LIVEWIRE RECORDS

Back From the Dead

Memories of Tomorrow....

Posted about 1 year ago

After a very long hiatus during which Livewire Records pretty much consisted of a back-catalog available through Merchnow and a message board, I am proud to say that the label is back in the business of releasing records—and more. While in past years Livewire has attempted to operate as a full-fledged record label, releasing CDs, sending out elaborate promo packages, press-kits, and assorted effluvium, I have decided while that stuff might be great for business and certainly has it’s place, it really has nothing to do with why I ever wanted to run a record label. I started this thing out of a love for hardcore/punk music and for every thing that comes with it. As much as the “productizing” of punk music can be argued to be the antithesis of what punk is about, I have always loved the “stuff” part of underground music almost as much as the music. In other words, when I was handed the 4th. generation copy of Suicidal Tendencies debut album (the album that got me into hardcore) I was hooked for life. But it wasn’t until a few weeks later, when I picked up the LP itself did I truly feel the full impact of the release. The power of the photography, the design (that Suicidal logo still crushes me to this day) and vinyl itself was just too cool. I knew I had something special and I cherished the thing.

My point?

In this latest incarnation of Livewire Records I am trimming the fat, getting rid of everything I never liked about doing the label. To start, I am pretty much eliminating the CD format from production. While CDs had there time and place, for Livewire, it is a dead format. Jewel boxes always annoyed the hell out of me, digipacks were a great alternative but far too expensive, but mostly, I just hate how disposable and replaceable they are. Unless a CD has some incredible packaging (which some admittedly do, the latest Tool record being a good example) they just never felt special to me. Also, it always killed me how fucking small the cover art always had to be. Anyway, no more CDs. For now, Livewire is a vinyl only company.

Beyond the format issue I am very eager for Livewire to become just as much about music as it is about art and design. This means that you will see a lot more original illustrations and visual experiments than ever before. We are extremely interested in exposing people to artists both visual and otherwise who might otherwise have gone unnoticed for years to come (or maybe never). So, let this news update serve as an open call to send any and all samples of your art. If we like it, chances are we will contact you and do everything we can to expose your work and name; whether for a t-shirt illustration, album cover or whatever. We want to see your stuff and we want it seen.

Also….one thing you can say about this label is that it has never really been “hip”. I have always just released music that I liked and didn’t really try to mold a certain Livewire sound based on the bands on the label having a consistent sound. Again, from a business perspective this probably wasn’t the best way to approach things. Inconsistency never really does much but breed uncertainty or (worse yet) apathy. Well guess what… I’m still only going to release music I like. Because of my decision to do short vinyl runs and not waste money on advertising and other expensive promotional tools I am budgeted to release records that could very likely barely sell out of their first press. This allows me to work with bands who might not be in the position to tour their records or might not even be able to play regularly. If I feel that they have produced something worth of reproduction and packaging, I am going to release it, no matter how big or small the demand for said product may be.

Since we’re talking about products, lets talk about merchandise. Jesus Christ do I love t-shirts. Beyond the records themselves, nothing gets me more psyched than a sick t-shirt. We will definitely continue to produce shirts, etc. for bands but in far less quantities than before. I never want a shirt to feel like a stock shirt that you can get anywhere. Shirts will be made in small runs and possibly only printed once or twice before said design is retired. If you want it, get it… chances are it won’t be coming back.

So yo… a lot more news come very soon. For now, keep checking back and we’ll do our best to keep you up to date. Thanks for reading! —xxx