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Bomb the Music Industry! Biography

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  • Formed in: Nassau County, NY
  • Band Members: Jeff Rosenstock
  • Years Active: 2000s
  • Genre: Rock & Alternative

Bomb the Music Industry! is more of a ska/punk collective than an actual band. It's centered around chief songwriter Jeff Rosenstock, who formed the group in late 2004 in Nassau County, NY, after his former band, the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, went on hiatus. Most all of the band's recordings were done from a home computer, and Rosenstock was usually joined by a rotating cast of friends and contributors for both recording and touring purposes. Though the name was taken from a graffiti term that pretty much means "extensive tagging" (and not as a malicious plea for violence), the band still operated in a rather anti-music-industry manner. Rosenstock felt it a hassle to invest money he didn't have (and wouldn't see again) into pressing records and printing shirts, so he instead decided to just give away BTMI's music for free on their website, asking only for voluntary donations in return. His small label, Quote Unquote Records, operated in the same donation-oriented manner. BTMI even went so far as to bring stencils and paint along on shows for kids to make their own "official" shirts; fans just had to bring their own shirt. The band issued two albums in 2005, Album Minus Band appeared in February and To Leave or Die in Long Island followed that October. Goodbye Cool World was released in June 2006, and that fall, an incarnation of BTMI hit the road with Mustard Plug and Against All Authority. As always, anyone at their shows who knew a song and brought their own instrument was welcome to perform with them on-stage. Not completely forgetting about record-collecting nerds, vinyl versions of BTMI albums were further released through Asbestos Records, though the music also remained for free download online. In the spring of 2007, BTMI signed with California-based D.I.Y. label Asian Man Records for the proper CD release of Get Warmer that July; Quote Unquote handled the free digital version. ~ Corey Apar, Rovi

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