Tell me about growing up in Tucson, AZ before relocating to Raleigh, NC. What led to this move for you and the label? What was your childhood like? When did you first begin to fall in love with music? Were these things that were relevant around your household growing up? Do you have any siblings?
Fort Lowell Records was born in Tucson, Arizona in December 2009, however I personally grew up in Jacksonville, Florida during the 1980s and 1990s. The majority of my youth was focused around soccer — which I started playing in 1979, as well as skateboarding — which I first took to in 1981. During those times, Thrasher Magazine and Powell Peralta skate videos were pretty much what introduced me to new music: hip-hop, metal, and punk. Music was more of a soundtrack delivered via cassette tapes played through a portable boombox used to keep the energy up for our skateboard sessions, wherever they may be held: backyard half-pipes, launch ramps in the middle of the street, behind a grocery store, abandoned buildings, at the local school, etc.. My brother and I shared the same interests, bonding over music from Iron Maiden to Motorhead, and 7 Seconds to The Misfits. The first vinyl record I ever bought was Agent Orange's When You Least Expect It EP around 1984, purchased solely because Vision Skateboards made an Agent Orange skateboard deck with the same artwork and band logo; I had enough money for the record, but not the skate deck.
Meanwhile, my sister was part of a school dance group. At the time I had no idea that their performances used (a lot of) New Order's music, until about 1988 when I became a big fan of New Order myself and then realized I had been hearing their music from my sister for the past few years. Not to mention, solely as a fan of the movie itself she also played the heck out of the Pretty In Pink soundtrack prior to my own acknowledgment of its greatness and the future-favorite bands of mine on that album. 1987 was when I truly first fell in love with music, in the way I am still in love with music today. Echo & The Bunnymen had just released their self-titled album; their last studio recording with drummer Pete de Freitas. A good friend of mine at the time was a guy named Mike Gibbs, who I played soccer with. We never spoke about music ever, barely even spoke about skateboarding; I think he tried it once. One day Mike randomly walked up to me in Shop Class, handed me a copy of that Echo & The Bunnymen album on compact disc, and said, "My Mom just bought this album, and we've been listening to it in the car every day for the past few weeks on our way to school. I thought you would like it, so she said I could let you borrow it to check it out."
My life with music started in that very moment. I fell in love not only with that album and Echo & The Bunnymen as a band, but I fell in love with the idea of music, becoming a musician, and living a life full of music in every way possible. I knew I wanted to be involved in the music industry from the moment I heard that album. I knew I wanted to do something — make albums / records — to possibly move someone else in the same way Echo & The Bunnymen had moved me in that very moment. Unfortunately Mike is no longer with us, but there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about how his simple gesture affected my life. I will always be grateful for him and his Mom, and forever cherish his serendipitous act of kindness in middle school. Fast forward to North Carolina; it was in 1993 when my then-bandmate / now-wife Tracy Shedd and I first visited our now-home state. Immediately we knew we wanted to move to North Carolina, but it ended up taking twenty-years to make that happen, mainly because we decided try out some other areas — such as Boston, Massachusetts and Tucson, Arizona — before finally making the commitment. Finally, on our 2011 US Tour for Tracy Shedd after playing a show at Slim's in Raleigh, NC with friends Schooner and Miami Jetski, we made the decision together to take the plunge. It took two years for the planning and logistics, but in 2013 I took a job as the General Manager of The Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina and we moved from Arizona to NC. Five years later we would make one last transition, in-state this time, down to the coastal city of Wilmington, NC — which is where we now call home, and where Fort Lowell Records resides. Being kids from Florida, living by the water just made more sense to us. Wilmington has truly become our home, and we are doing everything to nurture its soil, and establish our own deep roots for a long lasting, music-filled future.
What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years? When and where did you see your very first concert? When did you realize you wanted to spend your life pursuing music? Have you participated in groups yourself?
The first rock-n-roll concert I can remember going to was The Beach Boys in 1985 at Metro Park in Jacksonville, Florida with my Mother; that was one of her favorite bands, along with Chuck Berry. Then, about five years later I bought the first concert ticket of my own to see fIREHOSE at the legendary music venue Einstein A Go-Go in Jacksonville Beach, FL — because all skateboarders back then were fans of fIREHOSE, after seeing Natas Kaupas in the 1989 Santa Cruz Streets of Fire video skating to their song "Brave Captain" and delivering his infamous fire hydrant trick. Einstein A Go-Go is as important to my story as receiving that Echo & The Bunnymen CD in Shop Class. Anyone who grew up in or around Jacksonville, Florida during the 1980s or 1990s and is now involved in the music industry will tell you more-or-less the same thing: Einstein A Go-Go shaped me, in almost every way. It was home to my very own inaugural live performance in 1991 with the first band I was in, Tumbleweed; documented here on VHS Tape by my friend Jamie Newell (that's me singing, playing guitar, in the paper chef's hat; don't ask). It was where I saw Primus the next year on their first US Tour, and The Cranberries on their first tour state-side one year later. It was where I bought some of my most prized Echo & The Bunnymen rare vinyl records, my first Mudhoney t-shirt, and the New Order subway station poster that hung in my bedroom during high school and first few apartments to follow. It was where I learned to dance to shoegaze music, smoke my first clove cigarette, and make-out with a girl on the beach at night.
