There are a lot of people who will read this entry and not know who Rich Grasso was.  Suffice to say that if it wasn’t for Rich Grasso, there would have never been a Dromedary Records.  Oddly enough, if it wasn’t for Rich, there would have never been a Dromedary Mach II, either.  We would have never re-launched this label if I didn’t finally, in 2009, decide to fulfill my promise to Rich and tell the history of Dromedary (which you can read in this very blog).  It was the story that gave us the bug to finally do something music again.

I miss Rich in ways that are so enormous that even ten years later, I still can’t put it into words properly.

Guy Capecelatro III

“‘Like Anything’ is the opening track of Capecelatro III’s new LP, North For the Winter, out February 21.  It may be brief at a minute-thirty, but within you’ll get a nice percussive shuffle, a musical saw, harmony vocals, a chill guitar strum, and catchy romantic lyrics.”

Check out the entire review and download the track for free here.

Praising Guy for his “excellent songwriting and imagery,” they’re also offering a free download of the track.

Read the entire review here.

Stay tuned for more on this, as it’s a pretty cool story.  But meanwhile, you can read a little about it in today’s Seacoast Online, by following this link.

Meanwhile, if you have Rdio, you can listen to the beautiful “Blue Button,” the digital B-side of Guy’s download-only single “Like Anything,” right here:

http://rd.io/i/QLOyK6VWhg

http://madmackerel.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/mad-mackerel-recommends-guy-capecelatro-iii/

Mad Mackerel Recommends

“Like Anything” is available as a digital-only single on e-tailers like iTunes, Amazon, and emusic (though if you download it from Mad Mackerel it’s, umm, free).  The paid version of the song gives you a second song, “Blue Button,” which is a non-LP digital B-side.

Guy’s debut Dromedary LP, North for the Winter, is out on February 21.

Wednesday, January 11 (as you can see from the flyer), The 65′s and Speed the Plough will be playing together at Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ.  Mexicali Live is, from what I understand, a great venue with excellent sound, and they’ve got a great menu of independently-brewed beers (I heartily recommend the Sixpoint Righteous Ale, as well as the Keegan Ales Mother’s Milk, which they have on tap).  For more info and directions to the club, visit their website.

Saturday, January 14, our friends Yung Wu (which includes John and Ed from Speed the Plough, as well as Dave Weckerman, Stan Demeski, Glenn Mercer and Brenda Sauter from The Feelies) will be playing along with The Thousand Pities and East of Venus (which includes Glenn and Dave from The Feelies, Michael Carlucci from Winter Hours and Rob Norris of The Bongos) will be playing at Tierney’s in Montclair, NJ.  For more information and directions, visit the club’s website.

Friday, January 27 should be an unbelievably interesting night for those willing to make the drive to Upstate, New York.  The Mommyheads will be performing at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon.  However, this is going to be a very different Mommyheads set, as instead of their traditional, rocked-out electrified sound, they’ll be playing with acoustic piano and upright bass, as well as a group of string players to augment their music.  This is the first time the band has done anything like this, and it should be an excellent opportunity to experience the unbelievable musical talent of the band, in an offbeat and unusual environment.  For more info and tickets, visit the website.

Lastly, on Saturday, February 11,  The 65′s will be bringing the rock into New York City, playing at Fontana’s (at 105 Eldridge Street).  By that time they’ll be supporting not only the Strike Hard! CD but should likely have a new video as well, for “Walk On Selfishly.”  Come down and check them out.

Dromedary bands are outstanding live performers.  And Dromedary shows are almost always a shitload of fun.  Come on down and check a few of these out; guarantee you won’t be sorry.

We put out fantastic records by Penguins Kill Polar Bears, Stuyvesant, Speed the Plough, Shirk Circus, The Mommyheads and The 65′s.  We held a fantastic benefit mini-fest, “Camelfest,” which raised a ton of awareness and more than $1,000 for Roots & Wings of NJ, and brought together some of New Jersey’s most legendary indie acts (including a reunion of the great Yung Wu), some of indie rock’s most exciting young bands, and some out-of-town friends that were a pleasure to meet. We continued to raise money through sales of Make the Load Lighter: Indie Rock for Haiti (which remains our strongest seller), which will be donated to Vwa Ayiti, which continues to implement community development projects inside Haiti (we’ll make our donation just as soon as we close up our books for 2011).  We even raised a few bucks for flood victims in New Jersey.  And we (hopefully) enriched some people with great music, and great performances.

