IndieHQ / Article Detail

April 23rd, 2007

Interview with Greg Ross from Go Kart Records

I am excited to bring you this interview with Greg Ross from Go Kart Records. Go Kart has existed now for well over 10 years and in that time, Greg has put out a number of pinnacle releases with titles by Anti-Flag, Weston, Lunachicks, The Meatmen, Vice Squad, Ten Foot Pole, Pigmy Love Circus, and so much more. He also runs Go Kart Films, Radio Free Greg (a podcast hosted by Punkradiocast), and has a European office for the label. Greg has a lot going on and it constantly amazes me with all that he is capable of.

Greg speaks about the early beginnings of his label, what he looks for in a band, and his thoughts on the music retail environment and his what he thinks will be the future of music sales.

I highly encourage everyone to read on and please check out what Greg has going on at his website. He just put out a really cool DVD compilation with one of our bands, Ghost Buffalo as well as 30 others. Thanks Greg for taking the time to do this interview.

IndieHQ: When did your label start? What inspired you to start the label? Where is your label based? Do you do the label full time? What don’t most people know about you/your label?
GoKart: Go-kart started in 1993 or so. The answer depends on when you consider a label to have officially started. Is it when we have our first record release show or when we actually have records? The first record wasn’t manufactured until months after the release party.

When I was in high school I told people I would start a record label, but I thought to do it you had to be rich or famous. When I was in college I realized that anyone could start a label.

Between my junior and senior years at NYU, I was approached by some friends who wanted to start a label. My major at NYU was Music Business Technology, which meant a third of my courses were music based (theory, performance, history), a third were music technology (recording, technology, etc.) and a third were business (some pure business as well as some music business-specific courses). Two of my classmates had formed a label and rented space at a nearby building. They asked me if I wanted to get involved and eventually there were 8 people who were all supposed to start the label. Each person was supposedly bringing something unique to the table. One guy owned a recording studio, one guy’s dad was best friends with the then-VP of MTV, one guy’s mother was a star in Taiwan (I think), one guy was rich, etc.

As senior year progressed, everyone dropped out until it was just the guy who owned a studio and me. After graduation he and I started a label with a name that really sucked, so I won’t type it.

I cashed in my bar mitzvah bonds and opened a checking account. The plan was that we would record the bands at his studio.

Unfortunately, before we ever signed a band I discovered that he forged my signature on a check and stole some of the money I had deposited.

By then the idea of starting a label was so ingrained in my head that I started Go-kart on my own. There’s also a subplot involving the Village People, but you would need to get me drunk for me to tell that part of the story. Get me drunk enough and I will even tell the story of how I spent the night before the first Go-kart record release party in the hospital.

As a side note, the guy who stole the money paid me back partially with cash and partially with studio time, but not at his studio. He was hired by one of NYC’s bigger studios to assist on a David Byrne record, not as engineer but basically to clean the studio and make sure everything was normalized (that’s studio talk; I learned that in college). As soon as David Byrne was done each night, he would call me and a producer and I would run up to the studio and mix the Buttsteak record until early in the morning, making sure to leave long before David Byrne and his crew returned.

I do the label more than full time. I don’t remember the last time I had a day off.

What don’t most people know about Go-kart? Do people know Go-kart in the first place?

IndieHQ: What active bands are on your label? (please include myspace urls or website urls)
GoKart: Between Go-kart and Go-kart Europe our active bands are:
Bambix
Cougars
Guff
I Farm
Ira
The Menzingers
Parasites
Rifu
Transmission0

GK Europe Only:
Dr Norton
Nervous Nellie
The Very Job Agency
Dusenjaeger
Malkovich

IndieHQ: What do you look for in a band? Have you ever signed a band from a demo? What advice do you have for bands trying to get your attention? What band or bands would you kill to work with?
GoKart: There is no formula for what we look for (although it seems we have a knack for finding bands who work less once they sign to Go-kart). Yes, we have signed a band based on a demo.

If a band is trying to get our attention they should probably quit being a band. Can you tell I have a bit of a self-deprecating sense of humor?

At this point I would kill to work with Nickleback, but not because I like them. In fact, I think they suck. However, the 3 Million-plus CDs they sell of each release would more than pay for me to be able to release a lot of things I would actually enjoy listening to.

IndieHQ: What one marketing/promotions tool do you find is your greatest asset? What vendor/manufacturer that you work with do you recommend the most?
GoKart: The only thing that matters is touring. Unfortunately, we have no control over that. And as much as I hate to admit it, Myspace really is a great tool.

I have been really happy with Rainbo Manufacturing lately.

IndieHQ: What release is your best selling title? How many has it sold?
GoKart: Anti-Flag’s “A New Kind Of Army” has sold over 110,000 copies worldwide.

IndieHQ: Music retail is tough these days, what steps, if any, have you taken to adapt in the post-file-sharing/post-Tower Records music retail landscape?
GoKart: Ummmm, Begging? Answering questions in email interviews and secretly hiding subliminal messages in the text to hopefully brainwash readers to buy Go-kart releases? Just kidding.

Like every other label we have been hit hard by illegal downloading. To stay in business I have had to cut my staff dramatically. Advances are much less than they used to be, as are our ad and promotional budgets. It’s pretty ugly for labels these days.

IndieHQ: Who handles your distribution?
GoKart: In the US we use Navarre for the chains, Revelation for mom and pops as well as a whole bunch of others boutique distributors.
Canada - Navarre Canada
UK - PHD
Japan - CR Japan
Australia - Stomp
Germany - Roughtrade
Austria - Edel
Benelux - Bertus
France - Socadisc
Italy – Andromeda
Spain – Dock (I think)
Switzerland – Irascibel
Greece – Sound Forge
Denmark – Target
Norway – Tuba
Sweden - Border
Finland - Firebox
Hungary - Firebox

I am sure I missed some there…

IndieHQ: What do you see as the future of music sales?
GoKart: More and more music will be sold online, and eventually I believe there will be some sort of P2P system with a monthly fee and amortized payments based on how much each song is downloaded.

Unfortunately, I also believe that an entire generation of people doesn’t believe in paying for music, and those people will always steal it.

Many years ago music was sold on paper as sheet music; that industry is tiny now. Pre-recorded music sold on discs is headed in that direction.

According to my Magic 8-Ball: Labels will no longer be as important and managers will take over much of what the labels do.

IndieHQ: Are your releases available on Emusic? Why or Why not? Are your releases available for streaming on sites like Rhapsody, Napster, and Urge? Why or Why not?
GoKart: Yes, all of our releases are available via Emusic as well as through some of the subscription services. Your question is quite timely as I looked at a recent statement and wondered why we use subscription services and I may change that in the near future.

IndieHQ: If you could tell the world to buy one release on your label, which one would you tell people to purchase? Why?
GoKart: Only one? Everyone should go buy the new releases from Guff (in stores June 26th) and The Menzingers (in stores in July) or else!

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Written by Virgil Dickerson