Vinyl Collective Update

This from my vinyl friend Virgil over at www.vinylcollective.com which is your source for great indie vinyl!

Vinyl Collective Label of the Month: Don Giovanni

Every month along with our Collector of the Month, we plan to present to you a label of the month and a brick and mortar store of the month (store feature will be posted tomorrow). This month, we are exciting to bring you a feature on the New Jersey independent label, Don Giovanni. Don Giovanni is a great label who has consistently released great music on vinyl. You are more than likely familiar with the many releases they have done with the Ergs!, but they have also released records by The Measure (SA), Pregnant, Groucho Marxists, The Dustheads, Steinways, and more. Joe from Don Giovanni was kind enough to answer my questions about why he releases vinyl, his thoughts on colored vinyl, records he would love to put out, manufacturers, and what bands can do to get his attention.

I hope you take a minute to read more about Don Giovanni. Labels like Don Giovanni really inspire us at Vinyl Collective. Later today, we will be announcing a big Don Giovanni contest where you can win some of their releases as well as test pressings from the Ergs! and more. Thanks Joe for taking the time to do this feature; we hope you continue to put out great records for a long time to come.

VC: When did your label start? What inspired you to start the label? Where is your label based? Do you do the label full time? What don’t most people know about you/your label?

DG: I started the label with my friend Zach in 2003 while we were in college in Boston. We didn’t really have any intention of starting a real label, just releasing a record or two by our band at the time. When some friends of mine from New Jersey heard that we had put out a record, they asked us if we wanted to help them with theirs. There had always been so many great bands, some of which are still my favorite, from New Brunswick, NJ and the surrounding areas when I was growing up making some of the best music I had ever heard, that never got released(and if it did get released, it never had any kind of serious distribution). So when we agreed to do the records from these two bands which asked us, it led to more bands talking to us, and eventually snowballed into what we are today. After college Zach and I moved to New Brunswick, where we are based now. Something a lot of people don’t realize about our label, is that it is a regional label. We put out bands from the NY/NJ area, mostly local to either the New Brunswick, NJ or Brooklyn, NY scenes.

VC: What active bands are on your label?

DG: The Measure (SA), Screaming Females, Pregnant, Cheeky.

VC: Why do you press vinyl? Do you collect vinyl?

DG: This question isn’t really what it used to be. I mean, isn’t every label all the way up to Capital records pressing vinyl these days? It’s all people seem to be buying. Things were different though when we started. We pressed vinyl because it was what I was into at the time and still am. There was something really special about going to a show and getting a record that wasn’t on any other format that there weren’t many of, and then taking it home and it being awesome. There was also something really special about going to a record store and picking up a record for under 10 dollars when the CD version was 18.99. A lot of that has changed now as a whole in the vinyl industry, and has resulted in me buying far fewer records, but with the label, we are trying to maintain that sense of worth to vinyl collecting that got me into it in the first place with what we put out.

VC: What do you look for in a band? Have you ever signed a band from a demo? What advice do you have for bands trying to get your attention? What band or bands would you kill to work with?

DG: There’s no real formula. We try to look for bands who really have their own sound and are doing something really cool. Sometimes we are able to tell that from a demo, other times we need to see them live or a band needs to develop. The best way to get our attention is to send us an email or a demo. We really do listen to and read all of them(even if we don’t reply). Just liking a band or demo isn’t always enough for us to want to work with them, but we’ll often tell our friends about them and help them out with a show. Finally, we are actually working with the bands we previously would kill to work with. If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said I would kill to get to work with Hunchback and Screaming Females, now we are. There was a time I would have killed to work with The Ergs, and Cheeky, and if we didn’t get to do their first record, we would kill to work with The Measure (SA). There are two bands right now though, that aren’t from our area that I would love to do records with if we didn’t keep the label local, and those bands are Tenement and Deep Sleep.

VC: What manufacturer(s) do you press your records through? Do you recommend them?

DG: I would highly recommend Imprint for everything related to printing jackets/posters/anything else you can think of, and Icon for everything related to CDs, and TDT for T-shirts. We use different manufacturers for vinyl all the time, and throughout the years have used almost every one, and I wouldn’t really say any of them are especially better or worse than others.

VC: There are lots of opinions with regards to pressing numbers and number of variants with vinyl. I personally prefer to press 1,000 copies initially over 2 variants (300 of one and 700 of another). What is your thought on number of variants and pressing numbers? How about with represses?

DG: What is the point of that? Why do you need to press 300 and 700, or anything else? We’ll usually just pick a color that looks good with the record and put the entire pressing on that, or we’ll just do it all on black. For the most part, all this limited color nonsense detracts from the actual purpose of making and buying records. People are buying music they are afraid to even put on or that they don’t even need two because they already have at least one more copy, it doesn’t make any sense. We are in the business of selling music, and not collectibles, and I want someone to buy something from us because they want to listen to it, and not because it fills a hole in a collection of some sort. I got nothing against colored vinyl, I think it usually makes a record look a little nicer, which is why I don’t really see the point in limiting it.

VC: Who handles your distribution?

DG: No Idea and they are beyond amazing.

VC: What do you see as the future of music sales?

DG: I can’t take credit for the idea, but I think the future of music sales is selling a little bit of a lot. Chris Anderson writes a lot about this concept in The Long Tail and I think anyone interested in the selling of music should read it.

VC: What is your stance on bundling mp3 coupons with your vinyl? Do your releases come with mp3 coupons?

