Feral Kid Records Interview

By Derek Neuland

12 November 2008 One Comment

Rapid Transit Radio: Your first release was the Skate Korpse Discography LP. Were you planning to start a record label prior to hearing about this release or was the prospect of putting out the Skate Korpse LP the driving force that made you decide to start Feral Kid Records?

Feral Kid Records: I had toyed with thoughts of starting up a label for a good amount of time before the first release became a reality. I’ve been steadily touring in and with bands since i was 17 years old. The amount of bands you see traveling this extensively is kind of mind-boggling, many of them are quite forgettable, but every now and then I would see a band and just wish I could do something to make others notice them. When my band-mate at the time (who runs Punks Before Profits records) called me up mentioning the idea of putting out a Skate Korpse discography LP I jumped at the chance to hop on board. This band had it all! Having been a supporter of the band since their start and being good friends with all 3 of them it just made so much sense for me to be a part of it. After I put out that first record it became a bit of an addiction. The next thing I knew it became all I thought about and I had almost 10 releases under my belt within my first year of existence.

Rapid Transit: What do you look for when deciding what records to put out?

Feral Kid: It’s quite difficult to describe what it is that I look for in a band. As can be seen from my labels output I’m pretty all over the spectrum within the all encompassing “PUNK” genre. I’ve released records from pop-punk to 80s-style hardcore to grindcore to ambient instrumental to who the hell knows what else. A lot of labels in this day and age seem to focus on just one specific sub-genre of music, which to me doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I am equally into so many different forms of hardcore/punk. If the passion is there, then I’m into it.

Rapid Transit: Would you ever consider releasing something by a band that does not fall under the punk/hardcore umbrella?

Feral Kid: Some would argue that i already have. As stated before I am into a bunch of different genres of music, though hardcore punk is what I am most passionate about. I guess time will tell what potential releases fall into my lap.

Rapid Transit: All of your releases thus far have only been on vinyl. Why do you think vinyl is still a strong medium in the age of iTunes and mp3’s?

Feral Kid: Actually, FK10 was a cassette-tape release of a short-lived female-fronted pop-punk band that I played bass in called Stupid Routines. Everything else though has been on vinyl. I do think that mp3’s are a very useful tool. I’ve discovered a ton of weird/obscure bands though blogspot downloads and soulseek that I would otherwise have had no idea of their existence. It’s all in how things are used. If people are downloading mp3’s of a record that they could easily walk to their local record store and pick up, or downloading the record of a band they just went to see rather than buying it from them, then that can be a problem. I think that although that does happen quite a bit, people who are really into music very much enjoy having an actual physical copy of the things that they care about. There’s just nothing like having the vinyl release of an album exactly as the band/label intended for it to be.

I was at a rather strange show just the other day and there was a DJ listed on the bill. The DJ did not have a single slab of vinyl behind the table with them. It was them with their Apple Macbook plugged into the venues PA clicking on songs from their iTunes. I was extremely taken aback that this is the point we have reached. It just didn’t make any sense to me and it furthered my disdain for the digital age. Like I said, I use mp3’s and download a ton of music, but I don’t pretend that is at all an acceptable replacement for buying records from and supporting bands/labels/local shops.

Rapid Transit: Do you have any plans to release something on CD or any other format besides vinyl?

Feral Kid: I personally hate CDs as a musical format. To me they just seem like clutter, they don’t feel real. With the vinyl resurgence and mp3’s becoming so insanely popular i think CDs are going to start being forgotten and become a thing of the past. The only plans that I have to release a CD is something of a special case. Myself and Earth Vehicle Records are joining forces to release a 7″ by an old San Jose band called Death Trap. They recorded 4 studio tracks but have a ton of live stuff that they want to exist. We’re still deciding exactly what route to take with it but it seems that it will be a 7″ of the studio tracks with a CD included with all the live stuff on it.

Rapid Transit: With the declining state of the U.S. economy, record stores and labels are folding left and right. Have you noticed a decrease in record sales in recent months? Are you taking any precautions to ensure Feral Kid Records won’t face the same financial problems that labels such as Sound Idea have faced?

Feral Kid: First off, I want to say that Sound Idea has been an amazing stop in my travels since I went on my first tour. Bob Suren is a die-hard individual that ran quite the tight ship and I was absolutely floored when I heard he was having to shut down. That shop and his label (Burrito Records) will surely be missed.
I haven’t directly noticed much of a decrease in record sales recently. I’m not really sure just how much the recession that the country is supposedly in will affect small labels such as myself. The way I run things is that whatever funds comes in to the label stay with it and go out with the next release. These funds are not always enough to cover the full release but thats where my personal funds take over. I think not trying to be fully self-sufficient as a label will keep me going for quite some time. At least as long as I keep being privy to the caliber of bands that I’ve been lucky enough to work with thus far.

Rapid Transit: What releases do you have planned for the future?

Feral Kid: I’ve got a lot of ideas in the works. The next few are pretty much solidified but most of them are in the planning stages.
Upcoming Feral Kid Records releases are as follows;
FK13 - Plates EP
FK14 - Able Danger “…Wing It!” EP
FK15 - Insubordinates “1968″ EP
FK16 - Death Trap “No Hicks” EP

Other things in the talking stages include the new Verbal Abuse 7″, an I Object 7″ single, a new In Disgust LP, a Bleach Boys discography LP, a Bad Taste 7″, and another 7″ from both Rational Animals and Brown Sugar. I’m also toying with the idea of doing a series of releases where I would put out recordings by western new york bands that are now defunct. This may or may not be limited to Buffalo but I’ve got a few pretty cool bands that I listen to SO often and would love people to be able to appreciate them as I do. Some of these would potentially be discography collections or even a few bands that recorded demos or comp tracks that just never saw the light of day. I could continue for way too long on things that are upcoming as the future of Feral Kid, but most of them after all of that is just a jumbled mess within my head.

Rapid Transit: I’ve always hoped someone would release records of some of the amazing Buffalo bands that never got a proper release like Towpath, Exposure to Ignorance, and Assinine. Are you in talk with anyone or you have any specific bands in mind?

Feral Kid: It seems like it could be a damn good idea. As I said, it’s mostly all just in my head right now but I am sitting here talking to the Goatloard himself about the Towpath triple-6″ release. Ha. No, there’s been very little contact with bands about this idea as of yet, my first responsibility is to the active bands I’ve already committed myself to releases for.

Rapid Transit: Any last comments/thoughts?

Feral Kid: First off, thanks very much for caring enough about what I’m doing to want to hear about my label. Secondly, shameless plugs;
Check out www.feralkidrecords.com for more info on any of the already existing releases as well as upcoming info as it transpires. There you can listen to songs from most releases, check out cover art and all the ordering details are contained as well.

If you like the look of my releases, a number of them are screen-printed at the shop I co-run. Check out www.pedalprinting.com for examples of our work and rough breakdowns of prices.