Howling Owl set the Record Store Day straight

Bristol’s DIY label Howling Owl records isn’t one to shy away from controversy and has been making headlines over the past month or so for taking a bit of an anti-Record Store Day stance.

We interviewed label boss Adrian Dutt for the April Bristol 24/7 magazine a few weeks back and asked him about his somewhat controversial move to spurn RSD15 as an indie label (see Facebook post) and how this marries up with his working in Rise record shop. And it seems like there’s a bit of a love/hate relationship going on.

“The vibe has always been the same on the day, and in the lead up,” said Adrian. “People, including all of us at the shop, get excited by it. It’s a fantastic atmosphere all day, and the people buying are of all ages, and not just flippers and collectors. Last year for example, the One Direction picture disc brought a whole new demographic of people into the shop, there’s nothing more satisfying than when a parent is telling us this is the first record of their child’s record collection, in a really proud way.”

But it’s not all sunshine and roses. While Adrian says the majority of people are regular record store shoppers, genuinely excited about the records they’re buying, it does attract its fair share of Machiavellian shoppers. He said: “There is also the small number of people in the queue that we only see once a year, and they just cherry pick everything, spending A LOT of money, but it is so obvious it is all going online when they get home. But there’s nothing we can do about it, they get there at 1 or 2am, so they are amongst those first few people.“ 

Howling Owl has produced three 12″s for the last three record store days. The first was an experiment for the label, and a step up at the time. Adrian, who also plays in Spectres, said: “We applied to be part of RSD but were told we couldn’t be as we didn’t have distribution, and we were only pressing 100. We were slightly disheartened, but carried on all the same. We were lucky enough to have the link with Rise, and they took a risk and added it to the stock. People bought it, and we had a lot of really nice feedback about the packaging, and bands, we gained a lot of new label followers from it.” 

“The second year we asked again about being part of RSD, having this proof that the last record would sell, and all that was happening in Owl-land was positive, but again were rebuffed. We titled that package ‘Music Is Dead’ as a tongue in cheek nod to the supposed ‘death of guitar music’ at the time. We went to the major indies ourselves with this one, and got it stocked in Rough Trade and a few others, and it sold out by 2pm.”

“Last year we had become very cynical of the industry and created the ‘sink’ package, the reaction to it was so positive, it sold out very quickly, people commented on all the different components, and there was a genuine excitement for the new music they were listening to. We knew after that day, the three was enough for us, we couldn’t progress our cynicism anymore so we decided against releasing anything in 2015.”

“As a tiny label, our budget is non-existent, we pay for the next release, using the previous releases funds. So when the pressing plants are so blocked up with major label releases that the lead time is 12 weeks plus, we can’t afford to do it. To get a record in time for RSD, on our level, we would have to have everything ready by Jan 1st, and even then they can’t guarantee it. “

What followed was a brazen release with fellow indie label Sonic Cathedral. Instead of releasing a few hundred records on Record Store Day, they decided to play around with the notion and release one single record every day for a year. It was announced on Facebook, with a poetic statement giving the reasons behind the move.

Adrian said: “When we met Sonic Cathedral, we realised we had a kindred spirit. We discussed the idea of doing something for RSD together, and he quipped the ‘1 a day’ as a passing comment, we all realised that would be a great project that would probably ruin us financially but bring a bit of life back into things.”

It’s not about spurning records or vinyl and certainly not about dissing record shops, it’s more about a public commentary on the way Record Store Day has developed into a much more commercial proposition, kind of losing its heard along the way. Adrian and his label are not alone in this thinking. Wanted Records doesn’t really get involved in RSD as it believes seeing the bigger 365 picture is far more productive at building meaningful customer bases.

 “Vinyl is so important to us as a label, it is what we release, and the urge to make fantastic vinyl packages (all year round) is what keeps us going,” said Adrian. “Vinyl was still on the slow surge back when we first put a release out, so it’s been really exciting to be part of it. Our ethos is around the creativity of the whole release, how ourselves and the band can get together to create a package people interact with in a new way. The inclusion of zines / zoetropes / artwork / poems etc adds that extra level, we always plan things as consumers, what we would want to see / hear etc.”

He continues: “RSD is slowly losing this kind of mindset, just reissuing old bits and bobs, with no extras, at stupid prices, no one wants that, they are pricing themselves out of the day. It’s sad to see the pricing on vinyl going up, and up, and up, it is dangerously close to shooting itself in the foot again. Major labels are pricing single records at £28, with some boutique labels price-pointing at £40. That is insane, and sooner or later people will get frustrated at it.”

So what will Adrian be doing on April 18th? He said: “On the actual day, all being well, the first copy will be somewhere in a shop. I will be working at Rise, which will be so fun as usual. Joe and Nat (Sonic Cathedral) will probably be texting each other planning the locations of the next few records.”

And in light of the recent criticism what does the future hold for the International event, which this year celebrates its 8th anniversary amidst this sea of negative commentary.

Adrian said: “As for the future of RSD, I really don’t know, it seems like all the indie labels, and even shops, are starting to get disillusioned with it. Shops commenting on how they can’t really afford to take part, as in buying the stock up front, but then also saying they can’t afford NOT to take part, as it can be so lucrative. The organisers need to listen to the labels and the shops, and not just the big three majors who basically bankroll the thing now. If RSD loses the labels and shops at the bottom, then the whole thing will topple, and leave a sour taste in consumers’ mouths.”