Buying likes/follows on social media is (sadly) pretty common practice in the music and media industries. However one “fake band” has really taken it to an extreme as Twitter user @buzzingbugs pointed out recently.

Threatin is apparently a band that is real and did go on a real tour. However after no one showed up to any of their shows, venues and some support acts got a bit pissed off and did some digging. It turns out that the group essentially bought all their Facebook likes, as well as all the attendees on their events. Everything points to them being a fake band.

However, as NME points out, it seems that they also might not be a band at all. In their music video for “Living Is Dying” – which is about as terrible as you’d expect a song with that name to be – every single instrument is played by the same guy. He also rotates a picture frame around his face at one point. It’s weird and somehow has over 800,000 views.

Watch: Threatin – “Living Is Dying”

Stay with us, because this is where it gets weird(er). According to both Underworld in Camden, and Bristol’s The Exchange, Threatin’s promoter told them they had sold a bunch of advance tickets, “We were expecting it to be a busy night because the promoter had supposedly sold 180 tickets.” So now they’re also making up fake ticket sales.

On the artist’s YouTube page, a trailer for the tour features grainy footage of large crowds and close ups of Threatin playing guitar in what looks like a hallway. So that’s pretty much confirmed to be fake as well. You’ve gotta at least respect this guy’s ambition. We have no idea why they’d want to go on tour playing to empty rooms, but they’re really out here doing it.

This story about what is essentially a fake band, is absolutely fascinating. Conned themselves a tour without any fans, using fake live videos and bought Facebook likes. I implore you to go down the rabbit hole and check some of their videos! pic.twitter.com/IqiVc2z27R — Dan (@buzzingbugs) November 8, 2018

After having to pay the venue hire cost in Bristol, Threatin played a show to his tour manager and two people from one of the support bands. The rest of the band was made up of session musicians who were – according to one of the supports – “very good”.

This fake band story is a wild rollercoaster and you can read the full rundown over at NME with an interview with one of Threatin’s support bands. I would highly recommend it, but first you need to watch the incredible trailer for Threatin’s European tour.

Watch: Threaten World Tour trailer