diy label of the month: (^_^) Records
Alex tells us about their mission to create physical releases for underdog artists - and their mission to bring emo to the MiniDisc!
You can’t talk about DIY music without talking about DIY labels. Self-duplicating tapes, designing J-Cards, packing up CD jewel cases, burning discs, printing T-shirts…it’s a lot of work, and many of these labels are run by only one or two people. There’s a lot of great stuff in these ultra-small, ultra-DIY labels’ catalogs, and they don’t get nearly as much coverage as they should. That’s why I’m starting a monthly article series about them!
To kick the project off, I’m highlighting (^_^) Records, a netlabel run out of the Birmingham, AL area by twenty-one year old Alex. I initially discovered the label when I interviewed a person named Rose. Her EP is a great example of the kind of things (^_^) strives to release - it’s a scrappy set of charming songs recorded on a four-track.
“A theme of a lot of what I put out and will put out in the future, although not a strict goal or rule at all, [are] things with extremely minimal popularity but I personally believe strongly in them,” they tell me over email. The label actually began because Alex found a Tyler, the Creator tribute album on Reddit. “I thought it was pretty funny and didn't think anybody else would ever try to sign them,” they explained. And so, they made it happen - and now you can own More Than They Thought’s SAMUEL on CD.
Alex was nice enough to answer some of my questions via email and shed a little more light on the netlabel. Read on to hear more about the label’s releases, learn about the esoteric MiniDisc format, and get some advice from Alex about starting your own label.
Can you tell me a little bit about how (^_^) got started?
Sure! Besides larger concerts, I started going to local shows after I saw City Morgue and met Blaythe from the band NO CURE. He saw my Hybrid Theory shirt and didn't make fun of it, but instead told me about all of the cool local venues.
That was in late 2022, so I still feel really new to this all. I ended up going to a "noise night" at The Firehouse as my first show and it was really fun, even though I never listened to noise music before. The Firehouse is a great small DIY venue run by great people.
I've wanted to start my own netlabel for years and have been talking with certain artists about releasing physicals for them for over five years now. The label was originally going to be called Decked Out Records and my friend made me a logo and everything, but I found out it was taken (and also not very good of a name). So I went with (^_^) because internet emoticons are cool and it makes for a very easy logo.
Is the label run by you, or do you have other collaborators?
All regular operations of the label like shipping and managing the Bandcamp page are entirely done by me! Although none of it would be possible without my friend Patrick for helping with the artwork layouts. And I also want to shout out Rose for being the only other moderator for the Discord server.
How do you typically find artists? Are they sending stuff to you? Or are you reaching out to them?
It's mostly me reaching out, but I have more projects coming out soon that were sent to me via the submissions channel of my Discord. Rose is a friend and she sent me her music under this new alias, and I already knew I wanted to put it out based on liking her older music - and because recording to four-track is awesome.
Do you have any tips for people who want to start a netlabel?
If you're from a city with a music scene, get involved in it!! Start going to shows outside of your musical comfort zone! The internet is the most important part of a netlabel, but you can get introduced to so much by going around. Instagram and Facebook (unfortunately) tend to be the best places for information on events near you.
Also, really know how to produce the format you're putting up for pre-order before it's for sale. That is very important to stress here.
Are there any upcoming releases you want to shout out?
There's a few I want to talk about. I signed my first release years before (^_^) existed. One day, I'm going to be releasing a compilation of the artists Snobodys and origami arcade!, and their EPs Cannibal! and Bipolar Rollercoaster. I've been toying with making their archived MySpace layout into the CD tray design. I want to go all out for this one with the CD and tape releases for it. Both bands share the same two vocalists, Stitch and Patch.
I'm going to be making MiniDiscs for please be nice and Eggbeater Jesus by Camping in Alaska, both with lots of bonus tracks. Also - can't confirm this one yet - but potentially MiniDiscs for another popular fifth wave emo band.
There will eventually be a CD box set of the three albums by NHM called The Collected Works of Natural History Museum, which is sorta riffing on the Neutral Milk Hotel box set of a similar name. I had this idea because the initials are similar, and I was going to release all three albums anyway. I have ideas for how to make something similar to the artwork featured on that.
Can you tell me more about the MiniDiscs? What drew you to that format?
MiniDiscs are a format that kind of only existed from the late 90s to the early 2000s. There's a bit of an underground community around keeping it alive by archiving them and releasing new albums on the format. You can find out more on the MiniDisc Wiki.
I never saw a lot of emo on the format, especially not midwest or revival emo, and the Camping in Alaska album please be nice is a really important entry in the genre, so it felt fitting to release that and their newest album Eggbeater Jesus. There are a finite amount of blank MiniDiscs left at this point, so it's going to be cool.
[selected releases from (^_^) Records]
Live at The Firehouse, Birmingham, AL, 12/23/23 - Camping in Alaska
“With Camping, I've seen them more than any other band, twelve times across three states. I asked to release a show I saw at The Firehouse that was recorded to the soundboard, which I had already been enjoying as a bootleg for months before the official release. Austin sees me in the hall and just runs up to hug me. I'm glad I get to work with them.”
Self-Titled - Odd Polly
“Odd Polly is a rare band that blew me away the first time I saw them. I knew when [their EP] was coming out I wanted to release it.”
“It’s a wonderful night…” - The Left Joins
“The artists Natural History Museum and The Left Joins are both related to the artist Marc With a C, who I help run the social media pages for. The Left Joins is a band that Marc produces for, featuring his friend Dewey Robbins. Natural History Museum is a not-so-secret side project of [Marc with a C] for experimenting with short instrumentals.
[Marc’s] my favorite artist and for sure the one I own the most merch from. I took a plane to see what was billed as his last in-person show, a three-song set in a public library. I got to meet him in person for the first time the next day where he gifted me rare CDs and records, and I brought all of my own to get signed.”
SLANEY VS SODASTEAL - Operation Sodasteal
“Operation Sodasteal was a special case because I approached them online and they were really popular, I wasn't really expecting a response. But I'm glad that one worked out because it's the product I'm most proud of.”
Support (^_^) Records on Bandcamp, and keep up with them on Instagram!
