RM64 Q&A: Bill Armstrong & Joe Sib / SideOneDummy Records

There are a handful of independent record labels out there today that are filling the gap between mom and pop operation and major label behemoth. Home to platinum sellers and international touring artists, these indie-ecosystems provide a place where music, community and commerce combine in a way rarely seen in the confines of corporate entertainment companies. SideOneDummy Records is one of those labels and over the past 14 years they have grown from two friends in a Hollywood apartment, to a business with worldwide presence, hundreds of releases and an impressive roster of artists including: Flogging Molly, The Gaslight Anthem, Gogol Bordello, Fake Problems, Dusty Rhodes, Bedouin Soundclash, The Casualties and many others.

RM64 dimwits Rodel Delfin and Scott Sheldon sat down with SideOne head honchos Bill Armstrong and Joe Sib at their Hollywood office.

RM64: When you started the label over a decade ago, did you have a specific plan or goal in mind?

BA: When we started, the goal was to see if we could do this and not have a real job. And to not have to report to anybody or answer to anyone. That was really it. As long as we could get a cup of coffee and a bagel in the morning, we were good.

JS: Yeah, I don’t think we thought we would be doing this for 14 years. When we first said “hey lets put out a record,” the idea of being around for a long time was possible. But if you would have asked me back then, “do you think you would still be doing this in your 40s?” I probably would have answered, I don’t think so. Back then, it was just me and Bill in a room with a phone. At that point in our lives it was nice to have somewhere to go each day, not have a regular job, and say this is what we do.

BA: Also, we admired Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords, especially Fat, since Epitaph at the time was already huge. Fat had a great model. They were self-sufficient and they were their own island in the music business. They were doing very well, and majors didn’t even know who they were. Everyone liked being on that label. They had a real family and community vibe. To run a business that way and achieve that level of success was something we always admired. Once we could survive, being a label like Fat was kind of our goal.

JS: I used to always joke around when people would say, “what do you do?” We would say “we run a record company.” And it was like, I don’t know about “company.” We were just two guys. When I thought record company, I thought about Atlantic Records, Interscope and Epitaph—they were record companies. We were two guys who love music and were trying to find a band to put out. For Bill and I, to think we could sell 10,000 records was huge. If we did that, we would be done and never have to do it anymore. Now the bands we work with have gone on to big things, like Flogging Molly selling millions of records. I don’t think that was on the horizon in our vision, we just wanted to have somewhere to go each day and talk about music.

RM64: The artists on your roster span a variety of styles and genres, yet there seems to be an overall common culture. Why do you think that is?

JS: For me, I think our roster reflects Bill and Joe’s record collections at home. Artists like Van Halen, Black Flag, Jerry Vale, Patsy Cline, Led Zeppelin, etc. We are definitely into all different types of music. The label we always talked about as the true independent label was SST, because they had Black Flag to Sound Garden and then some Bazooka Joe experimental jazz record. For instance, on our roster, I love Gaslight Anthem, and when people refer to them as punk rock, for me where I come from, I don’t really hear that much punk rock. They come from that world but I hear a rock band. I hear more CCR and Springsteen than Social Distortion. We have always just signed bands that we love to jam.

RM64: Speaking of The Gaslight Anthem, their debut album has been receiving a lot of attention, critically and with fans. What do you think it is about their music that people are reacting to?

BA: I think the reason they’ve really caught on is that they’re a classic rock band in modern rock clothing, so to speak. They have classic rock sensibilities, but they’re spring boarding from a scene of bands like Against Me, and they are part of the DIY scene. Also, I really think it comes down to the songs and delivery. Brian’s got a great voice, the songs are awesome and he’s a talented lyricist. That’s why even artists like Springsteen are gravitating towards them. He made them his #1 fan on his Myspace page, and calls out the band as one of the new artists he likes during his pre-Super bowl interview. He even called the singer on the phone to ask them to come to the UK and open for him. Probably what he sees is what a lot of people do, its modern, but it has the classic sensibilities that resonate with them.

RM64: You mentioned the punk and DIY scene, how did SideOne get involved with putting out The Van’s Warped Tour compilation?

