OndaLabel #2

It was not just the perseverance into publishing, across its 4 years of life, a collection of great bands' debuts, to make Captured Tracks  one of the most important indie labels in the world. It is also its wonderful and unique taste in combining ethic and aesthetic according to an old-fashioned vision. A passion that gathers a modernized version of DIY culture and attention to detail, and gives birth to products that melts up with the imaginary, the music of the bands. This added value makes each CT release something unique and important in the independent scene.

Thanks to this attitude, the Brooklyn-based label has been supporting the music that loves and has managed to collect a huge catalogue of acts across the most different genres: dream pop, post punk, lo-fi, flirting with shitgaze and moan wave and coming to focus itself on minimal wave and electronic stuff too.

Captured Tracks was founded in 2008 by Mike Sniper. Its first releases were two 12", one by Dum Dum Girls  and one by Blank Dogs (Mike Sniper's project). These ones marked the beginning to an endless production of 7" of bands that, afterwards, moved to other labels and scenes (Fresh & Onlys, Cosmetics, Veronica Falls, Led Er Est etc.).
After the sophomores of Wild NothingandSoft Moon, the astonishing debuts of Holograms, Heavenly Beat, DIIV, Mac DeMarco and Cris Cohen and on the base of the pre-announced coming soon Lps (by Blouse, Thieves Like Us, Soft Metals, Beach Fossils, Widowspeak, Minks, Craft Spells etc.), we have decided to meet Mike and talk about his artistic interests and what an independent label in 2012 should be.

Hi Mike! What has changed in Captured Tracks from 2009 to nowadays?
A ton, really. In 2009 we did one off singles and EP's, didn't have a set roster and a floating office/staff. Things really became constant when Katie Garcia became the label manager and we signed Beach Fossils, Wild Nothing and The Soft Moon. Securing a roster early on really helped establish us and we were able to grow with those bands so we could keep them, rather than having them jump ship to a bigger label. Now we're approaching the size of those bigger labels. Pretty crazy. 

How did you meet and choose the people who work with you? from what scenes and experiences do they come from?
I'm happy to say that our current staff is 100% made up of former interns. Although they all have strong work ethics and are easy to work with and have a good sense of humor, they're all passionate aboutthe music we release. I know some labels who have employees who aren't really fans of the bands they work with, and that just seems strange. I'd say that at one point or another, everyone at the office was into punk.

In which way are you involved in the creative process? Do you like to be in the studio with the artist/band or give him/them some suggestions or do you prefer to listen to the final product?
When we decide to work with a band, we have full confidence that they're going to deliver the goods. I get involved in the creative process when a band asks, and sometimes they heed my advice and sometimes they don't. We wouldn't release anything we weren't fully confident in, so I've asked people to go and re-record some things here and there. 

One thing that, in my opinion, Captured Tracks has managed to do, much more successfully than other bigger independent labels, is to put together and promote its "own scene" even though each of its artists maintains his own signature. Is this something you did consciously? Do you think is there a "Captured Tracks Sound"? Would you go as far as not signing a band you like but doesn't "fit" in Captured Tracks?
We're aware of the scene, and we're very much into it. It used to be more prevalent, in the 80's and 90's, it meant something to be a Creation, 4AD, Sub Pop or Touch and Go fan. It meant you were part of a community. I think some of our bigger bands go beyond that, I'm sure there's a ton of Wild Nothing fans completely unfamiliar with the label, but I believe 95% of the label's mega-fans love Wild Nothing. We've been branching out with recent signings and I think it's good. It's not for the sake of doing something different, it's to widen what it means to be a C/T fan. If a band has great songs, a great sound and a self-awareness as a band that's great, we'll sign them. I'd never want a band to cater to the C/T sound or style and I wouldn't want the label to be compartmentalized like that. The style and sound is constantly evolving and expanding. That's why it's not weird to have Holograms, Craft Spells and Mac DeMarco on the same label.

Why did you decide to focus, more than the past, in the packaging, poster and insert of your releases? Is it just an aesthetics choice or is it because you sell less than in the past, so that you need to make the releases more attractive?
We sell more than we did in the past, so that's not the reason, haha. I just want to make a connection with the consumer is a positive, physical, real way. I remember growing up with promo posters, buttons, wall posters, all being a part of a record. That's gone away and I think it's sad. It's an integral part of the record buying/fan experience. 

How do you pick a band and give them a chance to be released under Captured Tracks? I guess you have several requests.. Is it true that you won't sign any band that has already published something before with other labels? Why?
It's gotten harder and harder to be on the roster. As we've grown as a label, we realize we need the band to work as hard as we do if we're going to have success. Basically, they need to be ready to become full time musicians. There's expectations with our releases now, and we need bands to be on the road, doing 100 or more shows a year. Beyond that, I always look for songwriting. Across all of our releases there's a clear penchant for being able to write songs, not just creating interesting sounds. It's a key component to a C/T band. And yes, we get dozens and dozens of demos a week. 

We will sign a band with a small release on another label, a single an EP or even a really low-pressing amount LP that we can give wider release. But, Ideally, yeah, we put out their first release in any format. Firstly, we just think it's more exciting to work with a band from the start and develop them. It just makes it more rewarding for us. Also, the vast majority of bigger indies don't even sign new bands. They wait until they have an LP or two out. It's just too standard an operation at this point and I'm not sure it means anything in the indie world to sign to a bigger label as a means of accomplishment beyond a higher advance. If they're not finding new talent, they're no longer purveyors of taste, they're letting smaller labels test the waters and seeing if its a financial opportunity for them as a label, which is how a major operates. I don't get it.

