|
|
Saturday, March 15, 2003
O,B.T.W. THE BELOW ARTICLE WAS SUBMITTED IN FULL BY ANDRIA LISLE, WHO WRITES ABOUT THE LOCAL SCENE IN THE LOCAL RAG, THE MEMPHIS FLYER. YOU HAVE A EDITED AND UNEDITED VERSION FUR YER CONVENIENCE. CHEERS.
posted by Sugar at 10:55 PM
AND HERE IS THE BELOW LINK UNEDITED AND IN ITS PROPER(?) FORMAT
I’m ashamed to say that I missed the Gabe & Amy Show’s record release party at Wild Bill’s last Thursday night, but I was determined to catch up with Wrecked ‘Em Records head Sugar Daddy over the weekend. The mysterious label boss wasn’t in his regular roost at the Lamplighter, nor was he lounging in a booth at the P+H Café. I finally put in a phone call to the elusive label boss, who rang me back from Greenville, Mississippi.
“I drove down to Jackson last night to see Mr. Airplane Man,” Sugar Daddy says. “Those chicks are dynamite! What sells me are live performances – these girls are into shakin’ their booties and letting the crowd know what they’re about!” He met the Boston-based duo at the Lamplighter when they were here recording their full-length debut Red Lite with Monsieur Jeffrey Evans. Their second album, Moanin’ (mixed at Easley-McCain Recording Studio by Greg Cartwright and Doug Easley), is “real pure,” Sugar Daddy says, adding that he’d like to put out a single on the duo.
Sugar Daddy loves a party – “I’m sitting on a barstool feeding my liver right now,” he claims – which explains the Greenville layover. “They’re having an unveiling of [Delta bluesman] Willie Foster’s new headstone in the morning. They’ll have live music, a crawfish boil, and plenty of barbecue. I decided to stay down here and block my colon,” he crows over the phone.
The Tennessee native never saw himself as a label owner, but Wrecked ‘Em Records was apparently somewhere in the back of his mind. As Sugar Daddy explains, “it goes back to the band the Used, from my days in Knoxville. They were never properly documented, even though that’s what I remember most about Knoxville – hanging out and going to their shows. They broke up shortly after I came back to Memphis – three guys from the band went to Superdrag.”
It took a little convincing, but Wrecked ‘Em got the Used to reform long enough to cut 12 songs at Stealth Studio in Knoxville. The tracks haven’t been mixed, but Sugar Daddy is confident that the album will be released soon. “Superdrag are doing really well right now, but I’m sure they’ll do a few shows in Tennessee when we get the CD ready. Now there’s another band called the Used on MTV – one of the guys is dating Kelly Osbourne. They’re worthless,” Sugar Daddy sneers. “The Knoxville band had the name first, but I wonder what kind of reaction we’ll get when this CD comes out.”
Sugar Daddy connected with Bill Parker And His Mother Scratchers through another unlikely source. “I used to do a Flaming Lips fanzine called Incubator,” he says. “Arlo Scratcher and I became friends through that. We met when he got me tickets to see Kiss in Detroit in ‘96. Two years ago, he mentioned an album he’d recorded, and asked me if I wanted to put it out.” The album, United We Stand, was Wrecked ‘Em’s first release. A double EP by Nashville’s Flesh Vehicle soon followed.
A devoted Kissologist, Sugar Daddy sold his vast collection of rock’n’roll memorabilia to support the label. “After 27 years of collecting any proceeds will go back into my Wrecked ‘Em,” he jokes.
The label’s name has caused some problems. “Amy Kudela [of the Gabe & Amy Show] asked, ‘Can’t you just change the name of your label?’ She hates Wrecked ‘Em. I asked her how ‘Loose Stool’ sounded. She gave in eventually,” Sugar Daddy laughs.
But don’t think that he doesn’t take his business seriously. Wrecked ‘Em’s deals are simple – they press 1000 CDs, 100 of which go directly to the band. Another 150 CDs are earmarked for promotional purposes, while the rest are sold in stores and via wrecked-em.com. After expenses, profits are split 50-50 between the label and artist. Sugar Daddy, who like many local labels cites distribution as a major problem, says “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but I’ll learn from my mistakes. The music is there – I just have to get it to the right people.”
Upcoming releases include a South Filthy single and, Sugar Daddy hopes, a CD from Rev. Vince Anderson. “Rev. Vince is a lot of fun – he believes in what he’s doing,” Sugar Daddy says, recalling a gig at Murphy’s last year when the Brooklyn-based musician “got naked and climbed on the bar with an accordian. It was insane,” he remembers. The only time he gets naked is when he feels like he’s on holy ground – he won’t do it if the crowd isn’t worthy.” Fans of Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart take note: The gruff-voiced ordained minister will be performing at the Hi-Tone on March 22nd, with a band that includes guitarist Jack Yarber and bassist Harlan Bobo.
“It took me six months to decide,” Amy Kudela says when asked about the Gabe & Amy Show’s Wrecked ‘Em debut. “I hate the name – it has no class! I love Sugar Daddy, and I appreciate him, but I can’t believe our first product says ‘Wrecked ‘Em.’ I almost had a breakdown over that!”
“Hopefully someone will see that we have an album in us,” Kudela says, adding that the rockabilly-influenced trio has plenty of material ready to go. The Gabe & Amy Show also has a live video and CD (recorded at Murphy’s) coming out on Les Birchfield’s Eye Reckon label. “I’m happy to have documented what we’ve done at Murphy’s,” Kudela says, “but we’ve worn out Memphis.”
“We got a booking agent for casino gigs, but that’s not what we want to do,” Kudela continues. “We’ve been doing it the hard way since we came to Memphis [in the mid-1990s], playing so often that our crowd was spread out over three gigs a week. We’ve put so much work into our music that it’s not much fun anymore.”
So, later this month, Gabe and Amy will move to New Mexico. “We’re taking a little bit of Memphis west,” Kudela says. “Gabe wants to focus on his art, and we both want to reinvent ourselves as musicians. We’ve bought a gutstring guitar, and I plan to learn how to bow my bass. We want to make music fun again!”
The Gabe & Amy Show will perform at Murphy’s on St. Patrick’s Day, then Gabe will take the Greyhound west to find their new home. Amy is staying behind to host an art show March 21st-23rd at the couple’s residence at 645 Landis Street in midtown. “We’ve painted all the walls white to turn the house into a temporary gallery,” she says. “I’ll sell Gabe’s oil paintings and collages, then join him in New Mexico.”
“We don’t want it to be goodbye – we just want to grow up,” Kudela says, insisting that the move west will be a temporary sabbatical. “We’re keeping our Cadillac in storage here, so we’ll definitely be back.”
posted by Sugar at 10:48 PM
Great plug fur the Wrecked 'Em courtesy of The Memphis Flyer. Educate yerself
http://www.memphisflyer.com/MFSearch/full_results.asp?xt_from=1&aID=4133
posted by Sugar at 10:38 PM
Sunday, March 02, 2003
R.I.P. MR. ROGERS.......You NEVER Sold Out!!!
posted by Sugar at 3:45 PM
|
|