Einstein A Go-Go is where Tracy and I cut our teeth as musicians with our first band together, Sella. It is where we learned everything about being a live band: how to book shows, how to promote yourself, how to perform on stage, how to engage with the audience, how to build a fanbase, how to work through mistakes, how to continue improving your craft, how to support your peers, how to be a part of a scene, etc. It was an all-age music venue located in Jacksonville Beach, Florida that hosted dance nights and live concerts, plus had a record store attached on the side. All of our earliest influences were being hand-fed to all of us by the Faircloth Family, owners of Einstein A Go-Go, and the various DJs who occupied the booth during its existence. I personally did not start going there until the 1990s, but I remember my brother talking about sneaking out his bedroom window to go there many years before. Einsteins was equally as influential to our Floridian community in the 1980s, and provided a stage for some of our favorite artists in their early years like 10,000 Maniacs, Jane's Addiction, The Replacements, Sonic Youth; too many to name.
How did the label initially come to be and how did you guys meet each other? What was the overall vision and dream for the label? You guys have released some great works by the likes of Neon Belly, Death Kit, Andrew Collberg, Kim Ware, Tracy Shedd and La Cerca. What have been some of the most fun you’ve had working on projects and why?
I met my wife, Tracy, for the first time in January 1993. She was auditioning for a band called Sella that I was putting together with my friend Steven Haley. At the end of the audition, I told Steven, "I am going to marry her someday" (which I did on June 1, 2000). After Sella disbanded a few years later, Steven and I started a duet called Audio Explorations. Tracy began to work on music of her own under the name Aerial, then Tiny Dynamite, and finally her maiden name Tracy Shedd. For the years that followed, both Tracy Shedd and Audio Explorations were very fortunate to receive the support of various record labels such as Teen-Beat, Eskimo Kiss Records (run by Kim Ware), New Granada Records, and Devil In The Woods. We moved to Tucson, Arizona in 2006, and immediately fell in love with the music scene and community in general. This was during that odd time in the music industry when Compact Discs were beginning to lose their luster (for some people) and the idea of Digital Music was just starting to become a household consideration; however, online streaming was not quite there yet (as we know it today). New bands trying to break into the scene (any scene) were now making their music available exclusively as a free download on MySpace, just to ensure people would listen to it.
Up to that point, our own personal experience with music was to make it available on a physical medium for people to buy, and they would; assuming it was something the listener liked (whatever the genre). We did not understand the idea of giving one's music away for free. So, we decided to put our money where our mouth was, start a record label, and promote / release music for artists that we liked — providing the same 'label support' we had received ourselves for the past decade. We immediately sold our 1976 Yellow CJ5 Jeep (with a 4" Lift Kit) to fund the first few projects for Fort Lowell Records; I still remember standing beside it just before we put it on the market as I called Zach Toporek from Young Mothers to talk to him about being the first artist. We lived in the Fort Lowell neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona at the time, so the name was obvious to us from the start. It provided an indigenous element, which we wanted, as our original vision for the label was to only work with artists from Tucson AZ. The other original idea was to only release 7inch singles; in the early years we were basically just trying to be the Sarah Records of the Southwest USA. That all went out the window a few years later when we succumbed to the idea of full length albums, driven by the request of the bands we were working with at the time, as well as the fact that we ended up moving to North Carolina.
Now, our vision is simple: to release great music that we love; glad to see you (Primitive Man Soundz) agree about the "great" part — thanks! For the most part, everything we release (and have released) is by a friend of ours; and if not a direct friend — a friend-of-a-friend. Ultimately, this is what makes every release "fun": hearing the joy in the voice of someone you care about when they get to hear their own music on vinyl, or hold that twelve inch jacket in their hands for the first time. For me, it is one of the greatest pleasures in life. And to share that experience with my friends keeps me going. For us, our This Water is Life project might be one of the most special things we've worked on. It is a self-sustained and ongoing series of split EPs with two express purposes: to highlight new hip-hop and indie rock music from Southeastern North Carolina together one one record, as well as to provide a platform for local non-profits Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group to deliver up-to-date authoritative reports on the health of the Cape Fear River Basin for both human beings and wildlife. There are a lot of terrible things happening here with our water supply, and people need to know more about it. This project provides the local subject matter experts an opportunity to help educate our community with what's going on. We have released two volumes so far, and are in the middle of working on the third and forth as we speak. In addition to the environmental importance of the project, North Carolina hip-hop and indie rock have always been favorites of ours so it’s wonderful to be able to include Wilmington artists of both genres together on one release; hip-hop on Side-A, and indie rock on Side-B.
