While I personally didn’t catch wind of Unlocking the Truth until they were featured on Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell last summer, this teenaged metal trio (well, two 13-year-old guitarists Malcolm Brickhouse and Alec Atkins and one 12-year-old drummer Jarad Dawkins) gained loads of attention (and Internets clicks) via a series of viral videos where they rocked out in Times Square. They have taken their acclaim to a number of interesting spots, including a performance at Coachella (where they were actually the youngest performers at Coachella, ever), Brooklyn Nets games, and even an opening spot for Guns ‘N’ Roses. That hard work has paid off, as they finished up their Warped Tour 2014 performance with some ill news: Sony has inked a record deal with Unlocking the Truth that, if pushed to the max, could net them $1.7 million dollars.
Their contract with Sony is actually guaranteed for two albums, with the option for four more. From what the NY Post is reporting, Unlocking the Truth will get a $60,000 advance for the first album, and if it sells over 250,000 copies, they will start seeing some real money; it’s also being reported that they are looking at above-average royalty percentages, topping the 16%-17% range. The NY Daily News says that their second album could see the band getting around $350,000 for their advance; their Facebook says they’ve “created enough music to complete at least three CDs and still counting,” so we’ll see how many full length releases they actually get allotted. Outside of their forthcoming material, their drummer, Jarad Dawkins, says that a book and documentary film on their rise is also in the works.
That’s a lot of cheddar for a crew that’s not even cutting their teeth in high school; no one knows how this will actually pan out, especially considering that much of the material we’ve seen them performing has been instrumental metal tracks. Either way, they’re monsters, and this deal could truly make them the rockstars we always knew they were. Now only if I could figure out a way to get Lil Poopy on one of their tracks.
If you’re not up on Unlocking the Truth, check out the videos down below, which include their Totally Biased performance.