DG: personally think it’s kind of silly to buy a record so you can download mp3s of it, but it’s what people want to do. We leave this decision up to the bands. As a result, some of our records have come with download coupons, and others haven’t.

VC: If you could tell the world to buy one release on your label, which one would you tell people to purchase? Why?

DG: I’m always most excited about whatever our most current release is, and right now that’s a new 12” Single from The Ergs, a new 12” EP from The Measure (SA), and a 7” from Pregnant. I am also really excited about records coming soon from Screaming Females, Cheeky, and Pregnant.

Feel free to nominate who you think should be our next vinyl collective label of the month. Stop by Vinyl Collective and check out the new releases, colored vinyl and picture discs!

http://www.vinylcollective.com

AD ASTRA PER ASPERA “Catapult Calypso” LP
ANASARCA “Insects” PIN
COALESCE “002″ PIN
COALESCE “A Safe Place” PIN
COALESCE “Functioning On Impatience” PIN green
COALESCE “Functioning On Impatience” PIN white
ELEVATOR DIVISION “Years” PIN
ELEVATOR DIVISION “Years” POSTER
EULCID “The Wind Blew All The Fires Out” PIN
EULCID “The Wind Blew All The Fires Out” T-SHIRT
EULCID “The Wind Blew All The Fires Out” T-SHIRT x-large
GRADE “Atom” PIN
GRADE “Gear” PIN
GRADE “Kitties In Space” PIN
GRADE “Script” PIN
GRADE “Space” PIN
ILYA “Poise Is The Greater Architect” POSTER
ISIS ìThe Red Seaî LP 10YRLTD 180 Gram (Black Cover)
ISIS ìThe Red Seaî LP 10YRLTD clear/white vinyl
ISIS ìThe Red Seaî LP 10YRLTD red/black vinyl
ISIS ìThe Red Seaî LP 10YRLTD white/gold vinyl
JAGUAR LOVE “Highways of Gold” 7″ picture disc
KID KILOWATT “Hit Single” PIN
KILL CREEK “Colors Of Home” POSTER
KILL CREEK “Kitty” PIN
KRAKATOA “Channel Static Blackout” PIN
KRAKATOA “Channel Static Blackout” POSTER
KRAKATOA “Channel Static Blackout” T-SHIRT
KRAKATOA “Channel Static Blackout” T-SHIRT x-large
LIVING SCIENCE FOUNDATION “Last Call For Nightfall” POSTER
OLD CANES “Early Morning Hymns” POSTER
REGGIE AND THE FULL EFFECT “Greatest Hits ‘84 - ‘87″ CD
ROCKY VOTOLATO “Aeroplane” PIN
ROCKY VOTOLATO “Suicide Medicine” PIN
SECOND NATURE “Logo” PIN
SECOND NATURE “Logo” T-SHIRT brown
SECOND NATURE “Logo” T-SHIRT brown medium
SECOND NATURE “Logo” T-SHIRT brown small
SECOND NATURE “Logo” T-SHIRT brown x-large
SECOND NATURE “Logo” T-SHIRT brown youth large
SECOND NATURE “Logo” T-SHIRT brown youth medium
SECOND NATURE “Logo” T-SHIRT brown youth small
SECOND NATURE “Sketchy Logo” PIN
SHARKS KEEP MOVING “Desert Strings and Drifters” PIN
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Ambulance vs. Ambulance” PIN
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” PIN
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” T-SHIRT
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” T-SHIRT large
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” T-SHIRT medium
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” T-SHIRT small
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” T-SHIRT women’s
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” T-SHIRT women’s large
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” T-SHIRT women’s medium
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Scarecrow” T-SHIRT x-large
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “The Graduate” T-SHIRT
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “The Graduate” T-SHIRT large
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “The Graduate” T-SHIRT medium
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “The Graduate” T-SHIRT small
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “The Graduate” T-SHIRT x-large
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “The Graduate” T-SHIRT youth large
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “The Graduate” T-SHIRT youth medium
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “This Adultery Is Ripe” PIN
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP 180 gram vinyl
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP grey vinyl
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP half black/half white w/ red
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP light blue vinyl
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP multi-color vinyl
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP orange/black splatter vinyl
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP translucent blue/black splatter vinyl
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP white vinyl
THE BLOOD BROTHERS “Young Machetes” 2xLP white/black vinyl
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Blessed/Cursed” PIN
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Choose Bronze” Pin
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Looking Good In Orange” PIN
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Looking Good In Orange” T-SHIRT
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Looking Good In Orange” T-SHIRT large
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Looking Good In Orange” T-SHIRT medium
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Looking Good In Orange” T-SHIRT small
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Looking Good In Orange” T-SHIRT x-large
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Looking Good In Orange” T-SHIRT youth large
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Lost At Sea” PIN
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Moving Mountains” PIN
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Moving Mountains” T-SHIRT
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Moving Mountains” T-SHIRT x-large
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Possiblies and Maybes” CD
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Possiblies And Maybes” POSTER
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Smoke and Mirrors (Moon)” PIN
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Smoke and Mirrors (Sun)” PIN
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Survival Is For Cowards 1″ PIN
THE CASKET LOTTERY “Survival Is For Cowards 2″ PIN
THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES “Raven” PIN
VEDERA “The Weight Of An Empty Room” POSTER
WAXWING “Squared Logo” PIN

http://www.vinylcollective.com