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The Presidents elect to return October 24, 2000 (CNN) -- The Presidents of the United States of America broke up in 1997, performing one last concert in their hometown of Seattle, Washington, to benefit an AIDS charity. It ended a successful run for the positive-punk-pop band, which under the Sony-Columbia label enjoyed hits like "Lump" and "Peaches." Now, The Presidents are back. Reunited earlier this year, the Presidents promptly went into the studio, and their new CD, "Freaked Out and Small," went on sale in September. Presidents' bassist Dave Dederer is happy about the reunion. Fans of The Presidents are happy, too, and they can thank MusicBlitz.com, which acted as a mini-label in creating a deal to bring The Presidents to CD stores again. "They fronted the money to make the record and we participate equally in the back-end profits," Dederer says. "That appealed to us. There's no way we could have endured the process of signing a new major label deal." Talking with Dederer, you get the feeling that if the Internet never came along and offered this opportunity, he would have been content with staying away from big labels and the politics involved with them -- even if that meant never having a hit record again. By contrast, the Internet seems made for bands like The Presidents, even though Dederer knows it's still not the most popular means of music distribution. "Still, obviously, radio is what sells records, for a variety of reasons," he says. "Major labels are better at getting records on the radio. One, they have the relationships. They still have most of the artists, so they have the leverage to put new artists on the radio. Dave Dederer of the band Presidents of the United States of America, says he isn't bothered by giving away "I'm Mad" free through the Internet. He sees it as "a democratization of music distribution" Dave Dederer of the band Presidents of the United States of America, says he isn't bothered by giving away "I'm Mad" free through the Internet. He sees it as "a democratization of music distribution" "Two, they have the most available capital," Dederer says. "They also have more capital to market and promote a record and more capital to make copies and distribute copies of a record," he says. "But one cool thing about the online deal is, it's bringing more capital to smaller vendors." MusicBlitz.com is promoting "Freaked Out and Small" by giving away a free MP3 of "I'm Mad," a political tune on the CD that's penned by Dederer. He's not bothered that his song is a freebie, Dederer says; he sees the big picture. "We're not making any money by having that posted at any site, but it's participating in the process," he says. "It's a democratization of music distribution." The Presidents, meantime, are content with their Internet experience. Will they record another album? "I have no idea," he says. "I've learned in this business, you never know." |