Newspaper Page Text
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TH
E xtra, extra. You may have already
heard about it a time or two before:
there has been a seismic digital shift
in media. A newspaper, movie or book
fits in a phone. Six thousand record music col
lections fit in a cargo pocket. Here they are,
these media-makers, in restless fits of recon
sidering the medium and the business model.
And then there is also Happy Happy Birthday
to Me Records.
"There's a huge
difference when
people would listen
in their room with
an LP and read the
liner notes and really
love that record, that
physical interaction
with the media," says
Mike Turner, the driv
ing force behind the
Athens-based label.
For the past 10
years, HHBTM has
stuck closely to its
implicit central tenet
of do-it-oneself
craftiness. The label
celebrates its 10th
anniversary this sum
mer, demonstrating a
laudable feat in and
of itself, considering
the simple long-term
survival of a business
in the business of selling records. That this
essentially one-person act has weathered a
decade of economic and technological turmoil,
in an industry struggling to convince custom
ers to even pay for its product—all while
maintaining a highly personal, handmade
aesthetic—is pretty extraordinary.
As such, HHBTM will throw itself a birthday
party spanning a handful of days, begin
ning Thursday, Aug. 27 and culminating on
Saturday, Aug. 29. While the party comes
equipped with four to five bands playing per
night, Turner still laments that the entire
HHBTM family could not somehow be wrangled
for a super blow-out event, which he acknowl
edges "would stretch a week."
The label boasts a roster saturated not
only with Athens bands (e.g., The Visitations,
Marshmallow Coast, Casper & the Cookies), but
also with intra- and international acts. Some,
like Lancaster, England's The Lovely Eggs, will
make the trip for the party, in addition to
touring with label mates Cars Can Be Blue.
While some have ascribed a blanket "twee"
or pared-down indie-pop aesthetic to the
collective output
of HHBTM bands,
the label serves as
a home to a rather
diverse lineup. Turner
finds commonality
and a unifying thread
in a playfulness and
a sense of humor
among the artists.
This trait is readily
apparent in Cars Can
Be Blue, known for
its bawdy lyrics and
hyper-charged antics.
By party time,
the label will have
put out 115 releases
in its decade-long
existence. This fig
ures in at something
like 10 or 11 HHBTM
records a year, Turner
calculates—very
little to sneeze at.
The more calculations
Turner completes, the more concrete are the
opportunity costs involved in the dedication
to this particular kind of hobby. For instance:
"I kind of figured the amount of money that's
been spent on the label—wow, that could
have been a small house paid out."
In addition to dollars, Turner also invests
a considerable amount of time and physical
effort into the label, its bands and records—
sometimes up to 40 hours a week, but with
a typical average near 24 hours. HHBTM has
continuously derived for Turner a singular
pleasure in the hands-on acts of spray-paint
ing or silk screening album sleeves, or includ
ing extras like buttons, artwork and patches
with the records.
A downturn in the amount of direct con
tact with the records last year resulted in a
burned-out label head.. "I didn't understand
where the label fit in personally," Turner says.
"There wasn't involvement beyond contact
ing distributors and stores to carry a record.
I need to be more involved with the records
than I have been. It came off more of the
label as a bank in a way that was loaning
money to put records out."
The birthday party will afford the rein
vigorated Turner another opportunity to get
pumped about Happy Happy Birthday to Me.
"I've been wanting to do party hats for a
while. I could hand draw some party hats."
Valentina Tapia
( h
WHAT: HHBTM 10-Year Birthday
WHERE: Caledonia Lounge
WHEN: Thursday Aug. 27-Aug. 29,9 pjn.
HOW MUCH: $5(21+), $7 (18+)
i H )
255 Tit. St,
Southu/est Cafe
EVERY MONDAY 7-9PI11
06.354.6655
6- 6:30 Beginner Lessons
6:30-7 Advanced Lessons
7- 10 Open Dance
1st TUESDAY SWING
2nd TUESDAY TANGO & LATIN
3rd TUESDAY - HIP HOP
4th TUESDAY TBA
NO
WHERE
BAR
240 N. Lumpkin St. / 706-546-4742
HAPPY HOUR
3:30-9:00
Every
Monday
Night
2
Regular
Domestic
Bottles
Every
Tuesday
l
Off
All Draft
Pitchers
WELCOME BACK STUDENTS!
LIVE MUSIC
Thurs. August 27
JAZZCHRON1C
IABIISUIVI MUfcK • 2 DART BOARDS
10 I V s - 4 vi l)| (> (,A.MI s • PGA & GOl DIN I I I
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Music
Friday @ American Tavern
AUGUST 26,2^09., FM^QliXQMi 1?,