I'd Lose Myself
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Length: 02:44 Favorited: 0 Description: The band's first video off their new album, Make It Blur.
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Well... here we are. Is this the first official breakup of 2008? It looks like June, who released the really great album Make It Blur in August, is pretty much over. They left the door open to possibly recording music, but it seems like touring took its toll and the band has decided they just can't live that life. The band's drummer, Mark Sutor, posted a long post on MySpace about how the band arrived at the decision and what the future holds for them. I think this is the most interesting part:
I don't want to say that we're broken up...we still want to write music, trust me...but as far as touring and taking months off to do it, that's what has to change. None of us will be able to completely block this out of our lives...and if we can...we will still be releasing music to the world.
I know I write about this a lot, but I can see how this would happen. Touring really seems like hell. Exhausting, hectic, hell, and I think a lot of people completely forget what these bands are giving up in order to tour and perform. They don't see their friends, families, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc. for weeks and months at a time. They don't sleep in their own beds, or just get to sack out on the couch and watch movies because that's all they feel like doing after work. And as we saw most recently with The Cab, they also face a lot of dangers, driving in vans with fully loaded trailers on roads they don't know, and having/almost having accidents. And then there's the risk of having vans and trailers stolen -- which was practically an epidemic in 2007 -- the fear that parking somewhere to sleep for the night could lead to everything they own being stolen by idiots who have figured out that van + trailer = expensive equipment inside.
I'm honestly surprised that more bands don't end up broken up over this life. And in the current climate, where people keep saying "CD sales don't matter; the money is in tours and merchandise," it's only going to get worse. Bands are touring for a year solid [look at My Chemical Romance -- though they have far more luxuries than a smaller band, that still has to be hell.]
I'm sure there are a lot of great things about touring, like seeing the world and meeting fans. Finding people in random bumblefuck towns who know every word to all of your songs. I'm sure it's a great feeling to play your music for people and see them experience it live. That said, a lot of bands I've interviewed have said they don't really get to see the places they go to -- a lot of it is, "show up, set up, play, pack up, move on to the next town." So... maybe that's not even so much of a perk.
I'm not saying bands shouldn't play live, but maybe we should be less demanding of them. I know I'm one of those people who will go all over to see a band I really like, and I know that I get bummed out when a tour doesn't make it anywhere near here. But maybe there's a good reason for that, and maybe the band really needs the break, desperately.
It seems like that life took its toll on June; it could really happen to any band at any time. As for June, I hope they all find something that makes them happy and they do still make music, because they are/were a really good band.
