Can you give me a summary of the history of Grave Mistake Records?
Started the label in 2002 when I lived up in Maryland. I moved to Richmond in 2003 and kept the label going. It has always been a conscious decision to keep Grave Mistake locally oriented, which is why the majority of releases are from Maryland or Virginia bands. This will be my seventh year doing the label, to date I have 30 releases with another 6 or 7 planned for the first half of this year alone. I just put out 3 7"s and a CD (Deep Sleep, Psyched to Die, and Time to Escape), and I have two more LPs (Government Warning and Wasted Time) and a handful of 7"s (Logic Problem, The Ladies, Bad Advice, Southside Stranglers, and The Ergs) due out by summer. This is by far the busiest the label has been.
How did you go about your very first release?
It was a split release with Mike Riley who does Firestarter and Toxic Pop (we have since released several more records together, including the Psyched to Die that just came out). The record was a split 7" with his band at the time, Looks Like Rain, and a band from VA called The Infamous. Mike took care of the vinyl, I made the covers at the copy shop I worked at at the time. We did 500, split down the middle. We did like 3 different colors, and i think 3 different covers. We were definitely in the "more versions = more sales" state of mind ... but it was also fun to do limited stuff, so I don't regret it. Slowly but surely I was able to sell or trade them all away... problem was both bands (who were virtually unknown anyways) had broken up by the time the record was in circulation. All in all it was a good first release, helped me learn the ropes as well as how to work around problems with doing a release. I'd say it was a good start to a seven year learning process...
So you've just put out 4 things at once. Was that a lot of work? Tell me a bit about them.
Yeah it was, pretty stressful but I've learned not to get too worked up. The main thing was getting the PTD and Deep Sleep records (and cd) ready in time for their tour. Everything fell into place, and I got help from people to get CDs made, covers done, etc etc in time. Of course since we had a deadline, that's when the problems happened. We had to reject the first test pressings for the PTD 7", which delayed the record like 3 weeks. Deep Sleep had some mixing issues with theirs and got me their recording a little later then they wanted to, so I didn't get the 7" order off til a lot later then I wanted. But thanks to Beth at United Record Pressing all of the vinyl for both releases showed up in time for their tour. We had some issues with a master CD for the Deep Sleep CD, but Dan at Mammoth Sound was able to overnight me a new master. And that was already cutting it really close but thanks to my roommate Sean and the fine people at Copycats Media, we were able to get them in about two weeks and in time for their tour. Also Mike Riley was able to print up inserts, posters, covers, and limited sleeves for these releases and that was a big help too. The Time to Escape record (the one I didn't need by a particular time) was problem free for the most part, but the art got delayed so I had records like a month before I had covers... but that didn't really matter since they aren't really an active band right now.
Now that everything is pressed up and ready, I've been spending the past three weeks (five now, as I'm finishing this interview) making sure all of my mailorders are shipped out in a timely manner, getting the new releases to distros and doing trades with other labels, and I still need to send out review copies but I hope to get to that this week. I can't figure out what is more stressful and time consuming, before the record comes out or after.... either way it's an accomplishment and definitely worth it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing it.
But anyways ... the Time to Escape 7" is sort of a posthumous release. The guitar player moved out to Portland, and they sort of dissolved their current lineup before recording which is why brandon from Government Warning/No Way Records played on the 7"... Psyched to Die is a newer band from New Jersey with members of The Ergs!, For Science, Forward to Death, Splitting Headache, and a bunch of other bands... this is their debut release and they seem to be very well received. I think Dirtnap Records will be doing their next EP which is awesome. The Deep Sleep 7" is their third, and it rules. Definitely along the lines of their last record (Manic Euphoria), a bit different from their first record but they got two new members in between those first two releases so I think that had something to do with it. Also we put all three 7"s on one CD, so that's 21 songs and that came out great too.
How do you decide whose stuff you want to put out?
Usually it's just if I really like a band and think they are good, and I like the people, I want to work with them. There isn't much to it. As I said, mostly I stick with local bands and friends bands because I'm usually more interested by that then some random band of strangers. It makes it a lot more personal, thus more rewarding.
Is there anything you've released that you're particularly proud of?
Honestly I'm proud of all of my releases. I'm really excited about all of this new stuff for 2009... the four releases that just came out and the new Wasted Time and Government Warning 12"s (also because I played on both records). My favorite releases are usually the ones where the band is excited. It's weird, some bands are really excited about putting out records and others don't get as into it. Since I'm on the "production" end of things, I'm always excited about creating a record and the whole process from recording to artwork, stuffing, mailing, etc etc. So when the band is as excited as I am then those are the releases that stick out.
What's next for Grave Mistake?
Up next is a repress of The Ladies first 7" (originally pressed on Riff Raff Records), Logic Problem "No Center" 7", Wasted Time "Futility" 12" and discography CD, Government Warning "Paranoid Mess" 12", Government Warning "Executed" 7" . Those are all due out by June. Then hopefully later this summer The Ergs! "Thrash Compactor" 7", Southside Stranglers 7", Bad Advice 7" and maybe a repress of the first Cardiac Arrest 7". Then, who knows...
Big thanks to Alex!
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