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February 1st, 2007

Interview with Craig Ericson of Rise Records

I am happy to share with you a short interview I did with Craig Ericson of Rise Records. Some of you may not be aware of this, but Rise Records was the first home of bands Fear Before the March of Flames and Anatomy of the Ghost. Lately though, Craig has been rewriting the history of Rise Records with two of his newest acts, Devil Wears Prada and Drop Dead Gorgeous. Devil Wears Prada have sold over 15,000 copies so far and Drop Dead has sold over 22,000 copies so far. Drop Dead Gorgeous has also recently inked a deal with Suretone, an imprint of Geffen all at the urging of super-producer Ross Robinson. Craig was kind enough to discuss some of his recent success and discussed such topics as distribution, what he looks for in a band, and the fact that he is done with EPs. Thanks Craig for your time and I urge everyone to read on as Craig is a great example of a hard working label with hard working bands being able to rise above the over saturation of releases.

IndieHQ: How long have you been doing Rise Records? I think that you had told me that Rise is just you and no employees, how is that possible?
Rise: RISE put out its first release (UP TO HERE - 7″ record) in 1991 when I was a senior in high school. In fact Kevin Seconds, from 7 SECONDS, helped me out a lot and gave some great advice. I didn’t really get into the label thing until 2000 when I released my first CD called ONE LAST THING. From there, it just escalated. Now I’m on release 46 and things are going great.

IndieHQ: I have noticed that in the past year, Rise Records has been making big strides with 2 artists, Devil Wears Prada and Drop Dead Gorgeous. Devil Wears Prada have scanned over 15,000 copies so far and Drop Dead Gorgeous were recently sought out by Ross Robinson and signed with Suretone, an imprint through Geffen. How are you doing it?
Rise: I’m not sure!! I just got lucky and happened to sign a couple of bands that kids really latched on to. These 2 bands really reach out to their fans and relate with their fans because they are the same age. I will say Myspace has been key to the success of these bands and my label. Ross Robinson found them on myspace and loved them. He brought them to Jordan Schur at Suretone and we all worked out a deal. The release has been promoted to Interscope as well which has a stronger and more powerful team. Also, I got lucky and a couple of the best agents in the industry pick them up! Thanks Dave Shapiro and Nick Storch!!!

IndieHQ: Rise Records is distributed exclusively by Victory Records who is distributed by RED. How much do you attribute your sales numbers to the fact that you have a strong distribution team?
Rise: A lot!! Without Victory and RED, sales would be bad. The demand for the cd’s would be the same, but RED has the power to get cd’s in chain stores. The Victory sales team has done a great job pushing my releases as well.

IndieHQ: What advice would you give a label like mine who are having a very hard time getting copies out into retail even though our acts are doing high-profile tours and working hard?
Rise: That’s a good question. I think if your cd’s were distro’d more readily, sales would obviously be better. It’s tough to get cd’s in stores, especially EP’s. I will never release an EP again (unless it’s digital). Obviously getting better distro (no offense Lumberjack) would help. If you don’t have RED, ADA, Fontana or Caroline, you pretty much will never sell a ton of cd’s. Of course there are exceptions. But, those 4 companies account for most of the top indie album sales in “our scene”.

IndieHQ: What is a typical marketing plan for your releases? What do you pinpoint as the best bang for your buck in exposing your acts?
Rise: I have a new theory. I used to do 1/2 page ads in a lot of the smaller zines. More ads, less money. But, now I concentrate all of my marketing funds on the big mags like Alt Press, Revolver and Outburn. A few ads eat up a lot of money, but I think it reaches more people and perhaps you get a little more “cred” as well. We all know word of mouth is still the best which can’t be bought.

IndieHQ: What do you look for in a band? What advice do you give bands trying to get your attention?
Rise: Probably the same things you look for: Good songs, fanbase, strong work ethic, willingness to be poor and tour non-stop.

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Written by Virgil Dickerson