Broken Heart Records - Sound In The Signals Interview
You are in the process of releasing a brand new record for Sparrows. Can you tell me a little about how you started working with the band and what pressing this particular album on vinyl was like?
Actually, they contacted me. I believe they sent one song along with the email. I loved it. So intense. They had a great energy about them and I knew they had released a few other EP's. So I quickly asked to hear the rest of the album. Dan (the lead singer) has been really great to work with. I have never had a band be so involved in the process. I can tell they really care about the product we are delivering to fans.
For the Sparrows album there is a variant that will be available only at shows. Whose ideal was it to make a tour only variant?
I actually have offered the tour only variant to all my bands. Sparrows were just the first to actually like the idea. It's a record you can only get from Sparrows. They have a huge North American tour to announce soon, so the opportunity is there for you to get your hands on this variant. It's a beautiful work of art.
Do you have a favorite variant of the new Sparrows album? If so which one and why?
Honestly, I would say the tour variant is my favorite. Nothing against the other two, but the tour variant just looks amazing. It matches the feel of the album so well.
You just had your year anniversary. From the start to now what has been your favorite moment and what has been the most frustrating moment of starting your own label?
UPS or Fedex knocking on my door with the finished product has to be the best moments of owning a label. Nothing beats opening the boxes to see your work for the last 3-6 months finally pay off. The most frustrating part is the wait. You wait on bands, press plants, news sites, fans to listen to the albums, art guys, etc You have to have patience. It's hard when you get a band you love and all you want to do is get it out on vinyl , CD, whatever. I feel that a good thing takes time. For example, I have been working on The Rocking Chair Years for a year and half. because it has taken that long to get everything just right.
The last time we spoke you were talking about releasing Day At The Fair - The Rocking Chair Years on vinyl. You are on the verge of launching the pre-order when do you think we’ll see that go live and what will the vinyl version of the album consist of (in terms of packaging, songs, etc…)?
Preorders are days away (hopefully). Tentative release date is August 27th, but you never know with vinyl. It's a Double LP in a gatefold Jacket.
The track list is as follows:
“The Rocking Chair Years” “Coda” “And My Name’s Dignan, So What?” “Who You Guna Believe, Me Or Your Lying Eyes” “This Is Why We Don’t Have Nice Things” “Eastern Homes & Western Hearts” “Pale In Comparison” “The Blame Anxiety” “The Lost, The Lucky” “Erasing Wilkes” “Remembering Britt” “Darkness Washed Over The Dude” “Everything I’ve Ever Wanted” “Monday Morning” “Priscilla The Traveling Proton” “Kira Doesn’t Care About Anything, She’s A Nihilist” “Homesick Angels”
It also includes 4 more songs that I will let fans discover. I will say two are different recordings of tracks already on the tracklist, one is from a drive-thru comp album, and the last one is a song that didn't make it on The Rocking Chair Years.
I am selling test presses a little different this time. I will be including them in bundles with all the variants. I will also have a variant bundle without the test presses. Both bundles will be very limited and include a lathe cut (not as good as vinyl) of two more songs. Side A is a song called Broken. Chris from DATF told me it was the first song he wrote for DATF and never appeared on any albums. Its a bit rough but you can really hear the ground work for the rest of the DATF catalog. Side B is a song called Ghost Stories. It's not a DATF song. It features Chris as well as Tom and Josh from Houston Calls. We will be included a download code for both of those songs as well.
From talking to you I know The Rocking Chair Years is something you’ve wanted to do for a long time. How do you feel knowing that it’s on the verge of being completed?
As you can tell from the previous answer I am really excited. Something about this album has just stayed with me over the years. I still sing along to every track. When I first thought about starting the label this was the album I wanted to press and now it is almost a reality. It's a crazy feeling.
I’ve seen classic Drive Thru albums get really great vinyl treatments (for example: Something Corporate, recent The Starting Line presses, of course your Socratic release, etc…) and then a few that have been done poorly (the one that really comes to mind is the recent Finch pressing). What do you do specifically to make sure you come out with a quality product and do the album justice when you are releasing a vinyl version of an album?
To be honest when I did Socratic I didn't know anything about pressing vinyl. I got very lucky that the plant I used really took time to make look and sound great. I have learned a lot since Lunch for the Sky. On the 2nd Socratic album I found Dave at Lucky Lacquers. He is Fantastic. He make all of our albums sound amazing now. The biggest thing we can do is get the album sounding incredible.
For those interested in all the limited number, color, etc… information can you give me any information on how many you are pressing and maybe what some of the variants will be?
It's limited to 500 copies It will be spread out on three variants. 100 black, 200 orange, and 200 of a yellow/pink split like we did with Abel album. I knew I wanted to do orange and black. This particular plant actually makes orange by combining yellow and pink, so that is how the split idea came about.
You’ve pressed a couple Drive Thru albums is this it with you and Drive Thru or would you like to try and press more if you get the option? I know there are quite a few of their albums/EPs that people really want that still haven’t been pressed.
I haven't really talked to Richard about doing anymore. I would love to have the entire catalog on vinyl though. If given the option I would press Houston Calls, Steel Train, Halifax, House of Fools, Self Against City, I Can Make A Mess, The Benjamins, Allister, Fenix tx, Hellogoodbye, and RxBandits - Halfway Between Here and There so pretty much everything. I would be busy.
I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Support small labels. Who knows? Our next release may turn out to be your new favorite band. Pick up Sparrows you'll love it! Trust me.
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