Laughing City
Author Message
Pantheon4
Vintage Newbie


This is basically a partial re-post from wil’s Velvet Teen thread. But in writing that post I began to grow nostalgic and started to think of the way it used to be on this board. And I think it’s a good reminder for the older boardies and a history lesson for the noobs alike.

There was a lot more community involvement as I remember four or so years ago. I really do think that was what set this place apart from a lot of other message boards that I‘ve been on. There were two or three independent Eisley fansites that merged into the old Orange Gold and Green in addition to the other ones that floated around. A lot of us spent time voting for Eisley on online contests. (I personally got to the 999 vote limit at least three times for that Yahoo! Who‘s Next contest. Cool And the UGO one was pretty exciting… well as exciting as sitting and pushing a button and switching windows back to the forum can be. Laughing) There were boardie meet ups at shows and a picnic. There were Andrew (granpaturtle) and Ryan (ryan fisher), who personally saw to it that they mentioned and got interviews with Eisley whenever they could when they were both working at the University of Maryland radio station. Many if not most of us active boardies jumped at the chance to volunteer for Eisley’s short-lived E-merge web promotions division. (“Active” as in that we posted at least a few times a week). There was an online “Prom” in the Eisley chatroom. There was Secret Santa. There was even talk of a compilation album for all the musicians on the board. (We should defiantly get that restarted.) That’s not even touching the marriages that have their roots in this board. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it‘s four.)

I don’t want to paint a picture that everybody got along all the time and that we never fought about anything. Boone can attest to this. Twisted Evil (As I remember there were quite a few critics of Room Noises, and the infamous 2004 election threads come to mind.)

I’m not saying that people don’t do things for Eisley anymore. (That’s for sure not true.) And there have been some drawbacks to the amount of internet activity…notably the ill-fated “Invasion” viral video. But there was a real community of fans that wanted to see Eisley get big. It’s not like we were all sitting around making fun of everyone who wasn’t ‘indie’ and tried to keep them all to ourselves. We dedicated time, energy, and sometimes even money trying to help make them successful. And in that common struggle we grew into a community and network of people that went beyond text and pixels. These days, it just seems that we sit around and just agree, discuss, disagree, and maybe share a few pictures and/or interviews. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it lacks the teeth that Eisley.org locked into people that made me wanting to keep coming back. It’s not to say that the community spirit just evaporated after the NFG tour, or that we cannot get back to it.

I know some of you older boardies are eager to shoot from the hip blame certain schisms for this, but there could be many reasons why this dissolved. It could be the absence of more than a few older boardies. It could be the fact that Eisley took such a long break between touring and recording. It could be the fact that between the face books, twitters, and myspaces, that people did not feel compelled to come here. I don’t want to point fingers at any individual BOYD (just kidding), but I think that we collectively let it slip away because that aura of community was not present on the board when the noobs came. And if the noobs don’t know it was there, how could they know to continue it? Blaming people gets us nowhere, the question is ,‘What are we going to do about it?’

I know remanufacturing something that grew organically isn’t easy, and sometimes isn’t wise. But that doesn’t mean that we cannot all discuss about whether we should. I think even Jamie would agree with me that surrounding this next album it would be a good chance to renew that kind of inclusive community involvement.

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Lynn
Golly, Poster


I haven't been around at that time (though I was probably listening to Eisley already), so I wasn't part of it, but what I could imagine very well what it must have been like, and it was a beautiful picture. I would very much like to be part of something like that (:
As for what might be the reason for the spirit fading away, I don't know, but I really hope it can be reborn, and your post was probably a very good step towards that. Though I was not part of it before, I feel like I need to thank you for that post, really. So, thank you.
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Saellys
Vintage Newbie


Best post ever, Joe.

We all need to be actively seeking ways to promote Eisley and target the collective energy and power of this community. Even if Eisley are not involved in some competition we can overwhelm with our votes, we can still be coming up with structured strategies for getting them publicity. Admiral79 kicked butt at that; I really miss that kid.

