OndaLabel #2

What earned Captured Tracks its status of "coolness" and indie integrity so quickly, elevating it in 2012 to one of the most important labels on the international scene, isn't just the consistency with which it managed to release, over its four years of existence, a run of debuts that are all more than enviable. It's also its ability to fuse ethics and aesthetics typical of a golden age of independent labels that has now largely vanished. A passion that combines a modernized version of "do it yourself" with an obsessive attention to detail, giving rise to products that merge with the music and the imagery of the band. An added value that makes every single Captured Tracks release worthy of feverish anticipation from listeners who love and support this creative attitude.

Through all these tools, the Brooklyn label has supported and championed the music it loves, building a catalog that started out in noise-pop and crossed over into dream-pop, indie-pop, post-punk and lo-fi, initially linking up with the lo-fi shitgaze current before moving on to some fascinating experiments in minimal wave and electronic music.

Captured Tracks was founded in 2008 by Mike Sniper, who at the time was a small-time entrepreneur and co-founder of two small labels, one for reissues and one for his own new material, before he soon decided to go it alone and release two 12"s that came out almost simultaneously: Dum Dum Girls and his own project Blank Dogs. These kicked off an endless string of 7"s by bands that would go on to other shores (see Fresh & Onlys, Cosmetics, Veronica Falls, Led Er Est, etc.).

Based on upcoming releases (Blouse, Thieves Like Us, Soft Metals, Beach Fossils, Widowspeak, Minks, Craft Spells, etc.) and especially this year's, which have elevated the label into the pantheon of what's destined to endure, through the sophomore albums from Wild Nothing and Soft Moon, the debuts from Holograms, Heavenly Beat, DIIV, Mac DeMarco and Cris Cohen, we decided to have a chat with Mike Sniper both about what it means in 2012 to be an independent label and about his various artistic projects.

Hi Mike, what's changed at Captured Tracks from 2008 to today?

A whole lot has changed, really. In 2009 we started putting out singles and EPs, but we didn't have a roster, let alone an office or a real staff. Things really started to take shape when Katie Garcia became our manager and we signed Beach Fossils, Wild Nothing and The Soft Moon. Locking down those bands helped us a lot in terms of stability, and it also gave us the chance to grow alongside them, keeping them close, without the risk of seeing them jump ship to some bigger label. Now, in 2012, we're the ones reaching the size of a major indie label — it's really strange how things turn out!

How did you all meet, and how did you choose the people who currently work behind Captured Tracks? What scenes and experiences did they come from?

I'm happy to say our staff is 100% made up of its original founders; while they all have a strong work ethic, they're also people who are great to work with and have a good sense of humor. They're all passionate about the genres and the music we put out. I know labels where the employees aren't even real fans of the bands they work with, and that's pretty strange to me. Our backgrounds, while distinct, still overlap in a way — I can say everyone in the office, sooner or later, went through a punk phase.

How involved are you in the creative process? Do you like being in the studio with the artists or bands, giving suggestions, or do you prefer just hearing the final product?

When we decide to work with a band, we already fully trust that they're going to deliver great material. I only get involved in the creative process when I'm asked to… sometimes they take my advice, sometimes they don't. What I can tell you is that we never release anything we're not fully satisfied with, so there have been times when I've asked a band to re-record a bit here or there that just wasn't working for me.

One thing that, in my opinion, Captured Tracks has managed to do more successfully than other, bigger indie labels is build and promote its own scene, its own sound, while still letting each of its artists keep their own distinctive "signature." Is that something you've done consciously? Do you think there really is a "Captured Tracks Sound"? Would you go as far as passing on a band you like because it doesn't "fit" the CT sound?

Yes, we're aware of this scene and we keep an eye on it, even though it was much stronger back in the '80s and '90s. Being a fan of Creation, 4AD, Sub Pop or Touch And Go meant a lot more back then. You were part of a community. I think our biggest bands go beyond that. I'm sure plenty of Wild Nothing fans barely know our label, but I'd guess 95% of the diehard Captured Tracks fans love Wild Nothing.

