Every once and awhile a record label comes up and puts out
solid, after solid releases. Very rarely do you get a chance to view a label on
the rise, and I think we got a chance with Escapist Records.
Although the label might not be new, with recent signings like Light Years, Territory and Sweet Weapons, Escapist is
bound to be on top for the 2012 and beyond. So I’m very lucky to have head
honcho Michael Phillips (M.P.)
answer some questions about the label, bands and life…maybe.
ME: First of all, thank you so
much for being the FIRST interview, but hopefully not the last for Ears Still Ringing. Now can you
tell us how the label started up? What was the history, what made you decide to
start releasing music?
M.P.: It’s a pleasure; glad I could be a part of
the blog! Having booked shows and edited a webzine for many years I had become
friends with a number of touring bands. One conversation with the guys in On
Our Own brought up the idea of releasing an Integrity tribute album. This was
late 2002 I do believe, maybe early 2003.
The idea got shelved for a while, as the idea of starting a record label
was a pipedream as opposed to something I believed I could feasibly
accomplish. A year or so later the band
came back around on tour and the idea came up again; this time I decided to
just go for it.
I sent Integrity’s vocalist Dwid a Myspace message to see if he
would be supportive of the endeavor and he gave the go-ahead. From that point,
I contacted bands I knew for their involvement as well as bands that I thought
would be interested in participating. In addition I reached out to friends for
the artwork, layout, and mastering. Once
word got out about the potential lineup of the project, others contacted me to
be a part of the album. At one point I’d
say I had upwards of 40 bands that wanted to participate from all over the
globe. With so many people involved, the project saw its share of delays, which
was frustrating to say the least. Some
bands dropped off, others broke up, a few had mishaps with recordings, and
others just couldn’t make the deadline(s).
In the long run, the end product is a release I’m proud of and it helped
begin what the label stands for today.
ME: My first memory of Escapist
was the Changing Face EP (which rules), but
then hearing This Time Next Year had an album
put out by you. Both bands have a different style of music, so what makes you
pick a band and decide to release something from them?
M.P.: It’s always been my intention to release
music from artists that I felt deserved to be noticed. I’ve never want the label to be a brand or be
confined to one particular style or sound.
I enjoy music of all styles so releasing both a hardcore record and a
pop punk record on the label doesn’t seem foreign to me at all. There have been bands that would be more
appealing to the masses that I could have worked with but I felt they lacked
the sincerity that I was drawn to in the DIY mentality of the first metal,
hardcore, and punk shows I attended. In
short, that’s what I look for in the music I release.
ME:
One of my favorite releases of this year is from your signees, and good buddies
of mine, Light Years. Not only does the Just Between Us 7” rock, but the actually layout and the
record as a whole, is so beautiful. The labels, the insert and the cover are
all so well put together. It’s something I think some will overlook, but others
like I, will admire. What I always wanted to know is what goes into making a
whole layout of a record. Do you go into a release and have a plan for it? Or
does it just happen to come together?
M.P.: The process varies from release to release.
When we were putting the layout together for the Light Years record, we really
wanted something that didn’t look like your typical pop-punk record. We wanted
someone to look at the record and not know what it sounded like, similar to the
ambiguity of Paint it Black’s “New Lexicon.” Ian (photography) and Andrew
(layout) succeeded in doing just that.
On the flip side of things, when I was putting together the Crucified
and No Truce split, I wanted the imagery to reflect the lyrical content of the
bands. When you look at Ryan Patterson’s artwork for the album you’ve got a
good idea of what you’re getting.
ME: You also just put out Territory’s first full length. And being from Arizona, I not
only find that awesome, but I love people paying attention to AZHC now, more so
than years past. How did you get them onto the label? And how does it full to
have one of the most brutal, destructive release s this year on your
label? Ha
M.P.: I was on tour with my good friends in
Withdrawal this past winter and Territory was set to play a couple shows of the
tour. I had downloaded the band’s demo
from a blog months before and liked it.
I saw they had new songs online and checked them out. The band’s sound had definitely come into its
own since that demo so I was eager to see them live. I remember texting a friend
telling them how good they were that first night. After I got home from the
tour I sent the band a message and we talked about the possibility of doing
something together on a bigger scale than the cassettes they had previously
released.
ME: Not too long ago, you
announced New Mexico’s own Sweet Weapons
have made Escapist Records home. Such a
solid band, I’m fairly positive that they will take the label’s name into
something, magnificent. I think with the current lineup you have, Escapist Records are not only making
a mark, but are laying down a foundation of amazing releases. Is there anything
on the horizon we can look towards from the label/you?
M.P.: It’s funny; I look at my favorite records
labels (past and current) and look at their first few releases. While those
releases may not be the most popular or groundbreaking, they helped define
those labels. I’ve learned a lot from what I have done with the label, as well
as friends that have/had labels. I’ve accomplished a lot and I’m proud of every
record I’ve released to date. Sure, there
have been missteps along the way, but its all been part of the process of
finding my way. I took a couple years
off to re-evaluate the label and even considered giving up completely at one
point. In the end, I’ve chosen to
persevere. I’m still taking risks each day, but I have learned to be a little
more cautious with my decisions.
As for the future, I’ve got quite a few things in the works.
Obviously, there is the Sweet Weapons release, which will be a full-length LP.
They’ll be recording that this winter and it should be out in the spring of
next year. Light Years will begin recording their full-length this November,
which I am hoping to have released at the same time as the Sweet Weapons
record. Withdrawal will release a record
with us at some point, what and when that will be I have no idea, but it will
happen one day. In addition, there is a
new band announcement that I’m quite excited about that will likely be made by
the time this is interview goes up. Outside
of those things, I’ve been talking to a couple other bands about potential
releases, though nothing is concrete just yet with those.
ME: Thank you for not only
answering my questions, but for being such a solid ground for good music to be
released on. Are there any last words, statements, things you just want to
say/promote before we say goodbye?
M.P.: I’d just like to say thank you for being
extremely supportive of the label. This is a one-man venture with the help of a
lot of great friends so any and all support that is given to what I do is
deeply appreciated. I’m eager for what the future holds and the fact that
someone cares enough to do features like this is extremely flattering and means
the world to me. Keep up the blog!
Please support Mike and Escapist Records
by adding their Facebook so you can be caught up on all news and order
something, anything from the web store. Promise you won’t be let down.
Welp, they did it again. Code X Red just got better (is that even possible?)