Maybe we should have weekly Eisley assignments with a new objective each time? I'm just throwing ideas out here. Keep it going.

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mr pine
Vintage Newbie


i know, for me, life just changes.

I have been here over five years. in that time i have had two children, and time slips away.

now i spend time with my family, instead of trolling websites spreading the love of eisley.

i know, back in the day, boyd and other band member used to post here more often.

i know that gave a sense of closeness that we do not see today.

it was refreshing seeing boyd post in that thread just a couple spots down from this one, this week.

again, this is not the bands fault, they too have grown up. one is engaged. one has been married. twice.

i am sure they have more pressing things to do then post on this board.

i am not making excuses, i am just saying life is what it is.

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Nightmare
Vintage Newbie


It's because Ben is gone.

Honestly I guess I got here after the "golden age" but I still feel the forum is different from when I joined.

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anotherrandomtuesday
Vintage Newbie


I was just thinking along these lines recently. Very solid topic.

Saellys wrote:
Best post ever, Joe.

We all need to be actively seeking ways to promote Eisley and target the collective energy and power of this community. Even if Eisley are not involved in some competition we can overwhelm with our votes, we can still be coming up with structured strategies for getting them publicity. Admiral79 kicked butt at that; I really miss that kid.

Maybe we should have weekly Eisley assignments with a new objective each time? I'm just throwing ideas out here. Keep it going.


I like this idea actually. Anyone else?
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uncreative
Vintage Newbie


mr pine wrote:
again, this is not the bands fault, they too have grown up. one is engaged. one has been married. twice.

TWO are engaged!

You're post sounded pretty accurate, though. I joined up just before Combinations was released (though I didn't find them through Combinations promotions, rather just by luck, and I listened to RN a ton before I heard Combinations) so I wasn't around during the heyday that Pantheon was describing, but I think that changes in the DuPree's lives and the fans' lives are the reason to the changes on the board. And I think twitter/facebook was mentioned as a reason as well, which sounds about right. But change and bad are two different things. I love the LC at it's current form, and I'm sure I would love it if it changed to how it used to be, or changed to a completely different feel. I think the specialness of Eisley is enough to maintain the board as a good place to spend time on the internet. Now as for board members putting effort and time into promoting Eisley and helping them continue to succeed, I'm all for that. I'm a bad organizer and great follower, so anything that is thought of I will gladly help out with.

When I first found Eisley and was looking at their old webpages and stuff on archive.org I came across the phrase "A special kind of music is for you." That phrase has stuck with me because I honestly believe this to be true about Eisley. This is a special band, and the LC is a special place, so I'm all for keeping it that way.
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inorbit
Laughing Citizen


Wasn't around back then, (although I had caught and liked Eisley, lifestyle wasn't conducive to futzing around on the net)-

But with respect to the stuff Pantheon4 was talking about, one thing that happened is that they signed with a major, who are SUPPOSED to have people for that. At least in theory. Inevitably, band signs to major, a lot of the grass roots stuff gets crowed out, or shunned by the banned as they change their behavior to that which they see as befitting their new place in the foodchain; you can hardly blame bands for getting excited and trying to show that they "belong" in the music biz- and can play the industry game.

Inevitably, as bands get more seasoned, they get disillusioned with what they can expect from the corporate side of the industry to some extent, and good things can start to happen again. They figure out what the relationship is and what it isn't.

Unless they are, say, the Gin Blossoms or something, in which case they just sell their souls, sell out their friends, and become industry lackeys for the rest of their rather sad careers. Or Sixteen Deluxe, who were so devastated that corporate stardom in LA didn't pan out the way they hoped that what could have been one of the greatest bands around gave up and went home.

Eisley is doing better than either so far, I'd say.
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Pantheon4
Vintage Newbie


In regards to what inorbit posted...

