April 26th, 2007
Interview with Greg Ross from Go Kart Records
Interview with Darren Walters of Jade Tree Records
Interview with Seth Hyman of Negative Progression Records
Interview with Derek Hogue of G7 Welcoming Committee
Interview with Chris Wrenn of Bridge Nine
Interview with Ross Siegel of Reignition Recordings
Intervew with Ray Harkins of Abacus Recordings
10 Questions with Virgil from Suburban Home Records
Interview with Craig Ericson of Rise Records
Interview with Sonny Kay of G.S.L.
Interview with Dr Strange Records
Interview with Mike Park on 10 Years of Asian Man Records
Interview with Equal Vision’s Dan Sandshaw
Since I am waiting on a number of labels to get their interviews for me, I thought now would be as good as any to reflect on the interviews we have done. I am pretty happy with the interviews that were done so far. I thank all those for taking the time to do the interviews as they can be a pain.
I think the most shocking answers from these interviews would have to be the fact that G7 dragged their feet when given the chance to release Refused’s “The Shape of Punk to come” and Scott from AltPress commented that Jade Tree once passed on signing Interpol. Pretty crazy if you ask me.
I think that as a band looking to get signed, the general consensus with regard to answering what labels look for in bands are bands that are hard-working, self-motivated, and self-sufficient. It seems as though sending unsolicited demos may not be the best way to get a labels attention. Instead, touring, working hard, and becoming friends with other bands may work better. If you have a band on a label who champion what you do, they can be your best method for getting a label’s attention. All that time spent on sending press packs and contacting labels might be better spent on doing all the things you want a label to do on your own band and if you attract more and more fans, labels will come sniffing around.
At this point, I would love to hear your thoughts good and bad. Are there questions that I should ask that I haven’t been? Are there labels that you want to hear from? Note that I have emailed a number of labels and I assume that my interview questions just got buried in their inbox. I will continue to try to ask these folks for an interview, but it might take some time. Ian Mackeye and Fat Mike won’t be able to do email interviews, but I hope to schedule a time to do interviews over the phone. I will keep you posted.
Written by Virgil Dickerson | No Comments
April 26th, 2007
1. HOODS - GHETTO BLASTER
2. SET YOUR GOALS - MUTINY
3. SKYLIT DRIVE - SHE WATCHED THE SKY
4 SUICIDAL TENDENCIES - S/T
5. SET YOUR GOALS - RESET
6. RX BANDITS - AND THE BATTLE BEGUN
6. BLACK KEYS - BIG COME UP
8. WHOLE WHEAT BREAD - PUNK LIFE
9. ALKALINE TRIO - S/T
10. CHIODOS - HEARTLESS CONTROL
Written by Virgil Dickerson | No Comments
April 21st, 2007
For those of you not familiar with my State of the Union posts, from time to time, I write about the many things circling in my head which often involve my small indie label, Suburban Home, my vinyl-only online store/vinyl imprint(Vinyl Collective), my blog site IndieHQ, and life in general. These posts are often very, very long so I don’t blame you if you skip them all together. For those of you who decide to read, there is usually quite a bit of insider information as it pertains to my small endeavors. For whatever that’s worth. Click the link if you feel like reading:
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Written by Virgil Dickerson | 10 Comments
April 12th, 2007
Need an uplifting post to give you inspiration about your band, your label, the music industry? You wont’ find it here, but Seth Godin recently wrote a nice post that might give you the fuel you need to keep going!
Seven Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World
Written by Virgil Dickerson | No Comments
April 12th, 2007
Just something I wanted to get your thoughts on, does your band/label post your songs on your Myspace page as streams or downloads? Have an opinion which is best? Do you think that offering the tracks as downloads gives the music fan something to hold onto? If they get the downloads, will that music fan stop visiting your page? If you only offer streams, will they keep coming back to hear your tracks? Or will they move on to the next band page forgetting to go back to your site? Is the number of plays more important than having the fan have a track for their IPod?
Lots of questions, but I am curious to hear your thoughts. Ultimately, I think that if you have great songs on your Myspace page, people will listen. I think that with the millions of bands on Myspace, it isn’t necessarily a bad idea to give the fan something they can listen to anywhere they go. I currently offer downloads on the Suburban Home Myspace page and some of our acts do as well.
While we are on this topic has anyone purchased a track from Snocap on a band’s Myspace page? Let us know about your experience. I have read that Snocap isn’t selling as many tracks as they thought they would.
Written by Virgil Dickerson | 5 Comments
April 11th, 2007
Mentioned in a post by marketing guru Seth Godin, is an example for a really easy to make and fun website that could be applied to a new release, a label, a band, or whatever. This particular site was made by an author pimping a brand new book, but there is no reason why you couldn’t do the same for whatever you are trying to hype. I think the key is conveying some of your personality and having fun with it. I definitely plan to steal this idea at some point, but I wanted to share this with all of you for an idea to market your next release.
