{"id":83334,"date":"2021-02-12T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=83334"},"modified":"2021-02-01T16:00:25","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T16:00:25","slug":"eeasy-records-leeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/eeasy-records-leeds\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Till We Die: Eeasy Records"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Image credit: Eeasy Records<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We chatted to Charlie Wyatt, founder of Leeds based Eeasy Records. Charlie gives us two sides of the story, one from a bands perspective and the other as a label owner.<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The ‘DIY Till We Die’<\/a> article series has so far given us the perspective of DIY artists and more recently DIY labels. The second part of this article series aims to give us a look into life in the DIY label, a fly on the wall experience to their experiences, positive and negative. This weeks interview is with Charlie Wyatt, a prolific member of Leeds’s underground rock scene, of which is own band Thee MVPs<\/a> are apart of. Charlie has seen both sides of the coin, as a DIY band and now as a DIY label owner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We chat to him about how and why he set Eeasy Records<\/a> up, the ups and downs and much more! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thanks for taking the time to chat to us! How have you been and how has lockdown 3.0 been? <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/b>: I\u2019ve been about as ok and as not ok as everyone else during all this really. I\u2019m lucky I have a job that hasn\u2019t been affected too much by the pandemic. I had some accidental foresight to switch careers about a month before lockdown. Which was great because I worked in events!<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what was the influence behind Eeasy Records and why did you start the label? <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/b>: Oh you know. All the classic reasons someone with an unpopular band wants to start up something. You want to give off the air of having part of the machine giving a hoot about you. All the obvious and usual labels are an influence to me… in the red, goner, sst, au go go, discord etc.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was an unpleasant and unfortunate situation that meant my bands LP (mvps -science fiction, please order one lol) wasn\u2019t likely to land on a \u2018bigger\u2019 label and through my own stubbornness I knew I\u2019d be doing a better job at releasing and promoting my record than friends who had approached us about doing it. Not that I\u2019m meaning to disrespect those folks, you have to understand that I was booking, PRing, putting on shows already, we\u2019ve toured America 4 times and Europe twice off the back of some outdated 45 singles so I think we got by ok without an LP. Running a label seemed like a logical step that also had the perks of facilitating the releases of my own music. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was the idea always to be DIY? <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/b>: Not really. I\u2019d bloody love to have people working for me but that\u2019s just not realistic and completely ego driven. The older I get the more I don\u2019t really buy into the DIY ethos. I think lazy people appropriate the tag and attach It to their not very successful releases\/shows etc. The amount of times I had to \u2018be ok\u2019 with not even getting gas money for a gig and also have to go say thanks to a towns old guard scene head who put on a dead show has always rubbed me the wrong way. I hate the idea that people think because they had the tiniest bit of initiative to start a label they automatically thought everyone would come flocking, but they don\u2019t. Work for your labels and bands and the audience will return it. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the people I look up to like Ian Mackaye (dischord), Jacob Bannon (deathwish), Matt Jones (castle face), peanut butter wolf (stones throw) to name a few, are all people with a business mind and their heads screwed on enough to want to make a sustainable model out of releasing music. A lot of \u2018DIY\u2019 heads seem to want to call you out for wanting your shit to do well. I\u2019m in the business of trying to lose as little cash as possible whilst releasing music I know I\u2019d want to buy and watch if I had nothing to do with it. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What logistics and planning went into creating the label? <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/b>: I was very lucky in having Matt Jones from castle face and Alex Ives from first terrace (plus ex-mvps) offer endless advice on how to start up a label. Other than that I just saved up a lot of money to get the first pressing and merch pressed up for mvps! Covid happened though. I\u2019m still \u00a33,900 in the home for that one and owe The band guys \u00a3400 each.<\/i> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did your time with your band Thee MVPs affect how you’d run the label?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/b>: I don\u2019t know really. I think it was a good band to start the label with. I think the amount of doors mvps opened and connections it made certainly helped me setup the network and give me the confidence to start this. I know my work ethos has carried over into it for sure but I\u2019m certainly not interested in being a \u2018garage rock guy that releases garage rock records\u2019.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you have an idea of what bands you wanted to sign on the label or genre you would work with? <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/b>: There\u2019s no real remit really. BringIng the ruckus and giving a shit is half the battle. I can only do so much in a year so if I turn something down the chances are that I physically can\u2019t do it more than a taste thing. I would love to release some amazing hip hop as much as I\u2019d love to do a proper good grindcore album. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019m certainly not interested in being a \u2018garage rock guy that releases garage rock records\u2019.<\/b><\/span><\/p>Charlie Wyatt – Founder of Eeasy Records<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Do you feel the internet has it made it easier\/more viable for Eeasy Records to operate?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/b>: Yeah, for sure. If I had it my way I wouldn\u2019t bother with any sites or channels but it\u2019s stupid to think like that in these times. I mean emailing or DMing someone is infinitely more convenient and fast than cold calling Or writing a letter isn\u2019t it? By that same token though things can get saturated. I think we\u2019re developing a good usp. My grand plan is to have it be a place where even If you don\u2019t know the band the chances are you\u2019ll be happy you rolled the dice and won on our newest LP. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shakamoto Investigation just dropped their LP with Eeasy, how has the response been so far?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie<\/b>: Really good actually. I released mvps in may last year when everything was still completely on its head. Now the dust has settled abit and people are more chill with the idea gigs aren\u2019t happening for a while it\u2019s totally encouraged people to make these orders rather than wait for the next gig. I\u2019ve already had a few people say eeasy has helped them out this year and really if I\/the bands can do something to brighten up someone\u2019s day during this weirdo time then that can only be a good thing. By the way please order one. These guys rule. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out The Shakamoto Investigation here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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