Jouke Rispens – Owner, Morning Wood Records
[written in 2020]
Scene Point Blank: Tell me a bit about who you are and what you do.
My name is Jouke Rispens (27), owner and founder of Morning Wood Records. The label is located in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands and was founded in 2013. Morning Wood Records is a label focussing on releasing fast, melodic punk rock that builds upon the sound and vibe from back in the '90s. Besides that I have a little distro that I sell through Discogs and at live shows.
Scene Point Blank: Why did you start the label/distro?
It pretty much started out as a joke back when I did my bachelor in business economics and needed to make a business plan for a minor entrepeneurship. I figured creating a punk label called “Morning Wood Records” would surely create some smiles in the classroom when I needed to present my plan. After that I simply carried on since I played in a couple of punk rock bands myself and wanted to release that music.
Scene Point Blank: How many orders do you fill per week (or month -- feel free to estimate)?
Before the whole COVID crisis I’d say, on average, 20 a week. Sometimes when there’s a big release with a lot of pre-orders it can be between 50-100 packages in a week. Nowadays, and generally during the summer it’s very calm.
Scene Point Blank: How many countries do you ship to? What are the main destinations?
So far I shipped to countries on all continents, and I’d estimate between 30-40 different countries worldwide. The top 5 countries I ship to are the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, and France. As far as continents go: 66% stays in Europe, 18.6% goes to North America, and the rest is spread over the remaining continents.
Scene Point Blank: What medium do you send the most of (cd, vinyl, tapes, zines, etc)?
Surprisingly enough, mostly CDs. That’s partially because half the stuff Morning Wood released is only available on CD, and also due to the fact that shipping vinyl is relatively expensive. The other reason is that a lot of orders come from Japan, and almost all orders from there are purely CDs. I’m grateful for that, 'cause I very much want to continue releasing music on CD as long as possible.
Scene Point Blank: What is the official name of the post office or service you use in your country (e.g. United States Postal Service)?
I use PostNL, the main postal service in The Netherlands. There might be a couple of other options, but PostNL is reliable and it rarely happens that packages get damaged.
Scene Point Blank: How often do you go to a post office or shipping center?
During peaks, every day. When it’s a bit calmer, two or three times a week.
Scene Point Blank: Do you have any entertaining stories about your trips to the local post office or shipping center? Do you have a relationship with the employees there?
The post office is accross my street, so it’s really not a problem at all to post packages once or twice a day. The owner’s name is Ronald and he lives next to the store. He always knows how I want to post my packages and gives me a loads of customs forms so I can already fill them in at home. As far as that goes, it could definitely be worse.
Scene Point Blank: How often does somebody email/call/text that they didn't get their package? Does it happen often?
Sometimes it takes a while for a package to arrive 'cause it needs to go to a less-western country like Malaysia or gets stuck in customs in South Africa, for instance. As long as the package has track & trace there’s no problem and, in other cases, it just takes a little bit longer but still arrives at the destination. It’s honestly just 1% of the customers that get in touch with me if it their order hasn’t arrived after a while.
Scene Point Blank: Have you noticed patterns with any specific types of mailers, or packages, or sending a certain medium to people?
A CD always fits in a mailbox, 12” vinyl doesn’t. If the customer isn’t at home he/she might need to go to a local post office to pick up a vinyl order or go to a neighbour. When someone decides to have bigger packages shipped to them without track & trace it might be a surprise when and where it shows up, but it always works out.
Scene Point Blank: What is a bigger problem: lost mail, broken mail, or returned mail?
All of the above are annoying and cost money since it’s my duty to deliver products in one piece. In seven years only two packages got lost and never showed. It's also very rarely happens something breaks. Sometimes a crack in a jewel case or a little bit of wear on a vinyl sleeve, but nothing too terrible. The most frustrating thing is when a package gets returned to me because the postal service abroad “couldn’t find the address,” while the address is 100% correct. This mostly happens in Germany somehow.
Scene Point Blank: Do you have any unusual stories about receiving packages from others?
Nope. I made the agreement with my mailman that he puts packages at some place when I’m not home. He also gave me his phone number in case something’s wrong. Or he’s hitting on me -- I don’t know.
Scene Point Blank: Do you have any sage advice for other labels on how to send the perfect package?
Always bubble wrap your vinyl like there’s no tomorrow. That stuff really isn’t expensive in big volumes, and when LPs can move in a box it's guaranteed it’s going to get damaged sooner or later.
Scene Point Blank: What is the worst thing to do?
Waiting in line at the post office for some grandpa who wants to buy lottery tickets for his whole family and needs to think for five minutes whether he wants to pay a euro or two extra to add the super jackpot or not.
Scene Point Blank: Anything you'd like to add?
The weather in The Netherlands sucks. If you have palm trees and a good beach at home don’t even think about coming here.
