There is a new blog update. We thought we would post it here as well.

This past week was one of the most difficult ever for us as a band. We had to make an incredibly hard decision that has a direct effect on our future. Earlier this week our record label offered us a chance to record a cover song for a large corporation to be used in a commercial. In addition to using the song in the commercial they wanted us to put it on our record and potentially use it as a single. We turned down the offer(knowing the probable consequences), and our record label dropped us. Needless to say, this came at a bad time since we were a week away from recording our next record. At the moment we are weighing all of our options and still plan on recording next month. We will release another record, we just are not sure with what record label. We promise to keep you up to date with new information and as always check back here for new show dates and content.

oh shit

Fuck, man. Sometimes retaining your dignity comes with a high price...you guys did the right thing, and certainly reinforces my - and I'm sure all of your fans' - respect for you guys. Obviously, the major label game doesn't work for 99% of bands out there (and that percentage raises into the decimals for the good ones), and with such lackluster promotion and rather low-budget videos (though hot damn is Chad Denning's "Million Ways" video amazing), I find it a little silly that they would expect anything more than the moderate, commendable success you guys garnered with Exhibit A. You've always struck me as more of an indie band, though, and I don't think you guys'll have any trouble attracting support from a wide variety of the best indie labels out there...which'll probably be a more fruitful path for you guys anyway (both artistically and commercially). Please, keep on playing, and before anyone else says it -- may God save rock'n'roll.


...I couldn't resist.

I don't think I'm the only one who thinks Universal did a very poor job of promoting The Features. It never felt that they were fully behind the band. I had caught wind of the label problems this week, but this is the first I've heard of the specific dispute. My feelings have gone from utter despair to immense respect for Matt, Roger, Parrish, and Rollum.

I don't know much about record labels and the like... (okay, I know absolutely nothing) so I'm not sure if the band loses money by losing the deal or what. The only thing I hate about this is that they got the boot. I didn't like Universal or their lack of "Features promotion" and I too, feel the band will be better elswhere.

It's rather ridiculous that they would get dropped for passing on an opportunity that would have benefitted themselves. That being said, I'm not quite sure why the band would've turned the offer down in the first place. I mean, wouldn't that be a good thing if they wanted to feature their song in a commercial? Even if the song blew, or if the product sucked, isn't that they type of thing that comes along with a major label and the duties of promotion? Needless to say, they made a personal decision to go with their gut and that makes me even happier to call myself a fan. I hate it for the guys, but I think they'll be better off int he long run w/o Universal.

This is so crazy. I'm glad the Features stuck to their guns. I hope they end up being wildly successful and get to shove it in Universal's collective faces.

I can only wonder, though, what song it was...or at least the artist.

It rhymes with "The Beatles."

Oops.

That's all pretty crazy and a little disappointing. You just have to decide how much you want to make. You're not really compromising artistic integrity by covering a song if it means that your overall message is out there in its pure form. I'm sure Universal sees it as a money thing. But what can you do?

Well damn. I probably wouldn't have minded that.

If it was entirely about covering one song by the Beatles, I don't see the harm. I mean, The Features have covered songs before... that's one way bands get their name out and get folks interested in their music.

This is just taking it to the next level... Based entirely on what we've heard here (which I'm sure isn't the entire story) the band would have gained a ton of exposure at the expense of playing one cover song and including it on their album. I don't see how that's any different than playing Psycho Killer or BeeHive State, etc. . .Okay, it's different in that then the cover becomes commercialized, but it's a record label... they comercialize things.

As previously stated, the band has their reasons for not following through and I commend them for doing what they feel is right.

I'm confused. Do you or do you not see the difference between playing a live cover at a show and establishing your band's success based on the popularity of a cover song instead of releasing your own original work as a lead-off single? There are many many people out there who haven't heard of the Features who could potentially come to think of them as that band who covered that song for that comercial. Is that bad? Bad enough to jeopardize label support? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not saying I would have done the same thing, I'm just saying there's a big difference.

