Some musicians, though, take their craft to extremes, and not only record and produce their own music, but create the very label and distro through which that music is released. That’s no easy feat, though: we got in contact with some of the musicians behind our favorite local labels and distros to talk about what it’s like to run your own label.
Acid Redux Productions is a record label/distro out of Macon, run by George Williams of Grinchfinger and Scramble Guts. It got its start in 2009 as an outlet to release and distribute Grinchfinger music. The main focus, Williams said, was to have a name to put behind the music. "There were no other labels stepping up to help us manufacture or distribute our music," he added, "no one ever cared locally, and at the time we just needed some vehicle to get the first Grinchfinger CDr [Acid Satan] and a compilation tape [An International Tribute to Anal Cunt] into the right hands."
While getting the two releases out, Williams wound up with a box full of surplus CDs, cassettes, and records from trading and decided to begin selling them online. Having purchased a lot of music from "bedroom distros," he’d already had a general idea of how it worked. His brother Carl Williams (also of Grinchfinger and Scramble Guts) stepped in to help, then, by further promoting the label and distro. Acid Redux Productions, by that point, was being run primarily through an email newsletter and lists on message boards, but soon was hosted on Storenvy instead for the simplicity of the cart function. The distro began getting more attention then, so ARP began wholesaling new items and trading overseas for hard-to-get items for American customers. Williams recalled that the first non-Grinchfinger release he helped to release and distribute was the Pizzahifive/Powercup split 10" in 2011—"we now have almost 30 releases under our belt," he says.
As for finding releases to back, Williams mentioned that he’s careful to work only with bands that "will help to further expose our label by having their name attached." He named some examples, namely the Jewman Pregnant cassette from 2014 and the more recent Deboned/Nekro Drunkz split cassette—"both of whom," he said, "are bands I know and feel good about putting our name behind."
Other times, friends of theirs contact them for help in co-releasing records with other labels. "When that process works smoothly, it's good for the labels because we each get a manageable number of copies without anyone having to kick down too much dough individually. It's good for the bands too, because they then have distros in different areas pushing their stuff," Williams said.
Records and tapes, as it turns out, remain some of ARP’s most popular formats. "Carl and I were insatiable vinyl and tape collectors before we started ARP, so we prefer to deal in those," Williams remarked. While CDs sound better and have more space, they’re boring. "They make me think of the shitty Kmart music aisle of my childhood," he joked, "like I'm about to listen to a Kid Rock album or something." Of course, the problem with the two is the lack of local interest in the bands they back, "especially not on vinyl or cassette."
"I haven't yet determined how to force the local yokels to kneel at the altar of grind or think tapes are cool, so I guess those are the biggest obstacles."
Distribution of those releases is even harder. Citing a shrinking demand for extreme and avant garde music, Williams said, "We sit on piles of good, heavy records and just scratch our heads trying to figure out how to get them into the hands of consumers." He went on to mention that many music retailers won’t cooperate well with independent music, often offering instead store credit or consignment sales. "A few adventurous stores like Fresh Produce in Macon have been good sports about carrying our stuff," he added. “That said, because of a lack of local scene and the decline of mom-and-pop record shops, we are almost entirely reliant on mailorder." However, ARP also trades and wholesales their releases, and have their work in distros "on most continents."
Being in Grinchfinger has helped further Acid Redux Productions as well: "It's given us frequent opportunities to meet other bands and label owners, which makes it simple to acquire and distribute things." Most people, Williams went on to say, who knew of one also knew of the other, enabling "a great deal of cross-promotion" between the band and the label. "I wish I had more money to invest into both," he admitted.
I asked him what advice he might give to someone who wanted to start their own distro, and Williams had this to say:
"I'd tell anyone that wanted to start their own distro to scrap all of their expectations of fame or fortune, and bands have the extra burden of having to float two very expensive hobbies. If your experience is anything like mine, you will have paid for your first release, be sitting on 100+ copies of a 7 inch from some unknown band, and not know how you are ever going to get rid of them. It will take you three years to sell all of them, but you will have learned how to get busy and creatively promote a fucking record in the process. The greatest rewards are exposure to new music, getting to know people in your musical niche, and, if you're lucky, receiving good feedback about a record you've put out."
Grinchfinger is currently set to drop a new split record with Violent Gorge (Canada) in the spring.
Acid Redux Productions and Grinchfinger can be found on the following sites:
- Website
- BandCamp
- Facebook (ARP, Grinchfinger)
Original article taken from MACON METAL February 2015.
No comments:
Post a Comment