News / Bands

Vinnie Fiorello (Less Than Jake)

SPB: Would you license your music for use in film, sports, or ads if given the opportunity?

Vinnie: We already have been involved in all of the above. Fact for a band like LTJ or hell most bands: you want everyone and anyone to hear what you've done creatively. Licensing songs allows bands to step outside the given genre and let different ears listen to you. I feel like licensing has become essential to modern bands regardless of what genre they are.

Daniel O’ Sullivan (Mothlite)

SPB: How do you find the time for so many different projects? 

Daniel: I don't find the time because time doesn't exist. It's always now. Right now I'm answering this question, before that I was assembling an Ikea bookshelf, these are projects and they're always happening now unless they're not happening and in that context they don't exist. If I feel overstretched it's because my head is in some abstract concept of the past or the future, neither of which exist in an absolute reality. For me, music belongs to an absolute reality, so whether it's a new Grumbling Fur record or the sound of worms writhing around in the chamber of my skull, time is rarely a factor.

Swordplay (Swordplay & Pierre the Motionless)

SPB: Is there a regional food you look forward to when you tour?

Swordplay: Boiled Peanuts. Probably the best part about  going to the South is boiled peanuts. Last time I was in SC, I learned they can even be turned into hummus. It's delicious. 

PJ Fancher (The Fest, Grabass Charlestons/The Careeners)

SPB: How do you think the download card concept has affected vinyl sales? 

PJ: Here's my answer:

I've never seen any direct numbers proving so but I imagine that the whole download code thing has only helped vinyl sales. I actually get a bit bummed if I buy a new record and it does not have a download code. CDs at this point are useless. I never think about buying a CD anymore. But the idea of having the actual LP plus a little code that allows us to put the music on our i-pods to listen to in our cars, touring van, work computer, etc. is awesome. Soon the likely trend will be for an instant download when you purchase a record online, which is great but doesn't help when purchasing the record directly from the band at their show. For that situation, the download code is the best option at the moment. With the consumption of recorded music becoming inevitably more digital, I think vinyl might see a bit of a mainstream resurgence in the next few years. Any trend tends to ebb and flow over the years. After a decade or so of people consuming music almost exclusively digitally, the physicality of the big old vinyl record that you can hold and look at the nice artwork may peak people's interest again. Especially if record labels start including more little perks like gatefold, colored vinyl, booklets, etc. 

[this is kind of a plug but I feel like its relevant]

About five years ago I was thinking about this very thing and, being a computer nerd, made a website (http://downloadmyvinyl.com) to help bands and record labels have an affordable download code resource. I don't charge very much, basically just enough to recoup hosting and bandwidth expenses. I always do the first record for free. As of right now, there are 323 records from 93 different labels around the world that use the service. I've re-written the project twice and in the middle of a third re-write. I kind of like to use the project as a way to stay relevant with web development stuff too. I'm stoked so many people find it useful and that a bunch of record labels have the shared opinion that the code+LP format is really nice, if not ideal.