And to clarify, I wasn't saying I respected the band for the decision of whether or not to cover the song, but that they stuck to their decision knowing it may strain their relationship with the label.

It would be called "selling out." In fact, decisions like that are what coined the phrase.

I too feel so much more respect for this band. I hope that they don't get financially screwed by all of this or run into other problems from breaking ties with the labels.

And wherever they go from here, I am behind them as much as I've always been.

ehh, same as below.

(Edited by joeywade at 2:30 pm on May. 1, 2006)

I know... and I should probably stop posting in this thread before I really start getting shot down.

But to me, The Features are one of the best bands around and if they have to sing some stupid cover to get national attention, fine. If one single act of "selling out" introduces the world to the pleathora of original music by the band, fine, so be it. That's ALL I'm saying...

I admire the band for making the decision they did, and I agree with each and every one of your other points.

I would have liked to hear the features cover The Beatles, but I understand their side totally. Maybe it was a really shitty Beatles song like "Penny Lane" or "Strawberry Fields".
I wish the guys would get on a label like Merge or Matador. I'm sure they'll find a better home for the next record.

that has never happened.

I think it happened-- but not in recent decades. Ironically, you could argue that The Beatles carreer was built on cover songs, only to have their original material surpass the popularity of those covers.

The two relatively recent examples that may have come close in my head are Faith No More's cover of "Easy" and Urge Overkill's cover of "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon". But I have to agree with SFM because I don't think those songs catapulted the bands' original material to be bigger hits than their cover songs.

Weren't the Features going to cover "Laid" by James for the American Pie III soundtrack? I can't remember if they were passed over for that or if they made the decision not to do it.

Wow, that would've been interesting...I've never heard that before.

Alien Ant Farm--"Smooth Criminal", Orgy---"Blue Monday", Limp Bizkit---"Faith" to name a few. Let's see how many more we can name!

Okay, you're obviously better at this than I am. Although, of those three I'd say Limp Bizkit was the only one to garner a lot more success with future original releases. But, you're right-- it does happen.

(Edited by carligula at 5:37 pm on May. 1, 2006)

Hello features fans my name is the truth and I responded to a general forum topic called update which described how the features were dropped by the big bad record label because they refused to sell their souls to the devil and what not. I told a version of the events that led up to that decision in the way that they actually occurred and my post which was not
obscene or vulgar just contrary to the views held by the features msg board estsablishment aka the man. Well here it is folks the truth. you have been lied to by the spin doctors at upper mismanagement yet again, big surprise eh. The decision which very well may mean the end of the band was not unanimous but was in fact the brain child of Rollum Haas primarily and followed by Matt Pelham. I just don't the other band members to have to take credit for matt and rolum's upstanding principles and over abundant dignity as at this moment might be a little much to have to swallow on top of losing out on what could have been the oppurtunity of a lifetime.

Hi features fans,
The truth here, back from being removed by the fascist powers that be who don'y believe in free speech. Oh and by the way fascists i have a million e-mail addresses if you want to revoke my rights to post again i'll just keep coming at you until all is known to the misinformed masses
Just to let you know. There was no unanimous band decision to give up their careers because of dignity and principles. After all it woulnd not have been the first commercial deal the features made if you all remember that catchy blow it out cbs spot. Some, actually half, of the band members realized what getting free publicity like that could do for the next album that will, lets face it probably never happen now. These band members and management and the record label and the producer all wanted to do the commercial. Just so eberyone knows the credit for this genius decision belongs to Matt pelham and Rollum Haas. Thank you

Well now that's interesting...

oh shit
this is bad bad bad
so not good

all my life i've been looking for the truth, and now here it is. it's always the last place you look.

the beatles, huh? well, i don't think that i would have cringed everytime i heard the commercial or anything, but i definitely wouldn't have jumped up and down. honestly, if it were another local band that had been given the offer and they took it, i could see myself making all kinds of fun of them. the band members seem to be all grown up and i like their decision so that means it must be the right one.

inquiring minds want to know, what song was it? was it a car commerical? it was "ticket to ride," wasn't it? "drive my car"?

Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing, there should only be a few people who actually know 'the truth' and for one of them to post something like that is definitely not good.

This is May 1st right??? Not April 1st?

Redundancy repeats itself exponentially.

I appreciate the "Hey Lou" reference, but yeah, the content of that post is a little bothersome. I hope the band's still happy and keeps it together to make that second album.

I can't handle the truth, though I do think doing a cover as the next big single was not a good idea. How many unestablished bands actually jumpstart a successful career by doing covers? It seems most similar to the case of AAF, and where are they now?

This is just another reason for me to hate Universal. Now they have dumped sElf and The Features.

(Edited by MoreLikeVernie at 6:55 pm on May. 1, 2006)

If Universal said, 'do the cover, or your dropped,' they have been really unfair on the band.
Obviously the material for the next album has been gathered over a period of time, some of it very recent, some of it having been around for a few years. It's likely that the band have had a fair idea of the album's contents for a while now. An album is meant to be a cohesive piece of work. If you are then asked to tag on a cover version, I feel you have every right to refuse to do it. It would have ruined the album in my opinion, and as long as the band is able to continue following this split, I think it can only be seen as a positive.
It's been clear for a while that Universal didn't really ever have their heart behind the Features. Why did they need a Beatles cover to get noticed? How Universal failed to get a hit single from the pure pop genius of Exhibit A is remarkable.

Well, to be fair, Universal technically didn't "dump" Self, they just acquired them from the Dreamworks purchase and decided to sleep on their record w/o ever listening to it, based off of BWG's lackluster numbers alone. But yes, add this to the list of grievances, indeed...

Granted, we don't have all the info here. It's a Beatles song, and we know that'd be compatible with the Features, but what was the ad for? As was mentioned earlier, what if it was for a car commercial? Something lame and tacky like that? Do note that their placement in shitty ads can really ruin songs for a lot of people. A lot of my friends and I once hated the Cars' "Just What I Needed," for example, because of its use in a Circuit City ad, but a closer listen to the song revealed that I really, really like it (though to be fair, my favorite part are the verses and the commercial only uses the passable chorus. But that's besides the point). Songs just immediately get an instant cheese-factor boost when used in lame ads.

But hell, songs in commercials can do a lot for a band. Look at the Dandy Warhols. Their record tanked stateside, but because they had the smarts to license one song of theirs to a cellphone commercial in Europe, they were suddenly playing stadium tours all across the continent and their record was all over the radio. Some people are willing to compromise the whole "indie cred"/"artistic integrity" thing for a little exposure, and sometimes, it really pays off. I would've hated for the Features to become "that one band with the cheesy commercial Beatles cover" amongst the public at large, though.

Also, Kezman: I don't think that ultimatum was presented to the band, from what we've heard here. Seems like the label made the offer, the band said "no thanks," and Universal simply got fed up with them.

(Edited by Jakob Dorof at 7:07 pm on May. 1, 2006)

you guys could always record for happy happy birthday to me records.....(a small, self servicing joke which you may or may not take seriously).

i'm glad you guys stuck to your guns. it pisses me off that you guys got dropped and that fact that major label shenanigans have gotten so out of control....

i wish you guys the very best and play athens, ga very soon.

(Edited by ray davies at 8:23 pm on May. 1, 2006)

fucking lame news

Thetruth to me sounds more like pissedoffandpostingtoosoon. But hey, that's me.

