State of the Union Volume 3

For those of you not familiar with my State of the Union posts, from time to time, I write about the many things circling in my head which often involve my small indie label, Suburban Home, my vinyl-only online store/vinyl imprint(Vinyl Collective), my blog site IndieHQ, and life in general. These posts are often very, very long so I don’t blame you if you skip them all together. For those of you who decide to read, there is usually quite a bit of insider information as it pertains to my small endeavors. For whatever that’s worth. Click the link if you feel like reading:

I can’t help but feel like Doogie Howser tapping away on his PC writing about the valuable lesson he had learned and the experiences he was experiencing. Who would have guessed that Neal Patrick Harris would played Doogie would have come out of the closet nearly 14 years after the end of that show. Who would guess that nearly 12 years after I started Suburban Home that the music industry would be where it is? It is definitely an interesting time and one for the history books as small, indie labels like Suburban Home figure out what the hell we are doing and hope to adapt in this music retail climate. In a very interesting post by Digital Music News’ editor Paul Resnikhoff writes about the interesting times and painful transitions the music industry is going through. Just this week, one of the big 4, Warner Brothers, entered into discussions with Front Line Management about a possible merger. Paul mentions that music labels will have to figure out other lines of revenue as those depending on music sales alone are sure to fail. As he notes, the definition of a record label will be an entirely different entity in 5 years if such things exist in the future.

In regards to Suburban Home’s immediate future, we have a little over one week left at our offices. Today, the folks from Mania TV (Jessica and Alisha) stopped by to do a small feature on Suburban Home for their indie music show. I am pretty excited about this and look forward to seeing how it turns out. I took the film crew on a beer run as every Friday, we go to the liquor store and stock up on beer. We shared stories with ManiaTV and I even shared the story of the deuce deuce in graphic detail. We also introduced their viewers to the greatest game on the planet, Washers! Washers is not unlike Horse Shoes, but instead of horse shoes, you throw weighted washers. Our only rule is that you have to have a beer in your hand at all times. You are awarded points for the various places the washer lands in the box and that is it. I hope to see it become an Olympic sport by 2020, but if it doesn’t, I will still play this amazing game. Next week, we will be packing and packing and packing and eventually moving, moving, moving. I have mixed feelings about the move and I am sure all next week I will experience a wide range of emotions. I love the people that work at Suburban Home and hope to be in their lives after they are no longer working at Suburban Home. It is tough to admit that your business is struggling and definitely a humbling experience to explain that you are downsizing an already small operation.

In Vinyl Collective news, it is official; we (Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective) will be releasing the upcoming 10 song full length from Minus the Bear, “Planet of Ice” as a double LP in August. I faxed the signed agreement to David Dickenson this morning. David is the Owner of Suicide Squeeze Records and from what I can tell, a pretty decent dude. I find it very odd that David Dickenson and I have similar names as my middle name is David and my last name is Dickerson. Pretty wacky. Dave Knudson of Minus the Bear is currently putting together the art that will become the Gatefold double LP and he has also been super cool to deal with. He noted that he was a fan of the Drunk Dial Hotline and that he wanted to get some drinks when MTB comes to Colorado. You have a deal buddy! The record will come out on 4 varieties of colors and the band are currently discussing options. They want the vinyl to take on Ice-Like visuals so I suggested maybe a white/clear swirl or baby blue/clear inside outside vinyl. Did you know that White vinyl typically has the worst fidelity of the colored vinyl options? I just found that out. I will be sure to keep you posted on the Minus the Bear vinyl but understand that I am super stoked!

In dream vinyl releases, I have a another one for you. How sick would it be to put out all of the Mewithoutyou albums as a box set? I don’t really know those guys or their label so not sure if this will ever become reality. If any of you know the band, let them know I would love do it. I would love to find another rad box set to work on as the Every Time I Die vinyl box set we did turned out so well.

