Some german word, goodbye...Renton Cannon is nearing the end of the road.

It has been a great 2 1/2 years and we would just like to thank everyone for supporting us during that time.  We have met some great people and gained new friendships through this band which we are very grateful for.  This won't be some long essay describing why or what happened or where things went wrong because it's just a band and there are more important things to life.  But the experience will be missed very much. 

Thank you very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very much,

Renton Cannon

 

"Blame The Hearts of False Arts"

Your three years are up today
Now hitch and move to the countryside
Away from your mother now

Cry out, cry out for the blood you bleed

This vicious, commit love

Don't be slain for what you are
A big girl with big dreams
Bigger than this place or anything

Be sure, be sure of what you need

This vicious, commit love

And with this promise to get married
He'll save his bank 'til he leaves
You know she'll curse his intentions
Brave boy bleeds his throat
And he'll do it again 20 times 'til it catches
Confessions of a young love drunk

Blame the hearts of false arts, baby

"The Filthy Sea"

And she said later, turn around bubblehead
Fix your eyes on this bright light that stings the sight
And brings out the color of your dieing pride

But shun her, a harpoon for a kill in the sea and breathe the death when it
leaves

Just another punch to the gut
And see the Earth split for what it is to you
A prison guard with super bars

Oh, you'll ruin this chance for me

But shun her, a harpoon for a kill in the sea and breathe the death when it
leaves

Just another punch to the gut
And see the Earth split for what it is to you
A prison guard with super bars

P.U.Y.B.W.G.S.

Pack up your bags, we're going south
It's been so long since i've been dead

(Da)It's been so long since i've been dead

So please, oh please, don't let this be true
There was a death at Riverside School

Pick up your shaving kit to, it's been so long since i've been dead
(Da) It's been so long since i've been dead

So please, oh please, don't let this be true
There was a death at Riverside School

"Atomic Bomb in Mexico"

With your whole life open and your teeth run straight out of your head
And my whole world's shaken and your still breaking your hands
With my whole life open and your eyes still waking the day
With my whole life open and your teeth run straight out of your head
Your head

And you take it slow, but you won't stay steady
And you kiss the girls, but you won't leave them
And the sheets are red, but you won't clean them

And you take it slow, but you won't stay steady

As written by Steve Albini:


There's this band. They're pretty ordinary, but they're also pretty good, so they've attracted some attention. They're signed to a moderate-sized "independent" label owned by a distribution company, and they have another two albums owed to the label.

They're a little ambitious. They'd like to get signed by a major label so they can have some security —you know, get some good equipment, tour in a proper tour bus —nothing fancy, just a little reward for all the hard work.

To that end, they got a manager. He knows some of the label guys, and he can shop their next project to all the right people. He takes his cut, sure, but it's only 15%, and if he can get them signed then it's money well spent. Anyway, it doesn't cost them anything if it doesn't work. 15% of nothing isn't much!

One day an A&R scout calls them, says he's "been following them for a while now," and when their manager mentioned them to him, it just "clicked." Would they like to meet with him about the possibility of working out a deal with his label? Wow. Big Break time.

They meet the guy, and y'know what —he's not what they expected from a label guy. He's young and dresses pretty much like the band does. He knows all their favorite bands. He's like one of them. He tells them he wants to go to bat for them, to try to get them everything they want. He says anything is possible with the right attitude. They conclude the evening by taking home a copy of a deal memo they wrote out and signed on the spot.

The A&R guy was full of great ideas, even talked about using a name producer. Butch Vig is out of the question —he wants 100 g's and three points, but they can get Don Fleming for $30,000 plus three points. Even that's a little steep, so maybe they'll go with that guy who used to be in David Letterman's band. He only wants three points. Or they can have just anybody record it (like Warton Tiers, maybe —cost you 5 or 10 grand) and have Andy Wallace remix it for 4 grand a track plus 2 points. It was a lot to think about.

Well, they like this guy and they trust him. Besides, they already signed the deal memo. He must have been serious about wanting them to sign. They break the news to their current label, and the label manager says he wants them to succeed, so they have his blessing. He will need to be compensated, of course, for the remaining albums left on their contract, but he'll work it out with the label himself. Sub Pop made millions from selling off Nirvana, and Twin Tone hasn't done bad either: 50 grand for the Babes and 60 grand for the Poster Children —without having to sell a single additional record. It'll be something modest. The new label doesn't mind, so long as it's recoupable out of royalties.

Well, they get the final contract, and it's not quite what they expected. They figure it's better to be safe than sorry and they turn it over to a lawyer —one who says he's experienced in entertainment law —and he hammers out a few bugs. They're still not sure about it, but the lawyer says he's seen a lot of contracts, and theirs is pretty good. They'll be getting a great royalty: 13% (less a 10% packaging deduction). Wasn't it Buffalo Tom that were only getting 12% less 10? Whatever.

The old label only wants 50 grand, and no points. Hell, Sub Pop got 3 points when they let Nirvana go. They're signed for four years, with options on each year, for a total of over a million dollars! That's a lot of money in any man's english. The first year's advance alone is $250,000. Just think about it, a quarter-million, just for being in a rock band!

Their manager thinks it's a great deal, especially the large advance. Besides, he knows a publishing company that will take the band on if they get signed, and even give them an advance of 20 grand, so they'll be making that money too. The manager says publishing is pretty mysterious, and nobody really knows where all the money comes from, but the lawyer can look that contract over too. Hell, it's free money.

