I absolutely loved doing this interview. Drive Thru records played a big part in developing my music taste to what it is now thanks to the amazing roster they once had. It is a shame that the label's popularity has diminished a bit because the label was, and i imagine is still run in a brilliant way. Richard Reines is the most professional yet down to earth label exec i ever had the fortune of dealing with, he is not exaggerating when he talks about Drive Thru being a family esque business. I have heard stories and witnessed first hand his sheer generosity and caring attitude.
He helped me and my friends out a lot when I ran bigmonsterhitslittletokyo.com and I will always remember that. Little known fact whilst we are on the subject of Drive Thru, thanks to Mine and Oliver Mcpherson who was running the site with me at the time's acclaim of the Maple State, Drive Thru actually had a meeting with them with the intention of signing them. I cant remember what happened with the potential deal but they ended up signing with the now defunct Punktastic recordings instead.I hope one day Drive Thru becomes the label it once was. They just need to stop signing bands who sound the same and they need to get that new I am The Avalanche album out soon as well. Feels like I have been waiting a lifetime for that!!! If that band was pushed they could be huge. They absolutely ooze appeal and really should be the cash cow that Drive Thru has been waiting for. Ace Enders is also massively under appreciated. Anyway here is the interview..
After Interviewing Drive Thru bands including Finch , The Early November & Allister , we thought it was finally time to talk to the man , and Women behind the mask , Richard & Stefanie Reines about the Phenomenon which is Drive Thru Records. Thanks alot to Richard and Stef for answering all the questions on this mammoth of an interview
Bigmonster: Hi, please tell us your name, and what you do in Drive Thru Records?
Richard: My name is Richard and I co-own Drive-Thru with my sister Stefanie.
Bigmonster: How Did Drive Thru get started?
Richard: We started in 1996 on the dining room table of our apartment. We had one phone line, a really old fax machine that didn't have a phone attached to it. When a call would come through and we would pick it up and it was obviously a fax, we had to unplug the line from the phone, put it in the fax machine and hit "start" as fast as we could. We caught about 50% of the faxes. The apartment was right near an airport so sometimes we couldn't hear things on the phone and we had to wait for the airplane to pass. We shared one computer, a Mac classic with a 4 inch black and white screen, so we couldn't both work at the same time. One person would use the phone, and one would use the computer and we would have to switch off. It was hard, but fun.
Bigmonster: How much initial capital did you invest in starting out?
Richard: We used Stefanie's credit card with a $1,500 limit. Then we worked temporary and part time jobs to help fund everything. We also didn't pay back our student loans on time, which ruined our credit to this day.
Bigmonster: what advice would you give to someone else starting an independent record label?
Richard: Only sign bands you love. Chasing after a trend, buying into hype, etc., is going to be the downfall of your label. You can never predict what a band is going to sell and how people are going to react to them. If you love what you are putting out and don't spend money like crazy, you will be happy.
Bigmonster: Who has been your favourite band of all time on the labels roster?
Richard: That's kind of a hard question. I have gone through phases when I'm in love with one band or one album or seeing a certain band live because I love their show. It changes a lot. I love all of our bands or else we wouldn't sign them. I do have to say that the RxBandits are one of the best bands to see live. They always blow me away.
Bigmonster: What is the current status of Drive Thru and what are you going to do when the Geffen contract expires?
Richard: We signed that deal almost 5 years ago and we can't wait for it to end. We signed it when we were dirt poor, almost went bankrupt, couldn't get our CDs in many stores, couldn't afford tour support, couldn't even afford to make posters for most of the bands. They definitely helped us out with a little money and distribution.
We are trying to decide what to do next. We have offers from every major label, indie labels, indie distributors, and of course Geffen. We want to do what's best for our label and band's futures, and that's a hard decision.
Bigmonster: Can you tell us the real reason the Movielife split?
