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It's a goal on the mind of many striving musicians—the
recording contract signed with a record label. Whether with
a big name or an upstart indie, a record deal can affix some
legitimacy to the entire undertaking, and offer support,
encouragement and financial backing. But as most labels will
only finance a band's recording process in exchange for a
stake in the recordings or sales—and because horror stories of
. record-label abuses abound—bands should take a hard look at
what they could potentially get out of the deal.
And with online promotion possibilities unfolding every day,
and the ability to record entire albums on compact laptops, are
record labels even necessary for bands operating on the level
of most Athens acts? Thing is, no two labels are the same, and
no two labels offer artists identical deals. Brian Causey's WARM
Electronic Recordings label, home to acts like Phosphorescent,
Crooked Fingers and Liz Durrett,
is based here in Athens. "A good
label offers," says Causey, "at the
very least, credibility, some sort
of financial backing, stable digital
and physical distribution, a solid
marketing plan, cross promotion
with the label's roster, and clear
and consistent accounting of
royalties."
If you Rad legal woes, you'd
call a lawyer. If your pipes burst
at home, a plumber. And so with a
record label, it essentially comes
down to this: what, specifically,
does your band need? When you've
reached the point where you just
don't have enough time, knowledge
or skill to expand your audience
or figure out this shaky, shifting
music biz thing, perhaps then it's
time to reach out and partner with
a label that can help fill in those
gaps.
WHAT DO YOU NEED?
"I think I sent off like 30 or
more CDs to labels that never in
a million years would have even
considered us—like Sub Pop,
Saddle Creek, etc... so those were
probably just wasted," says Patrick
Keenan, singer for local rock band
The Winter Sounds. His band signed with the Alpharetta-based
label Livewire last year to release its album Porcelain Empire;
Livewire has since folded. "Since Livewire," he says, "I've real
ized that local independent labels are all run by people in
pretty much the same spot that you are. They love music and
want to make it their life, but. have no magic answer for find
ing that path. If there is a label that you really liked, it's prob
ably the best idea to get in touch with their bands and play
shows and learn about the label and support the label through
their bands. If you are qualified to play with the label's bands,
then you might be good enough to be on the label, and the
bands would vouch for you and the whole process would hap
pen naturally." . 1
Dark Meat signed a deal with tastemaking hipster label Vice
Records earlier this year to re-release the band's debut album
Universal Indians. Bandleader Jim McHugh says that Dark Meat
found Vice to be an ideal partner at the time because what
the band was looking for was promotion to a national audi
ence. "That's their job. I give them tons of credit for giving
us complete room that we need* /know, like 'do what the fuck
you want,'" he says. He also says the bandmembers signed
up with Vice because their sensibilities about the changing
music business gibed. "The advantage of Vice is how visible
they are... They realize that concrete recorded music is basi
cally worthless, so what people want to invest themselves in is
the experience and the culture and personalities of the band.
And we had that, with our personality and our show, and our
history with Athens and all." And though nothing has been
announced, unofficial word is that the band's relationship with
Vice may not last as long as originally stated—through next
year and another album—testament to the fact that relation
ships between label and artist can be tenuous.
HELP ON THE ROAD?
Local pop outfit Modern Skirts is the type of band that
exemplifies the need to partner up with a label; the guys have
charted a slow rise to regional acclaim and have achieved a
commendable amount of local coverage, but are eager to push
towards the next level with the release of their second album
All of Us in Our Night. Whereas Dark Meat was looking for
modes of distribution in order to pull attention to its album,
the members of Modern Skirts have their publicity and manage
ment handled independently, and what they're looking for in a
label is help touring.
"Artistic control is for me one of the most important things,
and that exists to different degrees on the indie level," says
guitarist/vocalist J^y Gulley, "but we've already recorded this
album, so we need help on the road."
"I think there's a risk of being pigeonholed as a regional
band, and a label or a booking agent is a good way of breaking
out of that," says guitarist/bassist/vocalist Phillip Brantley.
