ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK
I mange EES and when I first started managing them in 2003 I wanted them to take over the world, well of course I still do. For a number of years I really thought they were going to, it was at the time that The Hives and The Datsuns blew up and all the major labels swarmed around EES as the Japanese Rock & Roll saviours. but EES were not picked up… Electric Eel Shock were not surprised, they had been through the mill with Japanese majors in a previous band. So we continued doing our own thing recording ourselves on low budgets, licensing to independents and touring all over the world…
We watched many of EES contemporaries get picked up, especially when the Darkness blew up and A&R folk were signing any one with a guitar, big hair and a swagger. We saw most of them chewed up, spat out and split up… Then in 2006 EES unfortunately found themselves in a deal with a record label who were trying to screw the band – So out of necessity we went to the fanbase and raised $20,000 in return for guestlist for life. We called the 100 faithful who each gave 100 the EES Samurai and they helped us get out of the restrictive record deal.
In 2008 EES raised $50,000 through SellaBand – the new album SUGOI INDEED released in Oct 2009 has been licensed to Universal in Japan, a Sony distributed label in Germany and several other deals around the world. With a sustainable plan in our hands we were able to negotiate some really artist friendly deals that give the band the support they need.
EES remain in control of their career and play large festivals and gigs around the world – this is what they love doing. They wouldn’t be doing this without the support of their fans and Fan Funding.
UPDATE: In Jan 2010 EES launched a campaign with Pledge Music to fund some interesting fan releases to celebrate 10 years of touring the world.