Interview with Sam Melancon of Debacle Records
Founder and operator of the Seattle-based Debacle Records imprint as well as curator of the annual Debacle Fest, Sam Melancon took some time to answer ANOMALOUS’ questions on the internet box.
What was your impetus for getting Debacle off the ground? What’s the history of your label?
I wanted to run a label since I was pretty young. I had a previous attempt at a label, which fell apart. Shortly after that I started Debacle. I tried to do things differently with Debacle—short runs, small artist, focusing on the experimental side of Seattle.
Do you manage everything yourself, or are there some other key people involved?
Debacle is officially just me, but some people help out. Dustin Kochel (Summon Thrull) masters most of my stuff. Also, my bandmate Riley Scott helps out here and there. My wife Wendy is also very supportive.
How do you select your artists, especially the out-of-town ones?
Almost all of the artists I work with are just people whose music I admire and I want to release. I email a lot of artists I respect looking for releases. Sundrips, Hobo Cubes, Cough Cool, Expo ’70, Konntinent, and Food Pyramid from this year all came about from emails. Locally I know most people around Seattle who are doing music that would fit in the label. I like to support Seattle artists and keep a percentage of my releases for local work.
Your packaging has a strong continuity, but your graphics vary wildly—who handles that part of it? Do you give a lot of consideration to the presentation, or is it mostly a monetary concern?
I am really happy to have found a printing style that looks as good as it does. I think a lot about the design of my releases. I try not to have too many restrictions on what an artist can do with their visuals. My main goal is just to have it look good and fit the music/artist. I do a lot of the design and layout work. I think I rely on a few techniques too often. I am always happy when an artist comes to me with a finished art idea. I also have been blessed to work with some pretty amazing graphic designers like Demian Johnston, Kyler Martz, and Kevin Gan Yuen.
How long have you been curating Debacle Fest? Tell me about your experience with this year’s sets.
This past year was year four. The original fest was actually my bachelor party, and we have been doing it ever since. This year was musically pretty amazing. I tried a few new things in terms of line up and locations. Some of it worked really well and some not so much, I think next year I am going to try to do fewer shows. We had 5 shows and 35 artists this year and that was too many. Overall, I was very proud of bringing together such a diverse weekend of sounds. I am already planning next year’s fest, May 4th 5th and 6th in Seattle.
What are your thoughts on distribution and marketing? You seem to like to have a direct connection with the outlets that sell your stuff (WoS etc, and the independent online retailers). Do you see yourself working toward wider exposure?
I tried very hard this year to get more exposure and distribution. I think overall I succeeded. Getting a few releases listed by Aquarius Records helped. I had some minor success with traditional distro shops as well. I think putting out the volume of releases I did this year may have hurt some of that though. Overall I think it’s very hard for a small label like myself to break through to the point that you start noticing the sales. There are so many good artists and labels working right now, and we are all competing for exposure on blogs and websites. I hope to keep cultivating the feeling that when you see something on Debacle you know it’s going to be worth your time to check out. One problem is that I have no set musical style for Debacle, so I make sure that there are many ways out there for you to try out my new releases to see if it is something that would interest you.
Are there a couple releases that are really special to you for one reason or another?
It’s hard for me to say. I really tried to think about this and not just do the “I love all my children equally” answer. I usually have a special thing for the albums that people don’t see coming from me, where I am able to break out of preconceived notions of what Debacle is about. I heard some grumbling about how Debacle Fest and the label “aren’t like they used to be” and that couldn’t have made me happier.
What’s next for Debacle?
Next year I am hoping to slow down the rate of releases a bit—keep doing the CDR format, but maybe start breaking into some vinyl as well. May brings Debacle Fest Five. Other than that, trying to get more and more of this stuff out there, hopefully inching towards that day that I can stop working a day job and do this stuff full time.