Interviews

Richard (Drive-Thru)

Interview with Richard on Nov 30, 1999 by Archive Bot

Interview with Richard, the co-owner of Drive-Thru Records.

What is your name and what does owning Drive-Thru Records consist of? Are there any other owners besides yourself?
My name is Richard and I co-own the label with my sister Stefanie. Some people think it is weird that we can work together, but we have always had very similar taste and it really works well with the label, plus we know we can trust each other. When we were trying to start the label at first we had absolutely no money whatsoever, and neither did our parents. We had these two friends who also wanted to start the label with us, so we were going to have the 4 partners. One of the kids who was going to be a partner had a very rich father who we had to pitch our plan to. He was going to find the label, but then his son was going to get a huge percentage of the company. Then we would have had to give up a portion to this other guy, who was involved. We heard the bands both of them wanted to sign, and decided we wanted to do it on our own, fuck the money. We didn't want to have to sign shitty bands or have to answer to anyone. It was REALLY difficult to run a label with no money. We were living in a shitty apartment and the dining room became our office. There were always tons of papers on the table and we had to eat in the livingroom. We worked on my computer from college a Mac Classic which has 5 inch black and white screen. It was filled with punk rock stickers and was SOOOO slow and always crashed, but it did the job.

We had one phone line and when someone faxed they had to call first, and we had to switch the phone line and plug it into the fax machine line. When someone didn't call first, it was a big panic when we heard the beeping tones and had to scramble to try and catch the fax, hoping it was an order for CDs. We had one credit card that still worked, so we just went for it. The funny thing is, we had to pull so many scams to run the label at first because we couldn't afford anything. Kinkos would kill us if they only knew about our late nights there (2-6am)with our friend who hooked us up with copies and computer time. Then when she left, we had to figure out other methods to get copies from that place (and trust me, we did). When we pressed our first batch of CDs there was a slight problem with the artwork and the CDs pressing was late, so we used both of those to argue with the printer and CD place to delay having to pay them for the CDs. While we argued, we sold CD, got together enough money to pay the bills, and then paid them and gave up our argument. We had to switch to several companies over the course of Drive-Thru's history! We just did whatever we had to do to get the music out. Neither of us paid out college student loans either, and we both have TERRIBLE credit because of it. It was worth it. Wow that was a long answer to that question. The other thing you asked is what owning the label consists of? We do everything. The first 4 years when it was just me and Stefanie and we worked 7 days a week 12+ hours a day. We hardly ever had any free time. There was one kid, Nick, who used to come in and help us out with the label after school. Then Rich from RxBandits used to drive up an hour from Orange County a few times a week to help uses well. I can't tell you how much we appreciated it. Eventually we got a couple of interns; our first official intern was Bonnie who now works for us!! (more about her later, iIsaw you had a question about her). We just worked really hard and had to figure out ways to get people to hear the bands without having money to do it. it wasn't easy but it was really awesome to have to struggle like that for so long because it definitely builds character and when people work for us now, I know what they have to do, because I did it. i still do it actually. me and Stefanie aren't "above" anything at the label. We carry around boxes, do mailings, answer email, hand out samplers at shows, all the stuff owners usually don't do, plus of course we run the label. Running the label is everything from A&R (finding the bands, signing the bands), developing the bands, marketing, promotion, etc. We are very hands on. We like to make sure the label stays personal.

Drive-Thru has some up and coming bands such as Finch. What should the fans expect and how did the most recent additions to the label manage to get signed?
Finch are so fucking insane. I can't wait for that CD to come out. They are like Jimmy Eat World meets Glassjaw. The way they got signed is kind of funny. When the label first started there was a kid named Randy who somehow got our unlisted phone number and used to call the label all the time to talk. He was funny as hell, so I would talk to him for a little while. He would always ask a ton of questions. Eventually he started this band and would call to ask questions about the band and I would answer them. We met him once at a warped tour in San Diego a few years ago and he was asking dumb questions to us and we introduced him to Less Than Jake and then he started to ask them dumb questions. So a year later he calls me to ask if he can send his new band's demo and it was pretty good. Another year later he calls to tell me he joined another band who were amazing and are going to blow me away. He asked if they could drive up to LA and play for me. I said OK since he has been supporting the label for so long. I thought I was just going to be nice and maybe give them some advice. I walked in, saw these kids who were all nervous for some reason, and then they played. They BLEW me away. I couldn't believe it. I asked if they could come back again and play for Stefanie the next week and they did. Stefanie also fell in love with them. They were just developing their sound too and their new stuff was SO much better than their old stuff. So over the last 10 months they have been writing incredible songs, and they go into the studio with Mark Trombino (Jimm Eat World, Blink182) in June to record their CD. We are going to release an EP in the meantime, which will only be in indie stores, online and at shows. We don't want to make a big deal about it. It is just for fans.

