1. How long have you guys been around?
I was born in 1982. Flannelgraph Records was started in 2009.
2. Any claim to fames? Or any long-term goals you’d like to share?
Nope, no fame! As far as long-term goals go, I’d like to eventually make this a sustainable thing. It would be great to break even (or close to it) on an album. Other than that, I’d just like to help get music that I care about into the hands and ears of folks willing to listen to it.
3. What sets you apart as a label?
Well, we are very small, so hopefully everything has more of a personal touch to it. I really like music and think it’s a really worthwhile thing to be involved with. We really don’t have any specific plans for the future, we’re just going to do one thing at a time and try to do our best.
4. What’s the deal with the Laminar Excursion?
That is a 24-disc 3″cd subscription club that we put together with our buddies at Crossroads of America Records here in town. They had the idea and I thought it sounded like a fun thing to do. In addition to our respective rosters, each of us asked some other bands that we liked and now were are on our 22nd release in the series so far this year. There’s been some really great music on those discs, not just from Bloomington’s rich talent pool but from other national acts like Richard Swift, Cotton Jones, Damien Jurado, J. Tillman, etc.
5. What should we keep our eye out for?
On November 16th we released an instrumental holiday compilation called “The Holidays Don’t Have To Be So Rotten”. It is a benefit album and all of the money taken in goes directly to charities selected by the artists involved. It’s a really wonderful and unique album that is available online and in local record stores. It has a good mix of Bloomington artists (Memory Map, Sleeping Bag, Mike Adams, Drekka, etc.) and non-Bloomington artists (Odawas, Lake, Foxhole, TW Walsh, etc.).
In January we are really looking forward to releasing the debut album from Mike Adams At His Honest Weight, “Oscillate Wisely”, as a vinyl/digital only release. You might recognize Mike from singing and playing guitar in husband&wife and running Crossroads of America Records here in town along with his h&w bandmates. He’s made a really a great album and I’m really thrilled to be able to have a part in getting it out into the world.
Check out Jeff’s preview of their holiday compilation
More about Flannelgraph Records at their website and facebook page
