'Bleeding Audio' Trailer: What Does It Take For A Band To Break Out In The Digital Music Industry?

What does it take for a band to break through in the increasingly digital music industry? Pop punk band The Matches grappled with that question through their 12-year career, which started in 1997 Oakland and seemed to be on the rise until the mid-2000s when digital music struck and the physical LP was rendered obsolete. To chronicle their rise and fall, and their eventual reunion, director Chelsea Christer made the documentary Bleeding Audio, "an intimate portrait detailing The Matches' promising career, defeating break up, and inspiring reunion, as they reflect on what success really means for musicians in today's digital industry." Watch the Bleeding Audio trailer below.

The Matches bandmates Shawn, Jon, Matt, and Justin star in Bleeding Audio to talk about their career and the changing face of the music industry, which forced rising bands like their's to go on perpetual tours just to scrape by. Artists like Mark Hoppus (Blink 182), Nick Hexum (311), Tom Higgenson (Plain White T's), Simon Neil & James Johnston (Biffy Clyro), Cassadee Pope (The Voice), Justin Pierre & Tony Thaxton (Motion City Soundtrack), and many many more appear in the documentary directed by Chelsea Christer, to speak about The Matches career and the industry at large.

"What I love about this story is that it is universal and not necessarily unique to The Matches," Christer said in a statement. "Countless bands were taken out by many of these same obstacles in the digital age of the music industry, and The Matches were just one of many. What surprised me most in production was that every musician I spoke to and interviewed for the film had a very similar reflection on the state of the industry and how it's changed. It galvanized me to shine a light on the reality of the digital era. My goal is that that through Bleeding Audio, I am able to become an advocate for artists and show how it is impacted musicians for audiences everywhere."

Here is the synopsis for Bleeding Audio:

Like many acts in the early 2000s, The Matches were set to be the next 'big thing'. After building a tight-knit music community in the Bay Area, they broke out and became an internationally touring act. An eclectic group of artistic weirdos, the band grew a thriving cult fanbase worldwide. For nearly a decade, The Matches toured mercilessly, but couldn't seem to return with more than a few hundred dollars. Between exhaustion and defeat, the band dissolved in 2009. In 2014, they decided to humbly reunite for what started as a small local show in San Francisco. Bleeding Audio is a portrait of how bands navigate the digitizing industry, told through the unique lens of The Matches' career.

Bleeding Audio is the Closing Night Film for SF Documentary Film Festival, where the film will be available to watch from September 3 through September 20. The "closing night" Q&A will be Sunday, September 20, 2020 at 8 P.M.