It's Not Dead

It Isn't Dead
It Isn't Dead is the tenth studio album by The Dropouts released on March 13th, 20XX. Following both Beggars Can't Be Choosers and the stage show Far Away, many fans and critics started to say that The Dropouts had given up on their original sound, the ska and ska punk that they were known for when they started out. While their albums and music still included this part of their identity, many diehard early fans were upset with them for not continuing it as much as they had other genres. This was especially evident in Far Away, which didn't feature any ska which was disappointing to fans of Cheer Up! who had come to see the show.

Along with this, rising tensions between the band members forged more and more creative differences, with certain members frustrated with the constant experimenting with their music genres which they felt was frustrating their fans as well as themselves, having to constantly switch styles so quickly. Due to this, It Isn't Dead leans entirely into the ska and ska-punk genre, delivering 12 ska songs with a variety of styles within the ska genre. The album name in retrospect is somewhat ironic, as this was the album that lead to the band's second and biggest break up, as the production process for this album struggled the most out of any of the band's previous, and would finally end the Spirit Weak era.

Planning Stages
After the run of Far Away had completed, Nathan Taylor approached Nick Barnett saying it was time to start working on their next album and pushed heavily to make this one an entirely ska album. While the rest of the band had been working on Far Away, Nathan, along with Jimmy Rodriguez had been taking in feed back about the band, in somewhat a way to help themselves prove their points in regards to some creative issues that they were having. Nick Barnett, having now gone off to complete something entirely for himself, read through the feedback and gave in to Nathan and Jimmy's requests. Thus, the basis for It Isn't Dead was laid out. The name It Isn't Dead was even chosen very early on around this time, in reference to people claiming that ska as a genre was dead or dying out.

When it came to the writing process for It Isn't Dead was all over the place. With the tensions and differences between the band all coming to a head in even just the planning stages, it was unclear if the album would even have a central theme. This lead to one of the biggest gaps in conception to production the band had ever had, until finally the decision was made to not have any message or tone for the album, and instead just focus on giving fans the ska-punk sound they had been begging for.

During the gap, every member of the band had their own material to bring to the table, all of them with their own vision of how the album should go and sound, leading to the somewhat disjointed feeling the album has as it jumps to songs written by one band member to the other. Luckily with the goal of the sound in mind, it didn't become too jarring - as it was in Rager at Jimmy's.

Production
It Isn't Dead officially entered production on October 9th, 20XX, over a year after the release of Far Away, which was around the same time the idea for the album was initially stated, and was once again at Make Believe Studios. Much like Beggars Can't Be Choosers before it, production took a long time for this album. However, unlike the prior, It Isn't Dead suffered it's production delays simply from the internal struggles that plagued it's entire production. There was no planned release date at the start of production like the band usually had, again due to the fact that nobody could agree on what it would be - it was done when it was done.

The tracklist was the first thing that had to be finalized, with the amount of songs each member brought after the break before production began ranging from a few to multiple albums worth of songs. Scott Wilson recounts in an interview with pickcrew "It's insane to think about the amount of songs we had at the start of the album, literally between Nick, Nathan, and I, we could've probably made 3 entirely ska albums. We had to spend a lot of time shaving that down - and believe me it was not easy. We basically hated each other at the time and it was like 'why would we put that song on the album? It's by you! Let's use mine!'"

Spending almost 3 weeks in discussions, arguments, and fights was taxing on everyone, but eventually the final tracklist came down to include The World is New, Anything, and Come on Eileen written by Nikki Brown (although the last one being a cover, but was Nikki's idea), The Science of Selling Yourself Short, I Don't Love You Anymore, and All I Want Is More coming from Nick Barnett (although All I Want Is More was chosen to come back by Nathan Taylor, who was at the time mad that You Know Us Too Well happened), Stepping Out, On & On & On, Keasbey Nights, and Lost It coming from Scott Wilson, and finally Do Right and Things Change which were written by Nathan Taylor. Jimmy Rodriguez had brought some ideas for songs, but was ultimately shot down by Nick and Nathan due to them still straying a bit far from the sound they were aiming for, much like Rock The House.

