Racer Records Captain's Log - Oct 1 '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.

Finally got Utechma mailed to radio stations, which took up a lot of the week; did a bunch of consulting work; took care of some odds and ends ...

Captain's Log, Monday, September 25, 1995

* e-mailed contract text to Jill of Cactus Motel

* e-mailed some news to Robbie Rist of Wonderboy

* e-mailed the Racer logo art to Amy X Neuburg, along with a list of people to be included in a mailing she's doing, and a final list of which radio staions are getting "Utechma"

* cut paper tape for the radio mailing

* listened to two demo tapes; one was not especially interesting to me, the other I liked some but need to listen again

* prepared some "Utechma" packages to ship - one to a distributor, others to radio stations

Phone Calls:

* returned a phone call from someone checking on a demo tape; I left a message saying it wasn't quite what I was looking for

* got a request for a newsletter

* spoke with Amy X Neuburg about various details involved with "Utechma" and the record release party

* spoke with some consulting clients

* spoke with a distributor

* spoke with the Florida guy who runs a 'zine; he's still interested in promo copies

Captain's Log, Tuesday, September 26, 1995

* ran some errands - went to the bank, UPS, and Amy's publicist's office to drop off promo CDs

* did about 5 hours of consulting work

* worked on assembling the "Utechma" radio mailing - did about 140 pieces in about 3 hours (there are about 220 total)

Phone Calls:

* spoke with Amy's publicist about dropping off more CDs

* spoke with Myles (plays in Splatter Trio, produced Cactus Motel) about getting me the master for Cactus Motel

Captain's Log, Wednesday, September 27, 1995

* did about 8 hours of consulting work

Phone Calls:

* ordered more cardboard CD mailers so I can finish the "Utechma" radio mailing (I ran out due to poor planning)

* spoke with the CD duplicator about the alarmingly high number of broken CD jewel boxes in the "Utechma" shipment

* spoke with some consulting clients

* spoke with Amy X Neuburg about putting the Racer e-mail address for ordering on the postcard she's sending out

Captain's Log, Thursday, September 28, 1995

* did about 13 hours of consulting work; got home a little after 1 am

Phone Calls:

* spoke with a woman from Polygram Music Publishing, who wanted a contact number for Garden Variety

Captain's Log, Friday, September 29, 1995

* worked on the "Utechma" radio mailing

* picked up the cardboard mailers I needed to finish the mailing

* finished assembling the radio mailing

* assembled the CDs for bulk mailing

* dropped the mailing off at the bulk mail center

* went to the bank

* rearranged the office, making my stock more accessible and making it easier to get to shipping materials

Phone Calls:

* got three calls from people who wanted to send demos

* spoke with some consulting clients

* got a call from a guy who went to school with Paul from Wonderboy; I later called Paul and passed the info along to him

* got a message from Bruce of Not Lame Recordings, who would like to distribute the Wonderboy CDs

Captain's Log, Saturday, September 30, 1995

* wrote a consulting bid

* listened to two demos; I liked one pretty well, but it only had two songs and I really need to hear more. I like the other one a lot and sent off e-mail telling the band's manager that I'd like to know more.

Phone Calls:

* spoke with an enthusiastic fan from Alabama

Captain's Log, Sunday, October 01, 1995

* re-installed fax software (for the first time in months)

* did 7 hours of consulting work

Goals for next week (October 2-8):

* Consulting work

* Begin radio followup calls for "Utechma"

* Finish Potato Eaters artwork

* Type up and post recent artist interviews

* Plan budget for next nine months

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.