“It’s hard, because you want to do limited edition versions of things just because you want to have some different aesthetics on there, but you realize by doing so you’re creating rarity.”
Being in the UK, it’s not easy to keep tracks on a lot of the stuff you do – I’m not sure it’s much easier being in the US. There’s your label Captured Tracks, which has released dozens of records in what, two years? Why did you start the label?
“45 releases in one year. Pretty hectic. I started the label primarily to release my own material, this way I could keep it in print and have it out when I wanted, but also to release music I liked, of course. It snowballed for sure, so here we are.”
You mention keeping them in print – how do you feel about your out of print records going for big fees on Ebay, etc?
“It’s hard, because you want to do limited edition versions of things just because you want to have some different aesthetics on there, but you realize by doing so you’re creating rarity. I mean, I see nothing wrong with that if the music itself isn’t limited to that pressing.”
There’s a certain something about the label: it has a real identity despite putting out music from a lot of different artists. Did you always have a specific aesthetic aim from the start, or was it something that naturally formed? And do you consider its aesthetic an extension of the one you pursue with Blank Dogs, or something else entirely?
‘Yeah, an identity for sure, but an open one. There’s a lot of current labels that I like that you immediately equate with a look and sound. That’s all well and good, but I find that a bit limiting. I let the bands decide on their own art, despite some serious issues I have with formal design, coming from that background. I just have to let it go. When people see a German Measles record, I want them to see a German Measles record, not a Captured Tracks release.”
How do you see the label developing in the future?
“Well, I want it to grow and do all the things the “big indies” do for their bands.”
In Pitchfork’s review of Under and Under they mention the Academy Annex record shop that you “hawk rarities” in, and Radio Heartbeat. Could you tell us about those?
“Yeah, I used to work as a buyer at a record store in Brooklyn. I have way too many records now because of it. Radio Heartbeat was a label I started about four years ago with William Martin. It’s a reissue label, which he currently runs on his own now.”
Last over-inquisitive question, in the interview with The Fader it says you have a reissue label called The Red Archives. I can’t find much info online, could you tell us about that?
“That was a mess-up, it was In The Red Archives. A label I’d started with Larry Hardy who owns In The Red Records. As far as I know, it still exists. We’re supposed to do a 2xLP reissue of early material by The Homosexuals.”
Tom Lea
Pingback: New Blank Dogs LP, Land & Fixed, due in October – FACT magazine: music and art
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