'Bleeding Audio' Review: An essential watch, The Matches' documentary reflects the reality of being in a band
What does it take to become an internationally successful band? Immense creative effort, relentless touring, inevitable infectious energy between the band-mates, charismatic stage presence, nonstop networking and, most importantly, a great deal of luck. While The Matches – a California-based pop-punk band founded in 1997 – seemingly possess all those qualities, something was always missing.
Despite massive word-of-mouth promotion, a cult following and intense recording, writing and touring sessions, The Matches never broke into the mainstream. Once touted to be the next Green Day, The Matches survived for a little over 12 years doing what they loved to do best. This story of their journey, full of ups and downs and twists and turns, has been captured in an upcoming indie music documentary titled 'Bleeding Audio'.
Directed by first-time director Chelsea Christer, 'Bleeding Audio' charts the journey of the Matches as they move out of their hometown of Oakland, California to the frontline of the pop-punk scene.
To provide a little background, after bands like Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41, Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory, My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte, Jimmy Eat World and Yellowcard among others blew up in the mainstream, it seemed relatively easy for a band like The Matches – who incorporated more than the wildness of punk and the playfulness of pop – to make it big in the international scene.
However, despite receiving a record deal, touring with international acts like Biffy Clyro and playing at popular festivals like the Warped Tour, the Matches never really broke even. The band, that started out as The Locals before changing their name, struggled financially and, with time, faced hurdles which only kept growing bigger and bigger.
'Bleeding Audio' takes us back to the early 2000s music scene, that gave us bands like A Day to Remember, All Time Low, Paramore, Simple Plan, Less Than Jake and Silverstein, to name a few, and shows us how the subculture nurtured various different talents through the experiences of The Matches bandmates Shawn Harris, Jon Devoto, Matt Whalen and Justin San Souci.
Not only an important but an essential watch for anyone who passionately wants to make a living out of being a professional musician, whether in a band or solo, 'Bleeding Audio', carefully and sensitively peels the layers of what appears to be a highly glamorous lifestyle for what it really is — a long-winded journey with more lows than high where your only constant motivating factor, other than the music you make and play, is hoping one day your album's gonna grab people's attention.
The documentary – which features inside scoops from some big names such as Mark Hoppus of Blink 182, Nick Hexum of 311, Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's, Simon Neil and James Johnston of Biffy Clyro, Cassadee Pope, and Justin Pierre and Tony Thaxton of Motion City Soundtrack – provides an insightful view into how the music industry was affected due to the sudden rise of illegal digital streaming and the internet.
It also delves deep into the toll that touring can take on individuals, how it affects the equations within a band and, most importantly, the manner in which your favorite bands survive and make a living.
Produced by Abandon Hope Productions, 'Bleeding Audio' has been winning hearts everywhere it has been screened. Recently, it won the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary at the independent film festival Dances with Films. It also won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the San Francisco Indie Fest.
Talking about the documentary, Christer said, "The journey to tell this story really began in 2014 when they (the Matches) informed me of their decision to reunite...Once their reunion proved to be as special as I predicted, they were humbled and started to look back at their career through a different lens...I convinced them that their story was worthy of a feature." And, without a doubt, it is.