Naptown stand up. Great news. Excited to see where they take it.

I think this is one of the coolest thing to happen on our local music scene in a long time. If Arcade Fire can get on Saturday Night Live, then Margot should just blow up.

I am very happy for M&NSS's well deserved success. But I dread the day when they get big enough that Indianapolis becomes an insignificant blip on their radar, and I have to drive 3 hours to see them in Chicago because they're too "big" to play the Vogue anymore. I hope they remain true to their roots and remember where their real fans are.

StellarSwarm, that's a bit of that Indie-Indy mindstate you are letting creep in, where we actually wish artists not to be successfull so they can keep playing smaller venues in Indianapolis, and we can keep our "secret" to ourselves. What makes one a "real" fan? Certainly wishing they don't grow to the level they have to potential to isn't in the criteria.

Cuz when bands can't make a living off of their music, which happens to the vast majority of musicians playing in Indy, they quit. Then you can have them all to yourself...

That is awesome! I interviewed Richard as one of my first pieces in INtake when he and his crew were "Archer Avenue" (which, as memory serves me, was comprised of at least a member or two of Margot). He was a good interview and seemed a genuinely nice person.

Indianapolis is widely neglected on musicians' tour schedules as it is. Many times I've seen bands that enjoy only modest celebrity, hit every state that touches Indiana and leave us out in the cold. Regardless of their level of success, we have a venue to accommodate them, so why the snub? The only thing worse than this would be for a band that's FROM Indiana to leave us off the schedule. The fans of Indianapolis made them who they are. I bought the original recording of the CD at Indy CD and Vinyl on a whim, and have it autographed by all of the original members (what the heck happened to Jesse Lee anyway?) I spread the word via iLike, MySpace, Facebook. I uploaded their music to Internet radio stations such as RadioParadise. I'm not just a fan, I'm a street team. I'm not saying "Remain a big fish in a little pond.", but rather "Come back and visit the little pond and tell us about the ocean."

"The fans of Indianapolis made them who they are."

No. They were already who they were. But I'm sure your efforts did help.

I doubt Margot could snub Indy even if they tried. It's in their blood. And their breath whew...

Nice. This band busts ass, hopefully Epic will exist long enough to give them the promotion they deserve.

That's exciting news, I look forward to hearing new songs.

I think Indy gets "overlooked" by a lot of acts because between Chicago and Cincinatti, often we are considered "covered" by existing tour routing. I think it's gotten better over the years, though.

CONGRATS to them! As a fellow local musician its a great feeling to see a band get rewarded for their efforts. Of course it helps that MNSS are awesome! btw. Those of you supporting the locals, thank you.

Congratulations to this band.

Major labels make me a little nervous, especially in an age where the independent labels are substantial enough to provide proper distribution and support. I hope these guys can survive the machine.

Is anyone familiar with the last Indiana band that signed to Epic? They're called Old Pike; their debut didn't sell and they were promptly dropped. I hope Margot is treated better than Old Pike was.

Technically, Old Pike was signed to one of Epic's sister labels -- Sony 550.

Today, Old Pike keyboard player Mike Flynn is an A&R executive at Epic, guitarist Carl Broemel is a member of My Morning Jacket, drummer Pat Spurgeon is a member of Rogue Wave, bass player Jason Brammer has played with the Saturday Nights and Cameron McGill in Chicago and vocalist Tim Jones is a singer-songwriter in Los Angeles.

Yeah, Epic is Sony and so on. Such is the way with the majors. Pretty ironic, actually, that Mike Flynn works for Epic. Carl is successful, that's for sure, but I find it especially ironic that Spurgeon is repeating history in Rogue Wave - abandoning the amazing Subpop in favor of the majors, when I really don't think Rogue Wave have what it takes to make it in those leagues. I love their first record, but the new one is shakey, at best. Anyway, points is, Old Pike was the last Indiana band I know of to sign with Sony/Epic and they collapsed.

I wish I could remember the quote from the Brian Jonestown documentary, Dig!. It articulates pretty much how I feel about major labels. It goes something like this: I have no respect for anyone involved in major labels, specifically the executives. They are in it exclusively for the money and know nothing about talent. They don't care about the music at all.

I am fully behind Unicorn's post, but at the same time believe that the PR you get from signing to a major is really, really valuable. For some bands (R.E.M., Beck and Ween come immediately to mind), getting major label PR support helped them gain a much wider audience. So I can see the appeal.

Two things:

1. Recent history has shown local bands who have made it 'big' (or a least a little 'bigger') staying true to their roots and coming back frequently.

Three examples: Margot (the band was previously signed to a pretty decent label, toured constantly and still did plenty of local shows, both bars AND all-ages), Jon McLaughlin (he's starting to get bigger and has played multiple shows in the state this year, plus he filmed a video at the Slippery Noodle) and Flynnville Train (signed to Toby Keith's record label, but the musicians couldn't be more down to earth, and hey, they're playing at Stables this week). All of these artists have played very accessible shows in the area.

1. Pat Spurgeon is a great drummer (all label-signing history notwithstanding).

And don't forget Haste The Day. They need Indy as much as any local-boys-done-good band needs their hometown.

And as far as the conversation of Sony/Epic bosses not caring, that is not reality. Have you met anybody at the label? After working for Sony Music for a few years I was greatly impressed at the love for the music, from top to bottom. There are people who don't care at every job in every industry, true, but the people pushing Sony artists at grassroots level are into what they do for a living, for sure.

Don't be surprised to see Margot on those Starbucks download cards one day: that is a result of their people doing their jobs. And good for them.

Dudes need to blow up already.

Well, deep down, I know that most of the people working for majors, especially those in the trenches, are in it for the love of music. I have a suspicion that people in upper management positions, while they may like music, care much more about money. But you're right; I don't know anyone at a major label.

My problem with the majors isn't necessarily the people working for them, but the general attitude and business approach. Not every band should be selling millions of albums; this shouldn't be an expectation, though it often seems to be. Labels will pour thousands (sometimes millions) of dollars into a band that will never be able to (and should never ben expected to) recoup that kind of cash. Then the band is screwed.

I just don't think it's worth it for a lot of bands. There's plenty of room for success in the independent arena and, frankly, I have more respect for bands that choose this route.

Bands like The Shins, Cat Power, Belle & Sebastian, Pavement, Guided by Voices, Neutral Milk Hotel, etc, were/are all immensely successful through independent labels. To me, it seems even easier these days - if a record is reviewed well by one of the many music resources available, they will sell. Take Arcade Fire, Joanna Newsom, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tapes & Tapes, etc, etc, etc.

I could really go on and on, but I'm veering from the subject at hand here. I genuinely do hope that Margot find success and artistic freedom at Epic. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I second the Haste the Day comment. There have been plenty of other examples escaping me at the moment, as well.