THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406080087
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940608 LENGTH: Medium
``Titanic,'' the arty alt-rockers' first LP on Norfolk's Trumpeter Records, entered the Top 100 on CMJ's ``Loud'' chart, the influential college radio tip sheet, not long after its mid-April release. By the end of May, it had climbed to 65, edging out veteran acts like Sonic Youth, Killing Joke and Alice in Chains.
{REST} It all comes as a big surprise to Andrew McNeely, Sea of Souls' vocalist/bassist.
``We sent out about 250 CDs'' to radio stations that report to CMJ, the singer said, ``not really expecting to chart at all, maybe get a little air play.''
McNeely and the other Souls - guitarist Don Campbell, guitarist/keyboardist Stu Bryson and drummer Bill Adams - have spent the past couple of years toiling to reach this point, working the mid-Atlantic club circuit and playing endless area ``battle of the bands'' contests. Sea of Souls will continue to tour in support of ``Titanic.''
How popular is the CD? We couldn't get our hands on a copy to give our readers a listen.
A label that's lasting
You'd need more than both hands to keep track of the myriad local record labels that've come and gone after a release or two. Trumpeter Records, founded by Tres Swann, 24, is approaching its second birthday and has already churned out albums from locals Psycho Johnny (now defunct) and Richmond's On Beyond Zee, in addition to Sea of Souls' newie and reissues of the entire Waxing Poetics catalog.
Other Trumpeter acts with forthcoming releases include D.C.'s Egypt - featuring native throat Jeff Brodnax, formerly with the Beavis and Butthead-approved 24-7 Spyz - and Chesapeake's Hickey Necklace.
Since the Hampton Roads music market bears limited sales, the key to success for a small, local label is national distribution, Swann has found. Thanks to a network of distribution companies, Trumpeter products can now be purchased in record stores nationwide. But initially convincing distributors to carry Trumpeter titles took a little work, Swann says.
``Most independent labels are usually labels that a band creates for itself,'' he explained, so the distributor is like, `So you have one release, so what? That'll be it for two years, if we see anything else at all.' I'm putting out seven to eight CDs a year, every year, plus singles, so I had a little more of a catalog to show people.''
Trumpeter Records also owns Cygnet Studios, a 48-track recording facility located behind the label's offices on Virginia Beach Boulevard near Military Highway. Swann, who played drums during high school and his early years at the College William and Mary, where he earned a degree in economics and American history, serves as in-house producer.
A fledgling label typically has limited resources for valuable, but peripheral, marketing tools like promotion, advertising and publicity. Swann has been careful to assemble a roster of acts that have built-in multi-city fan bases, amassed from regular touring.
``Sea of Souls is local, but they're not local in where they're playing,'' Swann said. ``Egypt is not local, they've been around for a good many years and have a very large following up and down the East Coast.''
Still, launching an independent record label outside the accepted music industry orbits of New York, Los Angeles and Nashville is a risky venture. What possessed Swann to take the plunge?
``I think there's a pool of talent in this area alone that has not been explored, bands like - going back 10 years - the Waxing Poetics,'' he said. ``But since then, no one's really given anyone any credit. Plus, after getting out of college, I realized that this is what I wanted to do,'' and this area's a relatively affordable place to do it in.
Now, if only national recording artists like Sea of Souls could be heard in regular rotation on local radio. . . .
by CNB