ToD Follow Trent Reznor's Advice, Drop Interscope
10/31/2007 -- by merlin
  NEW YORK, New York (AP) -- Following in the footsteps of former undervalued label-mates Nine Inch Nails, oft-overlooked rockers ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have left their label of six years, Interscope Records.
The bold move for freedom, which had long since been foreshadowed and pushed for by die-hard fans jaded by Interscope's lack of effort, sophistication, and seeming characteristic inability to properly promote and handle a rock band, will give the band the freedom they desire and the ability to find a label more suited to their needs. Trail of Dead frontman Conrad Keely tried to explain the 'drop' as best he could in a statement posted to the band's official website. "Ever since label head Jimmy Iovine started dating the lead singer guy of the Pussycat Dolls it became impossible to get him on the phone, so that was a first bad sign. Then their idea of marketing became keeping it a secret that we'd released a record." Keely continued by lamenting the major label business as a whole. "The industry is in a strange place these days, and the only way they can make money is to sell urban pop music. Which is what I thought we were writing, but apparently I was wrong."
Keely said he was encouraged by former label-mate Trent Reznor, who announced earlier this month his multi-platinum band Nine Inch Nails would not be returning to Interscope after several years and two albums of despondency, to cut and run with dignity. "Trent called me up a few weeks ago after he heard we had become disillusioned with life [on Interscope]. He reassured me there was life left in the industry, just none left where we were. To be honest the thought of leaving had crossed my mind several hundred times in recent years, but I think the Nine Inch Nails decision and Trent's phone call really sealed the deal for me."
"Hopefully the other bands [on the label] will follow our lead. I mean, Interscope has already killed TV on the Radio and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. There aren't many bands on the roster left to ruin."
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