BA: We came up with the idea when we were trying to get our bands noticed, but we didn’t have two of the primary vehicles that the indie labels we admired had, which was Epitaph having Bad Religion and Fat Wreck Chords having NOFX. They could always take those bands out on the road, and then build and release a compilation in association with the tour. The comps would sell incredibly well. At the time we didn’t have enough bands to put on a comp. I remember thinking one year at Lollapalooza, with a lot of bands playing in a short period of time, it would be cool to have a comp of all the bands that played that day so you could hear what you missed and go back and check them out later.
Since Joe had known Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour founder) for a longtime, and I knew Darryl Eaton (music agent) at CAA pretty well, we went to talk to them about doing a compilation for the Warped Tour. Basically we said to them, there’s so many bands out here and there’s just no way to see everything, so let’s do a low priced comp so its next to free, and maybe we can get some momentum. We also thought it could help get the Warped name at retail and places it wouldn’t otherwise be. They thought it was a good idea and they said let’s try it and see how it works out. But they said we would have to do all the legwork with licensing and all that. The first year, the comp did pretty well. Then we tweaked it a little the next year, and from there it started to sell really well. That’s when we thought, wow, this thing could do really well. Then it started selling like gangbusters. We had no idea that we’d have gold records as a result, and that it would turn into its own thing. We were just thinking that it could serve as a vehicle to promote our bands out there. And we give a lot of credit to Kevin as well. Throughout the years as the comp kept growing bigger, labels came in and tried to take it over, but Kevin and Darryl stuck by us. The only reason we’ve been doing it for 11 years is because those guys said we could.

RM64: With the changes happening in the music business, are independent labels better positioned to adapt?

BA: Indie labels certainly aren’t immune to what’s happening in the industry, less sales overall are less sales for everyone. But I think within this landscape, indies are still poised to do well. I was talking with Hale Milgrim, who was President of Capitol Records, and he said to me that we are currently in a sweet spot. He said that the current climate is similar to when indie labels like Atlantic, A&M, Geffen, Asylum, etc… exploded. Back then, FM Radio happened and that allowed a lot of those labels to blow up. Today, a new counter-culture movement is growing left of the mainstream, and some well-positioned indie labels are poised to do really well. Ultimately, I think the future label model is one that’s lean and can move quickly, but still be competitive on a big level. Right now indie labels are positioned well because they’re just leaner in operations. Most don’t have a big staff or big overhead, so your sweet spot is at a lower threshold for profit. At our company, there’s no one making a million dollar salary. There’s not a big gap between what Joe and I make, and what everyone else makes. And indies don’t have to sell 700-800k records to break even. If you do that at an indie, you could retire.

RM64: Can you tell us a little about the annual Rock to Roll charity event, and how you got involved with the cause?

JS: The Rock to Roll events began 3 years ago after I had met David Richard, the owner of UCP Wheels for Humanity. UCP finds and refurbishes old wheelchairs, and distributes them to third world countries. The non-profit organization was formed in 1996, and over the last 12 years they’ve distributed over 50,000 wheelchairs in over 30 different countries. I went to their office in North Hollywood, and after I saw the chairs, the people working on them and where they were going, I left there thinking about what we could do for these guys. Since I know a lot of bands and have a reach in the music community, I thought if I could turn this onto other likeminded people, we could raise some money for the organization. So our first show was at the Key Club and we had Against Me headline. We raised $17,000 that night, and I started thinking that the fundraiser event could be something that SideOneDummy does every year. So the next year we took it to the Avalon with Flogging Molly and Bouncing Souls and raised about $34,000. Last year we had it back at the Key Club with Alkaline Trio and raised another $32,000. So in last three years we raised over $80,000, and we’re grateful to all the bands, indie labels and individuals who donated their time for a great cause. The tentative goal for this year is to do shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City and try to raise $100,000. I love working with the people at UCP. They take care of people that the rest of the world has forgotten about.

BA: This is Joe’s thing. He totally took charge, and it’s great that all of us at SideOneDummy could get involved. At the end of the year we all help out, and instead of throwing a holiday party, we all go to this amazing event. As the year winds down, we all pitch in to help out as the show is coming together.

RM64: Before we go, are there any new acts on the SideOne roster that you can tell us about?

JS: Be on the lookout for two new artists we signed—Fake Problems and Broadway Calls.
BA: Also, Dusty Rhodes & the River Band has a great new album coming out in May.

RM64: Very cool. Thanks for sitting down with us.

BA & JS: No problem, it was a lot of fun.

**Editors Note: Catch Dusty Rhodes & the River Band during their Silverlake Lounge residency every Monday night in April at 11:00PM