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 in in 1992, Chapter Music is one of this Australia’s most loved and longest running independent labels. Turning 23 this year the label has been responsible for signing and releasing a huge array of local and international underground talent including Crayon Fields (who just released their brand new single), Dick Diver, The Twerps, Clag, Beaches, Laura Jean and so many more.

We caught up with one half of Chapter music Guy Blackman who runs the label with Ben O’Connor to chat about the ins and outs of running of of Australia’s most loved and iconic record labels. For more info on Chapter visit www.chaptermusic.com. Header image credit: Ben Montero.

The Birth Of Chapter

“Chapter Music started in 1992 when I was 17 years old, living with my mum in outer-suburban Perth. I’d started doing a fanzine in 1990 called Chapter 24, dedicated to my hero Syd Barrett, the first singer of Pink Floyd (the zine was named after a song off the first Pink Floyd album).

I did three issues, each of them 10 photocopies pages of Syd-related stuff, alongside record reviews, band interviews, and some poetry! With the fourth issue, inspired by a few local examples, I decided I wanted to do a compilation cassette of Perth bands. In the end the zine never came out, but the tape came out in June 1992 (a month before my 18th birthday).

It wasn’t even really on Chapter Music, I wasn’t initially planning on doing a label until people responded so well to the first tape. It was just “A Chapter 24 compilation” and the label name came with the next release, a Sonic Youth tribute compilation tape in 1993. I’ve never really liked the label name, it’s so anonymous, but I couldn’t call the label Chapter 24 cause there was a label at the time called Chapter 22… So I shortened it to Chapter and have been stuck with it ever since!”

First Ever Release

“The tape was called Bright Lights, Small City, because apparently astronauts could see Perth from space because of all the lights burning away. It was a bunch of Perth bands playing lo-fi pop, with some Manchester-ish and shoegaze-y sounds thrown in because it was the early 90s.

[include_post id=”444751″]There aren’t too many names on there that anyone would remember 23 years later, but a bunch of people who were key figures in Perth DIY indie rock at the time – Mustang!, Yummy Fur, Benji. I did about 200 copies, photocopied the covers and typed out the labels that we stuck on the cassettes. A lot of it was recorded at a local studio called Initiation, who did it for free just to be involved, which was amazing.

I also recorded a few bands on my own shitty 4 track tape recorder, and those are definitely the worst-sounding things on the comp. To get it made, I borrowed money from Perth community radio station RTR FM, where I was doing shows at the time. In hindsight I can’t believe they lent a 17 year old kid $400 to put out a cassette. We paid them back from money made on the night of the launch, and they funded the next tape too – thanks RTR, Chapter wouldn’t be here without you!”

Prior To Chapter

“I was a musician but I had never played a gig or been in a band at that stage. There are a couple of my own home-recorded things on the first tape, but they’re pretty embarrassing now!

I was doing radio at RTR FM, and had been doing my fanzine, but I didn’t play live until the launch of the Sonic Youth tribute tape Kill Yr Idols in April 93. That was the debut of my band Sulk, who had a song on the tape. Sulk were around till 95 when I moved to Melbourne, and met my partner Ben, who has been running the label with me ever since.”

Label Inspirations

“My first inspirations were Australian labels like Summershine, Toytown and From the Same Mother and overseas examples like Creation Records, Flying Nun and K Records (who did a lot of cassette in their early days). Since then other labels that have been really influential are Folkways, Teenbeat, Kill Rock Stars, Shrimper. These days we’re excited about the new wave of Australian DIY labels like Cool Death, Future Archaic, Ruff Records, Home Loan and others.”

Main Lessons Learnt

“There’s no money in rock’n’roll. If you want to live comfortably, be an accountant or an engineer or something. The main thing we’ve learned, though, is just don’t give up, cause if you want something enough you gotta stick at, and eventually people will start to pay attention.”

Proudest Moments

“Making it to 20 years, all the Chapterfest shows we’ve done, and seeing Twerps play Primavera Festival in Barcelona in front of what looked like 10,000 people!”

Favourite Chapter Releases

“We love them all the same! Doing our first ever double LP, the 20 Big Ones compilation for Chapter’s 20th anniversary in 2012, was a proud moment.

Selfishly, I have a special place in my heart for the compilations, cause we mostly curate them ourselves, like the Can’t Stop It! comps of late 70s/early 80s Australian post-punk, or Strong Love, a compilation of pioneering 70s gay liberation songwriters.”

The Future Of Niche Labels

“I think it’s better than for bigger labels! Small labels are more flexible and have their ears to the ground. They put out the records that last, so even if they don’t sell huge numbers at first, people will keep coming back to their releases.”

The Rest Of 2015

“We’ve got the new Crayon Fields album in September, their first since 2009, plus singles from a bunch of bands we’re just starting to work with that we can’t really talk about just yet.”

Ben and Guy will be speaking at Bigsound 2015, more info here

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