Origami Music Combats Dwindling CD Sales with New Business Model

Last August, Neil Schield released the first album on his new label, Origami Music. Based on ethics and practicality, the digital-only imprint utilizes Schield's network base and 12 years in the industry, factoring marketing out of the equation and not claiming ownership of music. Focusing on artists within his own organic network, Schield is keeping it simple, planning to release 10 to 15 albums a year. Among the eight artists to join the label are Wait.Think.Fast., Summer Darling and most recent signee, Twilight Sleep, all of which have new Origami releases on the way. We recently discussed the label in more depth with Schield.

Q: What sparked your decision to start Origami Music?

A: Most of my career has been focused on the digital aspect of the music business. I used to work at Interscope, then Sony, and I've always done online marketing and online business development. Things have changed so much - most of my friends that have independent labels right now are really struggling because they can't sell enough CDs to cover their cost of marketing. And what that eventually leads to is artists and musicians not having much of an opportunity to release their music. I started thinking of a way that wouldn't be super labor-intensive and wouldn't be financially burdensome on me, but that would still get people's music out into the marketplace. I don't think it's completely revolutionary - but my approach isn't so much, 'Hey, I'll release as many records as I possibly can.' I still want to keep it like a record label where there's A&R.'

Q: After a band signs to Origami, then what happens? Take Twilight Sleep, for example.

A: Well, we're going to re-release their EP, Race to the Bottom of the Sea, and I have a pretty extensive email list and I let everyone know when the album is coming out. Also, Ioda has a really cool platform called Promonet, which enables labels like myself to offer up free mp3s to blogs and podcasts and things like that. I try to work with companies like iTunes and Amazon to get the record featured at retail, and I'm working at booking a couple shows on the West Coast for them.

Q: What about merch at shows - do you have any physical products?

A: We've done a couple of interesting things. For Summer Darling, who just came out with their second EP on the label, we created about 500 USB drives. They have the Summer Darling logo on them, are all hand-numbered and are filled with a ton of content - you get the EPs, a music video, the album art, liner notes and all sorts of cool extra stuff. If a fan who has bought one of these USB drives comes to a show and there's a new song or some new piece of content available, they can bring their drive and we will upload it for free. We've created a sort of collector's item for the hardcore fans. If they want to keep in touch with the band, they're going to come out to the show. Plus they can use the USB drive for other things, too.

I'm also working on doing some limited-run vinyl for artists, with the ability to create free downloads with that. I'm a huge vinyl fan.

www.myspace.com/origamitunes

Jane Crew Records Launches New All-Ages Venue, Janestown

On June 29, the Los Angeles-based Jane Crew Records, best known for their alternative holiday compilations, celebrated the launch of their brand new all-ages venue, Janestown, in Los Angeles. Sporting a slightly Western theme, the 100-capacity space is located at 2701 South Hill Street at 27th Avenue, right between Downtown L.A. and USC.

On the weekends, Janestown will play host to both local and touring musicians in the greater rock genre. "Mostly rock and alternative and metal," Jane Crew co-founder and Janestown booker LaLonnie Swagger told Performer. "But we're being very wide with the genre. When I say 'alternative,' I would include country with that." Assisting Swagger with booking duties is fellow Jane Crew co-founder, Leah Gillen. Keeping all dealings through MySpace, the two are booking the venue two to three months in advance.

Running between the hours of 8 p.m. and midnight, shows will see four bands to a bill, each band playing a one-hour slot. Due to Janestown's small size, Swagger is firm about giving priority to each band's fans and plans to clear out the venue after each set, granting priority admittance to those who specifically came to see the next band, then to re-entries.

Janestown will supply the backline and P.A. but "the only thing that we'll be selling is tickets," said Swagger. "And of course the bands can sell their CDs and merch too." (No alcohol!) Recognizing the good work The Smell is doing, Swagger hopes to continue making music accessible to people of all ages. "I probably benefitted from hearing bands play live more before I was 21 than after," she told Performer. "It would be nice to make that available to other people."

www.myspace.com/janestownusa

Sanctum Sound Opens Up Shop on the West Coast

Sanctum Sound, a fixture of the Boston recording community since 1998, has gone bi-coastal, opening a second facility in Los Angeles at 2032 Armacost Avenue. Maintaining the steadfast dedication to artist development that its Boston counterpart established, Sanctum LA will cater to the growing needs of two different entertainment worlds - music and video, as well as the intersection between the two.

More than just recording, Sanctum LA is well tailored to the multi-media industry in the area. The spacious five-room facility features three studios - Studio A designed for the songwriter and producer, Studio B accommodating stereo and 5.1 mixes, and Studio C designed as the ultimate mix and video production environment - as well as a versatile live room. Each control room is equipped with a spacious ISO booth attached. Within the studios, artists will find all the latest hardware and software - from ProTools HD to Wave bundles - a wide variety of mics and MIDI /synth gear, boutique mic-pres and top-notch JBL speakers.

Boasting the same comfortable atmosphere as the original location, Sanctum LA offers a one-stop shop for independent musicians in need of developing media - be it high-quality video to put on their website, recordings for film or even on-location live performance shoot capabilities - in addition to songwriting, production and recording. There is also a copyright office in-house along with a publishing office right down the hall.

