Nuclear Blast Records Issues Statement Regarding A&R Imposter/Liar "Kevin Darden"
West Coast Sound just received this press release from prominent LA-based label Nuclear Blast Records' Hawthorne offices, and we figured it'd be a good idea to pass it along:
For Immediate Release:
LABEL STAFF IMPOSTER KEVIN DARDEN IS PROBABLY "A HOMOCIDAL MANIAC"
A label staff imposter by the name of Kevin Drander/Kevin Darden has reared his ugly head once again. We repeat, he is NOT an employee of Nuclear Blast Records OR Century Media. If he's reached out to you, do NOT waste your time on his false promises. For the sake of your own safety, DO NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES agree to meet him ANYWHERE. He has the makings of a serial killer
Nuclear Blast Records has made rebuttals to each of his false e-mails (see below).
What follows are the emails that Darden (aka Drander) has been sending to metal bands:
Deceptive E-mail #1:
From: Kevin Drander
To: demiseofcavall
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:45:54 PM
Subject: Offer from Nuclear Blast Records
Hello:
How's it going? Thank you for sending me your contact email. Your music is
strong and it seems you have a nice following for the short amount of time you've been
together as a band. Personally, I believe you have a great amount of potential. The tracks
I heard are really tight and your image is perfect as well. About me, I am the A&R Executive2 and Production Assistant for the US branch of Nuclear Blast Records. I search for new artists to sign, negotiate contract agreements, and help record and produce most of the albums put out by our label.
What I wold like to do is a test run with you. I would like to offer you a 1 year contract agreement with Nuclear Blast. We will put out a record and sell 50 to 300 k records and then go to the next level from there. The royalties I am offering are more than double the standard. Also you will retain all publishing rights as well, which is rare in contracts these days.
Me being the A&R I would make sure the record sells..... We will be investing a minimum of 1.5 Million Dollars in packaging, distribution, and all touring/housing fees. Please give this a review and let me know your decision. We look forward to welcoming you to the Nuclear Blast Family.
Please get back to me as soon as you can.
Thanks!
Kevin Darden
Nuclear Blast Records
A&R Executive
Production Assistant
REBUTTAL FROM NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS TO E-MAIL #1:
1. ALL Nuclear Blast employees work from an e-mail address that has the name of our company in the domain. As everyone knows, ANYONE can sign-up for a Hotmail account.
2. There is only ONE person who handles A&R for the entire North American territory, and he does so IN-HOUSE from our OFFICIAL office in Hawthorne. Trust us, it's NOT this guy.
3. There is NO Nuclear Blast employee at the U.S. office who holds the title of "Production Assistant."
4. Contract negotiations are handled by our German office and headquarters, based in - yupp, you got it - GERMANY.
5. Check ANY Nuclear Blast album released in the past 22 years, and this Kevin Drander/Darden guy will not have a SINGLE production credit. Repeat: NOT ONE. Metal fans are WELL aware of the producers NB artists work with (ex: Andy Sneap, Peter TÃĪgtgren, Tue Madsen, Logan Mader, etc., etc.).
6. The ONLY people with the authority to offer ANY BAND a deal with Nuclear Blast are the kind people at Nuclear Blast Germany.
7. 1.5 million dollars invested in a band unknown to the worldwide metal scene in the throes of a bad economy? Just a reminder: If it sounds TOO GOOD to be true, it IS.
8. Our contact information is listed on our website. All this proves is that this guy knows how to cut & paste.
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