TheMatches

Hey @thomasj182 I apologize for the steep price. Honestly, none of the albums are intended to take any of you for a profit ride. Sure, like anything being sold, you hope to profit somewhat, but these are never money grabs. Your comments are all taken with honest respect. I myself is a collector and buy records not for a flip. I was lucky to get Brand New Scoence Fiction limited Press/package (pre Jessie scandal) and like us, the care in package is much appreciated and worth the cost. A Band In Hope was never released on vinyl and like I said, Epitaph has no desire to do any of our releases. We do all the work in house (I actually pick up the vinyl from the manufacturer, the boxes, labels, etc and ship them on my own. The most miserable 48 hours you can imagine. But, the reward of getting the album to those who are excited for it is super rewarding. again, I’m a fan and collector as well. On ABIH, we didn’t want to make anyone wait In a preorder, so turned it around from the day it was put up and shipped within 12 hours. I can (honestly) say, we have sold 600+ since Tuesday and are so appricative that people still care about us. The extra album is just a special way to say thank you. Everyone already have the album in CD or can stream it, so adding something special is just a thank you. As a music fan, i have always wanted the demos and out takes. Things that were never available. Hearing the evolution of the songs is very interesting and an inside look at hownthings came about. I get that some don’t give a shit too, but we just can’t do 2 runs (one single and one double). It’s expensive already, so doing that is honestly operating at a loss. The sleeves inside the album are pretty rad and it’s a nice way to old school experience the album as a audio and tactile experience. The only releasing the digital versions of the 2nd LP is just a fair way of giving a gift of appreciation. Usually when we sell out of the vinyl, we make those available, but doing it before that is like offering pre sale tickets to someone and then allowing everyone in for free day of show. It just would feel like we screwed them over. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s an ethical decision. I have spoken to Epitaph about it and they just don’t have interest. Perhaps they will change their mind down the line, but if they do, they don’t even need to ask us as hey own the master. We also donthis 3rd party license DIY, because we can have quality control over the release. When other companies license from labels, it’s usually without the bands permission and they don’t earn a dime from the license or sales and the quality control is non existent. Those companies are usually more concerned with just moving units. I actually bought Say Anything’s In Defense of the Genre” from one of those 3rd party labels and it honestly sounds like shit. I can assure you Max Bemis would be bummed. Any way... I appreciate all your comments and thoughts, i just wanted to know i hear you, I understand your grievances and don’t say my way or the highway... we just have this level of quality control that we want to uphold between Sonics, art and packaging. So, the price can seem steep. I was at Barnes and Noble (can you believe that’s actually one of the only places you can find vinyl these days?) and they were selling a single disc of Led Zeppelin III for $39.00... the band sees zero of that mark up at least doing it DIY, we sell directly to our fans and actually take control of our own destiny. Trust me touring for 6 years, 250+ dates a year and coming home with $500 bucks each, it’s pretty awesome to know 10’ywars later that it all meant something to the people we played for and they are there with the same passion and support for us to keep us doing these special things on our terms. Thanks again for your discussion on this board. sincerely, Mr. TheMatches

Epitaph, while we love them, have no interest in putting these out.

Unfortunately, there are no Decomposer or E Von Dahl Killed The Locals left. We make these limited to 1000. They are all numbered (so you know we don’t cheat). So once we sell them out, we don’t make more. We made 2 pressings of EVDKTL, because we didn’t anticipate to sell out of 500. But those went in like 2 days. So we ran a 2nd Press (changing the color of the vinyl to make it an official 2nd pressing and avoid being accused of lying). So, other than the copy I kept for myself, they are gone. In 1 day since putting it up, we are almost 3/4 sold of A Band In Hope. I guess better to be sold out than not sell out and be stuck with inventory. lastly, when we license the albums from Epitaph, the agreement is to do no more than 1000 copies. Sincerely, Mr. TheMatches

Hey @MCDELTAT so first off, major props to you for being I think the only person that guessed it was going to be a vinyl release. Basically to make these vinyl releases special and not just a single vinyl record. We try to do things that are special and limited. Pricey? Yes but just so you know, we have to license the record from epitaph since they own it plus we have to pay for the manufacturing the art the mastering all the things we do for this release. so in order to make it work this is the standard price that we place. We not ever looking to exploit our relationship with our fans it’s just an actual cost issue. as far as the download goes I’m not exactly sure what the issue was that you have but I would love to know. Thanks for being the Sherlock Holmes of The Matches world . Thanks for supporting us regardless. you rock.

Hey throughbeingcool, i feel you son, but like I said, we don't own the master. Hoping Epitaph puts it out in vinyl as well. If they do, it'll be single vinyl and in print for as long as they press them. Fingers crossed it makes the release schedule!

Hey ajhall04! Thanks for that!!! One thing about The Matches is if there are 2 people or 2000 people, we are playing at 150%! Glad you dug the set way back when...

Thanks dude... I appreciate your comments!!!

Hey Mikeytags... There was honestly no intentions in the post of saying people who didn't want the double LP weren't core fans. I started the post saying I understood why some wouldn't want to pay for it. i was just trying to explain the reason for a double LP, the additional content and price. its a real limited edition and we want it to be something a little more for people who wanted more of the experience. That doesn't mean if you don't want it, you aren't a true fan, just someone who doesn't want the bells and whistles. Totally understand. This is why we are hoping that epitaph does a single disc of Decomposer. It just wasn't in the books/schedule as of now. So also, I'm sure if we did a single disc and then epitaph did the same after, there would be nothing special about ours. Hence, the limited, special double. sorry I bummed you out. Totally not the intention and hope that didn't make you decide to miss out on the upcoming show. It should be a lot of fun.

Hello everyone... I must say, I'm stoked that we made it onto this board. As a vinyl collector, i must say, it's better to be noticed and spoken about than not being known about. I totally understand where you guys are coming from from the evaluating of the cost vs. desire to own Decomposer. Heres the thing. The Matches have always been about the product as a whole. So, the music first, lyrics, etc..but also the presentation. The art, videos, creative process. We have been fortunate to where the fan base has been amazing and dedicated to the entire experience of The Matches. So, with the double gatefold, that was part of the art presentation. If you owned Decomposer on CD, you would understand. So, to be able to put it on a vinyl and have the space to expand what was limited to the dimensions of a cd, we wanted it to be awesome. Adding the insert, that is pages from the note book that Shawn (Singer/writer) had as he was writing and creating Decomposer, we thought would be a good extra to have for the fans that love the art and words. For a 2nd disc, we really looked to try and find something that would attract and excite the core fan base (sounds like that's not a lot of you guys), but entering the creative development of Decomposer we saw as something they would be stoked on (so far, the response has been great from them). We put out our last album E Von Dahl Killed The Locals as a double album, because that album was made 2x..once as an indie DIY album, then when he band got signed to Epitaph, we recorded a couple more songs, remixed all of them and it was a different album from the original DIY version, so that was why that was 2 LP's. We only pressed 1000 (2 pressings of 500), because we weren't sure of what the fan base was. We sold out of the 1st pressing in 1 day, so put up another 500 (different colors) and those took longer than 24 hours, but ended up selling out. When I mentioned that EVDKTL was on ebay for $200, that was because, I don;t want our core fans to have to pay that much for something we charged far less. Lots of people held out and got stuck buying the marked up version. Don;t want that to happen this time. The last reason for the price, is that we create, press, package, ship and do everything on our own. To press a double LP, double gatefold with the 4 colors, labels, insert, etc..it's not cheap. We had to license the album master rights for this pressing, so it wasn't a freebie that we can just profit from. And Epitaph was generous and gracious enough to give us the opportunity. We are still a band with no label and, sure, don;t mind actually making something from this. I don't see anything wrong with that, but the purpose of that isn't the reason we make it. If it was, we would sell more than 1000. I feel comfortable with 1000 fans who want this album being willing to pay $40, because they are always happy with the final product and the feeling they get looking at it, listening, reading the liner notes, etc... Maybe this helped explain it a little better. I have spent personally, a lot of $ on vinyl and if it's something I want, because of my love and dedication to the band, i don't mind paying. So, this album is really pressed for those people who share that feeling. I'm not sure if Epitaph will be pressing a single, I think they might be and I'm sure that will be $20, I just don't know when as we won't be involved. They will just take the music and art and format to press. Thanks for you time!!! The Matches