I think the opposite was true of some of Eisley’s experiences. On the one hand, they had a lot of traditional promotions: displays in some stores, touring, and music videos on music video channels. But the heads also tried unconventional tactics:

Exhibit A: E-merge. It's funny because the site that hosted it was crassly called "fan pimp". I facetiously brought it to boyd's attention. And he brushed it off as like "Pimp My Ride" as opposed to having your fans turn tricks for the band. Laughing The fact of the matter was that either WB and/or their management company saw Eisley's online community as a way to get the buzz out about them organically and cheaply. E-merge basically dissolved after complaints from board moderators and admins that Eisley fans were spamming their boards.

Exhibit B: "Invasion" video. The whole thing was an attempt to utilize Eisley's online fanbase to send the video virally through internet and get them selling record through the backdoor. Context is key here. At the time O.K. Go established an online presence with their viral video for "A Million Ways". And they had huge success with their viral YouTube (which was really a baby at this point) video for "Here It Goes Again". So the powers-that-be thought it would be GREAT for Eisley too. But the thing about their videos was that they were pretty nuanced in that they had very low budgets and heavily relied on kitsch and novelty. Where as "Invasion" just kinda came off as a traditional MTV video on the internet.
Moreover, a lot of the heads for got one key rule about the internet... IT CAN BE BRUTAL!

Exhibit C: The Eisley New Years video. The video was posted on New Years on YouTube's front page in 2007(?), which attracted a lot of traffic and 'opinions'. It was pretty hard to watch people start in with a lot of their assumptions about who the band was, where they come from, and what kinds of lives that they led. Anybody that remembers that must recall the total lack of respect and general loutish behavior from more than a few posters in the comments section. I recall Kim going to their defense and taking a few of them on. That was great. Laughing Cool

The above were a few of the bad examples, but there were many that were more positive. But those were usually fan motivated and did not simply throw them out in the ocean with a sink or swim mentality like the videos promotions did. The funny thing was that the utopian idea of using youth and internet marketing campaigns is what lost Howard Dean the Democratic nomination in 2004. Before the infamous “HORAAAAA!” he lost the Iowa caucus because many of his volunteers were young and unfamiliar with working in a caucus environment. Says Daniel Coffey anyways…

And there were some ‘breeches’ so-to-speak when it came to privacy for the band. Before the Myspaces, Facebooks, or Twitters there was Xanga (anyone remember that? Laughing ) And people started to demand more from them. I think one person went as far as claiming that they were real friends with a band member (I forget which one) because of their supposed connection on Xanga. And that was basically the end of those accounts. Then they got the Journals on this site with the deliberate absence of comment sections. This all went well and fine until Stacy made her privacy manifesto

Stacy wrote:
The first real post from Stacy.
November 26, 2005 10:41 PM
I always come to a scramble when
I meet this journal thing.
I think of all things at once, I think of telling You
exactly Who i am. But then, that's the last thing i'd
want you to know. And I mean that.
I think about discussing music,
But then...that is just Everything.
I am really a personal person and music is how
i choose to express myself. In patterns, not in primitive
words or biography trailings of journal entries.
If you could look into my head, you would probably see
a few of the following things.
A merry go round, A cannon, and a small planet.
The merry go round is my life and thoughts.
The cannon represents my Aspirations and goals.
And the small planet is You. Or "Earth" rather, and it is
a pretty amazing place to be.
Everything floats in my head you must know,things of actual meaning
and things of a shard nature, just flecks and sparks.
There are so many things i'd love to share with everyone, but
none of which really have anything to do with ME or my
personal existence, and that is why i have a bit of trouble with
this journal. or anything to do with me personally, i just think
it is out of the question. So i will try to post whenever
something astounding comes to mind. Like popcorn
floating down a river, or frozen aliens. Anything more
interesting than "Today I had a Wheat Bagel with Blackberry Jam"
Although that may be what you wish to hear. For I do admit i am aware of your followings of pitiful hair changes, relationship break ups, and spinal disapprovals. But all of that stuff speaks or doesn't speak for itself. And so we should leave them at that. But I encourage You to be open to Art in Itself rather then to a form or familiararity, or to who Eisley is individually, because You will honestly never know the answer to that more than I myself. But I hope you continue to listen to what We have to offer as far as music and words go. And I hope Some of this made sense to You.

