It’s been a little while since we’ve had a new Label Talk interview, but we’re stoked to be releasing our brand new feature with Topshelf Records! Topshelf Records is the home to Pianos Become The Teeth, My Heart To Joy, and Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate), as well as many other great bands. Seth Decoteau, one half of the label, and I discussed how the first half of 2011 has been for Topshelf, recent releases, the music industry, the future of the label, and a whole bunch more. Read up and enjoy the whole thing, it’s a great interview!

We’re already halfway through 2011 and Topshelf Records has been pretty busy so far. How would you describe the first half of the label’s year?
The first half of the year has been great. I’d describe it as insanely busy and very rewarding. We’ve been able to work with a lot of new bands and some old friends.

By Surprise released their debut record, Mountain Smashers, in early-April. Has the reception to it been what you guys had hoped for so far?
The response has been awesome to their new record. There have been a TON of very positive reviews on the record recently, which is great to see. We’ve been fans/friends with the guys for a while and it’s been great to see the general excitement for their new album.

It’s always a risk releasing new music from new and young bands that haven’t necessarily “proved” themselves yet. Is it always nerve-wracking to release a debut record or EP?
It’s definitely risky when you are investing in a new band. That’s just part of the business, even working with bands that have “proved” themselves is a risk — what if people don’t like their new album? But yeah, we do a fair amount of this and I like to think that we have a pretty open-minded base of supporters that embrace or at least check out the lesser-known bands we decide to work with. When we release records for newer bands it’s hard not to have one hand behind our back, fingers crossed and hoping that it goes well. Some records don’t do as well as we hope, while others have far succeeded our expectations. However, at the end of the day and regardless of the success of a record we’re very proud of what we release and stand behind each album and band.

With the industry struggling the way that it is, how do you make decisions about who to bring into your family and how to market them?
We’ve been able to always work with bands that we love and that is something that won’t ever change regardless of how the industry is. We’ve never been after “what’s hot” or worried about the genre of music a band is. We make decisions on who to work with based on how hard working a band is, what we think of their music, and if we will physically be able to help them. We’re just two guys and we can only handle so much. We try not to take on too much so that we can give each release the amount of effort it deserves. Decisions on marketing are based on how active a band is and if the release is an EP or an LP then based on our budget for the release.

What’s your regular day like at the label? It is it more managing how your roster is doing as a whole and prepping releases, or is there a lot more to it that most people wouldn’t think of?
Well, Kevin and I both have full time day jobs in addition to the label. So life is normally very hectic with us juggling a lot of things. We both have normal, ongoing day-to-day tasks that include most of the stuff people might expect (Kevin handles pretty much everything involving our web presence, social media and the site itself and I deal with processing orders, inventory and PR). Beyond that we have to order supplies, order merch, deal with all of the mail order, deal with our distributors, and make sure that everything is in place for a release from production to press on each album. Finally, everyone who runs a label has to deal with problem solving when shit hits the fan and that’s just…well, usually a pain.

Pianos Become The Teeth seem to be becoming Topshelf’s largest band with the brightest immediate future. How has it been watching them grow over the past few years?
Working with those guys has been such a pleasure. We honestly cannot wish them anything less than the utmost success and they without a doubt deserve it.

The label re-released their split with The Saddest Landscape not too long ago. Was that a success?
It definitely has been. The first pressing is almost sold out. Which is pretty awesome when you consider that the first version of this record was a 9 inch and 600 copies were made.

Giants like Universal can, essentially, manage lower sales for their bands and artists because those names are more likely to sell out larger arenas like MSG or Staples Center in LA. How do you, as a smaller label, handle the same issue of decreased music sales? Or have sales only increased for you guys?
In the past 18 months our sales have increased. However, our bands have been on the road touring and we’ve seen a lot of growth as a label as well. To be honest, I think we’re too small for the overall decrease in sales to have a huge impact on us. We’re always trying to find new outlets for our releases and put a conscious effort behind everything that we do to help direct and grow sales. People are still willing to buy records that they care about.
 
Have you guys made any adjustments in recent times to match new industry tactics to ensure that Topshelf can continue to grow in a productive manner?
I like to think that we have. We’ve been pushing vinyl a bit more as it’s started to become a more tangible product to fans. We’ve also focused more on our webstore and direct sales and by doing so we’ve been able to really stay in touch with customers more. We’ve also started offering our albums available digitally directly from us. Something else that we’ve done, and I’m sure that it’s a very limited scale compared to most, is that we’ve really tried to watch where we spend our money. It’s easy to get caught up on things because they worked for one release but we try to tailor everything to each release specifically, whether it’s how we package a release or how we market it.

The label announced a new EP from You, Me & Everyone We Know that had countless people excited, and then the band obviously broke up. When did releasing the EP become solidified?
The EP was in the works since before the end of last year and the guys recorded the record in January/February. By the time they decided to break up everything was already in place for their record, from the production to advertisements being submitted. It was definitely an unfortunate thing all around.

Did the break-up hurt, help, or not change sales for the EP in your mind?
Initially it spiked pre order sales for the EP. There was a lot of talk around the band and people were getting excited about the new music. However, there were a lot of things that both us and the band had in place that just never surfaced due to them breaking up. I’d like to think that if they were still around we’d continue to be selling more copies of the EP. On a lighter note, the EP debuted #5 on the billboard singles chart, which was really awesome.

The label just announced a new release called Fuck Off All Nerds to support the Dubey family. Can you just discuss the details behind the release and some of the bands that will be featured on the release?
Mitch was a friend of the label and a lot of people that we knew. It was a tragic thing that happened. My Heart To Joy had already planned their final show for May 14^th and asked us if we’d want to do a benefit LP for Mitch’s family that would consist of live audio from their show. From there, the band and us set up all of the details. Music from Algernon Cadwallader, Hostage Calm, Into It. Over It., The Book Slave, My Heart To Joy, Slingshot Dakota, Jettison and Snowing’s sets will all be on the album.

The record comes in a Gatefold LP Jacket, includes a download of each song on the album that has been mixed and mastered from the band’s set, a download of each band’s entire set from the show, and a limited edition print. We teamed up with six awesome designers (Adam Vass, Ben Sears, Juan Gabe, Derrick Shanholtzer, Ryan Nelson, and Kevin Duquette) who have graciously given their time and artwork. We also have an Into It. Over It. T-Shirt as a benefit item for Mitch.

FOAN has a one time pressing of 500 records split between 125 Black, 125 Yellow, 125 Purple, and 125 Light Pink records. Then of course, ALL proceeds will go to the Dubey Family.

Topshelf Records are in an interesting part of this “scene” where you guys often get compared to labels like No Sleep or Run For Cover, but at the same time, your bands differ quite a bit from most of the bands on those individual rosters. How would you place the label in the music realm?
We’re good friends with both of those labels. It’s pretty awesome to get compared to them because they’ve both done some great things in the last few years and I don’t see either of them stopping anytime soon. Since we’re all good friends I think that we feed off of each other a lot. That said, I think we’re comparable in the sense that we’re all young up-and-coming labels working with new and exciting bands but I agree that we all have a unique approach to what we’re doing, respectively. I like to think our roster doesn’t lend itself to being easily pigeonholed to one specific genre or niche — which is indeed an interesting part of this “scene” to be in.

Should we expect Topshelf to announce any new signees in the near future?
We will have a lot of announcements in July.

To close things up, what releases should we be on the lookout in the remainder of 2011?
Into It. Over It. “Twelve Towns”, Pianos Become The Teeth’s new full-Length, and an EP from Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate).