AUGUST BURNS RED
FOUND IN FAR AWAY PLACES
& PHANTOM ANTHEM
August Burns Red had become a big band in a small pond. Being the largest act on a label’s roster has its benefits of course, but a decade into a career the gravitational pull to drag an upward swing into a plateau grows stronger by the minute. Not for this band. Bringing them to Fearless allowed for a fresh set of eyes on an already winning formula, but a whole ton of potential excitingly still untapped.
Respected by peers and fans alike, allowing their abilities to lead the charge while allowing their personalities to shine was key to helping them transcend. Fearless debut Found In Far Away Places and follow-up Phantom Anthem can lovingly and much-deservedly brandish “Grammy Award-nominated” within its promotion in part because of seeing opportunity for growth where others might have seen a ceiling.
Musical ability for this band clearly rated high across the board, but on an initial delve it was clear that wit and the kind of self deprecating humor the Brit in me appreciated was abundant in this band, and it was time to bring it out. Let’s switch up the typical metal band video to create, oh I don’t know, animated sea narrative which transforms the members into mermen. And then send out someone in a shark suit to stage dive during the song on tour alongside its release. And then have it be so popular that it goes from a one off, to an every day sighting that fans were phone-ready for. And then, what the hell, create a “reality” tour mini series centered around Shark whose ego has now taken over and by the end of the tour is a menace drooling in a pool of his own blubber. Some might see it as a leap, but the Grammy voting panel saw “Identity” worthy of a nomination so it’s apparently a jump worth taking.
So, we’ve got that the band elevated from scene-adjacent metal act to Grammy nominees on taking on the project – but what came out of it was actually more a lesson in HOW TO PIVOT, page ripped out of my now-backseat publicist book. Get this. The band and their partners get black tied for their red carpet debut on Music’s Biggest Night… only to get stuck in the elevator on the way to the limo. This is a halfway-between-floors fireman needs to crowbar open doors kinda stuck where one of the guitarists’ family are manically claustrophobic and sweating in a corner. Due for carpet press in 30 minutes, with a fireman finally prising the doors apart to let us know half a floor down they’d be pulling us out, there was only one thing to do: hitch a ride to the carpet on the firetruck. Create a memorable entrance out of an almost no-show. It will be a story, I said. And judging by the press pick up, apparently a more interesting one than being nominated for a Grammy….
One of the few bands on the roster remaining with strong physical sales, we maximized the purchase appeal with special album packaging. From the diorama vinyl boxset for Found In Far Away Places, to Phantom Anthem’s 7” collection and added touches of art that appeared when the inlay was held up to the light, giving the fans something great to hold in their hands was of great importance to creating something special. The Phantom Anthem artwork took on a new dimension with unique promotions centered around the art - interactive drink coasters at the Loudwire Awards embedded with seeds so they would grow if planted taking an overlooked promo item into a talking point, sidewalk stencils that ghost-like echoed the phantom element and only appeared when it rained, and a giant 3D album cover which served as a popular photo opportunity at Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, CA. Intwining the art with the music helped reinforce the creative touches setting the band apart from the pack, a rightful raised platform the most musically talented band I’ve worked with now start from in their next phase.