Richard: They all had different ideas where the band should be. It is called "creative differences" and that's why a lot of bands break up. They didn't want to continue and become fake just so they could keep the band going, which is very respectable.
Bigmonster: Do you miss the band?
Richard: I loved "40 Hour Train Back To Penn" and I'm sure the next CD would have been even better.
Bigmonster: Stefanie, on the topic of The Movielife is it true your one of the only people to hear Ninja Penguin & Tokyo Soundlab?
Stefanie: That's so old school! Unfortunately, i never had a chance to hear either. Vinnie & Daryl told me a lot about them, but never really played the music for me. I'm starting to wonder if it really existed! By the way, Vinnie is recording demos for us right now for a new project and I'm really excited about it.
Bigmonster: Are there any bands you wish you had got on your roster but didnt
Richard: Yeah of course. I am a music fan. I have always loved music. It would be awesome to have all of the bands on our label that I love. That would be pretty impossible though.
Bigmonster: Are there any bands that you have been interested in that weren't interested in signing to the label?
Richard: Not when it was just us asking them. When there is a whole bidding war and we are one of 10 labels trying to sign a band, yes, it has happened. That's completely understandable though. Also, when we approach a band we tell them the truth and let our bands and reputation speak for itself. Other labels go and promise them the world and pump their egos and are great salesmen. That wins over some bands, and some bands are looking for something more real with proven results. It usually works out for the best.
Bigmonster: What Drive thru releases are you looking forwards to this year?
Richard: We have the new Steel Train CD, which I think is amazing, and it should be out this summer. I love the new, New Found Glory, which comes out in May. Everything else is totally on hold until we know what is going on with our deal. There might be some releases later this year but we aren't 100% sure which ones yet. 2005 is going to be crazy for us.
Bigmonster: Any plans for a Drive Thru invasion tour of the UK next year?
Richard: I'd love to do it. It just depends on band's schedules. It's a huge pain in the ass to coordinate, but I hope it happens. We went over for some shows last year and the kids were awesome. They always are in the UK. We hope to be doing a lot more over there when our Geffen deal is done.
Bigmonster: What did you do before you worked for Drive Thru ?
Richard: During high school and college I had tons of shitty jobs. I worked at Burger King and quit the same day when they asked me to clean the disgusting bathroom. i worked throughout college as well, plus had an internship each semester. I graduated college, managed a band, and directed music videos for no money. The band I managed got signed to 550 records, and I used the money i made from that to move to California (from New Jersey) to try and direct more music videos. We started a public access video show out here. The concept was to play videos that people hadn't seen before, interview bands we loved with our sense of humour thrown in, tape live shows and play songs from bands who didn't have videos. We thought it was awesome to have people we didn't know come up to us and tell us they discovered new bands from our show. Both Stefanie and me worked part time and the rest of the time was spent working on the video show. It took a LOT of time up. We wound up doing about 130 weekly episodes with guests such as Radiohead, Weezer, blink, Nofx, Ramones, Descendents, Jimmy Eat World, etc. Then we started the label but that didn't bring any income for a long time. We were on government assistance for a few months when we were completely broke and our parents were broke. It was tough. We considered giving up the label more than once, but we really didn't want to.
Bigmonster: You live near Britney spears , you ever see her in hot pants ?
Richard: Yeah she comes over to the house every night to take care of my needs, then I wake up. Actually, Stef saw her at coffee bean a couple of months ago that was about it. We also live near Jessica Simpson, Linkin Park, Hoobastank, incubus, Travis Barker, etc. The city is full of rich people, rock stars and MILFs.The head photographer for Hustler lives across the street from us (with his hot wife).
Bigmonster: How Does Drive thru go about signing bands?
Richard: We sign bands we love. We hear a demo, meet with the band to make sure we get along, hang out, talk about the label, see them live, and then we get a contract to them when we are all happy. I'm not sure if you were also asking how we find bands. We do that in all sorts of ways. Our bands play other bands for us, kids in the office tell us about bands, demos, meeting up with bands and hearing music, from friends, etc.
