Geriatric Punks

Washington’s Trans Am was offered $180,000 by Hummer for the song “Total Information Awareness.”

“We figured it was almost like giving music to the Army, or Exxon,” guitarist Philip Manley said.

They said no.

The post-punk band Liliput, who broke up more than 20 years ago, could have pocketed $50,000 for “Heidi’s Head” after making close to nothing during their five-year existence. But they, too, said no.

“At least I can sleep without nightmares,” Marlene Marder reasoned.

GM’s brand of luxury sport utility vehicles may be one of the most fashionable modes of transportation in the world, but Hummer ad money is turned down like … well … like nothing else. That’s even more shocking when you consider many of the artists in line to benefit could double their yearly income by saying yes. The offers generally begin at $50,000 - a ton of money for relative unknowns.

Lyle Hysen runs Bank Robber Music, a licensing group that pitches songs to film, television and advertisement companies. He has had his clients featured in shows such as “Six Feet Under” and “The L Word” and in car ads by Volkswagen and Jaguar.

Hummer, however, has been a nonstarter.

“My standard line is, ‘You guys will play a hundred million gigs before you see this amount of money,’” Hysen said. “Usually they come back with, ‘We’ll do anything BUT Hummer.’” The Oil Argument

The problems always seem to start with the environment, or rather Hummer’s effect on it.

Hummer has a miles-per-gallon rating pushing single digits (10 in the city for the H2), which has earned it poster board status in arguments about the United States’ increased dependency on oil. The company defends its fuel efficiency, considering its heft.

The Sierra Club has led the backlash, even creating a spoof Web site called www.hummer dinger.com.

“It’s not about the money,” Manley said. “It’s the principle.”

Although multiplatinum artists such as Talking Heads and Smashing Pumpkins have declined, more of the “thanks-but-no-thanks” crowd are musicians who would benefit greatly by the exposure that accompanies a national ad campaign, such as electronic artists Caribou and Four Tet.

“It had to be the worst product you could give a song to,” Harris said. “It was a really easy decision. How could we go on after soundtracking Hummer? It’s just so evil.” Why Hummer Wants These Guys

Perhaps it’s easy to understand why these stridently independent artists are passing on Hummer. The more intriguing question is, why is Hummer targeting those artists? Why not ask more mainstream artists who have embraced corporate financing?

“I will say about the Hummer guys, they are some of the most intense music listening guys out there,” Hysen said. “They are on my A-list. They find music on their own, go to shows; they aren’t waiting for a major label to call them.”

Lance Jensen, president of the advertising agency Modernista, is the creative mind behind the Hummer campaign, and has seen firsthand what prime-time, 30-second spots can do for unheard artists. Six years ago, he used cult-folk hero Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon” in a Volkswagen commercial, which single-handedly triggered a Drake renaissance and probably led to what we now call “yup-rock” (polite indie rock for the upwardly mobile).

Jensen insisted that he and the rest of the marketing brains at Modernista have no strict method when it comes to the music they pursue.

“We just pick music that we like as people,” said Jensen, a former DJ at Boston College’s esteemed WZBC college radio station. “Being a music lover, there’s so much interesting work out there, I wonder - why not let people hear it? I don’t know, I guess I just want artists to make money. I don’t want them to be poor.”

Modernista has produced some of the most innovative car commercials ever. They avoid pitchmen; in fact they avoid people most of the time, and focus on visual spectacle. A big part of attracting eyeballs is giving people a sound that will turn their heads.

Unfortunately for Hummer, many artists aren’t listening.