Fun with Guido, Charles, and the Family

[Jim LotFP]

BLABBERMOUTH.NET - Former CONTROL DENIED Singer, Ex-HAMMERHEART Label Owner Engage In Public War Of Words

BLABBERMOUTH.NET - CHUCK SCHULDINER's Sister: CONTROL DENIED's Second Album Will be Released This Year

I don't have a lot of time at the moment, but somehow I think anything I'd say wouldn't be considered very popular, even around these parts. Just ridiculous on both sides, really. I need to dig to see if I have anything saved from the beginnings of this fight years ago (one of the reasons why I saved all that Stratovarius garbage, so nobody can say later one what was or what was not said at the time)...

 

[Jim LotFP]

I've got more time than I thought, and I just did some scanning. From my editorial dated March 4, 2003…

An interview with Jane Schuldiner was done with Rockaxis (and can be found at emptywords.org) concerning the anniversary of her son Chuck's death . The interview was posted in January to the Emprywords site, and large sat there with no big deal being made about it until Blabbermouth (hey. credit where due... and if they'd follow-up on their own headlines instead of cut and paste "news" [any site that has as much Osbourne party information needs news in quotes] I wouldn't need to comment) reported on some juicy-details. As soon as that hit, there was very fast damage control and things got interesting.

The relevant portion of the original interview:

“At this time we are in litigation with Hammerheart because of mistrust of how they are planning to proceed with Chuck's last record. We are very unhappy with a recent member of their staff who had a very negative influence on Chuck's first Control Denied album. She also said some really horrible things about Chuck when he was very ill, saying that maybe he would die and they would not have to pay Chuck at all. That horrified and hurt Chuck, as well as his friends and family. We have documented proof of this and very soon will offer that proof in US courts.”

Let's see, who was involved with Nuclear Blast (Control Denied's label for their first album) in 1999, and then went on to be involved with Hammerheart?

Maria Abril (whose professional association with Chuck goes back at least to 1993 when she was listed as 'label coordinator' for Relativity Records on Individual Thought Patterns) worked for Nuclear Blast as a publicist in 1999, and also had Martyr Music Group going on the side. I remember trying to get her to OK multiple Nuclear Blast ads in exchange for giving her a free Martyr ads. That sure didn't fly, hah, and just thinking about trying to schmooze not-exactly-ethical deals out of people really makes me glad 1 don't solicit for ads anymore. But anyway, after Abril left Nuclear Blast, Martyr Music Group became the Hammerheart America office, and that's when Control Denied signed to Hammerheart. It didn't work out (obviously, as they MMG is longer affiliated with Hammerheart), and today Martyr Music still exists as a mailorder (with some items you just don't see anyone else carrying), and releases a few albums a year (How Like a Winter imminently, Circle of Dead Children later this year, and Penance and Council of the Fallen are on the label too...). Check out the Death back patches and pendants, we'll see her attitude towards the Schuldiner family.

Paula Hogan was head publicist at Nuclear Blast, and soon moved into the position as manager of the US office. She remained in that position until the Nuclear Blast US operations were taken over by Century Media, and soon after Martyr and Hammerheart parted ways, Hogan's Manic Media took over for Hammerheart's US distribution and publicity. It doesn't take a lot of thinking to figure out it's her that's talked about in the Schuldiner interview, although I have a seriously hard time believing the “maybe he would die...” stuff at face value. Once the illness was known, it had to have been addressed in business terms by Nuclear Blast and I'm not putting a lot of stock in second hand out of context quotes concerning the matter (grieving mothers ≠ objectivity), you know:? The quote may well be absolutely as Schuldiner says, and that would indeed be pretty goddamn pathetic, but I doubt this “documented proof” will be available to the public to be examined, so how will we ever know? (and who was that interviewer that let it go at that?) But the Schuldiner family obviously feels Hogan dropped the ball with The Fragile Art of Existence. How Control Denied was pushed as compared to a lot of other bands during Hogan's period in charge I couldn't exactly tell you as I was off their mailing list during much of Hogan's reign (although no issues lately receiving Hammerheart/Candlelight/Nocturnal Art items under her watch) and had none of their efforts directed towards me. Nuclear Blast only released a Control Denied album on the condition of getting a Death album first anyway, and I have to believe that decision was made in Germany, not in America. Looking at it from a purely business standpoint, not only did the label not have great confidence in the project long before it was recorded because of the perceived (not real) departure from the Death material fans expected from Chuck, but then later they found out the Control Denied album was not going to have any touring done in support of it and the leader of the band was only going to do very limited press, and metal fans the world over were falling all over themselves to talk about how horrible Chuck's illness was without any record label efforts, so giving Control Denied the A+ promotional push isn't something that should have been expected. But if someone's going to be handling Hammerheart's operations in the US, and the Schuldiner family has a personal issue with them, what do you do?

