Interview by Benjamin Diguerher , Abus Dangereux
Could
you present your label. (state of mind of wallace, musical orientation…).
Well…i'm definitively a punkrocker, my "actual state of mind"
borned learning what it means do it yourself. years ago i was more involved
in hardcore music and i loved some italian and international experience about
production and management of a label or a band. i was so fascinated by that
kind of different way to think about culture and relationship between musicians,
labels, fanzines and listeners, and the main reason it because it was not
only a way of life related to music, but it changed all my life. now i don't
listen new hardcore or punkrock bands, but i think exactly the same about
music industry. i started to change my musical orientation with fugazi and
touch & go production. i love t&go, and it's the biggest inspiration
for my label. at the same time i don't want to create "the little ot
the italian t&go", i just try to publish all the music i like, and
in i enjoy music from panasonic to jon spencer.
When,
why, and how did you start? did you have any experiences in music (in
a label…) before wallace
I started 2 years ago with a compilation ("tracce") and the
compilation was the reason to start: four bands of friends of mine were speaking
about to do a 10" together. after 6 months no one decided nothing …at
that time i found a new and better job and so i save the money i needed and
i stole their idea, i changed t in a cd (with sadness, i love vinyl) and i
increased the number of bands invited. i had no idea about the second eventual
release, but …who care? before wallace (named in honor of marcellus wallace,
the black gangster in the movie pulp fiction, because i'm a bad) i organized
shows for some friends with a fake agency called mr. wolf (named in honor
of mr. wolf, the man who solve problems in the movie pulp fiction, because
i solve problems) but it was a bad experience, nothing is possible without
the agreement of lot of people. with a label you can do a record only with
your and band's effort. maybe people won't buy it but you done something.
How do
you choose the bands? what do you think about the italian indie music?
The process to decide to produce a record is not really like in major
label…i never went to a band to say "hey you…i like your music,
what about doing a record together?" most of the band i've in my catalog
are big friends, i know them from their previous records or live shows, we
became friends and then it's natural work together (if i like their music,
of course). most of the bands who worked with me are still activity, and we
want work together again.. so i'm full of production for next years…there's
a limit of time and money and i suppose i already exceed this limit. there
are a lot of goods bands in italy i think, i don't know very well in detail
the situation outside italy, but i think that here now there's a good situation
for creativity. the problem is that the listeners of our music are the same
who work with this music : so people who buy records are guys from other bands,
label or fanzine. for some title i exchanged more records than the copies
i sold. but..that's life…i know that in other countries the situation
is not so better.
What
wallace record is exactly doing for its bands except releasing? (tours,
production, promo…?)
I don't have time to organize tours and live shows for bands. obviously
i give them all my contacts and sometimes i speak with some clubs…but
that's all, it's an hard work. while i try to do my best to promote records
in magazines and radio for reviews and interviews, it's an hard work the same
but i like it more. about the production bands are completely free, i can't
pay their recording so they find the best way. often i decided to produce
a record when it was finished and ready to print. however i always stay in
contact with them and we speak a lot about every activity of the label and
the band.
Wasn't
you afraid in signing unknown bands? (in a financial point of view)?
Yes and no. ok…with unknown bands is hard to make money but well
known bands require more money to produce and promote them. there are not
reasons of popularity, for example madrigali magri are not less popular than
old time relijun or oxbow in italy. in a financial point of view it's always
a disaster, so…the popularity of a band is not an aspect i consider.
Can you
talk about the distribution in italy, do you meet difficulties to distribute
your records? are you distributed in others countries?
The distribution is a critical step…it's the situation where you
had to confront with the market and its rules, and where often you understand
that no one really buy records (italy is an hell for records also for major
and big stars). the main difference between a label as wallace and a distributor
is that they need to sell records, it's their work, while for me it's an hobby.
so, even if they like my music but people don't buy it, they cannot spent
a lot of money to help me. i suppose this is the reason why many distributor
don't work with small labels. i'm distributed in italy by audioglobe, nice
guys and a very good distribution. actually i'm not distribuited outside italy..i
send a lot of packs to distributors but it's very hard…by the way..the
best way to distribute music and records is during the live shows, and for
italian band is not so easy to make tour outside italy.
Do the
bands manage to meet their audience?
Not every band…i think there are bands in my label as r.u.n.i. who
can sell a lot of copies if they could be support with a big promotion, 'cause
they music have a "melody" and can be listened by lot of people,
but they are at their first "real" record and wallace have not a
big promotional capacity. while a short apnea are a band who play very experimental
music, difficul to understand for listeners not really involved in experimental
scene, but they are experienced musicians, playing in different bands in years,
so they are well known and they sold more copies than r.u.n.i.
How was
the meeting with old time relijun, your last 7' inch release?
Oh. it was easy. i loved the band from their records, then i talked with
their european tour manager manfredi who is a good friend of mine, and we
spoke about the possibility to use some outakes from their last album to promote
the tour (and, obvious, the label) with a 7". then i started to write
email with arrington and to ask his draws for the cover…i knew the guys
when they came in italy three months ago and they are really nice people.
Would you like to continue to work with foreigners' bands?Do you feel
close to foreign labels and bands, particularly french ones?
For me there's no a big difference to work with italian bands or foreigners
bands, i'm only afraid to meet rarely foreigners musicians. the main difference
is the possibility to sell records. if a foreigner band is called old time
relijun i've no problem to sell thei records, even if they are not touring
italy, but if the band is called vielle religion and they are from poitiers
i suppose it's very hard to sell 10 records. that happened with uzrujan, a
band from croazia i published. i sold few copies while the album it's very
good, but no one know them. i'm speaking about copies sold and i don't want
that readers understand that i think only about money, but it's obvious that
bands make records in order to be listened.
What
is the position of wallace, after 2 years of existence, in italian indie
music?
I think it's ok. the most of the people who follow with interest indie
rock in italy know my label, maybe they never bought a records made by wallace
but they know what wallace is. and that's important. the reason of this "success"
(ah ah…) is because i did a lot of records in 2 years (13!), and i did
a good work and big efforts to promote it. maybe that's not modest, but it's
the truth.
Can we
hope seeing some of your bands in tour in france soon?
I hope, france is closed to italy. the main problem is not geographic,
but it's related to the fact that my bands are not popular in france. i'm
sure that with a distribution things could be better. i think it's very important
that, eventually, they will play in places where there are maybe few people,
but interested to their music (in specialized clubs). there is a possibility
that a short apnea will tour france in autumn…
To conclude,
what are the ambitions and the projects for wallace in the future?
The main ambition is always the same: i want continue to be excited working
with bands till i don't have no more money to do it. the next releases will
be a project with arrington de dionyso, aaron hartman & fabio magistrali
jamming and recording, then the next tasaday, jasminshock, runi and a reissue
of the first material of rollerball. and various other projects, but it's
only toughts and its too early to speak about it