After the release of the Turning On, a self-recorded collection of CD-Rs filled with tuneful alt-punk songs wrapped in tinfoil and steel wool that was released by the tiny California imprint Bridgetown Records. (PITCHFORK) Bridgetown Records, run by Kevin Greenspon, has music available for purchase over at their website. (BRIDGETOWN RECORDS)
One thing about Kevin- he's all about the flash of the music biz- you'll meet no man more "industry" then Kevin Greenspon. No, I'm just kidding. He's D.I.Y. in the same way that Justin Pearson- 31G honcho is- aggressively and in your face about it. Dude performs 2 song, 15 minute sets in a wife beater. In fact, I just bought one of his releases right now.
Of course, Bridgetown Records did not release the LP that just snagged BNM for Cloud Nothing- that label would be Carpark- another authentic American indie label- and given the circumstances it doesn't look like a "poaching" situation here. On the other hand, the circumstances under which Beach House moved from Car Park to Sub Pop in 2010- that more looks like a poach, though you could easily argue that Beach House just wanted to "move on" after two records.
It will be interesting to see where Cloud Nothings next LP will be releases- presumably Carpark has another LP, but you can't be sure.
Anyway, I can personally attest that Kevin doesn't give a fuck about being popular with the Pitchfork crowd, so I'm sure the shout-out doesn't mean shit to him, but it means something to me, because he occupies a similar place that labels like NIGHT CITY and FIXTURE RECORDS occupy: AN EXPERIMENTAL TESTING GROUND FOR FUTURE STARS.
One thing about Kevin- he's all about the flash of the music biz- you'll meet no man more "industry" then Kevin Greenspon. No, I'm just kidding. He's D.I.Y. in the same way that Justin Pearson- 31G honcho is- aggressively and in your face about it. Dude performs 2 song, 15 minute sets in a wife beater. In fact, I just bought one of his releases right now.
Of course, Bridgetown Records did not release the LP that just snagged BNM for Cloud Nothing- that label would be Carpark- another authentic American indie label- and given the circumstances it doesn't look like a "poaching" situation here. On the other hand, the circumstances under which Beach House moved from Car Park to Sub Pop in 2010- that more looks like a poach, though you could easily argue that Beach House just wanted to "move on" after two records.
It will be interesting to see where Cloud Nothings next LP will be releases- presumably Carpark has another LP, but you can't be sure.
Anyway, I can personally attest that Kevin doesn't give a fuck about being popular with the Pitchfork crowd, so I'm sure the shout-out doesn't mean shit to him, but it means something to me, because he occupies a similar place that labels like NIGHT CITY and FIXTURE RECORDS occupy: AN EXPERIMENTAL TESTING GROUND FOR FUTURE STARS.
1 comments:
Glad you mentioned how small labels can be testing grounds for bands. Several artists I've done the first releases for are now at levels where I couldn't do much for them now. For example, I wouldn't be talking to a band like Cloud Nothings now that they are obviously doing fine and have labels lining up, begging to do 7" singles when they've already got everything taken care of. I can't do anything for them and it's not very representative of the group of people I feel much relation with: people just doing this in their room, unheard for the most part. But when he was a kid writing songs on the weekend after getting homework out of the way, I could try do something for him, and that's mostly what the collection of artists on my label is: a group of people like me who record music in their room, often run small labels and set up shows that they can't even get their friends to come to.
Saying I don't give a damn about Pitchfork or other sites is not so cut-and-dry though. Obviously I want artists I release or know or hang out with to be heard by more peoplw who will relate with their work or do better than what I can do for them. ANY kind of shout out means a lot to me. I always do my best to thank any little blogger I find who posts my site's link or says a few nice words about something I had my hand in (if their email is even on their site). Most even get weirded out that I wrote them at all. I don't strive for getting major coverage on huge sites because I can't compete with massive press mailouts and am full aware that an edition of 100 tapes by someone who doesn't know any actual chords isn't really in line with what large media outlets want to relay to their readers. If anyone wants to write about this stuff, I'm extremely thankful because for the most part, it sustains itself on word-of-mouth, my constant touring and a small handful of dedicated fans around the world who relate to what I'm doing and trust that what I release is something they will enjoy based on what they've already heard from my label, regardless of genre.
I just don't go throw my work at the mercy of writers, praying for some coverage. Seeing my label's name in the Cloud Nothings review on Pitchfork today was definitely cool and made me feel good. The writer didn't have to mention that at all but did. Most writers/readers/fans have probably never even heard of me or my label, so if one kid googles it and finds out I still have copies of the original version of the Cloud Nothings CDr or our split available on my site and orders something or says hey, that is awesome to me and might not have happened without that small sentence in the review. I value every single person who has supported what I do in any way, and anyone who actually has Bridgetown stuff in their collection knows that I'm 100% serious and passionate about what I do. Media coverage can't change that for any label.
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