Written by Virgil Dickerson | 3 Comments
April 10th, 2007
Have you ever been driving home when you just remembered something you forgot to do at work? Or a really rad idea that you know you will forget if you don’t write it down immediately? Now you can call a phone number, leave a voicemail, and it will be transcribed and sent to you via email or text. Set up contacts and groups on your account and you can also send messages to friends, co-workers, or colleagues by leaving a voicemail. That is how Jott works.
It is free to use (at this point) and although I have only used it over the past weekend, I plan to use it quite a bit. I also think that this has a lot of possibilities for bands and labels. Here are a couple that I can immediately think of:
- Instead of texting my bands guest list requests on the day of the show, I will phone them in.
- You can set up groups so it is possible for bands to set up groups by City and phone in show reminders on tour to their entire phone/email list.
- When giving messages to band(s), you can make one phone call to get a message to everyone at the same time.
- I am an idea man and most of my ideas come to me when I don’t have pen and paper.
- Got a big press release, you can set up a group for press and make the big announcement through Jott.
This is just a small example of the possibilities. Feel free to comment on your experiences and/or plans for using Jott. If you speak clearly, Jott does an incredible job at transcribing the message. Man, I love technology!
Written by Virgil Dickerson | No Comments
April 9th, 2007
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I am excited to bring you this interview with Chris Wrenn, owner of Bridge Nine. Bridge Nine has been for over 10 years documenting the very best in hardcore. They can boast a catalog that includes releases by Give Up the Ghost, Sick of It All, Terror, Champion, Slapshot, The Distance, Death Before Dishonor, and continue the put out the best new acts in Hardcore. Chris shares something you may not know about how he makes his living, his decision to stop producing CD eps, his love for the vinyl format, what one release on his labels that people should check out, and how bands can get his attention.
Thanks Chris for taking the time to do this interview. Please stop by the Bridge Nine site, check out some mp3s, and support what these guys are doing.
If you have a suggestion for a label we should do an interview with, please post it in the comments. thanks.
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Written by Virgil Dickerson | 7 Comments
April 5th, 2007
I am proud to bring you an interview with Ross Siegel of Reignition Recordings. Ross cut his teeth in the music industry by starting a fanzine called Law of Inertia. LOI become one of the best-run publications in Punk/Metal/Indie journalism. A few years ago, Ross sold the magazine and in doing so changed the name of his label which was also using the moniker Law of Inertia. This is how Reignition was born. When I decided to feature more consistent interviews with labels on this site, I was excited to share with you labels of all shapes and sizes. Reignition is on smaller side of things, but I feel that Ross has just as much to say about what is going on in the industry than labels ten times his size. Reignition has released bands such as The Static Age, Marathon, Ultimate Fakebook, Dead Girls Ruin Everything, Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer, as well as tributes to Guns N Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, and Black Flag. He has most recently put out a Reel Big Fish / Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer split CD and a live album by Death By Stereo. As you will read, Ross has strong opinions about what is going on in the industry and for good reason.
Thanks Ross for taking the time to do this interview. I encourage everyone to stop by his label site and check out his artists and releases. I especially recommend checking out the Static Age who i recently saw in Denver; the band writes great music, performs incredibly, and with their recent addition to the Leave Home roster are poised for great things.
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Written by Virgil Dickerson | 13 Comments
April 2nd, 2007
It is an honor for me to bring you this interview with Ray Harkins of Abacus Recordings. I have known Ray for quite some time as his band, Taken, were at one time distributed by Suburban Home. Ray and I have always seen eye to eye on a number of the goings-on in the music industry so I thought it was rather cool when he started running Abacus. This is a really interesting interview that I recommend reading as Ray not only runs a label, but he does so with the perspective of being in bands himself (formerly Taken, but currently Mikoto). Not only that, but if you haven’t noticed, Abacus has become a powerhouse indie label these days with the high profile signings of acts like Sick of It all, Turbonegro, Juliana Theory, Ignite, Planes Mistaken for Stars, and have had a number of newer acts getting notice like the Cancer Bats and Glass Casket. Please read this interview as Ray gives great perspective on what he looks for in a band, distribution, the future of music sales, and even tells us what one Abacus release he would have every music fan check out.
Thanks Ray for taking the time to answer my questions. I truly appreciate it. And Ray, I did not get a photo from you so I posted the one you have on Myspace. Hope that is cool.
Everybody, please check out Abacus as I am sure you will find a ton of great new acts worth checking out.
This interview marks a consistent feature we hope to bring you twice a week where we interview labels of all sizes. If you know a label that we need to interview, please post it in the comments. Thanks.
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Written by Virgil Dickerson | 13 Comments
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