holiday records

holiday records interview

imsomnia seems to be a very persistent companion the last couple of days (yesterday i had to download an app to my itouch with those soothing rain noises so i could fall asleep – and indeed, after a few minutes thinking 'this ain't gonna work, i can't get out of my head that this sounds aren't real', i slept). today, when i realized i wouldn't get to sleep without a fight, i simply got up, picked my computer and well, here i am.

i prepared a pretty awesome post tonight... it's another interview. but not to get an insight on a band or artist. today our chat is with jacob, one of the heads behind holiday records. i don't have to say that the label is an unquestionable favorite of mine and -consequently – of the blog. several posts here are dedicated for their releases. In our music review of 2009, victory xviii album came in #7 on the top albums list and among the 20 singles, 4 were from holiday records (young michelin having the best single of the year and best song with 'je suis fatigue').
the concept of releasing a free single every friday of an unknown band or artist is simply beautiful. add to that an exquisite selection of artists and you have pretty much the perfect place to find a weekly dose of good music.

(after the interview you won't find a song to download, as usual. it would be too hard to pick a song or two to post here. so go to their page and download all their catalogue. get everything. you won't regret it.)

ok, i'll let jacob tell you the rest...


01. first things first... tell us about the origins of the label... how the idea of creating holiday came up?
the label started last spring and i think we decided to start it just because we'd always wanted to have a record label and we knew of a lot of bands we liked that no one was hearing. when i saw that photo of joanna feeding a squirrel, i knew exactly what we needed to do. it was a revelation.

02. who's behind holiday records?
it's me (jacob, i'm in two bands; the drums and horse shoes) my little brother caleb (bonfire kids) and justin & joanna (both in church library).

03. all the music holiday distribute is free. talk about that and your views on music distribution nowadays.
well, contrary to what some may think, we don't think all music should be given away for free. we do it because we think it's a fun little treat to brighten everyone's week, but we mostly do it because when we started the label we didn't have any money to make physical releases (still don't!) but we hope to someday.

04. how the artists featured on the label are selected?
it started as mostly friends of ours who had bands, then when we ran out of friends (pretty quickly) we went looking for bands. started asking bands that we liked if they'd like to be a part of it. most said yes, some said no. these days we get some demos in our e-mail and sometimes that works out.

05. how the records are 'made'? i mean, the artists send you the final material and you publish them or there's some sort of collaboration, whether to select tracks and/or create the artworks?
the artists send us final tracks, we aren't involved in the creation of the music at all... sometimes we help out with mastering if need be. we usually tell our artists what songs we love and there's sometimes a back and forth conversation.
we do all the artwork these days. when we first started the label last year we would ask artists if they had anything in mind for artwork. we stopped doing that though. sometimes it would work out great if an artist did their own artwork, but every once in a while we weren't completely happy with art work and an artist was instant. so rather than look back with some regret about a release we've just changed our policy to doing all art ourselves, just so the label has a more cohesive feel.

06. holiday started less than a year ago (correct me if i'm wrong) and in a short period of time gained a cult status and faithful followers. i mean, if we take a look on blogs and music websites it's not hard to see that holiday was one of the highlights of last year. how do you feel about that?

it's very encouraging. it's wonderful to know that if you really believe in something and work hard at it people will believe in you too.
holiday records is all about doing something you love, and something that is quality, without the thought of having to make money as a factor. the only thing that effects what we do is our own personal taste.

07. what's next for the label? what can we expect for 2010?
as always, more brand new music from the darkest corners of the globe but also new releases from the amazing artist we've worked with already. we want to shine a bright light everywhere it's needed. and as soon as we're able to, some beautiful vinyl releases.

08. a word of advice for those - myself included - that feel like starting their own holiday records?
the only real advise i can give is to only do something you are truly passionate about, keep it as small and close to your heart as you can or it will become watered down and meaningless. and always do your best!

09. recommend something you've been listening lately...
hmmm... why is that question so hard? i can honestly say that the only new music i've been listening to lately is palms on fire and the notes.

10. anything else you feel like saying?
i usually pass on these things, because i never know what to say and i feel stupid. but i think i will say that i feel as though we're living in very exciting times and i don't know why but music has become new and interesting and songs are beginning to flow again like the did in the old days and i think anyone that wants to be a part of the gang should climb up on the hay ride!

site
myspace