When it came to recording, that was when the real troubles started. It was decided to record in chunks based on who wrote the songs, but due to the aforementioned fighting and disagreements, there would be times where people would refuse to play or record their parts for songs or refuse to listen to notes and critiques given. Most famously, it Isn't Dead had to have two producers, because Nathan Taylor had refused to mix any of Nick Barnett's songs. This lead to the album being co-produced by Nathan Taylor and Cory Rosenstock, who was brought back from Rager at Jimmy's. Originally, Nick wanted to produce his own songs, but Nathan didn't let it happen at all. In an interview with Cory after the album's release and subsequent break up of the band, he said "Being in the studio while they were recording was honestly scary. It was like there were teams of people and at any moment a gang war would break out. I remember Nathan and Jimmy seemed to always be on the same side, Scott would flip flop between staying on his own or supporting them depending on the situation, Nick almost seemed completely alone at times. It was sad to watch after producing for them so many times before. Nikki seemed to want to help everyone, but it was hard even for her to deal with them."

Eventually, after almost 4 months of recording, mixing, and producing, the first pass of It Isn't Dead was finally finished and somehow, the band was still together. Taking a few days off, it was left to Cory Rosenstock to decide on what the singles of the album would be, due to him being the most unbiased opinion when it came to the matter. Along with this, Cory also set the final release date of the album, March 13th, in an attempt to whip the band into shape and make sure this was going to come out.

The Road to It Isn't Dead
With many thanks to Cory, the band was able to produce 2 singles with music videos leading up to the release of It Isn't Dead. First came I Don't Love You Anymore, slamming hard into the Ska-Punk sound the album revolved around, and making it clear to the public what they had planned for the rest of it. The music video for the song was premiered at an interview with SMILE PAINT that Nick, Nikki, and Scott attended. While Nathan and Jimmy were invited, they declined due to the first single being Nick's song. The music video included a party where the lead character, portrayed by Nick, seemed to be telling his partner that he didn't love them anymore in the form of an over the top, extravagant song. The music video was intentionally misleading to the true meaning of the song, which was about Nick's struggles with alcohol at the time, which was ironic to some members of the band, as it has been stated that Nick was drunk during the filming of the music video for I Don't Love You Anymore. Despite the controversial surroundings of the single's release, the reception was overall positive. Fans were happy to hear the original Dropouts sound returning, and the song was easy to sing along to and party with. Nikki Brown recalls the SMILE PAINT crew congratulating them on how good the song was before the interview even went live. There was some confusion at first due to the song having the exact same title as the song from Far Away, Nick Barnett eventually clarified that when he had the written both songs at the same time. The title came first and then he had two ideas, and since Far Away was a pretty much standalone project, kept the title for the new version of I Don't Love You Anymore. While the first single did a lot for the excitement leading up to It Isn't Dead, it also began some worries between fans of the behind the scenes state of The Dropouts, with many even now still noting that almost all of the band members looked terrible during the SMILE PAINT interview, and in the entire era of It Isn't Dead. This was the first fans had seen of the band members in over a year, the last time being for the release of Far Away in 20XX. Speculation began based on comments and interviews the band had made, as well as things like Nathan and Jimmy having no part in Far Away, or how Cory Rosenstock was brought back on as a producer despite having been taken off for Beggars Can't Be Choosers. Seeing the fallout begin, Cory pushed forth the production of yet another single and music video for Do Right. While I Don't Love You Anymore was released late in January, Do Right was released in mid February, near the peak of speculation around the band's well being. Released just as a normal single without an interview, due to the band's still growing tension, Do Right confirmed the band's promise of a ska-punk album, featuring a music video of the band performing on what seemed like a 70's type music show, with dancers depicting the song's lyrics. Much like I Don't Love You Anymore, the song was well received and praised almost universally. Although, some did seem to think that Do Right didn't push the sound enough unlike the first single, and felt almost formulaic. This criticism was one that deeply upset Nathan Taylor and Jimmy Rodriguez at the time, feeling inferior to Nick Barnett.

While originally intended to have a third single, due to the deadline, It Isn't Dead only received two singles, although two outstanding ones. The final idea Cory Rosenstock had for the album was to hold an album release show, at midnight. Eventually the idea transformed into an album release party live at Make Believe Records. Transforming the studio into a stage and venue was a labor of love by Cory, but Nikki and Scott both did their best to help. Tensions were high at this point as the feeling of inferiority had been dwelling in Nathan and Jimmy, as well as spreading to Scott as he waited to find out how his songs faired against the rest of the bands. The band felt this feeling was unfair as Nick was constantly under the influence, getting worse and worse as the fighting in the band continued. They didn't feel they deserved to be in the shadow of someone who couldn't stay sober and this conflict almost led to the album release show getting cancelled, with Nick threatening to not show up. Eventually, after some convincing from Cory and Nikki, Nick agreed and at midnight on March 13th, It Isn't Dead was finally shown in full to the public, with a large crowd of fans showing up to party that night.