In all sincerity, Stacy.

I want you to know me in the right way.
Nothing surface. Nothing glammy, Only in complex,
Only in honesty


Sympathetically, to Stacy and others, people got really angry about this post. On person even wrote Stacy a PM about how Stacy should carry herself in the public eye. Rolling Eyes Like they know what it’s about. Then there were the infamous hacked photobucket accounts which contained pictures of a few of the girls in swimsuits.
(I just know about the incident, I’ve never seen the alleged pictures.) And then someone who they knew went into their home computer and took the song demos off of it and leaked them. And then there were the various gossip surrounding the band on livejournal. So I can understand why they might want to pull back from the internet community a bit. I don’t think they’re getting smug about their position as a signed band to a major, I just think they got/get annoyed with some of the stupid crap. But that doesn’t mean that we can without them gracing us with their approval.

Moreover, I feel that the community went beyond just promoting Eisley. It also translated in other ways like the previously mentioned picnic. And all kinds of other ways that fans felt connected with each other with or without the band. Don't get me wrong, Facebooks, Myspaces, and Twitters are nice, but I feel that they lack the kind of communal quality that the forum provides.

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It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.

"Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self preservation?" -memo from 1952 Project ARTICHOKE

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The Man In The Moon
Lost at Forum


to add along, the band gets unfair internet media bashing. i found a post the other day by a music news site asking if people would prefer sherri over hayley williams. this was from a while ago, but everyone said hayley, and some lashed out against sherri. the unfair thing is most of these people don't know who eisley is. also, i think there was some wrong audience targeting in the beginning. such as the tour with NFG. the pop punk scene is the wrong audience to push eisley towards, and they're probably some of the most brutal kids i know.

i'm kinda tired of how people bash on the entire eisley family on how they're jerks or completely fake when there's a lot of interaction between fans and band. they practically open a door for us to look into their private life sometimes. i guess nice people really do have it hard in this world huh? it annoys me when people call sherri a whore when they don't know the stories to her relationships. i have one friend who believe very strongly that eisley are all whores.

yet, bands like Paramore, NFG, Evanescence, who aren't as interactive with their fans are called super nice when nothing about them is known except for quotes on interviews and public appearances (ie. shows, ect). I mean it was just announced that hayley and one of the brothers in paramore had been dating for three years, yet up to then they've always said they've never dated (i have friends who know them who actually told me about that long before they came out with the story). i'm pretty sure if there was constant fan interaction they wouldn't've been able to hide that. working at a music venue, i can tell you how some bands really act. a lot of people think they're nice, but when you catch them behind the scenes it can be a whole different story. I've seen plenty of bands be egotistical when they think no one was watching, and one guy got mad at me for not knowing which band he was in. i think it was the color fred. when i asked him, he replied upset and annoyed, "paramore."

in fact there was another incident about paramore, but i can't confirm on how accurate it was. it wasn't a huge dramatic thing, but it was pretty mean if they did it.

i've also been told by various people that the front woman of evanescence is a huge bitch. which is why they have a complete line up change every tour and album. yet tons of people will call her nice

haha, i just realized the other day going through boyd's old journal entries that i volunteer/work at one of the music venues that boyd spoke highly of during the room noises tour.

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ks1990
Lost at Forum


The Man In The Moon wrote:
I've seen plenty of bands be egotistical when they think no one was watching, and one guy got mad at me for not knowing which band he was in. i think it was the color fred. when i asked him, he replied upset and annoyed, "paramore."

in fact there was another incident about paramore, but i can't confirm on how accurate it was. it wasn't a huge dramatic thing, but it was pretty mean if they did it.
.


I always thought the guys from Paramore seemed nice in interviews and stuff. I guess everyone's different behind closed doors.

There's always gonna be hostility between Eisley and Paramore fans, for obvious reasons. It's kinda sad 'cause I was watching an interview with Hayley and Zac from a few years ago, and they were speaking so highly of Combinations. I've also seen various Sherri threads on paramore forums, with fans speculating who Sherri will be married to come next year. But ill-informed haters are gonna hate...