We've signed quite a few new acts lately. But it's not just about doing something different — it's about expanding what it means to be a Captured Tracks fan in the first place. If a band has good songs, a great sound and a strong sense of self, that's all it takes — we'll sign them, regardless of anything else. I've never wanted a band that simply mirrors or fits some preconceived Captured Tracks style, and I don't want my label to be pigeonholed like that, boxed into one thing. The style and sound keep evolving and expanding, which is why it's not strange to find bands like Holograms, Craft Spells and Mac DeMarco under the same roof.

Why have you decided to focus more than before on the packaging of your releases (posters, inserts, etc.)? Is it purely an aesthetic choice, or is it because you're selling less than you used to and need more "appealing" packages?

We're bringing in a lot more revenue than we used to, so I'd say that's not the reason [laughs, ed.]. I simply want to create a positive, physical connection with the listener. It feels like yesterday when I was growing up surrounded by posters, pins, all kinds of gadgets — it was all part of the record. That world is pretty much gone now, and it's honestly pretty sad. It's an integral part of the fan/consumer experience, one that goes beyond just the act of listening.

How do you decide on the right band to release under the label, and what criteria do you use to make these choices? I imagine you get all sorts of requests… But is it true that you won't release any band that's already put out material on other labels? Why is that?

It's getting harder and harder to keep up with bands. Basically, they need to already be ready to become full-time musicians and work as hard as we work as a label; there's a lot of anticipation and expectation around our releases these days, and we need bands that are ready to tour more than 100 dates a year. That said, I place a lot of importance on songwriting, on composition. In all our releases there's a clear focus on crafting "songs," not just "interesting sounds." That's a key part of Captured Tracks… and yes, we really do get dozens and dozens of demos every week!

Sometimes we sign a band that's already put out a small release on another label — a single, an EP, or even a limited-run LP — that we can then give much more visibility to. But ideally, yes, we prefer to follow a band from their very first release in any format. It's a lot more exciting to work with a band from the start and help them grow — it's more rewarding for us too. Most labels, on the other hand, won't sign a brand-new band… they'd rather wait until they've already put out one or two LPs. That's standard practice, and I'm not even sure being signed to a major means much anymore in the indie world as a marker of success, other than getting a somewhat bigger advance. As long as a label isn't out there looking for new talent, it can never really call itself a trendsetter. They let smaller labels do the scouting and just watch for financial opportunities. That's how majors operate. But none of that really concerns me in the end.

In the early years you started putting out a ton of 7-inches — do you have some kind of soft spot for that format, like so many of those English labels in the '80s who refused to release their singles on the uglier, more commercial 12-inch?

Yes, really, I love this format, but unfortunately I've had to cut back on releasing it because of rising costs. Nobody wants to pay more than $5-6 for a couple of songs anymore. And I say this even though I have a huge collection of 7"s, HUGE!

In a recent post on your Tumblr you talked about what being an independent label means these days, and you made a strong point about the lack of any real search for new talent and new creative approaches. Can you tell us more about that?

Yes, I've talked about this before, and it's pretty sad, honestly. I don't understand what the role of A&R at a label is supposed to be nowadays if, before even getting interested in a band, they wait for Pitchfork or some other site to cover them with endless promotion — or worse, they wait for some smaller label to take the risk of putting out a track that (if luck allows) ends up getting a "Best New Music" tag, and then they turn around and spend a fortune signing that band's next 3-4 albums. It's absurd! Honestly, a label can do whatever it wants, but I don't get why they call themselves A&R when their own website clearly says "we don't accept demos," and then they won't even sign artists who haven't put out an LP in years. Doing that once in a while is fine, but there are labels whose entire roster works this way, and I honestly can't wrap my head around it. In independent music you have to take risks — that's the whole point.

So do you think the ethos and creativity behind historic labels like Factory has been lost over time?

No, not really. Thankfully there are still labels like Sacred Bones, Underwater Peoples, Night People, Woodsist and In The Red. They keep growing, and they do it by looking for artists outside the indie-mainstream media bubble.

