IndieHQ / Article Detail

May 7th, 2007

Interview with Bob Shedd, A&R for Revelation Records

It is hard to discuss independent hardcore without bringing up Revelation Records. Revelation has been putting out some of the most influential hardcore for close to 20 years having released records by bands like Gorilla Biscuits, Sick of It All, Youth of Today, Inside Out, Texas is the Reason, In My Eyes, Shai Hulud, and more. These days, they continue to put out hardcore and although, the band names are not as recognizable, all are worth getting to know. Captial(ex Silent Majority), Shook Ones, Down to Nothing, End of a Year, Sinking Ships, Living Hell, and Gracer all have potential for becoming your new favorite band.

I am proud to give you this interview with Bob Shedd, A&R for Revelation Records. Bob explains his thoughts on Revelation and their roster, the future of music sales, and what one record he would have everyone hear. Thanks Bob 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?
Revelation: Revelation Records started in Connecticut in 1987, 20 years ago this year! The people behind Revelation at the beginning were Ray Cappo and Jordan Cooper, and though Ray left shortly thereafter, Jordan continues to run the label to this day. The label began with humble intentions, simply to document the New York hardcore band WarZone. From there, it snowballed. By 1989 it was a full time job to take care of the label. Since the early 90s when Revelation moved to Huntington Beach, California, it has employed about 150 different people, and that’s a pretty astonishing feat for an independent record label. I started working here in February of 2005, as the publicist, and moved over to A&R in July of that year.

IndieHQ: What active bands are on your label?
Revelation:
Capital
Down To Nothing
End Of A Year
Gracer
Living Hell
Shai Hulud
Shook Ones
Sinking Ships

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?
Revelation: One of the keys is standing apart from the crowd, and most of the time that starts with bringing something unique, powerful, or new to the table as far as music goes, and ends with showing a desire to work hard and an understanding of what you want to do. I can not stress enough how important it is that bands and labels understand what each other can do and what they can not do. Whenever you hear about bands and labels having problems, a difference in expectations is most often the cause. I have signed a band from a demo, though it was also based on their previous work, and that band is Gracer. From the start they showed a commitment to working hard and their three song demo was bar none one of the best I’ve heard. When I started as A&R there was a backlog of demos and this one jumped out above and beyond the rest.

As for a band or bands I would kill to work with, I’m pretty lucky because I get to work with some of my favorite bands, and I didn’t even have to kill to work with them. The guys in Sinking Ships are some of my favorite people, and I don’t know that I would have gotten to know them as well had I not been in this position. So more than “what band/s would I kill to work with” I am answering this in a flipped-around way, as in “bands I would have killed to work with but didn’t have 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?
Revelation: The internet is the largest marketplace in the world and has so many different forums for marketing and promotion, how can it not be the greatest asset? The ability for people to hear music, to get information on bands and new releases as well as the label itself is so accessible that when used it can greatly affect the recognition of a label. We are working more and more to get the most out of that, but we still have many ways we can improve our current online presence.

As for manufacturers, Revelation Records highly recommends Impress Graphics in Stanton, California and Aloha Graphics in Tustin, California for all of your printing needs.

IndieHQ: What release is your best selling title? How many has it sold?
Revelation: The best selling Revelation title is the Inside Out ep, followed closely by the Gorilla Biscuits “Start Today” lp.

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?
Revelation: Digital distribution is a growing reality; record sales are dropping, but at the same time the cost of recording, actual production and promotion are not dropping. Record sales are on a slippery slope, but there is a large leap to be made before the CD, as a format, is extinct. So it’s a matter of wanting to continue to grow and expand as a label during this transitory period. There are still labels working in what will soon be an archaic system of inflated recording budgets, and they’re competing with labels that are attempting to move towards this new era where there will have to be some balance of budgeting versus sales in a non “CD”-centric world. Vinyl is expensive on the production end, and with internet piracy / file sharing, there is no certainty that a record label could survive on digital distribution alone in their current climate.

We have almost our entire catalog on iTunes, and I would also plant Revelation firmly in the crop of labels with a progressive idea of the relationship between label and artist and how that will be changing in the near future.

IndieHQ: Who handles your distribution?
Revelation: Navarre and Rev Distribution.

IndieHQ: What do you see as the future of music sales?
Revelation: Even right now, it would be hard to gauge how many copies of a band’s record are floating around out there, given file sharing on many different levels. The downfall of the compact disc SEEMS imminent, though as someone who still buys them I may personally disagree on the speed of that downfall, I can’t argue with the dropping sales numbers or the inevitable displacement of cds with purely digital distribution. I see the future being a market shift to digital and some formatting that would prevent illegal sharing, though I have mixed feelings regarding that as well. I am hopeful that we will see some renovations with digital music formats that allow for music to be available for listening in different forums (podcasts, streaming, etc) that allows the general music buying public to preview a record before purchasing, but that also somehow deters the massive sharing that seems to be hurting record sales. As a fan of vinyl, I am excited to see the format continuing to sell steadily, if not growing, and I hope this becomes an even more viable, tangible format of music for people to buy and enjoy.

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?
Revelation: As of yet, no. All of our releases are available on iTunes though we expect to expand our availability of downloadable music at some point in the future.

IndieHQ: If you could tell the world to buy one release on your label, which one would you tell people to purchase? Why?
Revelation: World, please go out and purchase Farside “The Monroe Doctrine” (currently only available on vinyl and by download). This mix of hardcore, melodic punk, indie rock and post punk is a timeless record with songs that are instantly engrossing. This record is one of the very few that to me is the perfect reflection of a band’s personality on a whole, from gritty and sad to energetic, playful and silly.

Written by Virgil Dickerson