The Fallout
Shortly after the release of It Isn't Dead, the original line up of The Dropouts broke up once again. It all reached a breaking point the very night of It Isn't Dead 's release show. Following Nikki and Cory's convincing Nick Barnett made the decision to stay sober for the show, although this was a promise he made to himself and left unknown to the rest of the band. The show went down without a problem, but as the party raged on after the show, the final straw would be broken.

One of the party goers, a random fan was on their way out to head home, but was blocked by Nathan Taylor's car. In a quick decision, Nick Barnett offered to move it, and Nathan complied as he was wrapped up in a discussion about Make Believe Records with some potential investors. The car was moved and the party goer was able to leave without a problem, but as Nick went to park the car again, a random fan jumped into the road, excited to see Nick but unfortunately causing him to swerve suddenly and crash the car into a nearby tree. Hearing the commotion, Nathan Taylor went to investigate and found Nick stumbling out of the car. In a rash decision, Nick and Nathan got into a fight, Nathan assuming Nick was drunk or high and due to the influence crashed his car, not knowing the context of the situation. The fight got intense and soon the rest of the band members were involved, breaking it up and missing the context Nick had. It was decided right there that The Dropouts were done.

While It Isn't Dead did make it's official release, due to the sudden loss of it's biggest band and a failure to entice investors after the disaster at the release show, Make Believe Records shutdown only 4 months after the album's release. With all of the news and drama now surrounding the band and record label, it was inevitable. Media outlets reported on the band's very messy break up for the entirety of It Isn't Dead's lifespan, but other than the first release show, the band mostly dropped off the grid for the time being.

Reception
It Isn't Dead officially released on March 13th, 20XX and to a mostly positive reception. Fans were elated to hear the band return to the ska sound they had originally started with and enjoyed how the album seemed to explore and play around with the sub genres related to ska. However, the album once again fell short of the previous heavy hitters of Spirit Weak or even Beggars Can't Be Chooser's, mostly due to the controversy surrounding it. Near it's release it was almost impossible to see an article or a review written about the album that wasn't hand in hand with coverage of the band's break up.

While the drama did drive sales up for the first month or so, the lack of shows, interviews, or even promotion from Make Believe Records led to the album to fall flat after it's original climb in popularity. The album scored mostly positive reviews too, staying in the mid 80's, but just couldn't stay afloat in the sea of indifference that it was dropped into. Most of the media coverage was about the drama first, and album second. Some of the only promotion the album got were small solo shows that Nikki Brown held, performing her songs and select few others from the album, but these shows didn't last long either as curious fans began to swarm her with questions about the band's fallout.

It Isn't Dead did all it could for the band, providing a somewhat forgettable album that satisfied fans at the time of release, but left a shaky and unknown future ahead for The Dropouts.

Tracklist

 * 1) The World Is New - Written by Nikki Brown
 * 2) Anything - Written by Nikki Brown
 * 3) Stepping Out - Written by Scott Wilson
 * 4) Do Right - Written by Nathan Taylor
 * 5) The Science of Selling Yourself Short - Written by Nick Barnett
 * 6) I Don't Love You Anymore - Written by Nick Barnett
 * 7) On & On & On - Written by Scott Wilson
 * 8) Keasbey Nights - Written by Scott Wilson
 * 9) Lost It - Written by Scott Wilson
 * 10) All I Want Is More - Written by Nick Barnett
 * 11) Things Change - Written by Nathan Taylor
 * 12) Come on Eileen - Originally by Dexy's Midnight Runners

Fun Facts

 * Nick Barnett states that the performance of Come On Elieen at the end of the album's midnight release show was some of the most fun he had ever had up until that point.
 * Almost all of the band members have expressed regret over how the behind the scenes drama went and was handled during It Isn't Dead, and wish they could change what happened.
 * While never getting a tour at the time of release, The Dropouts have since then done multiple shows performing the album in it's entirety.
 * Nick Barnett now has stated that Do Right is one of his favorite songs off the album.
 * Nathan Taylor regrets putting All I Want Is More on the record.
 * After the release of Formerly Known As, SMILE PAINT wrote a feature looking back on the time of It Isn't Dead, showcasing how far the band members had come as both musicians and people since the infamous interview.

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