Get Outta Town Records is a single man operation run out of my apartment in Orlando, Fl. I have been running the label for about three years and in that time done 16 releases. The label, coupled with my mastering studio, is the only jobs I have on a day to day basis. With the recent decline in people buying music, it gets tougher and tougher to run the label as a self sustaining business, but I guess I will just keep doing that until it no longer can work. I really take little to no money out of the label for living expenses and just try and keep things rolling to get cool releases out.
Each day, I get up around 8:00AM and begin by checking my emails and replying to everyone that is on a different time zone than I am. I get enough emails in a day to make answering them nearly a full time job in itself. I try and get the bulk of my responding and contacting done in the morning to free up the rest of the day for promotion or whatever the day needs. Today, I had to work on artwork for an upcoming Kid Dynamite Tribute release I am doing with Black Numbers Records. I really have no digital graphics skill, but I am forced to handle everything I can in doing a small label, so I push my skill to its limits. I usually do the mastering on my releases, so I usually send out files that need approval by the bands in the morning as well.
Once the emails are cleared out, I start seeing what I need to do either for an upcoming release or for a form of promotion. I utilize a lot of free promotion on message boards and submit-able online news sites where I can. Most of the print ads I design myself, so sometimes this time in the day is dedicated to working on that. Usually, a written out promotional update is what I work on and make sure it gets posted pretty much everywhere I can think to put it. Every few that I post, I go back through and bump the previous ones to make sure people get to see them. Luckily, there are sites like HOWSYOUREDGE and PASTEPUNK that people will post your news up because they are just kind enough to want to help. I also try and think of cool stuff I can promote or push through my distributor, RevHQ. They are the nicest and most helpful people I’ve ever met. They really go out of their way to help smaller labels and to make sure you’re happy with what is going on. I can be certain that they have a lot of larger labels then Get Outta Town Records that send them more emails then I do, but they always get back to anything I write them almost immediately and are always interested in doing fun pushes on records.
If I haven’t got promotion to do, I am usually working on something for a new release. I recently had to track down all of the members I could from Violent Children so that I could ask them about a re-issue that I had the idea of doing. Not an easy task to find some of these guys. Anytime I get a release idea, I write it down in my smartphone and try and think of the feasibility of what my idea is. I like making the releases a little different. I like to include something extra in the vinyl releases, like the Kill Your Idols box set that includes five 7″s, a booklet, 6.5″ x 6.5″ two color screened poster, sticker, pin and patch, or the insert that is a full color poster for Attitude.
There is a good amount of thought that goes into that stuff, as well as personal care. I designed the poster for the Attitude LP’s, though I have my aforementioned limited graphics skill, and I screen printed the posters, patches, stickers and put the whole box together for the Kill Your Idols release. With CDs it is more difficult because of the limited space and the releases being shrink-wrapped when they get to me. I try to do some cool artwork with them or maybe include some cool tracks or something. I can certainly say that I don’t put out any records that I don’t like. Many labels will go on band hype or doing something they think will really sell just because it will really sell, but I only work with bands that put out records that I would buy. While I run a business, I always thought that was what defined hardcore were people doing things because they wanted to and not because of “members of” or whatever else. Seems to sometimes be going the opposite way and great bands get overlooked while others get recognition for little effort.
By this time in the day, my roommate is usually getting off of work and, lately, we’ve been playing racquetball a bunch. Fun game if you haven’t played. When we get back from that, I check my emails again and answer as many as I have. I make myself dinner, watch a few episodes of MacGyver off of my DVD collections, and then go to bed with my cats to get up the next day and do it again. Some may say I have a glamorous life, even, the most glamorous. I say to this, yes, I do.
Thanks for reading about what I do with my label and if you have any questions on how to start a label on your own, please get in touch with me. Too few kids are putting out records these days. Buy music from bands and labels and support your local scene. Thank you for your support.
http://www.getouttatownrecords.com
http://www.myspace.com/getouttatownrecords
http://www.enemyink.com
http://www.myspace.com/noharmdonefl — my band
-Charles / Get Outta Town Records
Sweet. Charles is a dude. Support!
PS. All photos by Charles on his “crappy cellphone.” LOL!