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.
Born from a genuine love of great music, it has only taken Bedroom Suck Records less than six years to become Aussie music institution.
The unintentional tastemakers Joe Alexander and Sam McCabe have been releasing music from some of Australia’s most talented acts from across the nation including the currently ubiquitous Totally Mild, to local legends Boomgates, Blank Realm, Bitch Prefect, Terrible Truths, and so many more.
Following on from the release Totally Mild’s ‘Australian album of the year’ contender Down Time, the guys behind Bedroom Suck gearing up to unleash a slew of exciting local releases later this year.
Ahead of the upcoming ‘The Lifted Brow lunch/ Bedroom Suck Records’ party at Howler this Friday we caught up with Joe Alexander who took us behind the scenes of BSR. For more info on the label visit bedroomsuckrecords.com.
The Beginning
Bedroom Suck Records (BSR) started in Brisbane as a reaction to all the great music that was happening there at the time. There was so much good material and I couldn’t stand not sharing it with the world, so bedroom suck was born.
Our first release was a cassette tape by a band called Chanbara, which was myself and co-founder Sam McCabe. We sent it to one other local label that we really admired, but never heard back, so have pretty much been motivated by spite ever since.
Before Bedroom Suck
[include_post id=”418439″] The original BSR crew were all involved in a thing called Yard Hand together, it was essentially just a group of friends and kids studying at art school in Brisbane, we would make t-shirts, posters, whatever.
When that developed into a more musical thing, we called it Bedroom Suck. We’ve always been involved in the creative side of it, it seems that everyone who works for the label is a musician or artist.
Label Inspiration
I was definitely inspired by the wave of American independent labels happening in the early noughties – stuff like Siltbreeze, Night People, Not Not Fun. They all seemed to have such creative aspects to the label – it became this whole culture and set of visual imagery based around the music. That was really exciting.
Biggest Hurdles
Ah — money. Finding the finances to keep up with such a strong and steady output of good music like we have in Australia is definitely a tough one, but we get creative with it. Making sure your records are well stocked around the country/universe can also be tricky but I feel we are doing better with that now.
Favourite Releases
Ha, playing favourites! The following list in no way intends to exclude any other BSR artists! I always love working with Blank Realm, I feel a really special connection between that label and the band.
Dan Spencer was the first guy to suggest we should put out a vinyl record, of his band no less! I also love working with Primitive Motion, anytime I hear their records it’s like I’m back at day one, ready to spend however long it takes to work on this music.
Proudest Moments
It’s always great when you get a package or email from overseas, with someone telling you that the label has been really important to them. That is amazing. We’ve received a few happy photos of people around the world wearing their BSR t-shirts. This is a total dorky admission, but I’m a big Dick Diver fan, and it was great to see Rupe (or Al?? I get those two confused) wearing a BSR tee on stage recently.
Advice For those Wanting To Start Their Own Label
Go for it! Just get started and see what happens. If you love the music you’ll keep at it, it’s an exciting project and there’s so much to do and learn.
Ask for help! I always gravitate towards working alone, but some of our most productive times are when working with a team. It’s really useful to have a partner you can bounce ideas off, someone to point out when you’re being stupid.
The Future Of Indie/Niche Labels?
I think labels will still be very important, even though the physical mediums of music are changing pretty rapidly! Ultimately a label is about a community and a curation of music, and I think that is still important.
The Rest Of 2015 Plans…
Oooooo – time to give away some secrets! There is still a lot of great stuff to come — we’ve got a debut full-length from Circular Keys, which is very exciting, they do this totally amazing and unique electronic stuff.
Then there is of course that long-awaited Terrible Truths album we’ve been teasing with for so long, that will finally be out this year. And beyond that is still one new record that will really shake everything up, but I’ll keep that to myself for now. Let’s just say it’s a brand new album from one of our all-time favourites.
This Friday the 3rd of July Bedroom Suck and The Lifted Brow are teaming up to celebrate the launch of The Lifted Brow’s Issue #26 at Howler. Kicking off at 7:30 the night with see live performances by Free Time, Totally Mild, Empat Lima and Simona Kapitolina. For more info and tickets check out the Facebook event.
