Our Label Talk series has taken the backseat for a month or two now, but we could not be more proud to release our brand new feature with American Dream Records. American Dream opened the doors this year and have already pressed The Graduate’s Only Every Time and I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business’s Gold Rush and have no plans to slow down anytime soon. Joe and I discussed the process of starting the label, the reasons for bringing it to life, recent pressings, future pressings, and more. Read up below and enjoy!

American Dream Records is for all intents and purposes new, but how long have you wanted to create a label for?
I’d thrown around the idea for a few years, it had just never been practical to actually try to put into place.

You’re not new to this “scene,” in fact you’ve been here longer than most but in a different capacity. What made you finally want to jump to the other side of the fence?
A couple of things. I knew I wanted or even at times needed to do something else. I wasn’t sure what it would be, but I had gotten to the point where being like the kid from Almost Famous wasn’t cutting it anymore. If I had to pinpoint the real “decision” or whatever to start a label, it would be earlier this year when there was a thread on AbsolutePunk.net about some kids who were wanting a record to be pressed. It was a record I wanted to own as well, but it was really frustrating to see people sitting around and only talking about something instead of doing something to make it happen. One thing led to another, and I just said fuck it, I’ll do it myself.

Was it easier or more difficult than you expected?
Some elements have been more difficult than others. Communication is a huge factor, whether it’s trying to get in touch with somebody in the first place, dealing with somebody you’re already working with or trying to work with, and then getting information to all the people who have already made a purchase and keeping them up to speed on things. Needless to say it takes a lot of time. And tape.

It’s not just you behind American Dream, so can you explain the other member behind the label and what role each of you play?
The other guy involved is Ryan who lives in Arizona. He was in the same thread where I had the “eureka!” moment about getting something out on vinyl. We hadn’t talked much before that, but we were very much on the same page about things so we decided to team up. He has a lot of West Coast contacts and helps keep up with the financial aspect of things, and whenever I’m working on something new or have an idea I always throw it at him and see what his opinion on it is. I didn’t want to get into things entirely on my own and be blinded by my own vision so he’s a great person to be working with.

For those who know you, your music tastes and ideals aren’t too hard to guess, but for those who don’t know, what’s the mission behind the label, and your reason for starting it?
Primarily to help out as many bands possible get out vinyl releases. There have been so many records that have not been put out in that format, and to me, it’s a shame because I think it’s the best format you can own music. If you buy something digitally, what do you actually own? Vinyl is a great way to have something tangible, be it the music or the art.

At this point American Dream Records has released two vinyl presses and is soon to launch a third, but would you ever consider actually signing an artist?
Definitely, but we are still focusing on getting ourselves to that point. We have numerous things we are interested in doing, but for now being able to put out as high quality of a release as possible is what is most important. There are still a ridiculous amount of records out there to press, so until I’ve knocked out a handful of those I probably won’t want to get too involved in other aspects. It could happen though. There are opportunities.

How are you looking to grow the label in terms of the vinyl you press?
Just keep doing it, and be sure to do it extremely well. I’ve already been fortunate to work with bands and artists that I’m a huge fan of, so I’m hoping that continues to evolve into the ability to do more releases with more artists more often. It takes time, but I think we’ve already have a great start.

Do you have hopes of releasing future vinyl for bands like The Graduate and Ace Enders who you’ve already released? Or do you think most of your releases will be one-offs with the bands and artists.
We’re already working on a release of Anhedonia with The Graduate. I’ve been a huge fan of those guys for a long time, and they were kind enough to have faith in us to put out their album as our first release, so I’m looking forward to the release of Anhedonia, and then we’ll see how things are with new material. Things with Ace have been focused on the Gold Rush release primarily, and some back catalogue work has been discussed, but nothing set in stone by any means. He’s been through major labels before and stuff can get complicated, so for now we’re focused on his current release. Obviously, I’d love to do more since I’ve been listening to him since I was like, 13, but we’ll see. Things change a lot between artists and releases, but I don’t get involved with music I don’t personally enjoy, so yeah, I’d love to do as much as I can for whoever I’m working with. I’m still a fan at heart, that’s what matters to me

Your first release was The Graduate’s Only Every Time. What made you want to start there, and can you explain the process of securing it?
It all started out a bit randomly. I had known they wanted to put out Only Every Time and Anhedonia for some time. It’d been mentioned here and there, but then nothing ever materialized. After I decided to start a label, they were pretty much at the very top of the list of people to get in touch with and we started working together right away. They were very enthusiastic about the project and that somebody wanted to help make it happen, so I think everyone was pleased with things.
POZ: Has the release been successful?
Joe: Absolutely. We’ll sell even more copies of Only Every Time once Anhedonia is out, so it should get even better. The biggest pain has been shipping, and that’s because we essentially started the label and the business specifically to put out this release. We didn’t have time to go through all the motions and then start the project. The record wouldn’t exist right now if that’s how it had happened. So it has been very much a learning experience, but mainly a positive one and we feel fortunate about how things have gone thus far.

What other tasks do you typically have to do day-to-day or week-to-week to upkeep everything properly?
Send more emails than I have in my entire life. Check orders. Everything for The Graduate’s release was done manually, no printed labels or pre-paid shipping or anything like that, so at times it was tedious doing everything myself, but that comes with the territory. Other than that, it involves doing some promo for the bands we’re working with, trying to get in touch with the appropriate people for potential new projects, and then just trying to stay on top of as much as I can. We’ll always be looking for ways to reach more people and to reach them in as efficient of a way as possible. For any business that is important, but especially for a new one in the music industry. We don’t have much room for error, so it is definitely a process.