On the Suburban Home Records front, as always, there are lots of things to discuss. We recently adopted Two Cow Garage out of Ohio and the feedback has been all-positive. I love their new album which will be in stores on April 24th and look forward to seeing them rock in Denver when they come out in June. Jon Snodgrass of Drag the River was the first one to tell me about them and I am glad that he put us all together. Drag the River also have their final re-release coming out on April 24th, too. “Chicken Demos” is yet another great album by one of the most underrated bands around. I am not sure if it is because I am so involved, but I think that Drag write some of the greatest songs on the planet and in a perfect world, they would be huge. Chad Price and Dave Barker of Drag will be wrapping up their tour with Rocky Votolato tonight in Seattle. Then they have a long drive back home to Colorado. Dave has been asked to join Rocky’s full time band and he has accepted. Congratulations to Dave. Once home, it is my hope that Chad and Jon can have some conversations about the future of the band. At this point, I am not sure what will happen. I do know that because of all of this, the band has had to say no to tour offers with Chuck Ragan/Flogging Molly and Chuck Ragan/Matt Skiba. They also have a brand new album recorded that could be their best one yet. I just hope that Chad and Jon can discuss all of their feelings and maybe get something figured out. I think both guys could do well on their own, but those of us who have experienced a late night, drunken Drag the River set will always know that something was missing. Everyone, please cross your fingers.

In more positive Suburban Home news, I have been listening to the Josh Small recordings and will soon be sharing it with you all. This album is just incredible. I don’t know what else I can say. This is new territory for me as a label but territory I am happy to be involved with. Josh has such an amazing voice and his songs are just so emotional and soulful. His album, “Tall by Josh Small” should be in stores in late June and we will be doing a super limited run (200 copies) on a silk-screened double LP. I have no idea how this record will do, but I stand by how amazing it is. Late June will also show the re-release of Tim Barry’s “Laurel St Demos” which should have a bonus song on it. I haven’t heard it yet and actually I didn’t even know it existed. Tim said he would let me know this next week. Tim and Josh will be touring the East Coast and MidWest in June and I really wish they were coming out to Denver. I just hope I can convince Tim and Josh to come out for Suburban Home’s 12th Anniversary. With luck, I will have all of our acts playing a show at Three Kings which would surely be a party.

I got a call this week from Tom of the band, Bigwig. I have known him for years as he has taken Stereotyperider out on tour a few times and every time he came to Denver, we would sit down for a nice chat and some dinner. Well, Tom called and guess what? He is looking for a new label. He asked me if I would be interested in putting out the next couple Bigwig releases. I was really honored that he would ask my small label to put something out let alone his next album. We discussed the state of Suburban Home and how I was bringing back the more D.I.Y. roots that I started in; I told him that my label was very limited in what we could do for his band. He seems to be ok with this, but I am concerned that when things get rolling he might be disappointed in how the record does on Suburban Home compared to what they have done on other labels. We discussed a possible Under the Influence EP which he has wanted to do for some time now. He has an idea to do a “garage days revisited” release much like Metallica’s where Bigwig would cover the number of thrash metal songs that has influenced his songwriting. We discussed recording costs and what not and it seems as though he can get a good deal at the million dollar studio he works at. His good deal though is quite a bit more than I usually pay for the records we have put out. We are going to continue speaking, but who knows, Bigwig might become a Suburban Home band in the near future. My biggest concern is whether or not I focus on certain genres like Country/Folk/Roots or should I continue to put out Punk Rock like Love Me Destroyer. If any of you have an opinion either way, I would love to hear your thoughts. I still like a number of punk rock acts, but I just wonder if it hurts my punk acts to be on a label focusing on Country or if it confuses fans of my Country acts to put out Punk Rock. I do love labels like Jade Tree who have continued to put out a wide variety of genres and have always thought that if I put out great records, people will be interested.

Speaking of Jade Tree, I just did an interview with them for IndieHQ. Jade Tree has long been a big inspiration to me for Suburban Home. If you ever saw any of our older websites they were always ripoffs of Jade Tree’s websites. If any of you are ever considering doing a label (which I don’t suggest), make sure to take notes from Jade Tree. They release really great bands, every release looks amazing, and they have their acts on the road all the time. Plus, they are kind people. I got the chance to meet both owners (Darren and Tim) at South by Southwest a few years back and they were really great.

