Play Pinball! Music Police!
There is a lot of buzz surrounding the Denton music scene at the moment and a small record label “Play Pinball! Records“ is at the centre of all this excitement. Their first release will be Fungi Girls debut, Seafaring Pyramids, and is due out the end of this month. I emailed the two guys, Chris and Trent, who run the label a few questions in the hope they would get back to me…and they did!
1) The Denton scene seems an exciting place for music right now, how did you get involved and why did you set up Play Pinball! Records?
C: Trent seems to have been around forever. He’s known the dudes in these bands for a while now. I just sorta fell into the sway in the last year or so. When you’re in such a small town, going to the same shows, it can be kind of difficult to NOT meet the people involved.
T: I wouldn’t say forever, but yeah, I mean, when you bro down with these guys every weekend, it’s pretty hard not to at least say hello, and I mean, we’ve had a ton of rad times with these bands, and a lot of them—though short lived—had some righteous tracks that needed to see the light of day. Not having shit like Chief Death Rage on vinyl is one of those crimes the world never should have committed. I guess you could consider us a kind of music police. Don’t get us wrong though, we’re definitely Punks, NOT COPS.
2) Why do you think Denton has such a thriving scene and such a wealth of bands as opposed to other cities in the area such as Dallas?
C: I think it’s down to the core of about 5 or 6 dudes who can’t stand being bored long enough to not start a new band without giving up on their previous ten. Then all the other great dudes who have their single bands.
T: Yeah, pretty much what he said, I mean, Dallas is too busy tearing itself down and painting over its heritage to make any music, there are some rad bands every now and then, but they’re few and far between lately, especially for rock and roll…thank god for Spector 45 right? (ha!)
3) As a record label would you like to branch out from Denton and become a larger more recognised label in the future?
C: Yeah, absolutely. We just started with our friends to get things going, which makes the most sense to me, honestly. This would’ve been way harder if we were working with people we didn’t know that well or if couldn’t talk to them in person about stuff sometimes.
T: We’ve already got a couple bands we’re friends with from out of town interested in doing some records with us, but we’re not gonna start anything until we can bang out our first two releases. Gotta stay focused, eyes on the prize dawg.
4) You must be excited about your first couple of releases, Fungi girls debut “Seafaring Pyramids” and the compilation “Denton Denton USA”. What can we expect from these two records?
T: Hit after hit after hit. Good times on the reg, jams on the reg, yachts on the reg, you know, the stuff you should expect from these bands. Plus we’ve got a super secret and super rad track on Denton Denton USA! that’s gonna make everyone flip their friggin’ lids, for real.
5)Well good luck with those releases. Last question. What advise would you give to someone thinking of setting up their own record label?
C: DO. NOT. RUSH. Take your time and don’t give yourself (or others) hopes to get something out too quick! We’ve pushed back Denton Denton like 4 times now, even though it’s not because of things really in our control, you just have to account for delays and give yourself plenty of time to breathe. You’ll be way less stressed. Also, do your research. We did a TON and it’s really helped us skip a few common blunders.
T: Start out with tapes, they’re way easier, this vinyl shit’s a headache. Over and out Jennifer Bro-pez.
You can pre-order Fungi girls debut here: http://playpinballrecords.bigcartel.com/