What elements are most important to you when running a label and what exactly does it take to run FLR during these times? What have you been working on currently? Any new projects, or things you’d like to share for the spring/summer?
Talent, trust, and respect are most important to both Tracy and me for Fort Lowell Records, as well as vinyl (of course). If we do not like the music — correction, if we are not the biggest fans of what we are considering releasing — then unfortunately there is nothing we can do for an artist. This is a characteristic everyone should look for with any partnership they encounter, let alone working with a record label to release someone's music. Without our absolute love for the music, there is no way we could do what we do for our artists, or our label in general. For us, trust and respect are an essential part of any relationship, and this is no different with business. Fortunately, we have a lot of talented friends, so we chose to focus Fort Lowell Records' efforts on helping people who we already have trusting, respectful relationships with. This is something we learned from Mark Robinson at Teen-Beat early on in our own music career with Tracy Shedd, and came to further understand as our careers progressed. It keeps things low risk and a lot more fun, as well as rewarding. Lastly: vinyl. Vinyl is final. As stated before, there is simply nothing like hearing your music on wax, or holding your own physical record in your hands. In the end (for us), that is what we are doing all of this for: to get music that we love on vinyl, so we can put the record on the shelf of our own personal collection at home, as well as drop the needle on the record when we want to hear the music — which includes at our various DJ Nights around Wilmington, North Carolina.
Some new releases on the horizon that we are very excited about (in no particular order of release date or favorites):
- Tracy Shedd has a tasty new song titled "Let It Ride" with an infectious groove coming out soon as a digital single. It is the very first song we recorded on our new-to-us 1980's 16-Track 1-Inch tape machine (analog, baby), and also features Andrew Gardner from La Cerca delivering a sweet lead guitar part; recorded as an impromptu session while visiting us here in Wilmington NC on a US Tour for his ambient album A Nice Sweet Getaway (an album fans of Brian Eno or Cocteau Twins should definitely check out).
- Local Wilmington NC indie rock legend James Sardone has his debut EP titled Colors coming out July 21st. It includes remixes by Pitchfork's favorite De La Noche. The hit song on the EP "Colors of Your Brain" sounds like it could have come straight out of the recording sessions of New Order's Power, Corruption, and Lies. I can't wait to DJ this wax at one of our local Let's Dance DJ Nights. People may remember Sardone from his 1990's band Brickbat, who used to tour with Jawbox, The Jesus Lizard, and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
- For all of you shoegazers out there... Mark my words when I say "Doggy Daycare." Their sick new mind melting digital single "(forgetting) sarah marshall" drops July 28th. Think Swervedriver meets Feeble Little Horse meets Starflyer 59 meets Dinosaur Jr., and they all go largemouth bass fishing together here in Southeastern North Carolina on the Cape Fear River, which by the way has been polluted by The Chemours Company (assholes; Chemours, not the bands); see This Water is Life above.
ADDITIONAL RELEASES COMING:
- La Cerca [Digital Single]
- Soda Sun [Digital Single]
- Summer Set - Members of De La Noche [Vinyl LP]
- Naïm Amor [Vinyl LP]
- Jon Rauhouse & Blaine Long [Vinyl LP]
- Blab School - Debut Album [Vinyl LP]
- Common Thread Fountain - 30-Year Anniversary [Vinyl LP]
- Forest Fallows - Members of Mute Swan [Vinyl LP]
- Female Gaze [Vinyl LP]
- Red Dwarf Star - Members of Maserati and Failure [Vinyl LP]
- Kicking Bird - Sophomore Album [Vinyl LP]
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
"Thank you!" for your interest in Fort Lowell Records, and reading this interview to learn more about what we are doing. As a gift, I would like to introduce you to a very special album titled ambient music by our own artist infinitikiss from Albuquerque, New Mexico. We released this album just a few months ago, and with all due respect to everything we have ever released, I have to be honest in saying this album quite possibly may be one of the most important projects we have been involved with. Infinitikiss ambient music grew out of artist Nic Jenkin's own slow-growing interest in sound healing, vibrational therapy, and learning about chakra / energy systems, which helped him realize (and illuminate) that a collection of sounds from live improvisations which were recorded to cassette tapes, originally to serve as backing tracks for live solo performances, could actually be its own album. The song titles reflect the moods and colors (aka spectral wave) of the blending and bending of colors in a rainbow (ROYGBIV), as well as to the energy fields of our bodies; corresponding to the “roygbiv” sequence and play with imagery of said colors. In our opinion, every human being in the world deserves to know about infinitikiss' album ambient music and have the opportunity to experience it, which is why it is our gift to recommend Jenkin's masterpiece to you, so you too can benefit from its existence in the world as much as we already have.