Our records received tons of accolades, and landed on a bunch of year-end “best of” lists.  Check this out:

Vessels & Veins  by Penguins Kill Polar Bears (released in March) received the following accolades:

• #1 EP of the year at Favourite Son
• #17 Album of the year at Hjartad Hamast of Greece

Fret Sounds by Stuyvesant (released in June) popped up on a bunch of lists:

• They received the Outstanding Band of 2011 award at the Hoboken Music Awards.
• #8 Album of the Year at United by Rocket Science
• #10 Album of the Year by WMMR (Philadelphia) DJ Blake Dannen
• “Clyde” was #12 song of the year at Jim Testa’s Rock and Roll Gas Station podcast.
• Runner up for Album of the Year at Willfully Obscure
• Honorable mention for top NJ album of the year at Jersey Beat
• Nomination for Outstanding Album of 2011 at the Hoboken Music Awards
• Nomination for Outstanding Video of 2011 for “Duly Noted” at the Hoboken Music Awards

Shine by Speed the Plough (released in August) appeared on the following lists:

• #24 Album of the Year at Victorian Squid
• #74 album of the year at Blow Up Radio
• Honorable mention for top NJ album of the year at Jersey Beat
• Nomination for Outstanding Album of 2011 at the Hoboken Music Awards

Delicate Friction by The Mommyheads (released in October) was named the #65 Album of the Year at Blow Up Radio

This Band Will Destroy Your Life by Shirk Circus (released in November) was nominated for Outstanding Album of 2011 at the Hoboken Music Awards

And not to be outdone by all this, despite being released in December with just two weeks left in the year, Strike Hard! by The 65′s received the following accolades:

• An unbelievable #7 Album of the Year at United by Rocket Science
• An astounding #37 Album of the Year at Blow Up Radio
• An album of the Month of December at Twangville
• The band was also in the Top 5 for the “People’s Choice” award at the Hoboken Music Awards, and performed a fantastic set at the end of the night, decked out in suits (and a dress for Cindi)

We also received some flattering recognition as a label, from both United by Rocket Science and the fine folks at the Hoboken Music Awards.

The best part about the year, though, was the great new friendships that we made, as well as spending so much time with the old friends we love so much.  Running a micro-indie label the size of Dromedary Records is not something you do for the money, or for the recognition, or for the chicks.  You do it out of a desire to document great, underground music, and you do it because you dig the people.  And as far as Dromedary is concerned, there are a lot of people to dig.

There’s just no way to properly acknowledge all the fine folks who helped us out, promoted our stuff, or bought us beer this year.  For instance, how do I properly thank Ralph Malanga, who has been a close friend and an unbelievable help (and inspiration) for nearly twenty years?  How do I thank Brian Musikoff of Stuyvesant, who selflessly gave up his birthday show so that his band could play Camelfest, who designed a gorgeous Camelfest poster (twice), who posted bills all over Hoboken for us, who accompanied me to a handful of shows throughout the year, and who poured so generously when we stopped by his place of work?  Is there any possible way to thank Todd Abramson at Maxwell’s, who is so generous with his room and so supportive of our bands?  How do I thank people like Jim Testa, Ray Ketchem, Steve Bailey, Karl Heitmuller, Lazlo, Bill Benson, AJ Jahnig, Jim Santo, Mark Abney, Eric Greenberg, Steve Spatucci, Eileen Vocaturo, Adam Elk, Dan Fisherman, Michael Holt, Fraser Sanaghan, Paula Carino, Vicky Wheeler, Murray Reid, Seoridh Fraser, Jessica Poland, Dawn Schumacher, Skip Werner, Frank Brandon, Erol Chicowski, Jamie Webster, Steve Five, Ben Trokan, Gay Elvis, Paul Rosevear, Marc Francia, Ian Francia, Dan Francia, Mike Baumgartner, Ed Seifert, Carson Kopp, Andy Peters, Jim Fitzgerald, Ken Katkin, Richard Barone, Chris O’Donovan, Anne Hopkins, Richard Barnes, Brenda Sauter, Glenn Mercer, Dave Weckerman, and Stanley Demeski.  These people helped make 2011 a great year!

And special thanks that I’m just not capable of properly giving would certainly have to be given to Kim and Andrea at Roots & Wings, to Glenn Morrow at Bar/None, to Ben, Lisa and Josh of Varsity Drag, Rich Masio at Rdio, and Rad Del Prete (who’s been my friend for WAY more than half my life, and still selflessly works the merch table for an entire night when I ask).