"What we're really locking for is a label that can offer us tour
support. We've got promotion covered on our end, we have
someone doing that well, but it's important to get paired up
with a label that has artists where we can tour with them...
they already have a built-in audience, and hopefully, will be
turned on to what we're doing."
GETTING A SPOTLIGHT?
For Liz Durrett, who recently released her third album
Outside Our Gates to the highest quality and quantity of media
attention yet, promotion was the main concern. "I'm just not
very good at it. I'm a horrible promoter, the worst. I just can't
do it," she says. Outside Our Gates, like Durretfs two prior
albums, was released on Causey's WARM labeL
That established relationship appealed to Durrett, and she
says that building a relationship with WARM over several years
allowed her to feel more comfortable stretching her wings on
this newest album, which has paid off in positive reviews and
an increased profile.
Dead Confederate is another local band that signed with»a
fledging label, The Artists Organization, although this one was
run by industry veteran Gary Gersh, who signed Nirvana and
Sonic Youth back in the '90s. "It was a way for us to basically
get attention that we weren't getting," says Dead Confederate
guitarist/vocalist Hardy Morris. "It made people pay a little
more attention and take us a little more seriously." That atten
tion came in the form of profiles in Rolling Stone, among oth
ers, and spots on late-night television.
WHY NOT ONtINE & SOLO?
And with all the online resources, is a record label even
needed? "It's definitely not completely necessary," says
Keenan. "However, a label is a team of people with connec
tions and distro, etc. and newsletters and in-house publicity,
etc... So, if you want all that, then you either find a label or
do it yourself. I don't fully understand the process, biit I have
noticed that the best up-and-coming new bands out there have
learned the business side to preserve for themselves their artis
tic control. In time, you can 'hire' on your own independent
publicity, your own management, legal, publishing, licensing,
etc... You can book your own shows, too. We book all our
shows. It's hard but eventually you have all the qualifications
of a label without surrendering your art in the process. The
point of it all is that when you write a song it's yours; you can
give it away to' whomever. If a CD sells, it's your money. And
in the process, you create some
thing that labels really really want,
which is a band that can exist
independently and isn't reliant
on the label to do everything for
them, but the band and the label
would mutually benefit from their
networks and their work ethic."
Brian Causey also thinks that
while the online model can work to
get things going, a label may end
up being necessary. "It's an out
dated philosophy to think that you
just have to make a great record
and then sit back and wait for your
record to hit it big," says Causey.
"The market is so saturated that
you really need to do something
besides making an album yourself
and releasing it online. Digital
music and online marketing can
be a great way to get started, but
to achieve a widespread success
you really need a team of seme
sort behind you—be it a label,
manager, and/or booking agent.
I'd say a good barometer to gauge
your chances of any solo success
is to go ahead and submit your
work to those kinds of companies
in the industry. If you get some
call-backs, then you can make the
choice of whether you want to DIY
or not. However, if you don't get
any interest, save your time and your money and modify what
you are doing, or find a new line of work."
PARTNERS IN CRIME
When considering a label, Keenan has this advice for young
bands: "Get to know other bands on the label and see if they
are happy with the label. See if they feel like they get support,
that they trust the people at the label. See if they have friends
there or if it's strictly business. But talk to the bands."
If nothing else, once a band has partnered with a label it
thinks will best suit its individual needs, it's wise to remem
ber that independent local labels, like Athens' own WARM,
Orange Twin or Happy Happy Birthday to Me, are run by actual
people—flawed, excited, passionate, overworked, creative,
messy—and that it's only once a band makes it to the big time
that the corporate business hierarchy gets more rigid. "Running
a label is a multi-dimensional job, and working relationships
vary depending on each artist's abilities and sensibilities," says
Causey. "I try to gauge the skills of the people I work with to
help define what WARM can offer them. Over the past 10 years
I've worn the hats of a business partner, manager, advisor,
therapist, producer, postal worker, editor, credit card company,
fireman, bail bondsman, farmer and sometimes convenient
scapegoat... all with varying degrees of success!"
Chris Hassiotis
Making It is a recurring column that provides helpful direction for our
many aspiring local musicians.
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18 FLAGPOLE.COM • NOVEMBER 19,2008