Here are some of the typical responses I have seen when the topic comes up.
“All the bands that work with scion are sellout!!!!"
Did Magrudergrind add a keyboard player? Were the vocals on the last Gridlink album autotuned? Did Wormrot throw in a techno breakdown on the “Noise” EP that I haven’t heard about yet? No? Nothing like that happened? THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP! Sellout to me means changing your style in an attempt to "broaden your fanbase" AKA GIT THAT MONEY SON!!! None of the bands that have worked with Scion have done that. They're still making the same ugly ass music as before, thankfully. So, that argument is out the window.
"Now the scene is gonna get flooded with a bunch of trendy hipsters!!!"
Ummm...look around you. Too late, dipshit. Besides, that shit was gonna happen with or without Scion. It is just how it goes.
"I don't want some giant evil corporation nosing around in my scene!!!!"
Fair enough. I actually don't have a snarky comeback to that one. All I can say is, i never got my underwear in a bunch about that sort of thing. They make cars, not sure what is so awful about that. I have not really heard any stories about Toyota or Scion treating their employees like shit. You can make the argument that ANY 9-5 job is treating you like shit because it robs yer soul of whatever the fuck but, really? Grow up. As far as I know the cars are not made out of infant corpses *tho maybe that would be a plus for you goregrind guys yes?* so other than just a knee jerk reaction to corporate interaction, I don’t really think this point holds a whole lot of water, but I get it on some level.
The one thing that I have not really seen anyone talk about is why Scion would want to get involved in a very small subculture that has a tendency to reject dealing with people like them on general principle. Well, a quick Google search brings up this article. It looks like they have been doing this sort of thing from the start but just recently branched out into metal. I guess for them, its more along the lines of changing their image from a faceless multinational corporation to something with a bit more character. Scion's VP is quoted as saying that he does not really care if they get anything out of this. I am not necessarily buying that. They can only toss money at something for so long without seeing a return on it before it will come to an end, but lets give this guy the benefit of the doubt and take him at his word. So, a large corporation is offering to let underground bands do whatever the hell they want and keep 100% creative control of what they are doing. Shit. That's better than most record contracts I have read about. If these bands are giving up anything *other than cred amongst the internet nerds* I have yet to hear about it. Everyone involved has had nothing but positive things to say about working with the car company, so I have to ask. What's the problem? Go to the shows, get the free albums. No one is saying you have to ever give money to Toyota or Scion. In fact, it sounds like they are already counting on that. At the end of the day tho, I am not sure why everyone is upset about a group of people helping out bands we like and actually giving them respect for what they do. I think it’s a nice change of pace seeing people embrace creativity and rewarding them for it.
~Marc Sabo
