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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 was booked to tour the United Kingdom having informed venues they had sold hundreds of tickets and had paid the hire fee before each gig.[12] However, the tour achieved widespread news coverage when it became known that the shows had been played to empty rooms.[6][12][13] The Camden Underworld in London had been told that 291 advance tickets had been sold, but only three people attended;[14] similarly, 180 tickets had supposedly been sold for the Exchange in Bristol but the band played to an "empty room".[15][16]

Stories of empty venues began to break on social media before being picked up by MetalSucks, which initially published an exposé on November 9, 2018.[17] MetalSucks investigated further, identifying Threatin as Eames and documenting his internet presence, including extensive fake record labels, booking companies, and management companies, all of which were registered to the same GoDaddy account.[18] It was also discovered that the 38,000 likes on the band's Facebook page had been bought.[6] The story was subsequently picked up by music publications such as NME, and then by the mainstream press.

On November 11, Threatin's backing guitarist Joe Prunera and drummer Dane Davis left the band midway through the tour.[19] Davis stated that bassist Gavin Carney was unable to quit the band as he could not afford a plane ticket home from Europe.[20] Carney has stated he would be happy to work with Threatin again,[21] although Threatin called himself "a solo artist, not a band. The session live musicians were hired solely for the purposes of this tour. There was never any intention of them touring in the future."[22]

On November 14, Threatin issued a statement reading, "What is Fake News? I turned an empty room into an international headline. If you are reading this, you are part of the illusion."[23] Metal Injection commented that despite the publicity "we have seen no significant gains in Threatin's social media followings or their streaming numbers."[24] Scott Eames released a statement to distance himself from his brother's actions. He added that, "While [Jered] may try to spin all this as an elaborate hoax of sorts, I can assure you, knowing my brother, that this indeed was a failed attempt at entering the music industry."[24][25] In December, Threatin admitted the hoax and claimed to have sent emails to reporters exposing the hoax 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.[26] 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.[27] 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."[28] 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.[29]

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[30] (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. ^ "'Fake fanbase' band to play Belfast gig". BBC News. November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  15. ^ "'Fake fanbase' band cancels Belfast gig". BBC News. November 11, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  16. ^ Murray, Robin (November 14, 2018). "People out of pocket after 'fake' fanbase gig attended by NO-ONE". bristolpost.
  17. ^ Vince Neilstein, L.A. Band Threatin Faked a Fanbase To Land a European Tour No One Attended, MetalSucks, November 9, 2018
  18. ^ Threatin archives, MetalSucks, November 9–21, 2018
  19. ^ Wilson, Shaun D. (November 12, 2018). "US metal band Threatin fakes popularity, heads out on European tour". Stuff. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  20. ^ Barsanti, Sam (November 13, 2018). "Not even the members of Threatin realized that their band was a scam". AV News. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  21. ^ My Statement On The Breaking The World Tour/Threatin - YouTube on YouTube
  22. ^ "'The Music Industry Was Lacking A Villain. I Gave Them One': Qs With Threatin". Pollstar. January 10, 2019.
  23. ^ McGuire, Patrick (November 14, 2018). "Did Threatin's Ridiculous European Tour Stunt Actually Work?". Variety. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  24. ^ a b 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.
  25. ^ Munro, Scott (November 14, 2018). "Jered Threatin: I turned an empty room into an international headline". Louder. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  26. ^ Jered Threatin’s Former Band Members Filed Lawsuits Against Him and Won MetalSucks. May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  27. ^ Threatin, underworldcamden.co.uk
  28. ^ "Jered Threatin to Perform at One of the Venues He Scammed, Real Audience Expected to Appear | Music News @ Ultimate-Guitar.com". Ultimate Guitar.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ 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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