We here at Tone Deaf love nothing more than reporting on everything that is music, however sometimes there might be a little bit too much focus on just the artists, and the myriad of work that goes on behind closed doors is forgotten. Therefore, each fortnight we will now focus on important sectors within the industry, speaking with leaders in their field as they detail their role within the whacky world that is the music industry.
From the bowels of an abandoned textiles factory in Brunswick, beneath a sign that advertises a long-defunct karate school, lies the home of HopeStreet Recordings, the brainchild of Bob Knob and Tristan Ludowyk.
Born from the need for Knob and Ludowyk to capture and share the crusty analog soul and funk sound of a bygone era with a hungry new generation, the HopeStreet Recordings mission is to share the best most eclectic, retrospective but progressive new sounds that Australia produces.
From afro beats of The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, to worldly Bollywood sounds The Bombay Royale, to Emma Donovan and The Putbacks irresistible soul, the HopeStreet Recordings crew are the catalyst keeping Aussie music fascinating. We caught up with creative director Bob Knob to chat about the birth and evolution of HopeStreet Recordings. Fore more info on the label visit www.hopestreetrecordings.com.
The Birth Of HopeStreet
“We actually started as a recording experiment. Tristan Ludowyk and myself had been playing in bands around the place for years and complaining about the fact we couldn’t find engineers who could pull the drum sounds we wanted. I really wanted that funk drums sound that golden era hiphop sampled and Tristan wanted to get the Fela Kuti sound so we got some players we knew together and an old Otari tape machine (which we still use) put four mics up and had some jams. We were pretty surprised at how well it worked.”
First Ever Release
“The first release came out of that first jam. I wrote a song called ‘Friend Or Foe’ and our friend Chantal Mitvalsky sang it. Then we tracked The Putbacks and got a a b side, recorded some horns and played it to a couple of people. Then we took the ill advised next step and put it on 7″ vinyl and before we knew it we were a record label.”
Prior To HopeStreet
“Both myself and Tristan founded HopeStreet after years playing in all kinds of bands. I’m a bassist and Tristan is a trumpeter and multi instrumentalist. Tom Martin, the third partner who joined the business a little later is a guitarist.
We started out as just a little gang of musicians, and it’s still a lot like that. Since machines took over music, a lot of people don’t care about instruments anymore but there’s a solid audience that still values the kind of thing we do and we find more of them every day.”
Label Inspirations
“What I love in a label is a tight crew with a house sound and style. The classic US soul labels like Stax and Motown did everything in house – writing, recording, mixing. I love that.
I think people like Daptone and Truth & Soul now have the same thing going but it’s not just a soul thing – there’s a bunch of labels of all kinds that I love that have a really tight shared aesthetic across their artists and that real family vibe. I’ve always loved the hiphop guys like Stone’s Throw for that reason.”
Biggest Hurdles & Biggest Lessons
“There’s a fundamental problem with the music business, and that’s that no one buys music anymore, or the percentage of people that do are so small that it’s almost irrelevant. If it’s not actual theft on the torrent sites, it’s the equivalent of theft in terms of streaming royalties, at least from the small artist and label’s point of view. If we didn’t license music to computer games, films and TV we wouldn’t be in business at all.
Pick your battles carefully. Pick your colleagues even more carefully. Do the important stuff and don’t let yourself get lost in the bullshit. One good record is worth more than 50 average records. A really good record makes the whole thing worth it, even if it never makes any money.”
Favourite Release
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks – Dawn LP
The Future Of Indie Labels?
It’s not going to get easier anytime soon. More great little labels with really good product and people are going under every year. If the mega corporations like Apple and the remaining major labels have their way with how streaming revenue gets divided up it may get much harder. It’s a pretty uncertain time.
Advice For Anyone Wanting To Start Their Own Label
You need to love the music beyond all reason or it’s a terrible idea to start a label. Even if you do I wouldn’t recommend it.
The landscape may change in the future and circumstances may become friendlier, but it’s always going to be really hard, under-appreciated, underpaid work. If you’re crazy like us you’ll do it anyway and if you stick with it long enough one day you’ll put out a record that justifies it all. At least to yourself.
What’s On For The Rest Of 2015?
So much Latin music – seriously. Two albums of it in the next six months. Funk 45s from The Putbacks, The Meltdown and The Cactus Channel and a really exciting collaboration project for Emma Donovan. We’re also launching an imprint curated and run by the guys from The Cactus Channel for all their bizarro electronica and weird indy music. Stay tuned for tunes.