Some details:
The Band: The Beatles
The Cover: "All You Need Is Love"
The Company: Chase American
Offer First Extended To: The Kaiser Chiefs
Discuss.

i think limp bizkit is the only one who fits that criteria. so maybe joey is right, maybe the features arent talented enough to make a single out of original material [dont worry joey, everyone knows im being sarcastic]. god they could have been the next limp bizkit. how great would that have been? well fuck you matt and rollum for depriving us of an unchallenging single and for depriving yourselves of international infamy!

i knew it
all you need is love pssfft
and typical credit card rock blah.
and the kaiser chiefs....

thanks ryan. the sad part is, this may be the only laugh in this thread.

Actually, I think this ultimatum was presented to the band.

I just hope the band's okay. I'm worried. I hope they made the right decision, but I guess that's just for them to decide. But, "All You Need is Love"? I'd be extremely excited about The Features covering any Beatles song, but that's the last one I'd want them to do. I've never liked the song that much, and I can't see it as a Features song in general, let alone a Features single.

(Edited by Sexy Sadie at 8:08 pm on May. 1, 2006)

OK. Am I the only one here that thinks this whole things is a little weird? I MEAN, would a well known HUGE record label like UNIVERASAL sugest that this song be the SINGLE from a band that HASN'T EVEN RECORDED TH EFUCKING RECORD YET????!!!!! So your telling me that Universal would make a concrete desicion that this song is the "end all single" when pre-production probably hasnt' even starteed? Whoa. Call me crazy but I doubtt that this could even be the case?
If so than Universal was probably just looking for a reason to start some (as my brother calls it) "bullshit"?
What if the Faetures recorded the next "Walk this Way" and Universal was all like "nope, we're sticking to our guns and this Beetles song is going to be the next single, period'"..

I heard that the real reason that the Faetures got in trouble is because ROLLUM wanted to be the frontman and matt was supposedly "learning to pound the drums".. Fuckers at Uninversal probably shat when they heard that.

And they have bad grammar. (sorry)

I personally think this is a blessing in disguise. I won't opine about artistic integrity and all that, I just think that Universal would have sat on the new record for a year before dropping them anyway. Or at best, put out the album and promote it about as well as the last one, only without the benefit of touring with KoL. The decision made was definitely a risk, but I think if the band members kiss and make up, they have a much better chance of success than they did last week, be it with another major, or better yet a good indy.

GVIE ME A BRAKE!

and on top of all of that, since universal broke the contract, it erased all of their (ridiculous amount of) debt to the label.

unscathed, if you ask me.

Oh wow, I hadn't thought of that...That's actually a huge plus, reason enough to reject the offer by itself.

huh?

Mr. Administrator, Please put a spell check function on this website. It will prevent much of this childish bickering.

Nashvillezine inside joke.

Ha you all think your so smart.

Why did The Features leave Geffen? Someone please fill me in.

i heard it was over the fact that Matt would not change the words "shit" and "dick" to "stuff" for a radio edit of their new single.....i'm all for artistic integrity but you know...lock up is a bitch!!

i think everyone here is wasting their breathe...you can't even begin to tell me you didn't see this coming?? when yadadada called me today and told me about this fiasco i was not the least bit surprised.....

someone will pick up the next record...everything will be fine...there's no need to bne concerned, captain williams will return....

(please excuse me i haven't slept in 2 days due to finals)

as long as the band doesn't break up...

Yeah, as soon as I lose access to the internet, the shit hits the fan. Um, I definitely see both sides of the argument. I don't think that the Features need Universal. That label hasn't done anything to help the Features aside from get "Blow it Out" on CBS a good year and a half after the album was released. The Features can/will be just as big on a credible indie label. I'm just unsure of how truthful The Truth is. I hope that whatever rift is in the band is healed. Maybe the band just needs to take a break. They've been at it almost non stop since Exhibit A's release.



(Edited by DigsySlattery at 8:36 am on May. 2, 2006)

This was an intentional grammatical error to demonstrate Universal's incompetencies.

I think that this turn of events calls for a good show in Murfreesboro, preferably at Wall St.

