CreedFeed Community - Dust For Life fans, or anyone else :D...

Here's a nice read about Jason Hughes of Dark Things Betray (formerly of Dust For Life)

http://www.playphilly.com/site/news.... 578256&rfi=6

A Dark Betrayal
CHRISTIAN MENNO
Staff Writer
02/28/2007

Jason Hughes of Dark Things Betray discusses Rock's rocky road

“It’s a weird thing about music,” says Jason Hughes, “it definitely goes that way — it’s all or nothing.”

Back in 2000, Hughes and his former band, Dust for Life, seemed to have it all. They were riding a wave. The usually unpredictable, musical current had pulled them from the bars of Memphis, Tenn. and thrust them into the glaring spotlight of rock ’n’ roll glory. They were signed to Wind-Up Records, opening for bands like Creed and 3 Doors Down, and had a top ten single with Step into the Light. But it wasn’t long before that wave, which had carried them to the brink of stardom, came crashing down. What followed was a stark realization that, although they can come true, dreams do not last forever.

The Rise
You can still hear hints of disbelief in Hughes’ voice when he talks about Dust for Life’s unexpected ascension.

“It was amazing,” he says. “It was fast. It was definitely a whirlwind. You know, everybody was working their day jobs when we went into the studio and recorded four songs. I remember it was a Monday when we finished up the songs and right away we sent them out to the manager of Creed. By Wednesday night he was in Memphis with Island Records. Literally within a month we were finishing our record and within like two and a half months we were on tour with Creed, playing stadiums.

Naturally it was easy to get swept up in that kind of tornado, and the band quickly found out that they weren’t in Tennessee anymore. But the grind of touring didn’t bother them one bit. They were on top of the world.

“It was pretty shocking. I mean it’s one of those things you dream about since you were 12 years old. Every time you watch a video or turn on the radio, you’re always thinking about what that life would be like,” he says. “Then, to all of a sudden have it happen, it’s sort of the impossible dream.”

Previously, Jason Hughes’ biggest concert was in front of a crowd numbering about 1,500. Dust for Life’s first show on the Creed tour was at the New World Amphitheater, outside of Chicago. It was an outdoor venue, packed with over 47,000 fans. Needless to say, it was quite a step up for Jason and the band.

“I was kind of nervous,” he admits. “I looked around while I was playing and thought about how I was working a day job like a month ago. How am I possibly here? And [Creed’s lead singer] Scott Stapp comes out and there’s fire and explosions and he’s wearing leather pants and he’s got the mullet swinging. I couldn’t believe we had actually just played this show. It was unreal.”

Unreal, surreal, or however you want to describe Dust for Life’s rise, in the end, it was apparently not meant to be. In fact, for the guys in the band, everything was about to get too real.

The Fall
Things seemed to be going along fine. The band was on tour for most of the year, living it up, gaining fans and selling albums. No one could see the end in sight. Perhaps because it was hiding just around the corner.

Says Hughes, “You know going into [the music business] that it’s sort of a career; that a lot of times ends badly. You just never think it’s going to happen to you.”

It happened to them when Dust for Life returned home to Memphis after the tour.

“We were really tired and we were resting because we were supposed to go out with Fuel,” says Hughes. “Then, all of a sudden, the record label said, ‘you’re not going out with Fuel’.”

Then, Hughes and singer, Chris Gavin, checked their bank accounts. They were nearly wiped out.

“We find out that thirty to forty thousand dollars out of my account, as well as Chris’, had been used to pay for the bus on the tour,” says Hughes. “And it’s like, well the record label is supposed to pay for that. Then the manager started blaming the record label, and the record label blamed the manager. So there’s all this finger pointing going on and meanwhile, Chris and I, who supposedly had these ‘untouchable’ accounts, with our songwriting money in them, were left broke.”

That cash was supposed to be the living expenses for the band as they recorded their next album. Frustration began to set in, as nothing was being solved and no answers were coming their way.

“I’m not even sure, to this day, exactly what happened,” says Hughes.

“In my mind a poor decision was made. So there were these bills coming in and someone said, ‘Okay let’s write this check. We always get paid back. The band’s been on the road for eight months. Every time we’ve submitted a bill, we’ve gotten paid, so let’s pay it.’”

“Well that’s a bad decision, but it might not have been a dishonest one,” he says. “But once everyone realized the problem, nobody cared about us. I mean that was our money and we’re working for all of you [the manager and record label] so someone needs to fix this or tell us an answer. I mean they just didn’t care.”

This was not a problem of greed or ego. The band was not rolling in cash, complaining about not getting paid enough. These were their only financial earnings, and they were gone.

Added to this, they had to deal with rumors that the label was about to drop them. Dust for Life was left at a crossroads. They had to resolve the situation.

“So after about two months of the runaround, we basically were playing some shows that we booked ourselves. Later, we were out in Los Angeles and on an internet radio station. People were calling in and asking questions about when we were going out on tour or releasing a new album,” Hughes says. “We just basically told the truth. You know, all of our money’s gone. This is what happened. We kind of discussed it on the air. That made the record label mad. So they took down our website and we ended up deciding not to work with the manager anymore.”

So finally, things came to a head and Jason and Chris were flown into New York City by Alan Meltzer, the president of Wind-Up records.

“This is the first time we’ve talked to them in two months. So we go into his office and he says, ‘You guys are never going to work in the music business again.’ And we’re like, ‘What!?’”

According to Hughes, Meltzer was not pleased with their honesty on the radio. “He was like, ‘You guys went on the radio [talking about the situation], and that’s just an un-forgivable sin.’”

As Hughes relates this pivotal moment in his life, one does not have to be a psychic to pick up on his disgust towards Meltzer and Wind-Up records. To this day, he and his friends still refer to going to the bathroom as “taking a Meltzer”.

At the time of the meeting, Hughes’ mind was racing. “I’m basically thinking, ‘What kind of an asshole is this? He’s worth 300 million dollars. You know 99 percent of new bands don’t sell 500,000 records — here we are with two top ten singles, a hundred thousand records for a freshman band — ya know, what an asshole is this?’”

Today, Hughes even points to his role in referring the band Evanescence to Wind-Up, and how much money their decision to sign them has made over the years.

Regardless, the guys were told that the band was being dropped.

However, even after the doomsday encounter at Wind-Up, Hughes and Gavin thought it might be for the best. Dust for Life was still a popular band, and there were other labels besides Wind-Up, after all.

“So word traveled quickly,” says Hughes “and before we even flew home, we had meetings with two other record labels — who were bigger and better than Wind-Up anyway.”

“Then, about two months later, Wind-Up picks up our option. So they had kept us under contract, and they never ever talked to us ever again. We were stuck under contract to these assholes for about two more years.”

The freeze-out proved to be too much to overcome for the band. Although, they eventually reformed and released a second album on their own, Dust for Life eventually died.

As crazy as it was to get so big, so fast, for Hughes it was far more insane to have it all suddenly taken away. It was a couple of years before he even started listening to music again.

... to be continued...