Bigmonster: Which bands , Drive Thru or non Drive Thru do you think are on the verge of greatness ?
Richard: Depends on your definition of "on the verge of greatness." I can't pick some of our bands, because that's not really fair. I think The Format are amazing and pretty unknown.
Bigmonster: With Hardcore becoming ever popular would Drive Thru ever consider expanding into a harder territory?
Richard: We signed Finch WAY before harder music was popular. At the time they were doing something very different. Of course hardcore has always been around and it used to be underground. Now we see, hear and get demos from about 50 screamo and hardcore bands every week. It is the absolute biggest trend around. I haven't seen something so trendy since SKA (that's not an insult). Every band that never had screaming is adding it. Every pop-punk and emo band has either turned into a Thrice/Thursday rip-off or turned hardcore. It also transcends all ages-I get demos from 12-year-old kids in hardcore bands, and demos from bands that have been playing hardcore for 12 years. It's crazy.
Anyway, we could sign a ton of great, talented hardcore and/or screamo bands and they would be big in a relatively short amount of time. It's easy to play shows anywhere in the Country because every scene is hardcore. We don't want to jump on that trend though. It's great for the people who like it, and the bands who do it. I've never been a huge hardcore fan (although I respect people who have been playing it for years. Some awesome people I know are in hardcore bands), and both me and Stefanie wouldn't feel right even putting out CDs in a scene we don't know that much about. We live the music we put out, as well as a lot of other music. It has to feel right. We aren't out to make a quick buck. Trust me, we have had tons of opportunities and turned them all down.
Bigmonster: Are the Rumours true that Fenix Tx are reforming?
Richard: Ummmmmm...ummmmm...ummmmm....
Bigmonster: Do you think The Movielife would ever do a reunion show? (Bands from Long Island do them all the time)
Richard: I have no idea. They are all doing their own things right now. In time, things might change. I think they are all friends still as far as I know.
Bigmonster: What is the most difficult part of your job?
Richard: The business part. That stresses us out a lot. Money is really the root of all-evil. Dealing with sketchy managers and lawyers who only care about money is lame. When we give advice to bands and tell them to go for the smarter long-term career choices and their manager is pressuring them into the money making options it's a big dose of reality. We want to make our bands happy-we bend over backwards for them. Take care of as much as we can, and teach/advise them in the best way for their careers, but in some cases it doesn't matter. The egos and greed take over, and that's a very hard thing to deal with. Then we have to remember they are all naive kids who are like 18-21 years old. They don't really know until they fall on their face. It's kind of like having kids and dealing with the rebellion when you are trying to do the best for them and you know the consequences of their actions. They just don't want to hear it. By the way, this doesn't apply to most of our bands, and when it does, it is usually under the influence of a greedy, scumbag of a manager. (note: young bands starting out, PLEASE don't look for a manager. You don't need one yet. If a management "Team" approaches you-run the other direction. If you are talking to someone, find out who they have worked with in the past, what they have actually done for the band, not what they are "working on," and then speak to the bands themselves. Many managers will hurt your band more than help. You should learn how to operate your band on your own. If you need a babysitter right from the beginning, there is a big problem with your band).
Bigmonster How Did you get into the Music Business ?
Richard: I kind of said it earlier but we have always loved music, we had a zine when we were in middle/high school, I managed a band in college as well as interned at a few labels, had our public access show, which led to us finding a lot of bands people hadn't heard about which led to labels meeting us to find out about these bands. Then our friend Loren Israel who was at the time an A&R scout who brought Jimmy Eat World and Less Than Jake to Capitol said we needed to start our own label. He really inspired us to do it. We started it with no money and no employees, and absolutely no idea what the hell we were doing. We just figured it out as we went along and tried to do the best we could for bands.
Bigmonster: What would you say is Drive Thrus unique selling point ?
