting sw - 00:17:11.369 --> 00:17:14.430 equity and an absolutely punishing tour schedule, 00:17:14.990 --> 00:17:17.690 they bypass the traditional industry gatekeepers 00:17:17.690 --> 00:17:20.750 to cement themselves into the permanent canon 00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:23.809 of rock music. It is a profound reminder that 00:17:23.809 --> 00:17:26.150 greatness does not require pristine conditions 00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:29.000 or millions of dollars in backing. And that is 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:30.859 the ultimate takeaway for you listening to this 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:33.220 deep dive right now. Whether you are creating 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:35.299 music, starting a business, or just trying to 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:36.859 build something meaningful in your own life, 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:40.559 you don't need a massive studio or perfect distraction 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:43.099 -free conditions to create something that resonates. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.200 You really don't. A collaborative spirit, a relentless 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:48.740 work ethic, and most importantly, an unpretentious 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:51.000 willingness to not take yourself too seriously 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:54.980 can lead to incredible, lasting art. Sometimes 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:57.019 you just need to trust your friends, embrace 00:17:57.019 --> 00:17:59.940 the messy margins of reality, and put in the 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:02.339 exhausting work to share it with the world. And 00:18:02.339 --> 00:18:04.400 if we step back and look at the sheer irony of 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:06.579 how this monumental piece of art got its name, 00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:09.079 it leaves us with a pretty fascinating thought 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:12.480 to chew on. Oh, yeah. Yeah. If an entire album's 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:15.319 decade -spanning legacy and title can stem from 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:17.680 missing a 10 -second fireworks finale just to 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:20.200 blow your nose, what seemingly insignificant 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:22.480 passing moment in your life today might actually 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:24.069 be the title of your next big chapter. after.