Your musical projects and CT emerged alongside other new wave or weird/shitgaze/lo-fi projects: labels like Factums, Psychedelic Horseshit, Woodsist or Sacred Bones. Do you think there was some expressive need, a new artistic vision that these projects were somehow meant to represent? Or, on the contrary, were they simply a natural consequence of the 80s wave and the 90s indie scene?

I think a lot of it started in the mid-2000s, when there were tons of garage-punk acts veering toward psychedelia, synth music and post-punk. It was kind of a reaction to plain old indie-pop, to noise rock, and to the last gasps of math rock, which were really dominating the scene at the time. There was a genuinely cool period, which then got chewed up and spat back out as a bunch of "compromised" bands and people cashing in on a little "craze."

What made you decide to start the "Shoegaze Archives"? Was it a response to the current overwhelming wave of 70s/80s reissues? Why did you decide to focus mainly on the American scene? What are its distinctive traits, and what would be your dream reissue?

A lot of the material I've reissued hasn't been available on vinyl since its original release in the early 90s, and it had been completely forgotten. When all this stuff was around I was just a teenager going to shows, so it's pretty nostalgic for me, and I still love this music — I think it's essential. We mostly reissue American bands because the English ones were signed to major labels, which makes it hard to secure the rights. Anyway, no, I can't tell you my dream reissue because I'm actually working on it right now!

How would you describe the path that took you from your early cassettes to "Land and Fixed"? Your intimate style and taste for melody play an important role, and your compositions feel like some kind of grimy synth-blouse...

It came out of an experiment, out of a vehicle for little songs turning into composition exercises... Does that make sense?

Does the release of your latest anthology "Collected by Itself" reflect a desire to change something about your project, about its underground outlook? Before, it was really hard to track down all your cassettes and singles...

It's something I'd always wanted to do, and I figured it was better to do it before I lost all my masters. It was a nice thing, a fun sequence to put together.

What about your Mayfair Set and Roman Soldiers projects — is there anything new on the horizon? Or were they just temporary projects with friends?

I've always wanted to do more with the Mayfair Set project, but we're both too busy. Roman Soldiers, on the other hand, was a temporary project that wrapped up pretty quickly. Either way, I've always loved collaborating, and I've been collaborating on all sorts of projects with a lot of different people for a long time now.

Where does that dirty lo-fi atmosphere that pervades your early work come from? What need and artistic vision drove it? And where did you get your instruments?

It's just the sound of a 4-track cassette recorder capturing distortion. The synths I used ranged from the cheapest Casio to more expensive gear like Kora, Moog and Crumar.

Why do the vocal lines in your songs have such a “ghostly” quality? They sound like whispers lost in moving, acid-drenched feedback...

It's a style I really love, and I love singing this way, but I can't quite grasp the emotional side of it, and I don't want to.

The last lineup of Blank Dogs included you and some members of Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts. How did they influence your later compositions and your live experience?

At one point there were probably 20-25 people involved in Blank Dogs overall. Jarvis from Woods, Gary Was, Sean from Cult Of Youth, Pam from Widowspeak... I mean, there was never an official lineup, and that's why the live shows were always shaky and a bit frantic.

It's odd to note that at opposite ends of the US, New York and San Francisco each developed equally opposite synth scenes. Captured Tracks leaning towards coldwave, and Not Not Fun towards a more psychedelic, new-age scene. Also, near NY there's Slumberland Records, with whom you've shared some bands too, like Dum Dum Girls. How would you describe the relationships between these scenes and between your labels?

Honestly I'm not too deep into the coldwave/synth crowd, even though I know all those people, since I go to a lot of shows. Still, I really love all the Not Not Fun records. I'm friends with Mike Shulman (Slumberland Rec.) and with almost everyone in that circle. There are definitely differences of opinion, but that's exactly why there are so many labels and styles to work with.

At one of your shows in Rome years ago I bought a C60 cassette you'd compiled, full of coldwave/minimal/dark stuff (Sad Lovers and Giants, In The Nursery, Martin Dupont, Guerre Froide, etc.). I found it a very personal, intimate thing, it reminds me of the film High Fidelity - do you remember it?

Yeah, yeah, I remember that cassette, though I don't quite remember the exact tracklist order... Still, I bet it was really good!

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