Richard: We honestly run the label like a family. Once in a while a kid rebels for no reason, but in the end they all come back and realize how good they had it. We treat everyone well. We are more concerned with long term careers and breaking bands than short term radio, MTV, etc. Some bands love that, some want to go for the lottery ticket (aka major labels), which we all know how horrible the chances of winning the jackpot are. We don't sign a ton of bands. We take care of each band we sign. We love our bands, honestly.
Bigmonster: Drive Thru records is not just a label, its a cultural phenomenon.. Agree? ,
Richard: That is really the coolest thing ever; it makes everything we do worthwhile. If we can bring some positivity back to this negative, cutthroat, sketchy industry, then I'm happy. The kids are loyal and we would do anything for them.
Bigmonster: What do you think about MP3 downloading?
Richard: This would take WAY too long. The SEMI-short version is, if a band/label wants their music to be free then they should make it free (like we did with hellogoodbye and jenoah which are free EPs and artwork on our website), if they want 1-2 songs for free as samples, then that's their choice. If they want to have the whole cd streaming so you can decide whether or not to buy it, then that's their choice too. I'm all about letting someone stream the cd to see if they like it first. I hate buying a CD and finding out it has 1-2 good songs. We would never put out CD�ss like that. If kids burn CD�s and don't buy them, they are hurting the labels of course, the bands, and themselves. The label needs to make money back to pay for overhead (office space, phones, employees, the money we spend on recording the CD, marketing, sampler CD�s, posters, stickers, tour support, etc.). So as CD burning gets worse and worse, the less a label can spend to get the band on tour which means (in the future) you will be seeing bands less often. Fewer bands will get signed because label's budgets need to get tighter. As far as bands go, they will have less money to record, not have their cds in as many stores (since they are all going out of business which is horrible for cool mom and pop stores), have to work jobs to be able to go on tour which means they will tour less, and I could go on and on. The safest bands are people like Celine Dion because parents aren't burning CDs. They know the value of a CD. Personally, I love the artwork, liner notes, reading lyrics along with the songs, its all part of the band's package- lot of thought goes into all of that. It used to be really exciting to go to a record store on the Tuesday that a CD came out, never hearing any of the new songs, ripping off the wrapping, sticking in the CD and getting the whole discovery of a record all at once. It so different when a CD leaks online 1-3 months before it comes out. It loses the magic and that's sad.
Even worse is for all of the UK kids because it is really expensive to send bands over there already, and if it seems like CDs aren't selling well because kids are burning them, nobody will send bands over. It will just seem like a waste of money because in our eyes, if CDs aren't being sold then nobody cares about the band.
Bigmonster: Puppies or Kittens?
Richard: Love them both deep fried with some chips and vinegar. We have a cat (he is on our 2nd Drive-Thru DVD), but I love both puppies and kittens.
Bigmonster: At what point do you think a band should sign to a label, get a booking agent Etc.?
Richard: A band should make their music, play shows, and do everything they can for themselves until the right opportunities come their way. Everyone is in such a rush. If your band is great and you can function enough to play shows, people will come to you. Trust me. We all hear about great bands, and after that it is just a personal taste thing with each label. Some labels like hype, some look for bands that already sold lots of CDs and we just look for great music, but your band can do any of the above if you are good and work hard. You can't just sit on your ass waiting for things to happen, and get discouraged when things don't fall into your lap. That's certain death for most bands.
Bigmonster: What band on Drive Thru has sold the most records in the last year ?
Richard: New Found Glory. Their new CD is awesome by the way, and that's one band, no matter how big they get, they are still more down to earth than almost any band I meet that can just sell out little 300 seat clubs. They are awesome people, and if everyone in music was as nice, hard working, and as (business wise) smart as them, it would be a much cooler music industry.
Bigmonster: Have you ever been in a band?
