skidder652003 Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 I know this has been covered but this is interesting.. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/jered_threatin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shambo Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 It was an interesting read and not entirely surprising. When the story broke I thought that this might be a case of there being no such thing as bad publicity. The thought must have crossed Mr Threatin's mind that, whilst planning his triumphant european tour, the non-existence of any actual fans might bring a media spotlight upon his fraudulant behaviour. To dismiss it all as the expensive, vanity induced delusion of a loser seems a little naive. He has now generated the publicity he craved and, if he plays his cards right (either keeping up the pretence or coming completely clean), could use this episode as a springboard to an actual career in media manipulation. A bit like professional gobshight Katie Hopkins or those 'Go Compare' adverts that people hate so much, they talk about them online and down the pub... and that's the job done. I'm reluctant to say he'll have a career in music, because I've never heard any of his, and it doesn't look like the sort of thing I'd be interested in anyway. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 The guy is just wired very differently to most people, with his wife being complicit, there’s even some telling characteristics of psychopathy in there. He’ll never have a meaningful music career.....maybe a ‘viral entertainment’ career, but not much more. Si 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 This is the modern world. Fakery everywhere. The fakery is even fake. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brook_fan Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 Reading the articale it would be easy to come to the conclusion that the guy is some sort of genius, in the way he has manipulated everything in order to get publicity (and presumably he’s now made a pretty penny from YouTube). However, just remember that the musicians he hired for this have come out of it with nothing, and are probably considerably out of pocket. Personally I feel the idiot has had plenty of time now to weave a story that makes him look less like an loser, and more like some evil genius. I think his brother probably calls it right- trust nothing he says. Robbie 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lozkerr Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 Aye. Props to the guy for successfully gaming the system - except that he's just made it a wee bit harder for everyone else and the band he hired are all out of pocket. Manipulative wee shite. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 I agree the way he treated his bandmates is pretty despicable but I can't help but be a bit impressed by how he managed to simulate an entire management/label/PR ecosystem, and convincing evidence of a fanbase & successful gig history. Maybe what's unique about Threatin is that using the web to do all this would be fairly inexpensive - I've known/known of a couple of bands who tried to play the system in somewhat underhanded ways, but broadly by chucking huge amounts of money around to see what would stick. One, in the early 80s, got picked up by a management company who thought a good way to launch a completely unknown band with no recorded material was to book the Hammersmith Odeon for their first gig & publicise the show with full-page ads in the big music papers of the day. I think about 20 people showed up. About 8 years back, a drummer mate got offered a US tour with a band, which he did. It wasn't quite a Threatin-level disaster, but he discovered that the bassist had received a massive compensation payment for an injury of some sort - and with that money financed the recording and manufacture of his entirely unknown band's album. He then decided the best way to publicise the album would be to (somehow) singlehandedly book a 15-odd date US tour, as well as TV & radio interviews & live appearances along the way. My pal, and a couple of guitarists got offered the gig as the original drummer & guitarists immediately jumped ship as soon as they realised that the whole thing was the bassist & his girlfriend/singer's vanity project. The gigs were all pretty much unattended, the TV appearances were local garden-shed cable TV stuff, they sold a grand total of zero CDs & t-shirts - and to add insult to injury managed to write-off the RV they hired for the tour before they got to the first show! The trip even involved stopping off at the Fodera factory in Brooklyn so the guy could pick up his new custom-order fretless! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 The venues he booked were pretty shabbily treated too - the first news I saw on this was from a venue 'outing' him as a sham. Have to agree with @Sibob - I reckon the guy is a psychopath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 It's the kind of thing an angry teenager would dream up and then get bored and drop after the monotony of creating another fake Facebook account or another fake web page. I'm not impressed that it can be done, he didn't get himself booked on "top of the pops" he booked himself in to venues he had to pay for, something anyone can do. I've read in other threads about bands where the BL has decided to create fake reviews etc, this lad just took it too far. The hiding of phones around his house and so on... He's a complete fantasist. As the writer says, you still never know what's true or not. He may get as far as being on "celebrity" big brother with the offspring of a past-it soap star and whichever washed up former public figure can't afford their divorce and rehab bills, but he is not going to be a successful artist. Really if you wanted to do a stunt like this, and do it well, you should get yourself a good publicist and media company! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_c2 Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 5 cats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 5 hours ago, BreadBin said: The venues he booked were pretty shabbily treated too - the first news I saw on this was from a venue 'outing' him as a sham. Have to agree with @Sibob - I reckon the guy is a psychopath. I have to say that him and his girlfriend had a 'vibe' that reminded me of those Forensic Files type of TV shows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 8 hours ago, BreadBin said: The venues he booked were pretty shabbily treated too - the first news I saw on this was from a venue 'outing' him as a sham. Have to agree with @Sibob - I reckon the guy is a psychopath. Were the venues shabbily treated? IME venues will charge what it costs to cover their expenses to open for a gig, so none of them should have been out of pocket just because the audience was virtually none existent. Perhaps they could have booked a band that was more popular, but having been part of many tiny audiences for both local and touring bands there are very few bands playing the kind of venues that Threatin were playing that could 100% guarantee a decent crowd every time they