There is a funny story about the starting line too, but my answers are so long already, people will be bored to death. I'll do it anyway and they can scroll down if they want to skip it. The Starting Line sent us a demo and we thought it was OK. Then they signed to our friends label We The People Records who was recently started by these 2 awesome kids in Orange County who have been big supporters of Drive-Thru for a long time, and I help them out with anything they want. Anyway, they signed to their label and flew out to CA to meet the guys and hang out and play. We went to see them play and they were SOOOO much better than that crappy demo. We can usually hear good songs through shitty recordings, but sometimes we miss it. The problem was, and I told them, is that their songs rocked but they had no choruses. The band thought about it and said I was right and they didn't realize that. We get SO many demos with no choruses from bands, and I don't understand why. It is a basic of songwriting. They went back to Pennsylvania, wrote a new batch of songs with great choruses. When we heard the recorded CD we fell in love with the band and we decided to sign them. I am very happy we did. The first EP on Drive-Thru/We The People comes out on July 3.

Anyway, we sign band we love, and we hope kids will love them too. In the end, if people don't like them it sucks, but we are still happy because we have bands WE love on the label, and that makes us happy. I'm pretty sure people are going to love the other bands we are about to sign. There are 6 bands total (including Finch and The Starting Line).

I know there is a connection between Drive-Thru and MCA Records. Can you please explain the relationship.... and have you always had a close relationship with MCA?
The whole MCA story is long, but the basics are that we have a P&D deal with them which means production and distribution. They manufacture our cds (we don't have to deal with that nightmare anymore)! and distribute our CDs which is what we desperately needed! They give us some money to operate which they make back before we see a penny. It is awesome that we can afford to make posters, give bands tour support so they can actually stay on the road, and all the things we could never afford to do before. Plus, our CDs are actually in stores! Without old distribution, it was really hard to find our CDs in stores and it was really annoying. The best part of the deal is that Me and Stefanie own 100% of Drive-Thru and MCA has absolutely no say in what we do and who we sign. The situation is so awesome when we can sign a band and not have the pressure of having to have a "hit" song or a "big" band. Some labels have joint venture deals where they are HALF OWNED by the Major label and they have to answer to them every step of the way and have to produce hits or they are fucked. The major spends A LOT of money on a joint venture. We don't get much, and that is why there is less pressure on us, and we like it that way right now. The funny thing is, we don't try to hide the fact we have this deal with MCA. We don't play the punk rock game. Who gives a shit. Fucking maximum Rock And Roll bullshit is SO old about sell outs and majors and corporations. I used to read that shit, but then I listen to bands and don't care what labels they are on. Some of my favorite bands are on majors. Who cares? It is SO dumb. I can trace every person back to a corporation somehow through their job or house or clothing or parents they live with, etc. So until the person makes their own clothing from scratch, works for themselves, and lives in the fucking woods, I don't want to hear the bullshit about "punk rock." Actions speak louder than words. And as far as being distributed by a major? Kids complain when they can't find your CDs in stores, and now they can. Problem solved. Unfortunately the only people who can do that is majors or Mordam distribution and they hardly pick up any labels. We tried for years. CAROLINE IS NOT INDIE THEY ARE OWNED BY VIRGIN! RED WAS OWNED BY SONY FOR YEARS AND NOW IS OWNED BY A MAJOR LABEL IN GERMANY. ALL EPITAPH RELEASES COME OUT ON SONY IN JAPAN! Who cares? We don't hide it and nobody should give a shit. Epitaph has been punk rock from day one, so who cares who distributes their CDs? Some labels crack me up trying to hide the fact that they are once or twice removed (but still associated) with a major label and go around yelling about being punk rock. So LAME. Stop dividing the scene while screaming "unity." That is hypocritical.

When Drive-Thru Records is brought up in a conversation what would you like someone to think when they hear "Drive-Thru Records"?
Honestly, I don't know. Hopefully they will like our bands and say nice things about them and possibly about us and how we help bands and kids that have nothing to do with Drive-Thru. I believe in Karma and we give a lot of help out and hopefully we will get nice things back in return. The thing that is lame is that one label in particular loves to talk shit about us and try to create wars when there aren't any. They plant LIES about us on websites and blame stuff on us that we have nothing to do with. The guy is a master manipulator. We decided not to fight back when it all went down, because in the end it is childish, and like I said earlier, I believe in Karma. I have no doubt in my mind, he will get the bullshit back 10fold. We don't even have to be part of it. We get on with our own label and lives.

Please define success?
Being happy with what you do. A big success is being happy with what you do and being able to survive doing it.