And how could I possibly thank the people who bought our records, attended our shows, and read the reams and reams of tweets, status updates, blog posts and other crap I’ve written all year?

And the bands!  Jesus, the bands!  I’m sure I won’t even be able to remember them all, but how could I properly thank Robbers on High Street, Readymade Breakup, Charlotte Sometimes, Wild Carnation, the great Yung Wu, The Library is On Fire, Varsity Drag, Jamerson, Don Ryan, The Adam Ezra Band, Those Darlins, Wussy, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Telekinesis, The Swales, Kate Jacobs, and especially Yo La Tengo were all a huge help to, and supporters of Dromedary bands at various points during the year.

And Sandy, who has stood beside me while I babbled at people about music for 25 years, who’s my best friend, my drinking buddy, my show partner, my sitting around and doing nothing companion, and the love of my life.  So yeah, maybe you do do it for the chicks.

And of course there were a few new friends that we made this year, who quickly transcended any silly record label and became people that are right up there on the list of “reasons to wake up in the morning.”

James Damion, who’s excellent photography documented Camelfest, Stuyvesant’s band photos, and The 65′s release party, who has covered every Dromedary event this year, and in the process who has become an excellent friend.

John and Toni Baumgartner, who not only brought a sincere joy and passion for performing to the Dromedary family, not only brought me to a great new place to drink beer, not only introduced us to a whole new group of fantastic people, but they became great friends and people we genuinely love.

Cindi Merklee, Joe Vocaturo, John Steele, and Dan Smith.  I’m a pretty wordy dude, and I could sit here all night and not be able to describe how happy I am to have met these guys (despite the shitty, shitty circumstances under which we came together), how much I truly enjoy their company, and how much I value their friendship already.

Nope, there’s just no way to thank all those people properly.  So I won’t even try.  Especially because I’d surely forget someone really important and feel awful about it all year.  So let’s just say that if you helped us, bought us beer, took a beer we bought you, or allowed us to enjoy your company for even a second in 2011 – thank you.

I will, however, acknowledge three people who left us in 2011 one last time, because they deserve it:

Josh Silverman; songwriter, singer, and guitarist for Shirk Circus.  He passed away in February.  Much has been written about Josh’s incredible songwriting and even more incredible guitar playing.  Not as much has been written about the stuff I learned about him after he passed.  He was a teacher, a father, a husband, and a friend, four things that are way, way more important.

Tom Price; songwriter, singer and guitarist for the New York band Ff.  He passed away in the fall.  The day after he died, I made a comment that in the mid 90s in New York and New Jersey there was Ff, and then there was every other band.  They were that good.  And they were mostly driven by Tom’s work.  He was, by all accounts, an awesome guy that created some seriously intense, beautiful, powerful punk rock.

And lastly Elvis Boyd, son of my good pal Ted.  More than music, I love kids.  I spend a good number of hours every week with kids.  I’m also a dad, and I understand the kind of impossible-to-articulate, head-over-heels adoration that a dad can have for his child when he’s really engaged in the kid’s life.  It’s a kind of hero worship, a kind of doting, unconditional, almost desperate sort of love.  Even thinking of losing a child produces an unbearable pain.  In one swift and painful day, Elvis’ passing taught me to respect every second, to make every single minute count, to cherish every single friendship, and to do everything I can to do everything I can.

That’s what I intend to do in 2012.

Happy New Year, everybody.

A variety of recent events, though, have gotten me contemplating the concept of size, particularly as it relates to indie rock.

Years ago, even the smallest labels judged their “success” based upon the number of records they’d sold.  Pressing fewer than 1,000 records, or producing fewer than 1,000 CDs was economically unfeasible; it was only through some weird stroke of bad/good luck that forced me to find a new CD plant back in 1994 that I was able to find a plant that would do 500.  Even in the early 1990s, when no less an authority than Steve Albini suggested that selling just 100 records, done on my own terms with complete artistic integrity, was a “success.”

Even today, it’s been difficult to think that way.  And the bands are just as guilty – one of the first thing that each band we’ve worked with since we re-launched has been “How many copies are you going to press?” (bands seem to use the antiquated word “press” the same way I use the word “record;” two vinyl-oriented terms still being used to describe a CD manufacturing process that includes neither “pressing” nor “records”).  Any answer fewer than one thousand seems to be met with disappointment; the idea that somehow CDs can’t be re-pressed if they sell well seems to be an almost foreign concept.

