I listen to music about as much as the average person. I’m not afraid to admit that, as a music student, sometimes I get tired of constantly hearing sound. I don’t listen to music constantly and sometimes I’m not even in the mood to listen to music at all. But for about the past five years (which is a long time for a girl going from age 15 to age 20 to like something!) I have always been in the mood to listen to my favorite band, COIN. An indie rock band, COIN has around 2.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of writing this. For the past several years, COIN has marketed themselves with the catchphrase “COIN is a band.” However, the seemingly impossible happened. COIN is no longer a band at all.
What is COIN?
COIN is a band. Founded in 2012 but not achieving mainstream success until their release of “Talk Too Much” in 2016 and subsequent release of their second studio album “How Will You Know if You Never Try?” in 2017. COIN makes music that falls under a wide variety of genres, including indie pop, pop rock, alternative rock, and new wave (via Wikipedia). Other popular songs include “Malibu 1992” also from “How Will You Know if You Never Try?” as well as “Crash My Car” from third studio album “Dreamland,” and “Chapstick” from fourth studio album “Uncanny Valley.”
Although COIN managed to maintain three out of four original members during its existence, the lead singer, primary songwriter, and “mastermind” behind the band is Chase Lawrence. As it so happens, Chase was the final member of the band and ultimately the member that took control of COIN’s downfall.
So… what happened?
On January 28th, Chase took to Instagram, posting an unprecedented update. Although he had posted only a few days before that the band had decided to part ways with their drummer due to “personal matters,” the January 28th post explained that Chase had “become aware of revelations” concerning his bandmates, and went on to say that his bandmates displayed “behaviors directly conflict[ing] with my values” and the “space for love and joy through music” that the band had cultivated was “compromised by the actions of others.” Chase then states that, although he personally is not finished making music, COIN can no longer continue as a band, and all COIN social media and music streaming accounts have seemingly abandoned ever since.
the timing
The announcement of COIN’s split came only a few months after the release of their fifth studio album. However, this album carried a different message than their other albums, and had a thoughtful theme and backstory attached to it. The album’s title, “I’m Not Afraid of Music Anymore,” signified the band’s creative slump that they had endured in the years between their fourth and fifth studio albums, and how the band members had eventually become more in-touch with themselves, each other, and their music throughout the creative process, dispelling their fear around releasing new music with impossibly high standards for themselves.
The “I’m Not Afraid of Music Anymore” album and the resulting “I’m Not Afraid of Tour Anymore” tour were supposed to represent a new era of COIN: one that is more creative, open, strong, and unified than before. To me, this is truly why the announcement of the band’s split was so jarring. This was an incredibly prosperous music group with nothing but hope and optimism for the musical lives in front of them, only for COIN to fall apart completely.
See your favorite bands live
I was lucky enough to experience seeing COIN live in October of 2024. It was my first time going to a concert by myself and I traveled all the way to Omaha on a Tuesday afternoon to be there (I definitely missed some class too, which I never do). I ended up making a friend at the concert, and I was at the barricade for the first (and honestly probably last) time in my life. It was truly an incredible experience, and there’s nothing like seeing your favorite band play your favorite songs live.
“I’m Not Afraid of Tour Anymore” was scheduled for October and November of 2024 and February and March of 2025. However, per Chase’s announcement referenced earlier, the entire second half of the tour was canceled. One of the comments under the Instagram post reads “I’m so sad I’ll never get to see COIN live. Like beyond devastated.” Another one reads “YOU EVER LOVE SOMETHING SO MUCH IT HURTS,” a lyric from one of COIN’s songs. Another one reads “COIN is NOT a band,” a take on COIN’s slogan that I mentioned earlier.
I have a poster from this tour framed and hung on my wall right now. It has dates of shows printed on it that never happened and will never happen. It is signed by members of the band that are now facing unacceptable behavioral and moral allegations.
And yet, I can’t take it down. Going to that concert now represents one of the most carefree, out-of-my-comfort-zone days of my entire life. I quite literally became a better person because I went to that concert. And to think that I was debating not going at all because I was so scared of going alone and missing class.
Obviously, the people who never got to see COIN in concert could never be at fault. No one could have predicted that one of the most motivated and promising bands of the last several years could have broken up so suddenly without any warning. However, in general, if the opportunity does present itself for you to see one of your favorite artists or bands live, you should do your best to take it.
I guess this applies to general life lessons as well. You can never know exactly what the future holds. If something like being alone is a worry of yours, try to push yourself out of your comfort zone and jump at the opportunity to do something you love without worrying about what other people will think of you. After all, How Will You Know if You Never Try?