Their booking agent is excited about the band signing to a major. He says they can maybe average $1,000 or $2,000 a night from now on. That's enough to justify a five week tour, and with tour support, they can use a proper crew, buy some good equipment and even get a tour bus! Buses are pretty expensive, but if you figure in the price of a hotel room for everybody in the band and crew, they're actually about the same cost. Some bands (like Therapy? and Sloan and Stereolab) use buses on their tours even when they're getting paid only a couple hundred bucks a night, and this tour should earn at least a grand or two every night. It'll be worth it. The band will be more comfortable and will play better.

The agent says a band on a major label can get a merchandising company to pay them an advance on t-shirt sales! Ridiculous! There's a gold mine here! The lawyer should look over the merchandising contract, just to be safe.

They get drunk at the signing party. Polaroids are taken and everybody looks thrilled. The label picked them up in a limo.

They decided to go with the producer who used to be in Letterman's band. He had these technicians come in and tune the drums for them and tweak their amps and guitars. He had a guy bring in a slew of expensive old "vintage" microphones. Boy, were they "warm." He even had a guy come in and check the phase of all the equipment in the control room! Boy, was he professional. He used a bunch of equipment on them and by the end of it, they all agreed that it sounded very "punchy," yet "warm."

All that hard work paid off. With the help of a video, the album went like hotcakes! They sold a quarter million copies!

Here is the math that will explain just how fucked they are:

These figures are representative of amounts that appear in record contracts daily. There's no need to skew the figures to make the scenario look bad, since real-life examples more than abound. Income is underlined, expenses are not.

Advance: $250,000
Manager's cut: $37,500
Legal fees: $10,000

Recording Budget: $150,000
Producer's advance: $50,000
Studio fee: $52,500
Drum, Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors": $3,000
Recording tape: $8,000
Equipment rental: $5,000
Cartage and Transportation: $5,000
Lodgings while in studio: $10,000
Catering: $3,000
Mastering: $10,000
Tape copies, reference CD's, shipping tapes, misc expenses: $2,000

Video budget: $30,000
Cameras: $8,000
Crew: $5,000
Processing and transfers: $3,000
Offline: $2,000
Online editing: $3,000
Catering: $1,000
Stage and construction: $3,000
Copies, couriers, transportation: $2,000
Director's fee: $3,000

Album Artwork: $5,000
Promotional photo shoot and duplication: $2,000

Band fund: $15,000
New fancy professional drum kit: $5,000
New fancy professional guitars (2): $3,000
New fancy professional guitar amp rigs (2): $4,000
New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar: $1,000
New fancy rack of lights bass amp: $1,000
Rehearsal space rental: $500
Big blowout party for their friends: $500

Tour expense (5 weeks): $50,875
Bus: $25,000
Crew (3): $7,500
Food and per diems: $7,875
Fuel: $3,000
Consumable supplies: $3,500
Wardrobe: $1,000
Promotion: $3,000

Tour gross income: $50,000
Agent's cut: $7,500
Manager's cut: $7,500

Merchandising advance: $20,000
Manager's cut: $3,000
Lawyer's fee: $1,000
Publishing advance: $20,000
Manager's cut: $3,000
Lawyer's fee: $1,000

Record sales: 250,000 @ $12 = $3,000,000 gross retail revenue Royalty (13% of 90% of retail): $351,000
less advance: $250,000
Producer's points: (3% less $50,000 advance) $40,000
Promotional budget: $25,000
Recoupable buyout from previous label: $50,000
Net royalty: (-$14,000)

Record company income:
Record wholesale price $6.50 x 250,000 = $1,625,000 gross income Artist Royalties: $351,000
Deficit from royalties: $14,000
Manufacturing, packaging and distribution @ $2.20 per record: $550,000
Gross profit: $710,000

THE BALANCE SHEET

This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.
Record company: $710,000
Producer: $90,000
Manager: $51,000
Studio: $52,500
Previous label: $50,000
Agent: $7,500
Lawyer: $12,000

Band member net income each: $4,031.25

The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month.

The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never "recouped," the band will have no leverage, and will oblige.

The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their t-shirts yet. Maybe the t-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys.

We're on break right now. Recording has been a lot of fun so far, and we're very excited to be producing our second release. Not much of a story tell, just giving everyone a heads up that it's on the way.

On a darker note, we played at the talking head right before they closed. It was awesome to have the guys from gentle governess and polyester in the audience there to see us. It was a free, all ages show, something we'd like to do more of. Savory James followed us, and also had a fantastic night. Debauchery ensued after the show.

Hope to see everyone of age at the show on Saturday night. We're very excited.

Love from us.

click below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkA6zugNMQ

If you have our CD, go to our online store at:

RENTON CANNON: Even the King Withers E.P. Indie-Alternative-Rock with a Twist

And give it a review. The review does not have to be a long drawn out review it could be anything. Also, if you write a review (of any size) send us your name and address at RentonCannonMusic@hotmail.com and we will send you some free stuff.

Second Order of Buisness-
BMOREFLAVOR.COM, its a baltimore-based magazine that likes skateboards and women. They are having a nice festival featuring skate pros and locals, bands, and all kinds of fun stuff. Check it out.

Check out the video for our song Roberto from our E.P.

Either here on myspace or on Youtube.

Direction and Concept by Bonnie Cunningham

From Smother.net

Renton Cannon Even the King Withers

Annapolis, Maryland is the capital of Maryland and also the home to indie art rock group Renton Cannon. The album opens with a wailing vocal that reminds me of Led Zeppelin and an organ that sounds ripped from a Doors album. But push all of that 60s and 70s era classic rock sound out of your head. Those are merely small components that bottle up the terrific art rock and progressive rock sounds of Renton Cannon which also can scream out vocals and juggle angular post-punk guitar wailings with the best of them. Lyrically its a great listen with cerebral post-it notes that youll remember for a lifetime. Post-rock this dynamic and emotional deserves to be experienced by all who love great music.