A week after April Fools Day, German band Velveteen are still feeling the aftereffects of a cleverly devised prank and in a good way. On April 1, the groups new album, Home Waters, was passed off as Death Cab for Cuties forthcoming Narrow Stairs (out May 13 on Atlantic). The Velveteen record was purposely posted online under the Stairs banner, and with the band sounding strikingly similar to Death Cab, file-sharers were none the wiser. Soon premature evaluations jizzed all over the internet, with everyone giving their two cents on the "leaked Narrow Stairs.
Well, despite the quick realisation on the blogosphere that this was all indeed a prank, Velveteen singer/guitarist Carsten Scheauff told CMJ the reaction has been a positive one: "Our website exploded, and then our MySpace exploded, with fans emailing us, and then MTV contacted us. We're happy about the exposure but at the time we had no idea what was going on."
The troublesome prankster behind the false leak is apparently a blogger named Jerome Holeyman, aka Charlatantric, who did the exact same thing in 2007 with Interpols then-unreleased Our Love to Admire. "I actually did this a year ago with Interpol and this Swedish band called Cut City. I heard them and thought they were good but realised they were remarkably similar to Interpol," Holeyman told MTV News. "So I leaked it, and it got so big that according to Last.FM, the songs got something like 10,000 plays. Based on Cut City's messages, it even got airplay on Portuguese National Radio.
Holeyman went on to say he wasnt out to mess with Death Cab fans this April Fools Day, but rather was looking to give Velveteen some exposure. He also said gullible file-sharers could expect similar antics next year: "I plan on doing a joke like this every year, because people will continually fall for it.
Well, despite the quick realisation on the blogosphere that this was all indeed a prank, Velveteen singer/guitarist Carsten Scheauff told CMJ the reaction has been a positive one: "Our website exploded, and then our MySpace exploded, with fans emailing us, and then MTV contacted us. We're happy about the exposure but at the time we had no idea what was going on."
The troublesome prankster behind the false leak is apparently a blogger named Jerome Holeyman, aka Charlatantric, who did the exact same thing in 2007 with Interpols then-unreleased Our Love to Admire. "I actually did this a year ago with Interpol and this Swedish band called Cut City. I heard them and thought they were good but realised they were remarkably similar to Interpol," Holeyman told MTV News. "So I leaked it, and it got so big that according to Last.FM, the songs got something like 10,000 plays. Based on Cut City's messages, it even got airplay on Portuguese National Radio.
Holeyman went on to say he wasnt out to mess with Death Cab fans this April Fools Day, but rather was looking to give Velveteen some exposure. He also said gullible file-sharers could expect similar antics next year: "I plan on doing a joke like this every year, because people will continually fall for it.