Richard: I can't play one chord of a guitar, I can't hold a note if my life depended on it, and I have no rhythm. I just love music.
Bigmonster: What do you think of pop idol and things like that ?
Richard: It's weird that there is a whole contest for people who can't write their own songs, but I guess the public doesn't care that much. It's not my thing, and I don't really want to hear some person singing covers of Whitney Houston and show tunes for an hour a week, so I don't watch it. I'd rather watch the Family Guy reruns.
Bigmonster: On That note , do you have anything else to add ?
Richard: Please download the Hellogoodbye and jenoah EPs on http://web.archive.org/web/20040617171132/http://www.drivethrurecords.com/ listen about 5 times before deciding if you like them or not- that's why they are FREE. If you don't like it, you didn't spend a penny and you can delete it from your computer.
Thank you for doing the interview with me.
Bigmonster: Hi, please tell us your name, and what you do in Drive Thru Records?
Richard: My name is Richard and I co-own Drive-Thru with my sister Stefanie.
Bigmonster: How Did Drive Thru get started?
Richard: We started in 1996 on the dining room table of our apartment. We had one phone line, a really old fax machine that didn't have a phone attached to it. When a call would come through and we would pick it up and it was obviously a fax, we had to unplug the line from the phone, put it in the fax machine and hit "start" as fast as we could. We caught about 50% of the faxes. The apartment was right near an airport so sometimes we couldn't hear things on the phone and we had to wait for the airplane to pass. We shared one computer, a Mac classic with a 4 inch black and white screen, so we couldn't both work at the same time. One person would use the phone, and one would use the computer and we would have to switch off. It was hard, but fun.
Bigmonster: How much initial capital did you invest in starting out?
Richard: We used Stefanie's credit card with a $1,500 limit. Then we worked temporary and part time jobs to help fund everything. We also didn't pay back our student loans on time, which ruined our credit to this day.
Bigmonster: what advice would you give to someone else starting an independent record label?
Richard: Only sign bands you love. Chasing after a trend, buying into hype, etc., is going to be the downfall of your label. You can never predict what a band is going to sell and how people are going to react to them. If you love what you are putting out and don't spend money like crazy, you will be happy.
Bigmonster: Who has been your favourite band of all time on the labels roster?
Richard: That's kind of a hard question. I have gone through phases when I'm in love with one band or one album or seeing a certain band live because I love their show. It changes a lot. I love all of our bands or else we wouldn't sign them. I do have to say that the RxBandits are one of the best bands to see live. They always blow me away.
Bigmonster: What is the current status of Drive Thru and what are you going to do when the Geffen contract expires?
Richard: We signed that deal almost 5 years ago and we can't wait for it to end. We signed it when we were dirt poor, almost went bankrupt, couldn't get our CDs in many stores, couldn't afford tour support, couldn't even afford to make posters for most of the bands. They definitely helped us out with a little money and distribution.
We are trying to decide what to do next. We have offers from every major label, indie labels, indie distributors, and of course Geffen. We want to do what's best for our label and band's futures, and that's a hard decision.
Bigmonster: Can you tell us the real reason the Movielife split?
Richard: They all had different ideas where the band should be. It is called "creative differences" and that's why a lot of bands break up. They didn't want to continue and become fake just so they could keep the band going, which is very respectable.
Bigmonster: Do you miss the band?
Richard: I loved "40 Hour Train Back To Penn" and I'm sure the next CD would have been even better.
Bigmonster: Stefanie, on the topic of The Movielife is it true your one of the only people to hear Ninja Penguin & Tokyo Soundlab?
Stefanie: That's so old school! Unfortunately, i never had a chance to hear either. Vinnie & Daryl told me a lot about them, but never really played the music for me. I'm starting to wonder if it really existed! By the way, Vinnie is recording demos for us right now for a new project and I'm really excited about it.
Bigmonster: Are there any bands you wish you had got on your roster but didnt
Richard: Yeah of course. I am a music fan. I have always loved music. It would be awesome to have all of the bands on our label that I love. That would be pretty impossible though.