This puts Hammerheart in an absolutely horrible position. Control Denied was their most classy signing ever, and they had every right to be hungry to release this album, and be disappointed when it looked like the album wouldn't happen at all. Now, because of a business deal to get their releases decent promotion in the US, the family of Chuck Schuldiner is going to sue them to release all contractual obligations?

The quick and easy solution seems obvious to me. Hammerheart should offer to release the rights, free and clear, for the North American market (and if it ultimately ends up on Martyr we know they're going for warm fuzzies instead of what's good for the album... and to figure out why that would be, I assign you to write an essay about why Sinister’s Creative Killings was released far before Arch Enemy’s Wages of Sin yet got far less press coverage, and why that makes no sense considering the identical gimmick) since that's where the problem seems to lie from the Schuldiner camp. In exchange, they should get no grief for retaining rights for Europe. And if the album gets released with either shoddy packaging (and please dear God no Steve Rowe Ten Years... display in the booklet) or production, then the bloody lot of them can all go hang.

... and a late breaking development before press time: Apparently the statements created a lot more controversy that was intended. On emptywords.org, Jane Schuldiner released this statement:

"When I gave an interview to a magazine (Rockaxis) well over a month ago I was very emotional because of the 1st anniversary of my son's death. I said some things that should not have been publicized and I am sorry for that. It was not something that should have been shared with anybody other than the people involved. With this in mind, I will not give any more interviews to magazines, but will continue with the Q&A on the emptywords site. Chuck would really hale this, and I hope everyone lets it go and concentrates on the only thing that really matters, Chuck and his music."

Note that she doesn't say she didn't mean what she said, just that it shouldn't have been publicized. Also note that she also plays the “only the music matters” card, which really means “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” Accept what's said and don't investigate why it's being said or what's brought us to this point. It's a very nice thing to just be a fan and be able to accept albums at face value, but even the most naive music fan can't last long without facing the realities of the music business. Knowing how to expertly play politics, egos, money, and hype is a necessary skill for any successful band (and before you say 'talent' has to be as well, stop and think for a minute… it's not a necessary component). The ones that can't hang are the bands that stay small-time (nothing wrong with that but you're doomed to obscurity) or go away/have massive lineup changes (and note how many small bands go through lineup issues as soon as they become a regular touring concern). Chuck Schuldiner released albums on four separate high profile labels, went through who knows how many band members, and was always in the press. He either played the game extremely well, which means he was really had to be a ruthless bastard, or he was ill-equipped lo deal with it at all, causing many problems professionally and musically. No middle ground on that one I think. “Only the music matters”? It always seemed like a deflection when Chuck said it, and it's certainly the case now when his mother is saying it.

My follow-up dated March 11, 2003:

Following up on last week's story, some new information has come this way. It's not a simple matter of goodwill or publicity, as Hammerheart Records apparently has a considerable amount of money tied up (mid five-figures, more than twice what I earn in a year before taxes!) in an album that they might not ever get to release, and might be in serious financial shape partially because of that.

The fact that legal threats were mentioned from the Schuldiner camp seems to indicate that simply buying the album back from Hammerheart is not what's being discussed.

The idea that Hammerheart could pay out that kind of money in advance, and end up with nothing to show for it (not even the return of the advance) while the album they paid for gets released by someone else is completely ridiculous, and if that's Schuldiner's idea, it's inexcusable.

The punchline? The album is not done, and is not anywhere remotely close to being done (three of the four surviving members have apparently recorded absolutely nothing yet), and many of the vocal ideas are still in the demo stages.

There aren't any winners here, but the losers may be everyone found at www.hammerheart.com/artists.htm.

Too bad there were some things I'd been told at the time, but could find nobody else that told the same story, that I didn't print and didn't save info on. Hammerheart was certainly not what I'd consider an upstanding label by any means, but whether it was because they had no idea how to handle their money had to leave bands hanging just to keep operating, or if management lived well while screwing the bands, I couldn't tell you.

 

[Jim LotFP]

BLABBERMOUTH.NET - Label Owner To CHUCK SCHULDINER's Sister: Stop Weeping And Treat CHUCK's Legacy With Respect

Ouch.

 

[sadistic_intent]

Good news

 

[BenMech]

~

Jane Schuldiner, the mother of late DEATH/CONTROL DENIED legend CHUCK SCHULDINER has issued the following update:

"Let me take this opportunity to answer those of you who wrote to ask me about people speaking for Chuck's family about personal issues. There is no person who has permission to talk about nor to make decisions about anything to do with Chuck or his album or other works. Chuck named his sister Beth as the executor of his estate and she, and only she, with the exception of me when she requests it, has the right to make those decisions and to speak about it with knowledge and authority, and the truth. I thank you for keeping me informed and not believing rumors, just write if you have any more questions, I'll answer as soon as I can."