In the interest of cash flow (and space), I would rather not manufacture too many.  Manufacturing too many is a problem that is not easily rectified; you can’t sell more than you can sell, and when they’re sitting in your basement in the boxes they were in when you received them, there’s nothing you can do about the money you spent on them. Conversely, manufacturing too few is a problem easily rectified – you simply make more.  Perhaps it costs a bit more per “unit” to do it that way, but when you’re doing it on the level that we are, forecasting is not quite the mission-critical business function that it is for, say, Sub Pop.  I have hundreds of copies of Nothing Smells Quite Like Elizabeth (our first compilation album from 1992) that would serve as proof that ordering too many records is a mistake that can’t ever be corrected.

Anyhow, bands seem to want to make a lot of records.

When we made The Mommyheads’ Finest Specimens record, we made 1,000 copies.  We hired the best PR firm that we could to help us market the record to press, and we sent out something like 300 copies to various journalists, blogs, websites, radio stations, magazines, and other bands.  We hired a small company to do a little radio promotion, we bought banner ads online and a couple of print ads (though admittedly, my approach to print advertising in indie rock is simply to run an ad in the publications that I want to support because I like them, namely Dagger and The Big Takeover).  We shipped 500 copies to our retail distributor, let everyone we knew that the record was coming out, and then waited for the thunderous applause.

At the same time, we benchmarked another band (which I will not name) with a similar pedigree to the Mommyheads – well-established members with a long history in indie rock.  This band has a decent fan base (though nothing like what the Mommyheads once had), a few members with tons of friends in indie rock and, unlike the Mommyheads, they hadn’t taken a 10-year break inbetween albums.  Their record came out a bit before Finest Specimens and it had decent success in the way of press coverage, including some of the most popular mainstream “alt-rock” websites.

So I became curious after a few months, and I called a contact of mine on the phone and asked him if he’d be so kind as to tell me the SoundScan sales figures on that record.  And he did.

“Ninety,” he said.

“Ninety?” I was incredulous.

“Welcome to 2010.”

I was incredulous, until I started digging deeper into what’s going on with record sales these days.  Some interesting stats that were passed around last summer by Digital Music News:

• In 2009, there were 98,000 albums that sold at least one copy.

• 81,000 of them sold fewer than 100 copies.

Essentially, 80% of records each year sell less than 100 copies.  Granted, a good portion of these are shit records, self-released by really bad bands.  I understand that.  But a portion of them are great records, too, released by awesome indie bands that work their asses off to write fantastic music, kill themselves to deliver amazing live performances, and actually have a strong reputation – sort of like the band I describe above.

What’s happening?

Well, as I can see it, there are a number of things.  It’s not just pirated copies being downloaded illegally – although that’s a big factor.  It’s also not just promo copies that are being re-sold by record reviewers as soon as they receive them in the mail – although that’s a factor as well.

But subscription services like Rdio and Spotify enable you to access vast libraries of music for just ten dollars a month, and listen to them on your home PC or your mobile device.  Last night, I listened to the new record by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks over Spotify, on my iPhone, which is connected to my home stereo via a docking station.  The artist made pennies.

You can listen to full album streams on band and label websites, and you can get free and legal downloads all over the internet.  People upload music to YouTube, and software exists that lets you convert YouTube audio into an MP3.  Pandora lets you set up umpteen million custom radio stations – for free.  If you want to hear a song – any song – simply Google the song title and within seconds you’ll be presented with a way to hear it, usually free.

Fact is that unless you’re married to the idea of actually owning the songs you want to hear, in such a way that enables you to listen to them across multiple devices and in multiple applications, there is really no reason to buy music anymore.

And that doesn’t even begin to consider what happens when music actually gets released.

There are thousands and thousands of websites and blogs out there, all devoted to music.  Back in the 90s I’d send out a few hundred promotional copies of our records and hit virtually every radio station, fanzine and magazine that made sense for us.  Today it’s totally different – I have a mailing list of 1500 blogs and radio stations alone, plus another hundred or so publications that get physical copies.  You plan out your promotional strategy, send out your promos, and work your ass off to expose your music to as many of these publications as possible.

