![]() I literally made a wish list and went after those titles. My only intention from the beginning was to release great scores from films that I grew up with and love. I don’t want Waxwork to become synonymous with one style of music. It wasn’t part of our agenda by any means, but I’m happy that it turned out that way. With the exception of all being horror film scores, they are completely different styles. One thing that can be noticed early on is that your current releases differ greatly from each other. When Richard saw that we were legit and how excited we were about releasing Re-Animator, he put us in touch with Harry and that’s how we started to lock in the Friday the 13th scores. Richard Band is also good friends with composer Harry Manfredini. I got him on the phone, pitched what we wanted to do, and he took a chance on a new label. That being said, what led to acquiring Re-Animator as your first release?Ĭomposer Richard Band was the first person to take a chance on us! Seriously, that’s how it happened. So, I said, “fuck all this,” and decided to pursue running my own record label, Waxwork. I was already working on booking a tour in Russia! We had a band meeting, and our singer and lead guitarist quit and I kicked out our drummer it all happened in the span of maybe 10 minutes. We eventually became the first American band to ever tour Cuba, and when we got back to the US, the other guys in the group made it clear that they couldn’t hack it on the road. You’re driving the bus and that has a lot of benefits. Eventually, you don’t expect anyone to contribute. I just kept moving and got the work done. I know this all sounds like I’m complaining but I’m really not. I even played guitar AND bass on a record because our bass player was such a fuck up. I became the guitarist, the booking agent, the publicist, the merch guy, the guy screen printing t-shirts at 3AM, the road crew, the guy that wrote all the songs, paid for recording and studio time, paid for cutting the records, shipping records, and so on-keep in mind there were four other guys in the group. In my last band, no one contributed or helped, so I was put in this position to learn everything and hold everyone’s hands. So, I became the go–to-guy in the band to get everything done. The whole process of making a record fascinates me and I really like being in a recording studio. Play in a punk band that cares about what they’re doing for long enough, and eventually you’re going to cut a record. I played in hardcore punk bands for a long time, about 15 years. I had experience pressing vinyl and recording. Had you had prior label experience? What is your background? So, yeah, the biggest challenges of getting Waxwork rolling were people not understanding us and turning us away, and those who did understand what we were doing weren’t initially very accepting. We just pushed forward to get ourselves established. There isn’t any beef that I know about, but we were the new kids on the block for a minute. At the time I didn’t want to let anyone know what we were working on, but we were sort of backed into a corner. I was contacted by people in the industry that wanted to know more about us and what titles we had lined up for release. We locked in Rosemary’s Baby within just a few months of existing, and when we announced it, it was like this bomb went off. When I finally got Waxwork going, and people were taking notice, I started getting emails from folks who were curious about what we were doing. So, I sold everything I had, and that barely got me enough funds to pay for the Re-Animator jackets. Everyone just asked me, “They still make vinyl? Well, they don’t make turntables anymore, do they?” It’s hard getting a business loan when everyone at a bank gives you a blank stare when you propose your business plan as a record label that only releases vinyl like you’re speaking another language to these people. I didn’t have a lot money to start Waxwork. Kevin Bergeron: Some people didn’t understand what I wanted to do. Noisey: What were the initial challenges of starting Waxwork Records? There are so many more factors that aren’t really present when operating a "normal" label?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |