So Mainstream

"So Mainstream" is a song by American indie pop band Curriculum. Written by Gregory Preston Athanasiadis, Phillip Mandelbaum, Wyatt van Cleef, Dana Breckenridge, and Stephanie Kesh and produced by Shawn Middlesbrough, the song was released as the band's debut single on 21 November 2011 in the UK and Ireland and will serve as the first single from their upcoming debut album, Syllabus. The song's subject matter touches on indie culture, crossover success into the mainstream, and, as described by van Cleef, a "social war and rivalry between indie people and mainstream people". The single was distributed by Blacklight Records, a label that the band recently signed to halfway through the single's promotion.

The single managed to receive positive reviews for its lyrical content and also for its video, which received praise for its storyline. Upon its commercial release in the UK, the single peaked at #3 in the UK, Ireland, the United States and Canada, becoming the band's first top three hit single in those countries. The single also peaked at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.

Background, inspiration, and writing
"So Mainstream" was written by all of the members of Curriculum with the exception of Middlesbrough, who produced the song. The idea of the song came from Athanasiadis who was inspired to write the song based on attitudes towards indie culture and the power of mainstream appeal. He was also inspired to start writing the song after a popular song, that was a big hit on alternative radio in the US, began to cross over into pop radio one year after it was released, much to chargrin to many fans of the song.

The song is about a group of people, who are often called "hipsters", who live a lifestyle that is related to alternative or "indie" culture. The usual assumption of hipsters is that they disapprove of anything that has mainstream appeal or anything, such a trend, that was once considered "indie" that has since found a much wider mainstream audience; that particular idea has been incorporated into the song's lyrics and message.

Lyrically, the song touches on the exact aformentioned ideas. In the first verse, the protagonist, who is proudly living the indie lifestyle, talks about a trend, which for the song has been personified, that is highly celebrated and respected amongst the hipsters and/or other people who are living the indie way of life; he warns that the trend must not fall into the hands of mainstream for he fears that it will be ruined and the "spark/magic will be gone and done". By the second verse, the trend has crossed over into the mainstream, much to the disgust of the protagonist and he has warned that the trend will eventually get old with mainstream audiences but will not be able to return to its indie roots for the indie people who have once celebrated the trend has moved onto a new different trend. The first verse is repeated after the second chorus for the purpose of introducing a new celebrated trend for the indie people. Meanwhile in the choruses, the protagonist is making plea and warning to mainstream audiences that they should "let us [the indie people] be" and basically letting them know that they are not welcomed. The song was supposed to call out the "elitest" attitudes of hipsters/supporters of indie culture towards mainstream culture. Band member Van Cleef stated the song "philophizes what seems to be a social war and rivalry between indie people and mainstream people".

Composition
Produced by Middlesbrough, the song is a up-tempo song that uses actual drums, a tambourine and three guitars: one that plays the bass riff and two others that is more involved in the actual main part of the melody. Athanasiadis sings lead vocals on the song in his middle chest register, while Mandelbaum, Breckenridge, and Kesh sing background vocals; all the vocalists in the song did all the whistles that were heard through out the third verse/repeated first verse. Athanasiadis, Mandelbaum, and Breckenridge play the guitars, Van Cleef plays the drums, Kesh plays the tambourine, and Middlesbrough plays the keyboard in the song.

The song incorporates elements of sunshine pop, alternative music, pop music, surf music, adult contemporary, and even a hint of lo-fi music and noise pop. Middlesbrough apparently wanted the song have a 1970s feel to it and also wanted it to sound "as if it would've been a hit with the hippies back in the day. In which, by the way, I think it would've been."

Release
The single was released in the UK and Ireland on 21 November 2011 and in the United States and Canada the following day on 22 November 2011, making it their debut single and their second release after their promotional single, "All I Need (All I Don't)". Initially planned to be independently distributed, halfway through the single's promotion, the band signed to Blacklight Records who eventually took over distribution for the single. The single was released on CD single and digital download in the UK and Ireland while it was only released in the United States and Canada on digital download. The single was also released in Germany, Australia, and New Zealand on digital download as well.

On 19/20 October 2011, the song premiered in the UK on the official website/blog of SOUND, a popular music publication and media outlet.

B-sides
The b-side for "So Mainstream" is "Gangland". The song is about the dangers of gangs and how they managed to have a negative impact on society and also how innocent people might be caught in the crossfires of an escalating gang rivalry; it also touched on how gangs will attack and possibly kill innocent people, and also rival gang members, for wearing the wrong gang color. Two mixes of the song premiered on 4 November 2011: one was the regular version and the other was dubbed the 'Urban Goth Remix', where it was more R&B and rhythmic-driven. Band members Stephanie Kesh and Shawn Middlesbrough seperately produced the regular version and remix, respectively.

Promotion
On 26 October 2011, Curriculum performed the song on BBC's Live Lounge, where they sang the song "unplugged" and acoustically. They also chose to cover "Orchestra" by Aurora Reed as their second song for the performance. In November, the band performed the song live on the US version of The X Factor. It was also reported that, the following day after the band's appearance on The X Factor, the band walked six blocks through downtown San Francisco singing their single "So Mainstream" repeatedly along with other songs. Later that day, they repeated that same promotional stunt in San Cupertino, California where they sang the single repeatedly and also sang an original (and possibly impromptu) song dedicated to the late Steve Jobs.

The band used Ustream to reveal behind the scenes details for the video for "So Mainstream" with them first starting on 29 October 2011, the first day of shooting for the video and ending on the 1 November 2011, the final day of shooting.

