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MICHELLE OAVIS
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IN THE COURTYARD
A la A U S
MAY 30,2012 • FlAGPOLE.COM 13
award-wi in
Tms
Last month, 3ack White released a new record via balloon.
He tied 1,000 flexi discs to bright blue, helium-filled carriages
which were let loose over Nashville, to be dispersed wherever
the wind might carry them. Most it seems, landed on eBay,
and those not recovered by humans undoubtedly caused much
bewilderment to nearby wildlife.
While the ultimate goal of releasing recordings in such an
extravagant and haphazard manner is known only to White
(publicity stunt, most likely), that same month in Athens,
two local artists also felt compelled to distribute music in an
equally unconventional, albeit far more practical, way.
This April, Dain Marx and Hana Hay debuted Gumball
Machine Records at Hendershot's Coffee Bar. The name says it
all: for just 50 cents, you can purchase a download code from
a local artist right out of a gumball machine. New releases
appear each month, accompanied by collectible trinkets related
to the featured song or artist. There are now music-filled gum-
ball machines all around town, including little Kings Shuffle
Club, Ricker Theatre & Bar and Bizzaro Wuxtry, with more loca
tions pending.
Prior to his move to Athens, Marx helped found and manage
Stankhouse Records, an underground record label based out of
his former home in Portland, OR. Flagpole spoke with Marx and
Hay in Athens shortly after their Little Kings release party.
. "I did Stankhouse for a while, and we released like 15
records," says Marx. "Near the end of that, the trend started
shifting to MP3 releases, so we started including MP3 down
load codes on pieces of paper with the records."
While there is still some demand for vinyl cassettes and
CDs, listeners are increasingly experiencing music digitally.
This proves advantageous in some respects, because download
codes are cheaper and easier to produce than physical record
ings. However, distributing the codes in some meaningful
tangible form is a challenge. Pieces of paper with download
information handed out at concerts were often discarded.
"People didn't know what they were," says Hay. Adds Marx)
"People acted like we were handing them trash. I even had
one guy try to tell me he only listened to music that he down
loaded. After I told him that the paper I gave him was for a
free download, he seemed into the idea."
Marx and Hay stewed on the idea for several months, con
sidering various methods of distributing digital music in a
more interesting physical form. They considered stickers, pins
an<J even etching codes onto small sculptures. Eventually, they
were inspired by a gumball machine full of novelty toys that
formerly occupied a local house venue.
With a little help from eBay, the pair soon had four gumball
machines to fill with an eclectic mix of local music and other
surprises. A complete list of participating artists, as well as
contact information for bands wishing to take part, is available
at www.gumballmachinerecords.com.
"We like that this brings lots of different cliques of music
together in a box filled with swag and random fun stuff," says
Marx. "And our release shows have brought together groups of
people who wouldn't normally be at the same place."
. Presently, Marx and Hay are considering a variety of options
for future releases. They are sifting through submissions for
the coming month and are planning to re-release the previ
ous two months' worth of material to coincide with AthFest. A
somewhat more traditional "best of Gumball Machine Records"
compilation on CD or vinyl is also being considered for release
in the near future. ; ..
With these tentative plans and 19 local bands already
onboard (including Casper and the Cookies, Helen Scott and a
Humms side project called The Ice Creams), Gumball Records
is off to a promising start. The goal right now is to make
Gumball Machine Records more self-sufficient and focus on get
ting more machines and more releases out to the public. In the
meantime, the current fleet should give local music fans plenty
of tasty audio morsels to chew on.
Brian Veysey