Pop Punk Conspiracy Theory 

Victory Records secretly gifted Modern Baseball $800,000 in the year 2011 to kickstart their journey to pop punk/emo stardom in an attempt to get the genre going again. And then they “organically” signed to Run For Cover Records to make it look all natural and legit. All these bands are just pre-baked lizards

Plot twist: Nate is an industry plant working to discredit true Pop Punk conspiracy theories.

So you mean to tell me that Real Friends are actually Fake Friends???

Dan lambton used to be my old bass player and the rest of the band was from other suburban local bands. They all came together to create real friends. Every single one of them worked their dicks off to get where they are today, personally knowing them. A group of local pop punkers who were friends in the scene and wanted better than the bands they were in. Conspiracy debunked!!

Will you do a video going over the music you heard in 2021?

First pop punk conspiracy theory was ACTUALLY about Avril Lavigne being replaced by a fake.

This is basically the reason I didn't listen to Real Friends until 2013. The gossip around the Chicago pop punk scene was that their parents actually paid for everything. I had friends in bands in the scene who I thought deserved it more so I let it put a bad taste in my mouth - but here I am 8 years later and they are one of my favorite bands. Their music has helped me through so many rough periods of time in my life, I could really care less if this was true (although doubtful).

First real video back from the break and he's already going for the Pop-Punk Illuminati. Great to see you back in the car Mate!

Ayyy Nate keep at it bro! I still remember calling you “Basement” back in high school cause of all the Basement merch you were always rocking haha. I never thought I’d see a fellow classmate with the following you built up. You’re gonna do big things real soon bubba! If you ever wanna kick it in Bako irl or play some video games hmu

they are called "industry plants" and every genre has them ....BIG FACTS

Here's a conspiracy theory for you, Eric from Heart Attack Man is actually the popular vtuber, ProjektMelody. A year ago, ProjektMelody said she'd dig wearing a nun outfit. One year later, we see Eric from Heart Attack Man and the rest of the band wearing nun outfits on the EP, Thoughtz and Prayerz. Then on one stream, ProjektMelody said don't ever eat chicken nuggets or you get really sick, I wonder who ate chicken nuggets in a Hot Ones audition video? To top it all off, I asked Eric if he was ProjektMelody when I saw Heart Attack Man last month and he said yes. So Eric from Heart Attack Man is indeed popular vtuber, ProjektMelody. Anyways, you think you will do a countdown for your favorite songs of this year or favorite albums of this year?

around 2010-2014 (when bands like memphis may fire were huge) labels like rise records actually did throw together bands in that way. i was invovled with some of these bands and it was always crazy to me and it seemed really weird. everyone was acting like we are witnessing the beginning or a worldstar career. now almost 10 years later none of the bands i was working for made if past like one or two really mediocore albums. if you dig into the releases of rise, sumerian, epitaph, fearless youll find lots of really random metalcore bands that released one album, toured it on one tour and then just disappeard. of course no one has to believe me though.

back to the car era 😌

So this is actually kinda true. I was in one of the warped tour bands and have toured with RF multiple times. The notebook for the bands trajectory is true. The band wasn’t so much a plant as it was that Kyle very much had an idea for the band what that band should sound and look like. But with any band getting signed there is a bit of “fake” to it. There’s money now backing you and you now are a representation of this company who just gave you 40,000 in advance. You have to play the part. It’s any band right? You get backing you play small clubs in hopes to garner an underground following enough and then bam hey we have a record coming out on this big label and we are now doing big tours. It’s just the business

Unless Dan developed depression and OCD because it was written in a journal. I could never buy this

This is actually *somewhat* true. Now, the parts about “overlords” and “journal” shit is stupid, but I think a lot of people would be shocked how many of these bands have super rich parents, industry ties, etc. I’ve heard this about this band before, and others to that would stun people. If you ever hear a story about “wow this band got signed after only a handful of shows!!!” It usually means they already have a big financial backing with industry ties and it was part of the plan. Labels do build bands, that’s not a made up thing.

Real Friends are from my hometown! South Suburbs of Chicago pop punk. My sister knew some of these guys.