It's weird 'cause Hayley and Josh came clean about their previous relationship and no one makes a big deal about it. Yet with Eisley there's just so much invasion of their private lives, and they're no where near as big as Paramore.

Anyways, back to the original purpose of this thread. I'm not an 'oldie' but i agree about the community spirit. Think about it, this is the internet. There is SO much we could do to support and promote Eisley. We should all definitely share our ideas.
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TheAntrider
Protocol Droid


I need to finish reading all of this, but Sherri vs. Hayley Williams?


phhbbbtt Laughing



That was over before I typed it.

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Catey
Lost at Forum


The Man In The Moon wrote:
to add along, the band gets unfair internet media bashing. i found a post the other day by a music news site asking if people would prefer sherri over hayley williams. this was from a while ago, but everyone said hayley, and some lashed out against sherri. the unfair thing is most of these people don't know who eisley is. also, i think there was some wrong audience targeting in the beginning. such as the tour with NFG. the pop punk scene is the wrong audience to push eisley towards, and they're probably some of the most brutal kids i know.

i'm kinda tired of how people bash on the entire eisley family on how they're jerks or completely fake when there's a lot of interaction between fans and band. they practically open a door for us to look into their private life sometimes. i guess nice people really do have it hard in this world huh? it annoys me when people call sherri a whore when they don't know the stories to her relationships. i have one friend who believe very strongly that eisley are all whores.

yet, bands like Paramore, NFG, Evanescence, who aren't as interactive with their fans are called super nice when nothing about them is known except for quotes on interviews and public appearances (ie. shows, ect). I mean it was just announced that hayley and one of the brothers in paramore had been dating for three years, yet up to then they've always said they've never dated (i have friends who know them who actually told me about that long before they came out with the story). i'm pretty sure if there was constant fan interaction they wouldn't've been able to hide that. working at a music venue, i can tell you how some bands really act. a lot of people think they're nice, but when you catch them behind the scenes it can be a whole different story. I've seen plenty of bands be egotistical when they think no one was watching, and one guy got mad at me for not knowing which band he was in. i think it was the color fred. when i asked him, he replied upset and annoyed, "paramore."

in fact there was another incident about paramore, but i can't confirm on how accurate it was. it wasn't a huge dramatic thing, but it was pretty mean if they did it.

i've also been told by various people that the front woman of evanescence is a huge bitch. which is why they have a complete line up change every tour and album. yet tons of people will call her nice

haha, i just realized the other day going through boyd's old journal entries that i volunteer/work at one of the music venues that boyd spoke highly of during the room noises tour.


Sadly, the same thing happened on Taking Back Sunday forums when Chauntelle and Adam were together. People called her a skank and I was disgusted that these fangirls could be so vicious about a real relationship (at that point) with a man or woman they would never have a chance with. The amount of times I saw Kayla brought into the matter was also another factor of why I don't connect myself with TBS fans, love the band but those fans...are crazy.

There's alot of fan-made drama between Pmore and this band, I can see why but it's unneccessary since even Sherri herself the other day called Hayley the "paramore kiddo" - she's over it and so should we be by now. We weren't even privately invovled!

But I have the same view of Amy Lee the amount of stories that can be about one person show there must be some kind of factor to it.
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emilytheanteater
Sea Post King


i like this post. really made me think. i think i've only been here for 2 years...

but i would like to say that the eisley people are some of the nicest people i've ever met. i've gotten to chat with them multiple times and they are just so fun to talk to. they're so kind to each other that it kinda makes me feel a bit sad that me and my brother aren't as close as they are. and it truly does not at all feel like a mask they put on. if u ever get a chance to talk to them, u feel it. they're genuine.

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why yes i'm a depphead
Laughing Citizen


I MISS THE EISLEY CHATROOM SO MUCH. I met the most wonderful people in there, a lot of whom are no longer around. Great times, great times.
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