(Edited by YaDaDaDa at 9:04 am on May. 2, 2006)

But does this mean that their next record will NOT be coming out on Universal, or does this only apply to records in the future years? I'm confused.

I was thinking the same, but I'd prefer Exit/In.

Actually, I wouldn't imagine them getting booked at Wall Street again (floor issues).

geffen = universal = bacardi

As a longtime fan of Middle TN area music, I can't say that I didn't. I mean GRS sort of 'split' this past year. Recently we've seen the reincarnation of both The Katies and the Ounces. Former spongebath mates CFP has become Apes & Androids (not nearly as good). Mike Mahaffey passed away (God bless). However, now we have Wired All Wrong to look forward to, and Matt seems to be pretty productive lately.

I fear if The Features play at Wall Street the floor may cave in resulting in mass catastrophe at this point. Maybe if this were to happen The Features could be rebuilt as robots and become the greatest band on the face of the earth. In essence, destruction is a necessary means for creation.

I think the Katies are in excellent form now, though, as good if not better than before the split (can't wait for them to record that new record). Fl Oz, I haven't heard much genuine new stuff by, but I hear from Mr. Horsetown (Ounces extraordinaire) that it ranks amongst their best stuff ever. A&A...I like "Endless Dream," but my jury's still out on them. They look amazing live though, and I hope to catch them ASAP (they still rep the CFP material on the setlists, by the way, but I do wish they had retained the name). WAW is probably going to be the best of any/all the projects, that shit is just too freaking perfect.

Not well acquainted enough w/ the Features' new stuff to make a judgment call, but eh. "Gates of Hell" and "Take You On" are passable in my book, whereas "Drawing Board" and "Foundation's Cracked" are some of my favorites ever by them. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of record they make out of it, presuming they keep it together.

I don't think Ghostflower was saying that this wasn't a surprise because the new material sucks. I think he was saying that this wasn't a surprise because Universal hasn't shown a great deal of support for the band thus far. Or maybe he wasn't surprised because Exhibit A didn't sell a ton of copies. Or maybe I'm just putting words in his mouth.

(Edited by carligula at 1:07 pm on May. 2, 2006)

I was just commenting on things of this nature falling apart in general. It seems that most of my favorite bands burn out/fade away/break up, but somehow things seem to come back together in one form or another.

i dont think the features will have that many problems finding some other record company (hopefully more independent and trustworthy) to fund their future endeavours.....

personally, i wouldn't even want to be on a major anyways. granted, the larger avenues of promotion and distribution are nice, but i mean is it really worth the headache? major record label politics have gotten so out of hand over the past 30 years.


le sigh

carl, i think your putting words in my mouth, but thats ok.....you have good words, so i don't mind them in my mouth...

everything you said, and more...

back in november i was told by a band member: "we are still in limbo with the label, so anything can happen" hence, why i am not surprised.....

shit happens.

we need a murfreesboro gig.

i got sneaky with some emails and i'm pretty sure it's the end for the features. sorry to break the news guys.

Though I'm aware of this as a possibility, I will still wait for an official announcement. After all, time is still needed for all involved to cool off, and things being said now may not mean much in a week or so.

I cannot describe how devastated I would be if this band broke up.

No joke.

me too

ditto.

I think the rumors of them breaking up are severely premature. Take that for what it's worth.

duh.

maybe i'm thinking too optimistically, but i'm only a tiny bit worried about the band breaking up. like maybe 15% or so. i base this on nothing.

this would be an awesome episode of punk'd.

No episode of Punk'd is awesome.

the thought of a features breakup makes me cringe....

i hope none of these rumors are true.

I hope they don't break up...if they do, I am staging a protest in Matt's yard. Who's with me?

(Edited by Trishee at 7:53 pm on May. 4, 2006)

This thread was started on the Lollapalooza messageboard a few days back. It made me very happy to see.

I think breaking up after standing their ground with Universal would be pitiful.

I seriously think I'm going to throw up.