"Are real friends even friends?!" I'm dying here man 😂

YO, I had a friend who also knew someone who toured with RF; he said almost all the exact same things you talked about in the video, and I particularly remember the notebook (he may have said "binder") with "instructions" regarding lyrical content, dress code, future plans for the band, and basically how they should act 24/7. It's a spectrum, but RF seems like a band ENTIRELY manufactured to yield as much monetary success possible, and nothing about them is authentic (see the irony..."real friends..." see it). I'd heard all this stuff back in like 2013. But yeah, the fact that we've both heard the same things from different sources kinda gives the theory weight, I feel...unless we both got our info from the same troll haha. OR unless there are a whole mess of trolls spreading false info about RF...perhaps we'll never know.

I miss your videos :( I watch them when I wanna talk pop punk with my friends that don't exist

There is no way in a hell $40k would cover the cost of a van, instruments, equipment, and the production of a record....

Seeing you record videos in your car reminds me of a couple summers ago watching your reactions/vlogs, feels nostalgic :)

watching from my other account to see where I can improve. Definitely gotta get a car mount.

It’s true! We’ve officially received our notebook and are awaiting our 40k 😎

gr8 b8 m8, I r8 8/8

Nate looks both 21 and 38 at the same time.

Maybe I'm being naive, but to me a lot of this seems born out of some bias and/or jealousy. I believe there are bands and artists who start with a leg up because of industry ties or they start out with money, but that doesn't mean anything if the songs aren't good. People aren't going to listen if the songs suck. Calling people out on DIY ethics is pretty lame, especially if they don't go around bragging about how they did it all themselves... plus, in the end, who really cares? I don't care if a person or band came from privilege. I care about the songs and whether I can connect to them.

Their is actually very little conspiracy behind this. It’s known bands like Woe is Me, Of Mice and Men, and yes Real Friends, we’re more manufactured than organically put together. I’m not sure about this whole “notebook” thing, but they have had ties to Greg Long in the past, and We Are Triumpant seems to be tied into A LOT of bands currently “behind the scenes.” If you talk to Dan today he would even say the band was a tool of convenience and not a collective of “real friends” but that could also be because he’s bitter. Long story short however, they did get a lot more push than an unsigned band should, they were on multiple tours with multiple large name acts, and they seemed to have resources for days all before signing to Fearless.

The only part of this that sounds far fetched to me is the pre-determined breakup date. Labels definitely do this type of thing, and in the height of warped tour I don’t doubt they were operating this way in pop punk specifically.

Don't let people like this kill your joy, man. You are on the wavelength of amazing music. What do you think of Stay Inside? I love em. Maybe THEY knew about Covid when they named the band (kidding).

This is hilarious to anybody in the Chicago pop punk scene. They were unsigned for years. That was like a huge part of their career. I don't think they were ever even on We Are Triumphant. They were all in different well-known bands in the local scene before they formed, which helped them gain an audience pretty quickly. It's hilarious that people are saying that they got signed after 8 shows, because they took like an infamously long time to sign to any label.

The journal kinda sounds like it would blow their cover lol. Not sure why they would give any reason for people to be suspicious if this was the case. Also not sure what label would press a band to continually sing about bony knees and sleepy eyes haha. Also was it in the plan that Dan would leave the band and start twitch streaming?

Do not watch this video at 3 AM 😳😳😳

Real Friends is dope, idgaf if they're all aliens deceiving people and taking their money. Take my money, the music is relatable. Where would I be without my bony knees?

'last year i was a train wreck, now i'm just a mess' exactly as scheduled from day one

I saw Real Friends at Warped Tour while waiting for Every time I Die. Or did I?

Someone should get Eddie Bravo to look into the pop punk scene, see what he can find. #poppunkisfake

I remember in the early 2000’s the hush hush about SR71 and how they were in the same “batch” as Fenix TX. This intrigues me…..

Well Real Friends new lead vocalist Cody Muraro was pretty much stolen from a somewhat established band Youth Fountain that was signed with Pure Noise. Pretty sure Real friends signed with Pure Noise during there “hiatus” after the departure of Dan Lambton and then the label convinced Cody Muraro to join the band as he would be making more money being part of a bigger band. Pure noise could also cash in on the already established band by just adding the “good looking” vocalist from Canada that had no prior relationship with Real Friends. Cody Muraro is a pop punk industry plant

I think that bands just sign with labels and the labels give them the money to progress their brand.