Bigmonster: Are there any bands that you have been interested in that weren't interested in signing to the label?
Richard: Not when it was just us asking them. When there is a whole bidding war and we are one of 10 labels trying to sign a band, yes, it has happened. That's completely understandable though. Also, when we approach a band we tell them the truth and let our bands and reputation speak for itself. Other labels go and promise them the world and pump their egos and are great salesmen. That wins over some bands, and some bands are looking for something more real with proven results. It usually works out for the best.
Bigmonster: What Drive thru releases are you looking forwards to this year?
Richard: We have the new Steel Train CD, which I think is amazing, and it should be out this summer. I love the new, New Found Glory, which comes out in May. Everything else is totally on hold until we know what is going on with our deal. There might be some releases later this year but we aren't 100% sure which ones yet. 2005 is going to be crazy for us.
Bigmonster: Any plans for a Drive Thru invasion tour of the UK next year?
Richard: I'd love to do it. It just depends on band's schedules. It's a huge pain in the ass to coordinate, but I hope it happens. We went over for some shows last year and the kids were awesome. They always are in the UK. We hope to be doing a lot more over there when our Geffen deal is done.
Bigmonster: What did you do before you worked for Drive Thru ?
Richard: During high school and college I had tons of shitty jobs. I worked at Burger King and quit the same day when they asked me to clean the disgusting bathroom. i worked throughout college as well, plus had an internship each semester. I graduated college, managed a band, and directed music videos for no money. The band I managed got signed to 550 records, and I used the money i made from that to move to California (from New Jersey) to try and direct more music videos. We started a public access video show out here. The concept was to play videos that people hadn't seen before, interview bands we loved with our sense of humour thrown in, tape live shows and play songs from bands who didn't have videos. We thought it was awesome to have people we didn't know come up to us and tell us they discovered new bands from our show. Both Stefanie and me worked part time and the rest of the time was spent working on the video show. It took a LOT of time up. We wound up doing about 130 weekly episodes with guests such as Radiohead, Weezer, blink, Nofx, Ramones, Descendents, Jimmy Eat World, etc. Then we started the label but that didn't bring any income for a long time. We were on government assistance for a few months when we were completely broke and our parents were broke. It was tough. We considered giving up the label more than once, but we really didn't want to.
Bigmonster: You live near Britney spears , you ever see her in hot pants ?
Richard: Yeah she comes over to the house every night to take care of my needs, then I wake up. Actually, Stef saw her at coffee bean a couple of months ago that was about it. We also live near Jessica Simpson, Linkin Park, Hoobastank, incubus, Travis Barker, etc. The city is full of rich people, rock stars and MILFs.The head photographer for Hustler lives across the street from us (with his hot wife).
Bigmonster: How Does Drive thru go about signing bands?
Richard: We sign bands we love. We hear a demo, meet with the band to make sure we get along, hang out, talk about the label, see them live, and then we get a contract to them when we are all happy. I'm not sure if you were also asking how we find bands. We do that in all sorts of ways. Our bands play other bands for us, kids in the office tell us about bands, demos, meeting up with bands and hearing music, from friends, etc.
Bigmonster: Which bands , Drive Thru or non Drive Thru do you think are on the verge of greatness ?
Richard: Depends on your definition of "on the verge of greatness." I can't pick some of our bands, because that's not really fair. I think The Format are amazing and pretty unknown.
Bigmonster: With Hardcore becoming ever popular would Drive Thru ever consider expanding into a harder territory?
Richard: We signed Finch WAY before harder music was popular. At the time they were doing something very different. Of course hardcore has always been around and it used to be underground. Now we see, hear and get demos from about 50 screamo and hardcore bands every week. It is the absolute biggest trend around. I haven't seen something so trendy since SKA (that's not an insult). Every band that never had screaming is adding it. Every pop-punk and emo band has either turned into a Thrice/Thursday rip-off or turned hardcore. It also transcends all ages-I get demos from 12-year-old kids in hardcore bands, and demos from bands that have been playing hardcore for 12 years. It's crazy.