Further, Sanctum LA is offering an educational component, teaming up with Berklee College of Music's Los Angeles outreach program as well as Musicians Institute to offer an ongoing internship program for students at the studio. An application form can be found on Sanctum's website.

Studio time should be booked two to three weeks in advance by contacting info@sanctumla.com; call for rates: (310) 826-3676.

www.sanctumla.com

IN THE NEWS

On July 29, The Antiques will release their new album via Banter Records. Titled Cicadas, the album was produced by Scott Solter (Okkervil River, Mountain Goats, Two Gallants) at his home studio in rural North Carolina, and sees the debut of new guitarist Ryan Crego.

www.myspace.com/

theantiques

L.A.'s Rumspringa recently released its debut self-titled six-song EP on Cantora Records. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Joey Stevens and drummer Itaru de la Vega, the band was busy all last month, holding the Monday residency at The Echo.

www.myspace.com/

rumspringa

On July 8, Greg Laswell will release his sophomore full-length album on Vanguard Records. Titled Three Flights From Alto Nido, the album was written, recorded and produced at Laswell's home studios in San Diego, Dana Point and Santa Ana, with mixing help from Greg Collins (U2, Joss Stone, The Dixie Chicks). After returning home from the Hotel Café Tour, Laswell hit the road again early last month with former tourmate Ingrid Michaelson for a U.S. tour, which wraps July 2.

www.greglaswell.com

The no-DJ-no-laptop-no-drum-machine dance party known as Casxio, recently released their new EP, Four Songs, online for free. Comprised of vocalist/bassist Lucas Guerin, professional dancer-turned guitarist Eric Saez, beat-master Zach Schrockm and classically-trained pianist Andrea Choe, the four-piece has been gigging regularly around the greater L.A. area recently.

www.casxio.com

In support of his recent sophomore album, Strange Hexes, Imaad Wasif and his backing band Two Part Beast have hit the road with RTX and will continue touring the U.S. this month. Launched in Oakland on June 19, the tour will wrap with three dates in Texas: July 4 in Denton, July 5 in Austin and July 6 in Houston.

www.imaadwasif.com

Epitaph Records recently signed the Miami experimental electro grind duo I Set My Friends On Fire, with plans to release their debut album in the fall. Formed in late 2007, the band caught the attention of Epitaph owner Brett Gurewitz with their rock/scream cover of Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat."

www.epitaph.com

What the Body Was Made For, the sophomore full-length offering from L.A. duo Snow & Voices, is set for release on July 1 through the band's own Elastic Ruby label. The fourth album from Lauri Kanz and Jeb Bruni, their second as Snow & Voices, the disc features a string of collaborators, including drummer Ric Menck (Matthew Sweet) and engineer Darrell Thorp (Air, Radiohead).

www.snowandvoices.com

Evangelista will wrap up its U.S. tour this month with a string of California dates, wrapping on July 4 in L.A. The band, fronted by Carla Bozulich, has been on the road since its European tour in May, gigging in support of its recent release Hello, Voyager on Constellation Records.

www.myspace.com/

evangelistasounds

Jeremy Jay has set out on the road in support of his recent K Records release, A Place Where We Could Go. The tour will cross the U.S. this month, including a few Canadian dates, and wrap at Chop Suey in Seattle on August 14.

www.myspace.com/

jeremyjay

Cipes and the Peoplewill continue their string of summer shows on July 12 with an appearance at the Whiskey A Go Go for a VHI Rock Honors benefit. The L.A. reggae group, led by Greg Cipes and featuring eight core members, released its latest album, Conscious Revolution, last fall.

www.cipesandthe

people.com

Pro Audio recently released its sophomore album, Make the Happiness Stop, on Poskey Reunion Records. The Santa Monica four-piece recorded the disc's 23 tracks with producer Eddie Deering, who also mixed and mastered the album.

www.proaudioband.com

The Briggs tapped Brian Baker (Bad Religion, Minor Threat), Ken Casey (Dropkick Murphys) and Dicky Barrett (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones) for guest spots on their fourth record, Come All You Madmen, recently released on SideOneDummy Records. The L.A. punk quartet will continue its extensive touring with the Vans Warped Tour this month through the Eastern U.S., hitting the West Coast in August.

www.myspace.com/

thebriggs

Moog synthesizer group The Volt Per Octaves, which features husband/wife core members Anna and Nick Montoya, was recently in the studio working on its third album, with plans for release this summer. The Santa Barbara act recruited Brian Kehew (Air, The Who) on Mellotron and Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck) on bass for the follow-up to 2007's Moogsaic. A "remixes and rarities" album was also in the works at press time.

www.myspace.com/

thevoltperoctaves

L.A. four-piece Hard Place recently released its new album, Get Your Hopes Up, through World Famous in San Francisco. Frontwoman Ashley Huizenga exudes a costumey, New Wave-air to the band, which started off as an all-male trio.

www.hardplacemusic.com

Lucky Dragons, represented by indie label Hawks and Sparrows, recently released Dream Island Laughing Language. The elecro-trance album is only one among a long list of releases from Lucky Dragons, who have been producing EPs, CDs and records since 2000.

www.myspace.com/

luckydragons