I can honestly believe that about Real Friends. They seem like such an odd group. The guitarist does all the lyrics, they replaced the singer, and now they play shows and act like they are the biggest pop band in the world instead of emo. I love their music and they do great shows but just weird feeling of the band chasing trends and money above all else -- probably why the singer left and started a smaller emo band this year. He also Twitch streams which is interesting.

where can I find mentioned equation lol

NATE! Good to see the inside of your car again dude

More like Fake Friends….amirite?!

Yo Nate, is it possible you will ever do a video about Youth Fountain? I think after the powerhouse album they dropped this year id love to hear your thoughts on it

I guess if true, would be hard to turn down that kind of offer. Never heard of Real Friends, so wasn't the most well executed operation if so...

Nate have you ever listened to Macseal? If you have I would love to hear your opinions on Super Enthusiast (their first album). If you haven't well you are missing out on some of the best music you will ever hear man.

cody has jumped in other bands with no creativity. he never made music or used an instrument in youth fountain, parting ways, and now real friends. fucking joke, he has no talent and is just going to different bands and ruining them

Say what you want, but Put Yourself Back Together and imo The Home Inside Your Head are bops

that seemed like such a long comment, if nothing is true, that person should start writing professionally lol

don’t want to alarm you nate but you are being watched, the same lizard in dark shades crabs walks past your car six times throughout the video. stay safe fellow nate.

I mean there's gotta be some kinda validity to the fact that EVERY band has done up, super attractive members. It's like ugly people aren't allowed to exist in the scene.

I think it's a tiny bit true, but mostly false. The rumors were there way back a decade ago. Here's my take. I saw them play in a bar in north east Philadelphia for literally free. They played to like 25 kids, and the bartender didn't even collect tickets, so you could essentially just walk in and see them play for free. I think the tickets were like $7. There is no reason to have this grand idea for a band and push them, and let them waste their time playing a bar 10 hours from Chicago where essentially no one would be. The only thing of this conspiracy theory that I think is true, is the band's marketing ideas. I think they leaned into the sleepy eyes and boney knees tropes mostly to just make merch money. Their marketing emails are cringe to this day, and that's just how they operate. They had a plan, (consider this the binder), and they put out a lot of releases and a LOT of merch. In the end, I think despite their ideas on how to be a financial success, the music overshadowed it all, which in the end makes everyone win.

Is there Nate The Mate merch? Cus I want some. Love the content brother

Can you go through all the songs on safe and also no fear/their other albums. Like you did with all the mobo albums? Cause I don’t understand half the songs and really want to love slaughter beach dog like you do

I give you another conspiracy theory: Thomas Matthew DeLonge Matthew Thomas Skiba Coincidence? I think NOT!

To this day they should've been Real Feels bc thats exactly what they were 😭

damn, I saw them play with State Champs at Irving Plaza a couple months ago. I should have asked them lmao

Real friends aren't even friends

Can you make a Boston manor video? Please.

I miss Dan

What have been some of your fav albums or bands you have been listening to for the past year or so?

Feel sorry for any one that talks shit to you online. 11 times out of 10 it's because they're jealous. In your case they're just jealous they didn't start this channel first. I know I am lol

do PUP pls pls pls

New Nate vids give me a rush similar to how I think Parker Cannon felt punting that girl off stage

so what you’re saying is real friends aren’t actually ~r e a l f r i e n d s~ 👀

N8 the M8 took the B8 Gr8

It makes sense on a spiritual level with the whole illuminati thing. You listen to songs that are in themselves sad your brain starts to think you are sad and produce the chemicals that make you sad. This would indeed be an easy way to do so by inventing emo culture you just make the majority of teens depressed whom the majority of carry on this life trend into adult hood and wonder why they still hate their lives. But still.... i love music. Lol

I mean the mediocre songs part is true imo👀👀👀👀

I believe it lol

Love you dad

Lmao was that picture Front Porch Step?

Mock Orange

Interesting.....

Idc they have good songs

Watch American satan, good fantasy

Does this mean that bands like movements were also manufactured bc I'll literally kill myself bruh

So realfriends is actually fake friends huhuhu.

delete this before The Overlords™ see it

"The World's First Pop Punk Conspiracy Theory" 😂🤣 People literally said this exact same thing about the Sex Pistols. So no.