Anyway, we could sign a ton of great, talented hardcore and/or screamo bands and they would be big in a relatively short amount of time. It's easy to play shows anywhere in the Country because every scene is hardcore. We don't want to jump on that trend though. It's great for the people who like it, and the bands who do it. I've never been a huge hardcore fan (although I respect people who have been playing it for years. Some awesome people I know are in hardcore bands), and both me and Stefanie wouldn't feel right even putting out CDs in a scene we don't know that much about. We live the music we put out, as well as a lot of other music. It has to feel right. We aren't out to make a quick buck. Trust me, we have had tons of opportunities and turned them all down.
Bigmonster: Are the Rumours true that Fenix Tx are reforming?
Richard: Ummmmmm...ummmmm...ummmmm....
Bigmonster: Do you think The Movielife would ever do a reunion show? (Bands from Long Island do them all the time)
Richard: I have no idea. They are all doing their own things right now. In time, things might change. I think they are all friends still as far as I know.
Bigmonster: What is the most difficult part of your job?
Richard: The business part. That stresses us out a lot. Money is really the root of all-evil. Dealing with sketchy managers and lawyers who only care about money is lame. When we give advice to bands and tell them to go for the smarter long-term career choices and their manager is pressuring them into the money making options it's a big dose of reality. We want to make our bands happy-we bend over backwards for them. Take care of as much as we can, and teach/advise them in the best way for their careers, but in some cases it doesn't matter. The egos and greed take over, and that's a very hard thing to deal with. Then we have to remember they are all naive kids who are like 18-21 years old. They don't really know until they fall on their face. It's kind of like having kids and dealing with the rebellion when you are trying to do the best for them and you know the consequences of their actions. They just don't want to hear it. By the way, this doesn't apply to most of our bands, and when it does, it is usually under the influence of a greedy, scumbag of a manager. (note: young bands starting out, PLEASE don't look for a manager. You don't need one yet. If a management "Team" approaches you-run the other direction. If you are talking to someone, find out who they have worked with in the past, what they have actually done for the band, not what they are "working on," and then speak to the bands themselves. Many managers will hurt your band more than help. You should learn how to operate your band on your own. If you need a babysitter right from the beginning, there is a big problem with your band).
Bigmonster How Did you get into the Music Business ?
Richard: I kind of said it earlier but we have always loved music, we had a zine when we were in middle/high school, I managed a band in college as well as interned at a few labels, had our public access show, which led to us finding a lot of bands people hadn't heard about which led to labels meeting us to find out about these bands. Then our friend Loren Israel who was at the time an A&R scout who brought Jimmy Eat World and Less Than Jake to Capitol said we needed to start our own label. He really inspired us to do it. We started it with no money and no employees, and absolutely no idea what the hell we were doing. We just figured it out as we went along and tried to do the best we could for bands.
Bigmonster: What would you say is Drive Thrus unique selling point ?
Richard: We honestly run the label like a family. Once in a while a kid rebels for no reason, but in the end they all come back and realize how good they had it. We treat everyone well. We are more concerned with long term careers and breaking bands than short term radio, MTV, etc. Some bands love that, some want to go for the lottery ticket (aka major labels), which we all know how horrible the chances of winning the jackpot are. We don't sign a ton of bands. We take care of each band we sign. We love our bands, honestly.
Bigmonster: Drive Thru records is not just a label, its a cultural phenomenon.. Agree? ,
Richard: That is really the coolest thing ever; it makes everything we do worthwhile. If we can bring some positivity back to this negative, cutthroat, sketchy industry, then I'm happy. The kids are loyal and we would do anything for them.
