Feature / Music
Pass The Mic: Record Labels and Artists on 2008

Words: Michael • Posted pre-2010

LINKS TO ALL THE PAGES

Red Leader Records (Matt)

What are your top five albums that were released in 2008?

  1. Scream Hello - Everything Is Always Still Happening
  2. Polar Bear Club - Sometimes Things Just Disappear
  3. Bridge and Tunnel - East/West
  4. The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
  5. Slingshot Dakota - Their Dreams Are Dead...
  6. Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader

What band did you discover in 2008 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?

One of the bands that really made me love music this year was Summer People. Their songs are equal parts familiar and groundbreaking, beautiful and epic. They play indie rock with heart the way the bands I grew up loving it did. Not a lot of demos can make me smile and cry in the span of a few short songs.

How will you remember 2008? (In terms of music)

Another year of a lot of amazing bands playing their hearts out and most people taking that for granted.

Vinyl record sales saw a significant increase this year while hard copy sales continued to dwindle. Is this a return to the glory days for vinyl or just a phase? Explain.

I don't think it really matters. I love vinyl as much as the next person, but bothering to worry about who will buy what and for how long just detracts from anything about music that matters. Music will exist in some format, some people will pay for it, some people will find a way to make it.

What was the most memorable moment for you in 2008? (Can be in terms of anything)

I think the presidential election still has put a certain amount hope and inspiration in me. Obviously our president elect is just a man, and even just a politician, but after eight years of horror after horror the thought that things might turn around is pretty invigorating. That or the guy who threw his shoes at Bush.

What can we look forward to from you in 2009?

New records from Nakatomi Plaza, Scream Hello, The New Dress, Attica! Attica!, Polar Bear Club, Summer People, End Of A Year, De La Hoya, and lots of other fun stuff.

What three records are you looking forward to most in 2009?

End of a Year, Soul Control, and Iron Chic.

Homepage: http://www.redleaderrecords.com

Related features

Fail Harmonic Records

One Question Interviews • July 28, 2026

Fail Harmonic Records SPB: What is your turntable set-up? Our office turntable is vanilla. Audio-Technica, maybe? What we’re spinning is what counts: and that’s Savageheads - Service to your Country (Social Napalm Records), an FHR HQ staple. If you wanna pack records at a fast pace, this is the album … Read more

Andresa One Man Band

One Question Interviews • July 27, 2026

Andresa Nugraha (Andresa One Man Band) SPB: What instrument has been the hardest to add into your set? Nugraha: Kazoo. It's funny because it seems like an easy instrument to play, but when you scream through the entire set and lose your voice, you can't play it right. So, I … Read more

Deniz Tek

Interviews • July 25, 2026

There is a specific kind of velocity associated with the name Deniz Tek. To the aviation world, he was a flight surgeon and a pilot in the cockpit of an F-4 Phantom. To the medical world, he was the calm in the center of the ER trauma ward. But to … Read more

Alexandros Anesiadis

One Question Interviews • July 15, 2026

Alexandros Anesiadis (Tear It Down, Crossover, New Wind – author) Was there a particular record or moment that inspired the genesis of Tear It Down, about crossover? It wasn't the day I first heard the opening track on side two of the Cro-Mags' The Age of Quarrel. It wasn't when … Read more

The Drolls

One Question Interviews • July 14, 2026

Denny Bartlett (The Drolls – guitar/vocals) SPB: You’ve been in multiple bands. What is the origin story of The Drolls? What was your radioactive spider? Barltett: I hadn’t played live in almost 20 years and other people I knew from back in the day were getting back into it and … Read more

More from this section

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: The Year So Far (July 2026)

Music • July 13, 2026

That's right: we're halfway through 2026 already, although whether that means this year is a glass-half-empty or glass-half-full kind of year... well, the jury's out. But we'll let you know in December. Despite another six months of chaos, war, conflict and uncertainty, one thing in life remains static and reliable: … Read more

Demos You Want To Check #4

Music / New Kids On The Block • July 7, 2026

The musical landscape is ever changing. New genres are popping up, new hypes burst out of nowhere and die out and new bands present themselves to the world. How on earth are you expected to keep up, right? Well, it never hurts to help! So here we are, your humble … Read more

Demos You Want To Check #3

Music / New Kids On The Block • May 8, 2026

The musical landscape is ever changing. New genres are popping up, new hypes burst out of nowhere and die out and new bands present themselves to the world. How on earth are you expected to keep up, right? Well, it never hurts to help! So here we are, your humble … Read more