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Threatin

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Threatin
Jered Threatin in 2015
Jered Threatin in 2015
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active2012–present
Members
  • Jered Threatin
Websitethreatin.com

Threatin is an American rock band from Los Angeles. Founded by Jered Threatin, real name Jered Eames,[4] the band gained notoriety in November 2018 for a European tour in which it played to mostly empty venues. Threatin has been labelled a "fake band" by the music press and described as a vanity project of its founder.[5][6][7][8][9] Rolling Stone also referred to Threatin as a "great heavy metal hoax".[10]

History

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Background

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Jered Eames was born in Moberly, Missouri.[11] He formed the black metal band Saetith there with his older brother Scott. Following the break up of Saetith and a brief period with Abigail Williams,[11] he moved to California in 2012 and began the band Threatin as a solo project, for which he adopted the name Jered Threatin. In 2015, Threatin released a single, "Living Is Dying". In 2017, the album Breaking the World was released, with Jered Threatin performing all instruments.[4]

2018 tour incident

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In November 2018, Threatin had sparse audiences on his United Kingdom tour despite saying to venues that hundreds of tickets had been purchased[12][6][12][13][14] The Camden Underworld in London had been told that 291 advance tickets had been sold, but only three people attended;[15] similarly, 180 tickets had supposedly been sold for the Exchange in Bristol but the band played to an "empty room".[16][17]

MetalSucks identified Threatin as Eames and identified fake record labels, booking companies, and management companies were registered to the same GoDaddy account, as well as 38,000 of the band's Facebook likes that had been purchased.[6] Threatin's backing guitarist Joe Prunera and drummer Dane Davis left the band midway through the tour.[18]

Threatin claimed the incident was an elaborate hoax he had orchestrated, but his brother publicly disavowed the statement.[19][20][21] Threatin claimed to have sent emails to reporters on the first day of the tour to build the controversy. This claim was later proved false by the BBC, who found the emails in question were sent after the failure of the tour.[4]

In May 2019 it was revealed that Joe Prunera, Dane Davis, and Davis's mother Debra had all sued Eames and his business partner for costs accrued during the UK tour. Neither defendant attended the hearings, as Prunera was awarded $10,000 plus $250 in court fees, Dane Davis was awarded $3,975.29, and Debra Davis was awarded $4,035.66.[22] Notices sent to Eames regarding the judgement were returned to the court, and the court had reportedly been unable to contact him.[citation needed]

Return to live performance

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Threatin (left) in 2019

Jered Threatin returned to play the Camden Underworld in London on November 1, 2019.[23] Prior to the event, manager Jon Vyner stated: "We'll probably promote it in-house. Last time there was no one to promote him—because he had no fans at the time. Now he does."[24] Threatin's return show to the Camden Underworld featured robotic mannequins dressed in T-shirts with "Fake Band" printed on them. Threatin regularly handed his microphone to one of the mannequins to "sing" his lyrics on a backing track. Other stage spectacles included Threatin pretending to be fellated by a blow-up doll wearing a BBC News T-shirt, before ending the show by smashing his guitar. A maximum of 60 people were reported to have attended, with a significant number leaving before the end of the 45-minute show.[25]

Members

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Current members

  • Jered Threatin – all vocals and instruments[11] (2012–present)

Former touring musicians

  • Gavin Carney – bass guitar (2018)
  • Joe Prunera – guitar (2018)
  • Dane Davis – drums[26] (2018)

Discography

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  • Breaking the World (2017)

References

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  1. ^ Ward, Victoria. "California metal band played to audience of four after faking army of fans to secure UK headline tour". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  2. ^ FARABEGOLI, FRANCESCO (November 19, 2018). "The most important pop group of our age". Esquire. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  3. ^ Shoemaker, Whitney. "Rock Band Threatin Created Fake Fanbase to Book a Tour No One Attended: We Can't Make This Up..." Alternative Press. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "Jered Threatin". BBC News.
  5. ^ Munro, Scott (November 12, 2018). "The strange case of Threatin: The 'fake band' that tricked the music industry". Louder. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Belam, Martin (November 12, 2018). "Threatin: band creates fake fanbase for tour attended by no one". The Guardian. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  7. ^ Sheils McNamee, Michael (November 11, 2018). "Performance by 'fake band' at Belfast Empire cancelled last minute". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  8. ^ Bromwich, Jonah Engel (November 16, 2018). "The Story of Threatin, a Most Puzzling Hoax Even for 2018". The New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  9. ^ "Jered Threatin". BBC News.
  10. ^ Kushner, David. "The Great Heavy Metal Hoax". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Pasbani, Robert (November 14, 2018). "Jered Threatin's Actual Identity Uncovered". Metal Injection. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  12. ^ a b Baggs, Michael; Blake, Jimmy (November 12, 2018). "The band who faked a fanbase and failed". BBC News. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  13. ^ Connick, Tom (November 9, 2018). "'Fake band' Threatin just played a UK tour to… pretty much no-one". NME. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  14. ^ Vince Neilstein, L.A. Band Threatin Faked a Fanbase To Land a European Tour No One Attended, MetalSucks, November 9, 2018
  15. ^ "'Fake fanbase' band to play Belfast gig". BBC News. November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  16. ^ "'Fake fanbase' band cancels Belfast gig". BBC News. November 11, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  17. ^ Murray, Robin (November 14, 2018). "People out of pocket after 'fake' fanbase gig attended by NO-ONE". bristolpost.
  18. ^ Wilson, Shaun D. (November 12, 2018). "US metal band Threatin fakes popularity, heads out on European tour". Stuff. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  19. ^ McGuire, Patrick (November 14, 2018). "Did Threatin's Ridiculous European Tour Stunt Actually Work?". Variety. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  20. ^ Pasbani, Robert (November 14, 2018). "Jered Threatin's Brother, Scott Eames, Distances Himself From Brother, Says They Haven't Spoken Since 2012". Metal Injection. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  21. ^ Munro, Scott (November 14, 2018). "Jered Threatin: I turned an empty room into an international headline". Louder. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  22. ^ Jered Threatin’s Former Band Members Filed Lawsuits Against Him and Won MetalSucks. May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  23. ^ Threatin, underworldcamden.co.uk
  24. ^ "Jered Threatin to Perform at One of the Venues He Scammed, Real Audience Expected to Appear | Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.com". Ultimate Guitar.
  25. ^ Mylrea, Hannah (November 2, 2019). "Remember that fake band Threatin? They returned to London last night and it was as weird as you could imagine". NME. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  26. ^ Everley, Dave (November 13, 2018). "Threatin interview: inside the year's most talked-about tour". Louder Sound. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
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