Well, there you go gang!! We just received word that WE GOT THE LOVE is the #1 most added song at rock radio this week! Meaning: more stations added the tune to their playlists than any other song!

See what happens when a lot of determined people get involved!!?

Thanks to all… we share this little victory with you!! Let’s keep at it, whatever everybody is doing, it’s working!!

Jt

Okay kiddies…. It’s time. www.imotherearth.ca/store. We are finally making the tune available for download after much pestering… Pretty excited about it actually… maybe even a little bit nervous. We have given you a choice of hi res Mp3, and hi res .wav. (hey, if you’re spreading it around we want you to have the best sounding files to copy from!) Up to you which one… For now you can buy it via paypal or credit card. (no paypal account required)

While I know we have given approximately 5000 downloads away and everybody probably has the song already, we thought we would put it out for sale just to see what happens. I have some theories I want to share with you before doing so if that’s okay.

We in the band have come to a basic understanding that we will probably never make any money from writing and recording music again… We have absolutely zero expectations of that ever happening. (I honestly don’t ever recall any fat payouts in the past for going platinum many times over so the bar has been set really low!). You would think it natural for us to be bitter and angry about that fact, but surprisingly, we aren’t.

Releasing this song has given us an opportunity to share some new concepts with regards to the relationship between band and fan, and given us some new things to believe in.

The idea that is constantly put forth in the media and in the industry is that music fans everywhere are all thieves out to destroy all that is good and sacred with the music business. People who do hunt out good music and promote artists simply through word of mouth are lumped in and labelled alongside massive pirating sites and we think this is absolutely unfair. Our very public relationship with you now has an opportunity to show others that when fans have something to believe in and when they feel informed and involved, good things can happen.

So we are releasing this new track with a few simple ideas that I think you will all understand.

1) if you can afford the song, please buy it… If you honestly can’t, steal it from somewhere but take on the noble mission of recruiting new people to join us all in this new adventure.

2) if you do have to steal it, let’s call it something nicer like “borrowing”, and hopefully you’ll be in a better spot financially or otherwise to buy the next, or perhaps buy a ticket to a show, or call the local radio station to play it. Support=currency to us in a way, and we will gladly trade you straight up!

3) As we no longer look at really trying to make a living from this, all that we ask is to be acknowledged for the work we put into it and hopefully make enough to get the next one made. No more, no less. We aren’t looking to get wealthy from releasing songs or even care all that much about that kind of stuff, we’re definitely over it! We just really want to prove to a lot of people that being honest with fans can work, and that a band like us can continue to make music and be relevant given the right circumstances. The commerce side of things for us just has to be based in honesty and a belief that our music actually matters enough to a handful of people, allowing us to make more for all. The $$ becomes secondary and actually insignificant. For us, it’s all about integrity and principle, period.

So, it all seems kind of simple, right? I dont really know what to expect. Just know that as we promised with playing shows, you supported us, and we immediately added another show, and we are treating songs no differently.. if you support us, we write and record more for you. That’s it. We are putting 100% of anything we make from We Got The Love directly into getting the next song made, and so on and so on. If we have a surplus from one song, we’ll find ways to make more music available cheaper if not free. Contrary to popular belief, it wouldn’t take much at all to do this, surprisingly enough… If we all can grasp this simple concept, and get involved, there is no reason to stop creating for you at all.

A lot of people are watching us right now… and yes, this includes you! Together we have the chance to prove to any and all that this is a concept that can work for a band like us, or any other artists for that matter. I SO want to be right…

Let’s have at it then…… Song #2 is waiting.

Jt

(… and yes, I just said that… Gimme a break, i’m tired.)

Ok… ive been quiet long enough. Ive had a few days to calm down, the throbbing in my aching thighs has subsided, and I think I can look back on the days (weeks, months) with a bit of clarity.

