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about this issue Indie Label Owner Interviews with: Bunkerpop Autumnal Release Bo' Weavil Recordings Little Helpers Mantricum Emanen Saint-Loup Withering Trees Blondena Waggletone Erototox Decodings Jehu and Chinaman

Label Owner Interview with Mark Morris of Bo' Weavil Recordings March 2013 Name: Mark Morris Label: Bo’ Weavil Recordings City:  London/Syndey Artists Roster: Steve Noble / John Edwards / Alan Wilkinson / Decoy / Joe Mcphee / Stephen O’Malley / Tom James Scott / C Joynes / Chris Abrahams & Roil / Simon H Fell / Peter Brotzmann / Oren Amabarchi / Robbie Avenaim... & many more Websites: www.boweavilrecordings.com QRD – When & why did you start your label? Mark – 2004 as I really wanted to see some vinyl releases of Henry Flynt & other artists. QRD – Where did you get the money to finance your first few releases? Mark – From my own savings. QRD – How many releases have you put out? Mark – About 60 releases. QRD – How many releases would you like to do a year? Mark – 10. QRD – How many hours a week do you work on the label & how many would you like to? Mark – 20 hours.  I would love to spend full time on it.... QRD – What are the fun &/or rewarding parts about running a label? Mark – Being a part of the creative artistic process... & getting feedback about the label... positive feeback that is.... QRD – How have your motivations for having a label changed? Mark – Motivated more to do vinyl these days... but the industry is changing, so I am not sure how long it will be possible for labels like mine to survive... fingers crossed for a good while longer, as I don’t want to stop.... QRD – What do you feel is the biggest waste of your time running the label? Mark – Nothing comes to mind... maybe dealing with problems in vinyl production; it’s not a waste of time as you have to deal with problems, but if there were less problems it would make things easier.... QRD – What are some labels you admire or feel a kinship to? Mark – Dancing Wayang.... Pan... Amish Records... & lots more.... QRD – What other work experiences prepared you to have a label? Mark – Working in record stores & for other labels.... QRD – What makes you label special & unique? Mark – It is very much my individual taste in music & therefore has a different feel to any other label, but all labels have their own flavour.... QRD – How has your physical location effected your label? Mark – Been living in Sydney for the last 2 years which has made it much more difficult with a feeling of dislocation from most of the artists & music.... QRD – Do you enjoy music as much now as you used to & how has running a label effected how you listen to/hear music? Mark – Yes as much if not more.... QRD – What’s your demos policy? Mark – I will try & listen to most... I prefer digital over physical product.… QRD – How do you find out about new artists for your label? Mark – Most times I have come across the artist in a live setting... I have never released any music from an unsolicited demo.... QRD – How do most fans find out about your label? Mark – Probably from press & artists.... QRD – What’s been your biggest selling release & why do you think it was? Mark – Noah Howard’s Black Ark, as it was a classic out of print record that needed reissuing.... QRD – What release that you’ve done was the most important & special to you personally? Mark – Reissuing Anne Briggs’s music on vinyl... & her being very happy with the results. QRD – What are some things that make you want to work with a band? Mark – Good music.... QRD – What are some things that would make you stop working with a band? Mark – It becoming too difficult in terms of expectations from either side.... QRD – What is the thing all releases on your label have in common? Mark – I like the music.... QRD – How involved are you with a band for acting as a producer as far as hearing demo ideas or selecting tracks to be on a release or mixing & mastering? Mark – Differs from release to release, but overall I let the musician decide what they want, & if it fits with my tastes then we move forward.... QRD – How involved do you like to be in the artwork design for a release? Mark – Very involved.... QRD – How long is it from when an artist delivers an album to you until release date & why? Mark – Normally about 8 months or longer... simply the process of getting the artwork done the production process....  Vinyl can take a long time, as there are so many parts that can go wrong.... QRD – What do you wish bands on your label would do? Mark – Tour more.... QRD – What’s a record you’d like to put out that you’ll never be able to? Mark – Milford Graves’ Babi Music.… I love it but he does not want to reissue it.... QRD – If you really like a band, but aren’t sure you could sell many copies of their record; what do you do? Mark – Probably go ahead & put it out anyway.... QRD – How is financing of a release split between artists & the label? Mark – Label pays for everything to do with production & press. QRD – How do you split profits from a release between artists & your label? Mark – 50/50 or they get a percentage of the run as payment. QRD – Do you have written contracts with your bands or handshake deals? Mark – Sometimes. QRD – Do you take a cut of a band’s publishing? Mark – No. QRD – How important is it to you to have touring acts on your roster & what do you do to encourage it? Mark – Pretty important & yeah I would encourage it... today this is the best way to sell music.... QRD – Do you handle promotions in house or hire out & why? Mark – I do promotion in house... but not a huge amount... too small a label & not enough money.... QRD – How do you maintain contact with your fanbase? Mark – Internet. QRD – Do you have intern & street team programs & if so, how do they operate? Mark – No. QRD – How big of a staff do you have & how big of one do you need? Mark – No, staff it is only me. QRD – What do you do to build relationships with radio stations? Mark – Send promos to some stations.... QRD – What do you do to build relationships with magazines & websites? Mark – Send promos. QRD – What do you do to build relationships with bloggers? Mark – Promos. QRD – Do you view advertisements as a way to generate interest & revenue or more as a way to financially support magazines & websites you like? Mark – To increase label & release profile, but I do this only a few times a year.... QRD – What is the job of your distributors? Mark – To distribute. QRD – How do you decide how big the initial pressing of a release should be? Mark – Based on what I think it will sell.… QRD – What percentage of a pressing do you use for promotions? Mark – 10%. QRD – Do you sell merchandise other than the music (t-shirts, etc.)? Mark – Not really. QRD – Do you sell music that is not on your label? Mark – No. QRD – What do you do to try to build a sense of community within your roster? Mark – Getting artists to work together or be on the same gig bills.... QRD – What’s your most common conversation with bands as far as balancing artistic integrity & financial viability? Mark – I don’t have this conversation. QRD – How often do you look at your “return on investment” & adjust your business model? Mark – I don’t. QRD – Do you worry about search engine optimization & website traffic? Mark – A little, but not a lot. QRD – What have you done to cut costs over the years? Mark – By trying to source the best prices I can get. QRD – Do you think the album format is dead? Mark – No... CDs seem to be dying.... QRD – Do you think the return of vinyl & cassettes is a fad? Mark – No... vinyl will always be around... cassette might be a fad. QRD – Is it important to have physical releases over digital ones or does it not matter? Mark – For me yes... it’s what I love & I will never been involved if it is purely digital.... QRD – What do you think of ultra-limited runs of releases (less than 100 discs)? Mark – That’s cool. QRD – What do you think of “print on demand” discs? Mark – I don’t have an opinion. QRD – What changes in things would cause you to stop your label? Mark – If I started to really lose money. QRD – What would you suggest to someone starting a label today? Mark – Hmm... don’t do it for money... do it for love & only love.... QRD – Where do you think money is currently most available to labels/musicians & where in the future? Mark – For musicians in live music & publishing.  For some labels in publishing & placing music on ads etc... which is not really my thing.... QRD – Why do you think labels are still important to artists? Mark – As they need someone to take care of the production process & promotion process. QRD – In 20 years what do you think/hope your label will be known/remembered for? Mark – A good body of work....