Monk’s Dream: An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with GEARBOX RECORDS founder DARREL SHEINMAN

DAVE RAYBURN: Gearbox Records is much more than a record label. As the founder, how would you describe the range of the company’s capacity and its dedication to the music?
DARREL SHEINMAN: The label was created from a sonic technical angle. Initially we were vinyl only, so the studio I built has a collection of the best vintage and modern mastering and lacquer cutting equipment. As the label has grown, we now do all formats, so we have taken our digital side up to being able to handle 192 khz on 64 channels simultaneously too! I also wanted to be able to offer all products from creation to playback, so we built a turntable packed with tech and with great sound at a sensible price point. My belief is that if the sonic quality is excellent, one will hear excellence in the music regardless of the genre and whether or not it is your thing.

JLIN: An EXCLUSIVE Q&A

STEPHEN SPAZ SCHNEE: AUTOBIOGRAPHY (MUSIC FROM WAYNE MCGREGOR’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY) is about to be released. How are you feeling about the project and the reaction you’ve had so far?
JLIN: I am very pleased with the reaction so far. It’s truly an honor. Composing the score for AUTOBIOGRAPHY was a life changing experience for me.

TONY JOE WHITE: An EXCLUSIVE Q&A

STEPHEN SPAZ SCHNEE: BAD MOUTHIN’ is just about to be released. How are you feeling about the album and the reaction you’ve had to it so far?
TONY JOE WHITE: You know….it has been really amazing. I honestly didn’t know what to expect but when we were cutting the album, I knew it felt right.

TASH SULTANA: An EXCLUSIVE Q&A

STEPHEN SPAZ SCHNEE: FLOW STATE is finally being released. How are you feeling about the project and the reaction you’ve had to it so far?
TASH SULTANA: Thank fuck it’s done ‘cos it was an ordeal. Like, making an album is hard work – I thought I’d just get in there and record songs I wanted to, and it’d be done, but it’s hard work. I can’t believe I can actually hold it in my hands now. The love is a bit surreal.

WHITE DENIM: An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Steve Terebecki

STEPHEN SPAZ SCHNEE: Your album, PERFORMANCE, is just about to be released. How are you feeling about how the album turned out and the reaction to it so far?
STEVE TEREBECKI: We are really excited about how the album turned out. This is the first album we’ve fully produced since LAST DAY OF SUMMER. I’ve enjoyed working with producers in the past, but being able to run with our own ideas feels the best. So far, people seem excited. “Magazine” was a different kind of style song for us, so it was cool to see it get picked up by so much radio.

An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with JILL BARBER: METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING

STEPHEN SPAZ SCHNEE: METAPHORA is just about to be released. How are you feeling about the way the album turned out and the reaction to it so far?
JILL BARBER: I feel wonderful. This record is different for me, it’s a more contemporary sound and addresses a lot of issues of my inner life that I have never brought to my music before. It feels very fresh, punchy and energetic. And that excites me.

The Sound Of STUDIO ONE: An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Chris Wilson!

According to Wikipedia, “Studio One is one of Jamaica’s most renowned record labels and recording studios, having been described as the Motown of Jamaica. The record label was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s including Ska, Rock Steady, Reggae, Dub and Dancehall.” The label was founded by Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd and has become one of the most influential labels of our generation. Chris Wilson is the curator of the label’s vast catalog and is responsible for a plethora of reissues currently distributed by Redeye.

Stephen SPAZ Schnee was able to send off a handful of questions to Chris Wilson, who was gracious enough to answer them. We focus on the label’s most recent releases – FROM THE VAULTS VOL. 1 and Freddie McGregor’s BOBBY BOBYLON – but also delve a little into Studio One’s history…

YEP ROC TURNS 20: An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Yep Roc co-founder Glenn Dicker

STEPHEN SPAZ SCHNEE: Before starting Yep Roc, were you an avid music collector? Were there any particular genres that you focused on personally?
GLENN DICKER: I would say that I was very much a music collector since I was a little kid. I got very interested in collecting 45’s when I went around to garage sales with my parents and as I got older that spread to full albums when I could afford it. Early on I was into ‘60s music, mostly what would be considered classic rock these days like The Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, etc. But as I got a bit older I got caught up in the punk rock thing, mostly the English bands. My favorite was The Jam. When I got out of school and went to work for Rounder Distribution, I got turned onto so much more that really opened my mind to all kinds of great stuff that I had previously only dabbled in like World Music, Blues, Jazz, Folk, Bluegrass, etc. Once I get into an artist, I usually want everything.

An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with DEAN WAREHAM of LUNA

As Luna reassemble with their first new music in thirteen years, the group’s founder took time to discuss the band’s pair of simultaneous releases; an instrumental EP and an album of covers.

DAVE RAYBURN: With A SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION and A PLACE OF GREATER SAFETY you provide an outpouring of new music than Luna fans might not have been expecting. Why did you opt for an album of covers and an EP of instrumentals for the band’s return to the studio?
DEAN WAREHAM: I know what Andy Warhol answered when asked why he was making short films instead of painting. “Because it’s easy.” Making covers is easier of course because you don’t have to write the songs. And ditto with instrumentals, I don’t have to write any lyrics (the hardest part). So I thought an album of covers would be a nice way for us to record together after 13 years apart. Also we’ve done a lot of covers over the years and people like them. Sean Eden insisted we should do something more, and that’s how we came to record the instrumentals. So it’s cool, we’ve got two things that we’ve never done before, and personally I think that’s more interesting to people than “oh, these dudes got together and wrote some new songs.”

An EXCLUSIVE Q&A with ANTIBALAS’ Martin Perna

WHERE THE GODS ARE IN PEACE:

STEPHEN SPAZ SCHNEE: WHERE THE GODS ARE IN PEACE is just about to be released. How are you feeling about the way the album turned out and the reaction to it so far?
MARTIN PERNA: We are happy with the way the album turned out, or else we wouldn’t have put it out. It was a lot of work and represents several years of effort working through some problems that would have sunk most other bands. We had some members graduate to other projects not long after our last record in 2012, and this album proves both to ourselves and people who listen to us that we have more juice than ever.

Alliance Entertainment Blog

Tag: Redeye Distrubution