Bravo to you all. I know you all understand how we felt going into this; a little unsettled and uncertain and not really knowing what the hell was going to happen. Maybe you even felt the same? Are they going to come out and well…. be “old”? I have never been more nervous in my life as we announced the show (yet never more calm walking out on stage) and then released We Got The Love… shit, even the title scared me!. Once again though, all of you guys have proven to us that our relationship with you trumps all and proves everything to an industry that consistently beat us down through the years and drove us away in the first place. Can’t thank you enough.

I had stated before that all of us have accomplished something with some very real and forward thinking results. When we announced the shows, we had heard many voices in the industry say incredibly stupid things like, “It’ll never work” or “They are setting themselves up to fail” etc. We actually know who some of these little tits are… and they are of course still the same ones who shouldn’t have jobs. They walk around spreading their consistently negative and misinformed opinions and actually do damage to the reps of the good people in the industry simply by being dumbasses. I repeat, i’m not talking about the entire music industry which has some truly amazing people in it… just some of the folks who should go away and make some room for the good ones to rise you know? All I can say to them is GAME, SET, MATCH IMEnation…. and to not so kindly “go fuck yourselves” …. You are not welcome here. (although I can’t wait to see you again!)

Some highlights of the night: 1) some of the good industry folk actually buying tickets and having a blast… Some never having experienced IME and our fans, and admitting to us afterwards, “I had no idea!”. A very warm thank you for being open minded and for just having fun. 2) old fans bringing a ton of IME newbies to the show. This is the only way we can continue and expand the concept… We need to reach out and convince people one by one if we have to, that with and not against IME or other bands like us is definitely the place to be. From all reports from fans, we convinced all to join our cause. 3) everybody in the audience singing. I mean, to get a couple thousand people singing “while the tree of importance waits” is no small feat… Trust me. The biggest thrill, (and shock to the industry folk btw) was everybody singing We Got The Love after only 2 days as a non downloadable tune online. No mass radio campaign, no iTunes sales or promotion… nothing. Just our fans patiently waiting for new music.. and pouncing on it! Lol! Incredible amount of thanks for that. 4) that all of this was accomplished through non standard means. We have no label, no management, no permanent road crew, barely any equipment and no media push (we had something like 75 media requests for the shows to be reviewed and written about… and we said no to all of them. We felt that if you are coming to the shows just to find fault to write about, then buy a ticket and stand inline with everybody else. We are done with the ass kissing that we were expected to be a part of in the past. One popular writer even threatened us and said we “had to”… laughable. 2 sold out shows and we “have to”? Our response to anybody with that attitude is of course another “GFU”! Lol! 5) most importantly, looking around onstage and being surrounded by the best guys and musicians I could ever hope to be in a band with. Extremely emotional as I write that… You have no idea what it means to a musician to have this.

I’ll be writing more blogs now that we’ve finished up and have more time to do so. I need to hunker down and say thanks some very specific people who helped us with the shows and with the song. Stay tuned as I have a ton of new ideas to share as well and need your thoughts.

So i’ll close out with saying how special these nights were to us, clams and all, and you need to know how appreciative we are to be allowed to do them. After 8 years passing and with only 5 rehearsals we made it through relatively unscathed (with the exception of my aforementioned burning thighs) for almost three hours each night playing for roughly 4500-5000 fans… Not bad for a bunch of old guys huh?

As Brian stated during the sets…. The awesome reception of our return leads us to believe that this may be only the beginning.

Thank you.

Jt

Well… Here we go. The first IME song in about 10 years. The song is called “WE GOT THE LOVE” and well, it rocks! We’ll be posting it around 8pm so stay tuned.

Releasing this song to you guys is an absolute honour and I cant really explain what it means to us for you to finally hear it, especially at this point in our lives. We really never thought any of this would ever happen again. This song doesn’t represent us “getting back in the game” by any means and whatever happens with it, or whoever plays or doesn’t play it, is of no consequence.

It’s a simple thank you to our fans for sticking with us throughout our whole career as well as our absence.

As ive mentioned before, “WE GOT THE LOVE” is appropriately and unapologetically “us”. (I think when you hear the words you’ll understand where we are coming from) Hope you enjoy it!

Ps. Learn the damn words for the gigs! lol!