play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 The venues were told that there had been X number of tickets sold in advance, and they staffed accordingly, but no tickets had been sold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 1 hour ago, BigRedX said: Were the venues shabbily treated? IME venues will charge what it costs to cover their expenses to open for a gig, so none of them should have been out of pocket just because the audience was virtually none existent. Perhaps they could have booked a band that was more popular, but having been part of many tiny audiences for both local and touring bands there are very few bands playing the kind of venues that Threatin were playing that could 100% guarantee a decent crowd every time they play. Yes, as @cheddatom has explained above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 16 minutes ago, cheddatom said: The venues were told that there had been X number of tickets sold in advance, and they staffed accordingly, but no tickets had been sold But at least one of them made them pay a booking fee or such like by making them go to a cash machine and withdraw £400 or whatever it was? Surely these venues are a bit more sophisticated that working off the promise of sold tickets and they have a fallback to protect against this kind of thing, like a contractual obligation to pay a fee of some sort. I'm not saying they weren't treated shabbily, lying in any way is bad, but they won't have been out of pocket by more than their minimum booking fee, surely? Otherwise you'd get the local secondary school bands phoning up and booking all the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDC484950 Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 18 minutes ago, BreadBin said: Yes, as @cheddatom has explained above. ...and the income from selling the stuff said people might dispense - kind of the reason most venues continue to exist! IMHO the guy is an idiot, and nothing he has done is to be admired or applauded. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 7 minutes ago, uk_lefty said: But at least one of them made them pay a booking fee or such like by making them go to a cash machine and withdraw £400 or whatever it was? Surely these venues are a bit more sophisticated that working off the promise of sold tickets and they have a fallback to protect against this kind of thing, like a contractual obligation to pay a fee of some sort. I'm not saying they weren't treated shabbily, lying in any way is bad, but they won't have been out of pocket by more than their minimum booking fee, surely? Otherwise you'd get the local secondary school bands phoning up and booking all the time! I guess I just thought that they might have been overstaffed based on the lies they'd been told so they might have been out of pocket. Of course venues should protect themselves but the fake promotions company and record company looked OK, not really comparable to secondary school kids I kind of admire it anyway. My first band made up a PR company and a record label, did fake websites and sent out press packs etc. It never worked for us but I'm sure more people looked at our "professional press packs" than would have listened to a demo CD sent directly from an unknown band Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, BigRedX said: Were the venues shabbily treated? IME venues will charge what it costs to cover their expenses to open for a gig, so none of them should have been out of pocket just because the audience was virtually none existent. Perhaps they could have booked a band that was more popular, but having been part of many tiny audiences for both local and touring bands there are very few bands playing the kind of venues that Threatin were playing that could 100% guarantee a decent crowd every time they play. They generally bring in the number of staff needed for the expected audience, and they count on having a certain amount of drinks sales. It's because of that, that if they know your band is going to attract enough people, you often can get a reduced booking rate. Edited December 17, 2018 by mcnach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 2 hours ago, uk_lefty said: Otherwise you'd get the local secondary school bands phoning up and booking all the time! You can phone up and book, no problem... but it'll cost you more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 I think this line from the article tells us all we need to know: "As we briefly toured the Eames’ immaculate and sparsely decorated home - framed portraits of Jered hung throughout..." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabag Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Ah...yes. It's called delusions of grandeur , methinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicko Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 I can't help thinking this guy wasn't working alone. A house in LA with a "huge recoding studio", and the means to pay for the fake accounts and travel costs is unexplained. Although he has treated the other musicians and venues with contempt this is s stunning piece of self publicity - the kind of which seems to create fame of a kind for far too many people with far too little talent. It's not necessarily finished either with the potential for a film based on the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Nicko said: I can't help thinking this guy wasn't working alone. A house in LA with a "huge recoding studio", and the means to pay for the fake accounts and travel costs is unexplained. Although he has treated the other musicians and venues with contempt this is s stunning piece of self publicity - the kind of which seems to create fame of a kind for far too many people with far too little talent. It's not necessarily finished either with the potential for a film based on the story. Lots of con artists have big houses and material things. And I think it was he himself who said about film rights, a film company could easily make this story without him, his name or his permission. If it was a film about him, with his participation, I think it would have a similar audience to his gigs, there's just not enough drama in the story yet unless you really got creative with it. I bet it would star Jack Black too, which is another massive "No" from me! Edited December 18, 2018 by uk_lefty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 You could look at it as a brilliant bit of Situationalism. Guy Debord would be proud...very 'society of the spectacle' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 I'm kind of thankful he picked up a guitar and not a gun in his teens. He definitely looks like the high school shooting kind of nut job to me. Luckily, what he did was "fairly" harmless. A few bruised egos and a few people out of pocket. Some people with similar delusional personality disorders do far worse. Although I do wonder what he will do once the attention has died down and his five minutes of fame (infamy) are over. He's definitely going to end up in one of those police chase stop murder death kill first 24 hour true homicide type programmes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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