Bigmonster: What do you think about MP3 downloading?
Richard: This would take WAY too long. The SEMI-short version is, if a band/label wants their music to be free then they should make it free (like we did with hellogoodbye and jenoah which are free EPs and artwork on our website), if they want 1-2 songs for free as samples, then that's their choice. If they want to have the whole cd streaming so you can decide whether or not to buy it, then that's their choice too. I'm all about letting someone stream the cd to see if they like it first. I hate buying a CD and finding out it has 1-2 good songs. We would never put out CD�ss like that. If kids burn CD�s and don't buy them, they are hurting the labels of course, the bands, and themselves. The label needs to make money back to pay for overhead (office space, phones, employees, the money we spend on recording the CD, marketing, sampler CD�s, posters, stickers, tour support, etc.). So as CD burning gets worse and worse, the less a label can spend to get the band on tour which means (in the future) you will be seeing bands less often. Fewer bands will get signed because label's budgets need to get tighter. As far as bands go, they will have less money to record, not have their cds in as many stores (since they are all going out of business which is horrible for cool mom and pop stores), have to work jobs to be able to go on tour which means they will tour less, and I could go on and on. The safest bands are people like Celine Dion because parents aren't burning CDs. They know the value of a CD. Personally, I love the artwork, liner notes, reading lyrics along with the songs, its all part of the band's package- lot of thought goes into all of that. It used to be really exciting to go to a record store on the Tuesday that a CD came out, never hearing any of the new songs, ripping off the wrapping, sticking in the CD and getting the whole discovery of a record all at once. It so different when a CD leaks online 1-3 months before it comes out. It loses the magic and that's sad.
Even worse is for all of the UK kids because it is really expensive to send bands over there already, and if it seems like CDs aren't selling well because kids are burning them, nobody will send bands over. It will just seem like a waste of money because in our eyes, if CDs aren't being sold then nobody cares about the band.
Bigmonster: Puppies or Kittens?
Richard: Love them both deep fried with some chips and vinegar. We have a cat (he is on our 2nd Drive-Thru DVD), but I love both puppies and kittens.
Bigmonster: At what point do you think a band should sign to a label, get a booking agent Etc.?
Richard: A band should make their music, play shows, and do everything they can for themselves until the right opportunities come their way. Everyone is in such a rush. If your band is great and you can function enough to play shows, people will come to you. Trust me. We all hear about great bands, and after that it is just a personal taste thing with each label. Some labels like hype, some look for bands that already sold lots of CDs and we just look for great music, but your band can do any of the above if you are good and work hard. You can't just sit on your ass waiting for things to happen, and get discouraged when things don't fall into your lap. That's certain death for most bands.
Bigmonster: What band on Drive Thru has sold the most records in the last year ?
Richard: New Found Glory. Their new CD is awesome by the way, and that's one band, no matter how big they get, they are still more down to earth than almost any band I meet that can just sell out little 300 seat clubs. They are awesome people, and if everyone in music was as nice, hard working, and as (business wise) smart as them, it would be a much cooler music industry.
Bigmonster: Have you ever been in a band?
Richard: I can't play one chord of a guitar, I can't hold a note if my life depended on it, and I have no rhythm. I just love music.
Bigmonster: What do you think of pop idol and things like that ?
Richard: It's weird that there is a whole contest for people who can't write their own songs, but I guess the public doesn't care that much. It's not my thing, and I don't really want to hear some person singing covers of Whitney Houston and show tunes for an hour a week, so I don't watch it. I'd rather watch the Family Guy reruns.
Bigmonster: On That note , do you have anything else to add ?
Richard: Please download the Hellogoodbye and jenoah EPs on http://web.archive.org/web/20040617171132/http://www.drivethrurecords.com/ listen about 5 times before deciding if you like them or not- that's why they are FREE. If you don't like it, you didn't spend a penny and you can delete it from your computer.
Thank you for doing the interview with me.
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