What do you think bands such as the Benjamins, Finch, and The Starting Line will bring to the label?
More music we love. The Bejamins and Finch are definitely a different style than bands we usually sign, and I'm glad. We don't want to only sign bands that sounds identical. That's boring. If I found another band that was as awesome as New Found Glory or Midtown, we would sign them in a second, but if I found a girl who plays piano and wrote amazing songs we would sign her too.

Do you prefer going to the driv-thru or into Mcdonalds when placing an order?
I'm not a big MacDonald's fan. Burger King is for emergencies only. I don't eat meat, so I get a whopper without meat, which is cheese and mayo and that's fucking vile.

What do you think of New Found Glory's..... new found glory? Does it make you proud to have a band that first started out on your label make it big and move onto MCA? How do you think they have reacted to the fame?
We are VERY proud of NFG. When we signed them they drew 150kids in their hometown and that was their biggest show ever. We are so happy how things have gone for them. The best part is that they are still the nicest guys ever. They got offered to do Jay Leno and they did Conan instead because they would have had to cancel 2 shows and they didn't want to let down their fans!! JAY LENO IS HUGE! The played Conan and flew to their show that same night and had all these problems and didn't make it there until am but still went and played for the kids that stayed to see them. That's what they are like. They always are out inthe audience hanging out with kids. They are super nice guys and appreciate everything they are getting. They are even letting us put out a CD of old demos and unreleased songs later this year. They could have done it themselves, but they wanted to hook us up. I love them.

As far as moving to MCA, when a band goes from Drive-Thru to Drive-Thru/MCA we are still involved with them! We go to marketing meetings, help the band, the bands still stay at our house, hang out, etc. There is the rumor that Midtown are going to MCA and leaving us. They are on MCA/Drive-Thru and we will still be very much part of their lives personally and as a band.

How many people work at drive-thru and what are their primary responsibilities?
We have Kristine who is our General Manager and runs the office. Bonnie just switched positions and she is now running our street team and Internet promotions. Soon she will be ordering and in charge of our online store when our new site is up. We are going to sell cool stuff that isn't on our label. Thomas does our mail order. Josh and Scottie do our graphics and website updates. We hired our mom to do our bookkeeping part time. Mike does all of our publicity. And Michael is general office help. We are hiring someone to take over our Retail promotions job and a we are about to hire an assistant who also takes care of a lot of things for the bands.

Over the past few years the punk/emo/indie scene has taken on many twists and turns. what do you think of the scene in general, and how it's been holding up over the past few years?
I don't think it has changed that much. All the scenes will come and go as the bands get more popular and then kids think they are too good for that particular scene and move on to the next "underground" scene. I love Blink182 and always have. I don't care how big they are. Yes, I miss seeing them in small clubs but I'm really happy for them. They worked really hard and deserve all they get.

When you first started the label what was your goal, and how has that changed over Drive-Thru's existance?
Our goal was to be able to afford to put out a second record. Then a third. Now my goal is to keep doing this as long as we can, make a good living would be nice and help bands realize their dreams. It is really satisfying to me to see that happening.

Is Bonnie from drive-thru as hard of a worker as it seems like she is? she's nice but i'm not sure if she's just putting up a front or not???
Bonnie interned for us when the label first stated and drove an hour to the office each way. She rules. Then years later we could afford to hire her and she had just left her job, and we were very excited. She is like me and Stefanie where she is totally INTO the music. She is up front at shows with us singing along to all of the songs. She lives it. She loves it. She is the real deal. She works her ass off and is a perfectionist. It is SO rare to find people like her and we are lucky she is working for us. As a matter of fact, she was going to go transfer to a college on the East coast (she is only 19) and we were so upset she was leaving. So were all of our bands. We all tried to guilt her into staying with us. She finally agreed and is working p/t while she finished school. If she would only drop out! haha. We love Bonnie.

Do you prefer chicken or turkey and why?
I don't eat meat so fuck that question! haha I eat fish so I'm not full vegetarian though.

Lastly, thanks for taking the time to do the interview. for all those bands out there with the negative attitude that they'll never get signed so don't bother trying.... what would you say to them.
If you sit on your ass in your local town and wait for a label to sweep you off your feet and then you can sit back and it is all laid out for you....you should just give up right now. You have to work hard. If your band can't even manage to put together a tour, that's sad. Figure it out. Everyone does. Put out an independent release. Get the money somehow. Play shows and get tight. If your band is awesome and you play shows, people WILL talk about you and labels will hear about you. Once you get signed that is just the beginning. You have to work even HARDER once you get on a label if you want to get anywhere.

Don't give up just work harder. If someone tells that you can't do something, figure out a way to do it and prove them wrong. We heard that shit all the time when we first started. You figure out a way. A lot of kids complain there are no places to play in their area. Well, do shows DIY. You and some other local kids should rent a PA and put on shows yourself. There is always a solution.