In November 2011, in the United States, a commercial for the new edition of the Nissan Versa (also known as the Nissan Tilda outside of the US) began airing with the song being prominently featured as the backing music.

Criticial reaction
The song got mostly mixed to positive reviews with many people commenting on the band's vocal performance and arrangement. Critics were ambivalent to the lyrics complimenting its wordplay but at the same time calling it a "propaganda for the elitest hipster". The song's melodic structure also received praise and with the incorporation of whistles in the song's middle 8.

Commericial performance
For the charts dated 27 November 2011, "So Mainstream" debuted at #3 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's first charting single and also their first top three hit there; the single sold 86,461 copies in its first week. The previous week before the single charted on the UK Singles Chart, it debuted at #9 on the UK Downloads chart where it sold 15,568 digital copies on its first week of availability. The following week, despite debuting within the top three on the singles chart, it dropped to #16. On its third week on the UK Downloads chart, it rose to #13. It debuted at #20 on the UK Airplay Chart and, the following week, reached #8; it has since peaked at #2. The single was certified Silver in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) after two weeks of availability and was certified Platinum after spending four weeks on the charts and selling more than 253,000 copies. It spent three weeks within the top ten on the UK Singles Chart and eighteen weeks in total. According to the 2011 Year End UK Charts for "Best Selling Singles", "So Mainstream" was the sixty-ninth best selling single of the year, selling 253,802 copies by the end of 2011. To date, the single is currently certified Platinum and has sold 402,537 copies to date.

In the United States, the single also debuted at #37 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and jumped to #8 in the following week; it has since peaked at #1 on the chart, becoming the band's first number one single on the alternative charts. The single also surprisingly debuted at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, easily becoming the band's first top twenty single. It is also technically the band's second Hot 100 entry following their promotional single "All I Need (All I Don't)" charting at #63 and is their first official single to chart. The single also debuted at #17 on the Canadian Hot 100. On the following week, the single rose to #3 in the United States and Canada, becoming the band's first top three hit single in those countries as well. The single has been certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Platinum by Music Canada. The single also reached number one on the alternative charts in Canada.

The single has also become a hit in Germany where it has reached #9 and has been certified Gold. In Australia, the single has reached #1 and has become a massive commercial success there, being certified 4x Platinum. The single has also reached #6 in New Zealand.

Music video
On 26 October 2011, the band confirmed, while performing and having an interview on BBC's Live Lounge, that they would be shooting a music video for the single "really soon". Production of the video began on 29 October 2011 and is currently being shot in Austin, Texas, United States. On 30 October 2011, shooting for the video had to be temporarily haulted for an entire day because the chief cameramen for the video accidently broke his foot and to be rushed to the hospital. Shooting resumed, with a new cameramen, the following day on 31 October 2011. The band is revealing details of behind the scenes of the video via Ustream and began doing so on 29 October 2011 which was the first day of shooting. Shooting for the video ended on 1 November 2011, with the band finishing just one scene left that morning. Despite reports and even an confirmation from Athansiadis that the video would premiere on the evening of 13 November 2011 or the morning of 14 November 2011, the video finally premiered on 17 November. The band cites many difficulties, though not specifically specified, as the reason for the video's delayed premiere.

Plot
The video starts out with a girl in gothic clothing smiling at the camera. The girl, in the video, is known as "the indie queen". In the video, the indie queen is initially happy with the band members of Curriculum who are first seen wearing gothic clothing when playing to the queen. The queen, however, starts to feel a bit hurt and betrayed when the band members are seen at a party singing to a bunch of snobby kids wearing preppy and brighter clothes such as them, indicating that they have "sold out" according to her. The final straw for the queen happens when she catches Athanasiadis serenading a girl with blonde hair and in a pink dress, who serves as the antithesis to the indie queen. The indie queen is shocked and hurt by this. Embarassed and angered, she raises her hand and uses her magical powers to shut off the electricity and later destroy the house. Athansiadis and the rest of the band try to flee the house and the queen's wrath but they, along with the partygoers inside the house, are caught in the rubble. In the video's epilogue, the band survives the destruction of the house but are now shown in handcuffs and chains while holding their instruments; they are being sent to prison. Before they are sent to prison, a prison guard informs them, in Icelandic, that they have been charged with treason. (As he is talking, certain words that he is saying pops up on the screen in both Icelandic and English). The band marches off to prison. The first few minutes of the video, in the meantime, are intercut with close-ups of Athansiadis singing and looking out of the window full of metal bars, possibly indicating that he is already in prison and is possibly reflecting back on his experiences with the indie queen.

At the beginning and end of the video, a title card shows up with a statement in both Icelandic and English (which serves as the captions).

Reception
The music video received generally positive reviews from critics, fans, and the general public who complimented the video's storyline and the girl's performance in the video who played "the indie queen".

On 1 January 2012, the video debuted at #24 on the re-introduced Vevo Chart, garnering more than 406,000 views on the charts' first week back. To date, the video as received 77 million views in total and over 871,000 compiled views from the Vevo Chart, where it has peaked at #21. The video has also recieved a lot of spins on various music channels such as MTV, VH1, and others as well.

In February 2012, the video was nominated for a Urapopstar Award for Best Male Video.

Track listing

 * UK CD 1
 * 1) "So Mainstream" - 3:58
 * 2) "Gangland" - 4:37


 * UK CD 2
 * 1) "So Mainstream" (Hipster Superiority Remix) - 4:49
 * 2) "Gangland" (Urban Goth Remix) - 5:17


 * UK Digital download
 * 1) "So Mainstream"