Interview : Type Records

Type Records have without a doubt been putting out some of the best cutting-edge and original new music since they started. Their back catalogue and artist roster includes some of my favourite albums and artists, and it's been through Type that I've discovered many new artists, and indeed genres. We asked John Twells, who heads up the label, to answer a few questions to get an insight into how Type started, and how it operates now.

How and why did Type start, and who was involved in the startup?

I started Type along with Stefan Lewandowski in 2002, and our first release eventually surfaced in the fall of 2003. The label emerged from a club night we ran in Birmingham (UK) where we both lived, and after some encouragement from Shlom Sviri (who now runs Boomkat.com) we took the plunge. At that time I was getting a lot of demos passed to me either on tour or from artists who were touring and stopping in at our club, so I took on the role of A&R and Stef handled the design and web management.

Are all those people still involved, how many people are currently working at Type?

Sadly life and 'real' work got in the way for Stef and these days he doesn't have much to do with Type. I moved to the USA permanently in 2009 so I'm running the label from a small office-cum-studio in Massachusetts, and my wife helps with accounting but apart from that it's just me on this side of the Atlantic. I'm lucky though to have use of an office in the UK, and we have a number of talented people who work on the shuttling of goods to-and-from distributors, making sure all the manufactured goods get everywhere on time and have a full time layout/packaging designer. I think without this it would make running the label pretty much impossible for just me.

Did you always know what you were doing at the start, or did you make it up as you go along?

A little bit of both really. I've always had a very clear idea of what I wanted the label to be and do, but the finer details change regularly as do my musical choices. I think it's important for a label to keep modifying what they do - there's really no sense in releasing the same record one-hundred times, so as each year goes by I think it's crucial for my changing tastes as a listener to be reflected in my choices as a label-boss. I have a few people around who have informed the business side of the label and helped get things together - I think with that side of things it's been a much steeper curve as I was so young when I started Type. It's not easy for anyone to start and run a business, especially now and especially in 'entertainment' so without some good people around encouraging me, I don't think I'd still be doing it.

How do you identify an artist you want to sign?

I buy and listen to a lot of music and sometimes I'll hear something that sounds 'right'. This is probably, right now the primary way I find artists... but moving to the US has certainly helped too - going to shows, meeting people and passing around CDRs and cassettes has been a really good way to hear new artists. If it sounds great and I think we can get it to a few more ears then I'll do it.

Have you had any bad experiences or challenges you've had to overcome?

I don't think there are any labels that have been around for a few years and NOT had to overcome bad experiences or challenges. It's sort of the nature of the industry - something to be moaned about over a few pints rather than on the internet though. The sad thing is that a lot of bad experiences can totally cripple a label; too many times I've been on the brink of packing it in for one reason or another, but you really learn quickly in this industry and grow from the mistakes.

Was there a particular turning point for Type?

Definitely, when we shifted our distribution and manufacturing operation around the time of Peter Broderick's 'Float' album and the Grouper 'Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill' record, I felt like I was much more in control of things and since then I've definitely been running things much more confidently. Since settling down in the US too, things have been a lot more smooth for one reason or another and I've had a lot more time to pore over vinyl, tapes and cds and really get excited about the records we're putting out.

Could you tell us how you came to find a particular artist on your roster?

Every signing is usually pretty different, but taking Jeff Witscher (Rene Hell) as an example, this was a demo sent to me through Pete Swanson of Yellow Swans. I'd heard Jeff's music before, but not the Rene Hell material which was kind of hard to obtain at the time. Pete sent me basically the finished album, and I instantly got in touch with Jeff saying we wanted to do something, it just hit me in the right spot straight off the bat and I knew it was a Type album. We actually only met up a few months later, after the record was released even since he lives on the other side of the continent. Other artists can be signed under more personal situations, Richard Skelton and Seasons (pre-din) for example were local friends and jamming partners when I lived in Manchester.

What's the worst demo you've ever been sent?

Hard to remember, I used to have so many God-awful demos they all kind of blur into one. One guy sent me a techno/trance demo once though that was all versions of pieces by Eric Satie, which was pretty novel. It came with a photo of him in a fetching cowboy hat and was called the 'Saties Faction EP'. Truly mind-blowing.

What advice would you give to someone starting their own label now?

I think if you're starting a label the worst thing you can do and the easiest mistake to make is to over-press copies. SO many plants will convince you to press more copies rather than less, and the instant thought is to think that they will sell 'eventually'. This is definitely what brings labels to a grinding halt early on - a garage/basement/bedroom full of unsold copies is not only costly but it's depressing. It's much better to press a small amount, sell out and move onto the next release - progression is the key. I'd rather sell out of 35 cassettes than have 950 cds hanging around on shelves for three years.

Website : www.typerecords.com