I think we've all had the same fear that The Features would break up, naturally at a critical point like this, it must make for a lot of pressure on a band and I hope it only brings the four even more closely united.

I hope and pray they stay together!


Jane P.

Aren't bands interested in selling records anymore?

Oh dear Freezetag. I hope you are back for more than a one time appearance.

And to answer your question, welcome to Nashville. Rock bands here don't like to make money.

"All You Need is Love" was the bride and groom first dance song at a wedding I attended last night.

It didn't have the desired effect on me.

Hmm, so the Beatles tune was, "All You Need Is Love." As for the rest of the story? What company? I'd love to be clued in on things.

Jane

readtheentirethreadpleasegahduhkthanx

Hmm, so i took a look at the link above and discovered, it was a major credit card company. thanks for the clue my friends.

Jane

I hope that Universal purchased the band a set of wireless headset mikes and was planning on making them dance. I hope that they brought in a stylist to frost Matt's tips. I hope there were plans to polybag the single with the latest issue of Teen People. I hope that part of the deal with covering this song involved the band wearing the new summer line of Urban Outfitters tees in the video. Otherwise...

You did read that part of the deal was that they would likely make it their lead-off single, right?

I'm well aware that there are different opinions as to at what point a band "sells out". Although, I tend to agree with your post. I might not have been thrilled with the idea, but I would have gone along with it nonetheless. Of course, I'm not in the band, so my opinion is rather meaningless.

So what, in your opinion, does a band do to sell out?

I think it would be "selling out" to do that. Though its not extreme like what Sugar Ray, Staind, or Zack Morris on SBTB did to sell records, when they completely changed their style. But to me its all still "selling out". Jim Morrison would never let such things happen. I think he had the right idea as far as things of that nature.

I have no idea. Certainly not doing a Beatles cover, and most definitely anything freezetag listed.

I'm at the point where, I wish the band would just give us more information about what they are presently doing. Reccording, talking to labels, whatever. It would be nice to know more.

Jane

There's a chance they don't know yet, either.

The silver lining:

1) TONS of people are writing/blogging about this and, based on the responses to the Features blog, many people are rallying behind the band-- a lot of whom are just now hearing about the band for the first time. If they're smart, they'll really push the story to promote the band. As has been said a hundred times already-- just look at Wilco.

2) For fans of Buffalohead, I imagine the song could be making a big comeback in the coming months.

God I love this band, but I'm not optimistic on them being that savvy.

I know the fans are supporting the band, I imagine it is hard for the band to tell us more at this point. It is just my wish to know more naturally. I've been playing my Features CDs and have to say, they have become more precious than ever. Does anyone else feel that way since the Universal drop?

Jane

Well it's safe to say some pretty sick backstabbing S H I T is going down as of this moment. I'm holding out for the official announcement, but it's funny how ruthless people get when money is involved.

If it wasn't for New York City.

once again your clues have unfolded for us a mystery so delicate that it should be imprisoned within the walls of pandora's box.

the scooby doo soundtrack is being done in new york. of course!



but what about the backstabbing shit? let me guess, parrish wants "rikes! (the out of scooby snacks song)" to be the one that plays during the credits, but matt is dead set on "everybody into the van." oh you guys!

If you know so much then spill your guts. You are either full of Axl Rose or you are trying to show off the info that you have.

You are such an insider cause you spit out cryptic bs that you think means something to the rest of us. Its like an inside joke that noone gets cause they weren't there. So cut the shit and spill the beans already.......damn!

My advice would be the opposite. If you have sensitive information, out of respect for the band, please keep it to yourself. And stop trying to brag about your insider information (gee, never thought I'd be the one saying that). You're just being annoying.

I'm confused to the controversy at present. Did I miss something.

I say, let's wait for the confirmed information from the band, rather than gossip and if you have information, then please give us the credibility along with the comments. Let the facts speak first.

Jane P.