In other IndieHQ news, I recently made a post explaining how Marc of Eyeball Records wrote a letter to the webmaster of a blog site who was giving away entire albums by a number of acts including our very own Love Me Destroyer. The letter resulted on the webmaster shutting down her site. I posted that letter as well as a letter from Marc to labels about what he had done and the result. This post has received the most views of any post I have yet to make and over 70 comments have been posted so far. People seem really polarized on the topic of blog-sites giving entire albums away for free. There seem to be one main argument coming from the advocates of file-sharing/downloading of band’s music illegally. They tend to argue that it gives music fans an opportunity to listen to the band’s music for free (which it does); that this exposure can help the bands (which it can), but the big problem is this exposure doesn’t really help the label unless that fan goes out and buys the album (which they typically don’t). The people who argue this accuse Marc of Eyeball to be greedy and that he is guilty of being a capitalist. For what it’s worth, I offer my take on all of this. There is absolutely nothing greedy about wanting to see your small business succeed. I am sure that many of the people who call Marc greedy have yet to have to pay bills or support a family. Having a family, a mortgage, and the number of bills that add up is the reality that most of us labels have to face and wanting to take care of those responsibilities is anything but greedy. Making albums cost money. Recording records cost money. In most situations, acts are put into the studio who wouldn’t be able to afford the recording costs on their own. If it weren’t for labels, most of your favorite releases would never see the light of day. With Suburban Home, I just hope to be able to sell enough copies to recoup my costs and to make a little extra so that my family can live. That shouldn’t be too much to ask. You don’t condemn your favorite restaurant for attempting to make money, why should a label be any different? On that same token, you don’t dine and dash at your favorite restaurant every time you go there, but millions of music fans are ok with stealing music from their favorite bands. I would argue that file-sharing is a great way to sample tons of new music, but when you stop buying music legally, this really hurts the label. End of story.

I went to two shows last week: Rocky Votolato w/ Chad Price of Drag the River; and Limbeck w/ Hot Rod Circuit. Both shows were truly great and I had so much fun. Chad Price played a nearly hour long set which included a Misfits’ cover and a few songs yet to be released including my new favorite, “Tobacco Fields”. I actually have a recording of Chad’s set in Minneapolis that sounds so good. I hope to one day post it on our Listening station. Limbeck, too, were incredible. If you haven’t seen them play, do yourself a favor and note the next time they are coming through. Also, make sure you say hi and meet them as they are the nicest guys in the biz. I have gotten to know them all pretty well and always get beers with them before, during, and after the show. I actually interrupted their set to buy a round of shots as Patrick and Justin of Limbeck and Kyle of Suburban Home all have birthdays this week and thought Birthday shots were in order! The next few shows I plan on seeing include Against Me/Cursive/Mastodon/Planes Mistaken for Stars; Morrissey; hopefully Poison the Well/Fear Before the March of Flames/Portugal the Man; and a really great local act, Ian Cooke.

I will be posting full album streams of Drag the River “Chicken Demos” and Two Cow Garage “III” this week as both records come out on Tuesday, April 24th. I will also be posting a really cool mix tape that both Kyle and I worked on. It has a number of our current favorite alt-country/folk/roots tracks and will include tunes by Dustin Kensrue, Drag the River, Lucero, Two Cow, Rocky Votolato, Limbeck, Ghost Buffalo, Armchair Martian, Chuck Ragan, Josh Small, Neko Case, Tim Barry, William Elliott Whitmore, Lenny and the Piss Poor Boys, and much much more. It was super fun to put together and we are excited to share with everyone some of our favorite songs. We might even burn copies of it and give it out free with mailorder. We will see!

If you read this far, I commend you. I truly appreciate everyone’s support, and hope to continue to offer you future looks into my scattered brain. Next State of the Union will be posted after our move into my house. Wish us luck!

Your Friend Through Music,

Virgil Dickerson Suburban Home, Vinyl Collective, and IndieHQ