You started by releasing a lot of seven inches in the early years, have you got a crush for this pop-format, like much of the 80s uk labels that rejected the publication of their single under a commercial 12 inches?
I love the format, but we've had to scale back as the production costs keep going up but no one wants to pay more than $5-$6 for two songs. I have a huge 7" collection. HUGE. 

In a recent post on your tumblr page you discussed about the actual role of indie labels in the recent years. You expressed a strong point of view about the lack of true research of new talents and creative ways. Can you comment on that?
Yeah, I kind of touched on that before, it's pretty sad. I don't understand what the role of an A&R person is at a label if they wait for Pitchfork or someone to start a ton of coverage on a band prior to being interested, or waiting for a smaller label to release a record that gets an unexpected Best New Music and then pay a fortune for that bands next 3-4 albums. It's crazy. Honestly, a label can do whatever it wants, but why pretend to do A&R when your website clearly states "we don't accept demos" and you haven't signed an artist with no prior LP releases in years. It's fine to do that once in a while, but there's labels who's entire rosters are made up of that, which I just can't understand. You're supposed to take risks in independent music. That's the whole point.

Do you think that the ethics and the creativity behind historical indie labels such as Factory records has been lost ?
No, not at all. There's still labels like Sacred Bones, Underwater Peoples, Night People, Woodsist and In The Red. Hopefully they all continue to grow, and they do so by looking outside the mainstream indie media for their artists. 

Your musical project and label came out parallelly to new wave o weird\shitgaze\lo - fi bands and projects: labels like factums, psychedelic horseshit and woodsist, sacred bones. Do you think there was an expressive need, a new artistic vision these acts represent? On the other hand, are they just a pure creative consequence\following of '80s wave and '90s indie scenes?
I think a lot of that started in the mid-00's when you had garage punk people getting into psychedelic and synth music, post-punk. It was something in reaction to straightforward indie-pop, noise rock and the last breaths of math rock, which was really dominating everything at the time. There was a really cool heyday there for a while that promptly got chewed up and spat out a bunch of compromised bands or people who cashed in on a very minor "craze." 

Why did you decide to start the "Shoegaze Archives"? Was it a response to the wave of '70s\'80s reissues that are overwhelming the current scene? Why do you focus especially on american acts? What are their peculiarities? Which would be the reissue of your dreams?
Most of that stuff was never released on vinyl since it was released in the early 90's, when they were almost totally phased out. I was going to shows as a teenager when that stuff was around, so it's nostalgic for me and I still like the music and I think it's relevant. We mostly do US bands because all the UK/EU bands were on majors and it's hard to get the rights. I can't talk about my dream reissues because I'm working on them. 

How would you describe the path that led you from the very first tape recordings to "land and fixed"? your intimism and taste for melody has a major role and your compositions look like dirt synth blues…
It went from an experiment, to a vehicle for little songs to more of a compositional exercise, if that makes sense? 

The release of the last anthology "Collected by itself" represents the will to change something in your project, in its underground vision?? Before it it was very difficult to collect all your tape\7" stuff..
It's something I always meant to do and I thought I'd better before I lost all the masters. It was fun to do, fun to sequence.  

What about your projects: "mayfair set" and "Roman soldiers", is there something new coming out? or they were just two divertissements among friends?
Always toy with doing more Mayfair Set but we're both way too busy. Roman Soldiers was indeed a one-off. I enjoy collaborating and have been working for a long time on an entirely collaborative project with various people. 

Where did the dirt lo fi synth atmosphere that marked your first works come from? From which necessity and artistic vision? In which flea market did you buy your instruments?
That's just the sound of 4-track cassette recording distortion. The synths range from cheap Casio's to expensive Korg, Moog and Crumars. 

Why vocals have always a "ghost" role  in your songs? they look like whispers lost into acid emotional feedbacks..
It's just a style I enjoyed singing in. I can't quite figure out the emotional aspect of it and I try not to. 

The last line up of Blank Dogs is composed of you and vivian girls\crystal stilts components... how did these new elements influence your last compositions and your live experience?
There were probably 20-25 people altogether in Blank Dogs in one point or another. Jarvis from Woods, Gary War, Sean from Cult of Youth, Pam from Widowspeak, I mean, there was never a real lineup. And that's why the live shows were always kind of shaky and hectic. 

Is it bizarre to notice that in the USA there are 2 different synth scenes, one close to Brooklyn (NY) with you and wierd records and another in Los Angels with NotNotFun. You are more into coldwave, minimal stuff...NNF is into new age\psych stuff.
I don't really run with the coldwave/synth circle, though I do know all those people. I go to rock shows. I love those old records, though. 

And what about Slumberland Records? How is your relationship with Shulman? Is ever been a problem to share the same artist (misunderstandings and so on..)? I'm thinking about Dum Dum Girls, that release a 7" on both labels...
We've never had a conflict because he's never worked with a band I worked with previously with whom I'd agreed to do a record later. Mike's a friend. 

Why this difference among two big underground realities? how are your relationships with those artists and labels?
We're friendly with almost everyone. Of course there's differences of opinion, but that's why there's tons of options with labels and styles. 

At a your concert in Rome i bought a C60 Tape in which you had compiled coldwave\minimal\dark stuff  (sad lovers and giants, in the nursery, martin dupont, guerre froide etc)... I found it a very personal and intimate thing...It remind me of High Fidelity Movie, do you remeber?
Yeah, I remember that tape. I forget the exact track order. I'm betting it was pretty good, though!