American Dream also just recently released Ace Enders’s Gold Rush on vinyl. How important of a musician is Ace when related to the ideals that American Dream stands on?
I think he matches up extremely well in regards to our ideals and mindset. Even more so now that he’s doing things as independently as possible, but throughout his entire career he’s primarily done what he wanted how he wanted to do it. He hasn’t been afraid to take a risk or to try something new, and I guess at the heart of the matter, that’s why this label exists. I had an opportunity to make something happen, and whether or not it ended up successful didn’t matter. You don’t pursue your “American Dream” knowing what the future holds. You just know there’s something out there that you want and it’s up to you to get it. It’s also partially inspired by the Northstar song “For Members Only.” 

How have both Only Every Time and Gold Rush done among fans and purchases?
Very well, especially considering Only Every Time was our first release and was put out months after the album was already available, and also considering Gold Rush just came out and is still in the pre-order stage. The rarest versions of each album sold out immediately, and people were willing to pay a bit more for something special. The green variant of Only Every Time is close to gone, and another variant of the I Can Make A Mess album is already gone as well. That’s before the album is even out. On vinyl. It’s just really cool hearing feedback from people saying positive things about it, congrats on the label, I always knew you’d do something like that, the records look amazing, whatever. I’m very glad I decided to make it happen.

Why did you pick now to jump into this? Things in this industry obviously are unstable and it’s a big risk in terms of money.
Because I had to, both from a personal and professional perspective. It didn’t feel right to just sit here and not do anything, especially considering how fucked up the industry is. After everything I’d done over the years generating attention however I was and somehow getting to the point where musicians and artists recognize me, I felt like I was wasting my potential and a real opportunity. As for the money, yeah, it’s a risk, but it’s a calculated risk. I don’t want to lose money on a release obviously, but the money isn’t what’s important here. I’m a full time grad student. Ryan has a full time job. If it hadn’t happened now, it never would have happened. Our focus is the music and the artists. The money is a means to the end, not the priority.

That being said, do you think it’ll be difficult for you to differentiate the artists that you believe in and want to work with rather than the artists you know will sell?
Not particularly. I don’t see myself working with an artist I don’t enjoy or believe in. Theoretically it could happen, but if it did and there was something we released and it was wildly successful, you can be sure I’d take whatever I made from that and put it toward something I was absolutely in love with and otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to make happen. I suppose in that situation you’re taking one for the team. I’ll worry about that when it happens, but I would like to think that the greater good is what matters.

What have been some of the more difficult tasks with getting releases out and handling everything?
Shipping sucked for numerous reasons as mentioned before, but that’s gotten better. Bands being on tour while trying to work things out can make communication difficult at times. There are also numerous artists that are all but inaccessible, and even getting a reply from somebody in management is tough. The physical creation of vinyl itself is often a process with a lot of variables involved and that can be stressful. Anything can get frurstrating, but that’s work, that’s life, and I think it’s all worth it once you have that final product. When I held a final copy of The Graduate’s album for the first time, I can’t even explain how cool it felt.

I believe that you’re setting up a charity sale for the victims of the recent tornados in the south. Can you give us some background information on everything that you’re hoping to set up and a timeline for when you plan to launch the auction?
Yeah that’s been an idea for some time now, and was originally going to go toward the earthquake relief in Japan, but then the tornadoes hit and hit really close to home, so it felt appropriate to shift to that. It should be going up in a week, maybe sooner, I’m just trying to finalize a few things before putting too much information out there. We’re gonna have some cool stuff from The Graduate, The Forecast, Mansions, Lakes, Paramore, and hopefully some others. Still very much open to offers if anyone wants to contribute, just get in touch with me.

Do you plan on doing more auctions like these in the future if this one is successful?
I think so, and it should be a solid success. Going back to the American Dream idealism, yeah, you have to work hard and really go for what you want, but it’s really tough, if not impossible to get there on your own. There’s a lot of bad shit going on all over the place, and we take a lot for granted, so I feel that with all the opportunity I now have that I also need to do what I can to give back to others who need that help. I wouldn’t be where I am today if certain people hadn’t gone out of their way to do things for me when I needed it.

Ideally, how many more releases would you like to have out in 2011?
Including the two already there, I think we could do five or six. Maybe even more, I don’t really want to limit it, but I think for a first year label doing what we do, that’s very successful. I could start an entirely new project right now if I wanted, but we’re trying to pace things and see what exactly we can land. I wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity because I was too wrapped up in things.

We know a Lakes release is going to happen, but when?
The Lakes release for The Agreement should be out in July. We are just about to go into production for that and should have a pre-order relatively soon. It’s going to have a slightly different cover, a never before heard Watashi Wa song as a b-side, and some other cool stuff. I’m really excited to be working with those guys.

Have you secured any more releases to launch within the next few months?
After Gold Rush, we’re doing The Agreement and Anhedonia. There are some other things being worked on and discussed, but I’ll keep people in suspense a little bit longer. But definitely be on the lookout for more from us. If somebody is looking for a release, old or new, get in touch with us. I’m very excited about what we already have planned, and I think everyone will like whatever surprises we come up with. I try not to disappoint.