Racer Records Captain's Log - Sep 24 '95

Lots of people have asked about the day-to-day workings of an indie label, so I thought I'd start giving a little running commentary of just exactly what it is I do around here.

Captain's Logs are written sporadically and tend to get skipped if I'm insanely busy or am doing a lot of computer consulting (and hence very little Racer work).

I'll try to post this as consistently as possible until I forget to do it, I run out of time, or I find out people think it's incredibly pretentious and boring.

Comments and questions are heartily encouraged.

Prepared for mailing Utechma to radio stations; did a bunch of consulting work; kept in touch with artists about upcoming releases ...

Captain's Log, Monday, September 18, 1995

* called about 44 radio stations to confirm address and music personnel

* did some consulting work

* paid some bills

Phone Calls:

* spoke with a few consulting clients

* left a message for the folks using the Garden Variety song in the TV show, saying that we hadn't gotten any paperwork from them yet

* spoke with Jill of Cactus Motel about their upcoming CD. She thinks the master is ready for me. She'll talk to the graphic designer about finalizing the artwork. She asked me to e-mail her the latest contract text. She also asked me to call the designer about final details.

* spoke with the designer for the Cactus Motel CD about details on the artwork

* talked to Robbie Rist of Wonderboy for a couple of hours

Captain's Log, Tuesday, September 19, 1995

* called about 15 radio stations to confirm address and music personnel

* did lots of consulting work and meetings

Phone Calls:

* spoke with Dave Brow of Wonderboy about the master for Wonderboy's third CD

* spoke with a couple of consulting clients

Captain's Log, Wednesday, September 20, 1995

* called over 40 radio stations to confirm address and music personnel

* did some consulting work

Phone Calls:

* had a bunch of phone conversations with consulting clients

* spoke with an artist who had sent me a demo tape; I told her I liked it better than last tape but still wasn't blown away. I gave her as much detailed feedback as I could and asked her to keep in touch.

* spoke with one of my distributors about getting an order for "Utechma" and getting payment on previous orders. She told me a check was being sent, and she ordered 90 copies of "Utechma" (she was going to order 30 copies, but I asked her to take more).

* talked with Amy X Neuburg about getting "Utechma" into local stores, about upcoming performances, and about making sure to get the CD to local radio stations right away

Captain's Log, Thursday, September 21, 1995

* did about 10 hours of consulting work

Captain's Log, Friday, September 22, 1995

* filled orders & sent promo copies

* sent out a new mechanical license for Calvary Cross

* ran errands - bank, post office, UPS, Kinko's

Phone Calls:

* spoke with Anthony at Audities magazine, who called to make sure I got tear sheets of the Wonderboy review.

* spoke with Bev of Pop Sunday Newsletter - she's now publishing "Twist and Shake". We had a good conversation about what she's been up to and what's new at Racer.

* spoke with Keith Ewing, the graphic designer who did such great work on the Big Umbrella CDs, about artwork for the next Big Umbrella CD

* spoke with a couple of consulting clients

* spoke with a guy in a local band that Jordan Oakes (Yellow Pills) thought I would like. We talked about Racer, and he said he'd send a tape

* got a call from Western Illinois University asking about having Wonderboy play there. I told her I'd have someone from the band call her back.

* spoke with Wonderboy's publicist and asked her to call WIU, since Wonderboy's not touring now

Captain's Log, Saturday, September 23, 1995

* printed materials (cover letters, mailing labels, and listening guides) for the "Utechma" radio mailing

* labelled 180 "Utechma" CDs as promo copies

Phone Calls:

* spoke with a consulting client

* spoke with Amy X Neuburg about the online CD release party

* got a call from someone who got the sampler, listened and thinks it's really great

Captain's Log, Sunday, September 24, 1995

* lots of work on Potato Eaters art

* continued assembling Utechma promo copies

Phone Calls:

* spoke with a consulting client

* spoke with Joshua, and artist I'm really interested in. We talked some about recording, artwork, etc. They might want to do a 7" on their own, possibly linked with Racer. They're continuing to record and will send me more material when it's ready.

* spoke with Russell of Big Umbrella. We talked about the progress on recording on the new CD, artwork, etc.

The Captain's Log is an inside look at the day-to-day operations of an indie label. Contents may have settled during shipping. Questions, comments, ideas, and thoughts are encouraged (whether or not they're related to the log).

Grinning,

Kristi

Racer Records

This page was last updated on March 3, 2004 by Kristi Wachter.