In the lead-up to the record, press starts to trickle in – a few websites will post a free download of your single, maybe some video, perhaps a few words about the artist.  If you’re lucky you’ll get some reviews and maybe an interview or two.  And on the street date, your title shows up on a bunch of lists, a few websites will give away a copy of your single, and some reviews will show up.

And then it’s gone.  Once the record is out, they’re all on to something new.  Like I said, nearly 100,000 records came out last year, and they’re all trying to get exposure.

It’s pretty daunting, the idea of having this new model, where the playing field is supposedly level, and yet the mad rush of music being rolled out every week is impossible to keep on top of.  It’s wonderful and frustrating at the same time.  In the 90s, when every band had a 7″, we referred to the massive amount of 7″s being released as a “glut.”  I don’t know what to call this – calling it a “glut” would be akin to saying the Atlantic Ocean had a pinch of salt in it.

Anyway, all this got me thinking about Steve Albini’s comments, way back when.  About the artistic achievement of just getting a great record out there, much less selling some.  About how a hundred copies sold, in the big picture, is a victory.

Next year, I’m leaning towards making some vinyl records.  Doing something artistic, and doing it in small quantities.  You’ll be able to download stuff on iTunes or Amazon, or from our website, sure.  But I’m talking about super limited quantities, and once they’re sold, they’re sold.  Truly doing it out of inspiration.

My inspiration for this came from Michael Holt of The Mommyheads.  In addition to being in The Mommyheads, Michael is a successful solo artist.  Historically, Michael has followed the same sort of formula The Mommyheads did in the ’90s – release a record and tour to support it, sell as much as possible off the stage, come home, regroup, and do it again.  But Michael has done it on a larger scale – rather than the 30 or 60-day US tours the Mommyheads used to do, Michael tours the world.

Michael has done the touring indie rock guy thing for 20 years, and he does it well.  But, as he said to me at Camelfest, he was looking for something different, something more intimate, where he could connect with people on a deeper level, and something that had a better chance of changing people’s lives with his music.  So he created the “Make Your Own Culture” tour.

“Make Your Own Culture” starts with an idea that’s different from your typical indie rock tour.  Instead of going bananas, trying to find a club that’s got a date open, trying to figure out the best way to fill a room, he’s playing house concerts.

House concerts.

He’ll come to your house.

Why is this brilliant?  Well, first of all, artistically, he creates the most intimate possible environment in which to deliver his craft.  Second, and much more practically speaking, he’s no longer dealing with a show promoter that’s only concerned with how many drinks he sells or how many heads fill the room on a given night. Now he’s dealing with someone who is filling the room as full as they’d like, with the people they want there.  It’s already a friendly space when Michael walks in.  And lastly, and equally practically, I would imagine that Michael has a place to stay at each stop on the tour.

And here’s what’s even better: Michael has a whole bunch of different things he can do at your house.  You can book him to come play songs by Michael Holt, indie rock guy.  You can book him to come play classical piano.  He’ll conduct a cooking class.  Give him some extra musicians and he’ll play chamber music.  You can make music with Michael.  He will basically come to your house and do whatever you want.  It’s an absolutely intimate, creative, warm and amazing way to tour.

And it totally doesn’t matter if his shows don’t get written up in Brooklyn Vegan or if he can’t fill Bowery Ballroom.

You can read Michael’s tour blog – which is fascinating in and of itself – here: https://www.facebook.com/events/204114792974191/

He’s in Europe now.  He’s already been through the United States and Canada, and won’t be back here til early December, when he comes back and spends a few more weeks in the Northeast before taking a break – four solid months of sharing his art, writing about his experiences and – yes, I’ll say it – changing people’s lives.  He is absolutely right – he has got a much better chance of changing people’s lives by performing his art in an intimate environment, where he can connect with each person in the room, and where he can remove the pressures that numbers consistently place on musicians.

By the way, it looks like Michael has some open dates when he gets back.

So that’s what I’m thinking.  Size doesn’t matter.  It’s the connection that you make with the people you reach.  It took me 18 years to figure that out, despite the fact that Steve Albini told me this very same thing so long ago, a piece of unsolicited advice that he sloughed off on a guy he didn’t even know. One of those pearls of wisdom that comes up in casual conversation where the guy who belches it out forgets what he said ten minutes later, but the sponge that soaks it up carries it with him for two decades before it finally rings the bell.

So…anybody wanna buy a beautiful piece of speckled, colored vinyl in a letterpress, gatefold jacket?