Louisville is for Lovers
http://louisvilleisforlovers.com/content/
Thanks to John King of Louisville is for Lovers for taking the time to answer some questions.
Why start a label?
I was tired of seeing my favorite bands working for 5 or 6 years and giving up without ever releasing music. we had some great bands back then that never received any attention from record labels, and I couldn’t figure out why. so i figured instead of being frustrated or confused why these bands weren’t getting a break, I figured I would try and help them myself, with what ever means I could. I wanted to do compilations, and that is still about 80% of the work we do.
When and how did it start?
I started in 2000, by wanting to release a compilation record that showed the depth and talent of the bands in louisville. The first release had just 7 artists, including My Morning Jacket, Starkiller (now Phantom Family Halo), Team Totoro, and Elliott. At this point I have worked with and released music by over 150 artists/bands including my morning jacket, Bonnie “prince” billy, Dave Pajo, wax fang, Tara jane Oneil, and many many more.
What labels inspired you?
At the time I was very inspired by the SIMPLE MACHINES label and their series “working holiday”. They encouraged regular people to release music they loved. I also looked up to Merge as another label that released music they loved regardless of how well it might sell.
What is your goal or purpose as a label?
The goal of LOUISVILLE IS FOR LOVERS has always been to release great music by Louisvillians and introduce our amazing talent to the world. And if some of our artists can make their way onto bigger labels that have more means to help them then that is a bonus.
How do you find new artists?
In the early days, we would invite artists to work with us, but after a few releases we started getting so many offers from artists that we started taking submissions from anyone living in the area. A normal release has about 15 artists, and for each release we usually get about 80 submissions.
Why vinyl?
Why not vinyl. It serves as both as a great sound and visual medium. all of our vinyl releases come on limited edition colored marble vinyl. As a visual artist as well, I enjoy working with the record pressing plant in designing unique colors and patterns. Vinyl has a sound that is difficult to replicate on any other medium. It has stood the test of time, and is also a good way to get peeps to actually pay for music instead of stealing it.
How important is packaging to you?
All of our releases come in hand made packaging. some of our releases have several folds and dye cuts and are printed on 100 year old presses. We have had people buy our records purely for the artwork, some admit to not even owning a record player.
What are your future plans?
We plan to keep coming up with unique compilation records (and full releases) as long as we are welcome.
Do you collect vinyl?
I bought my first 7” when i was 12, and by 15 I had several hundred. At this point my collection is several thousand strong. It’s a bitch when it comes time to move, but I couldn’t part with it.How big is your collection? My collection mostly focuses on releases from the early 1950s- to current,in varying genres from garage, rock, soul, blues, hip hop, country, gospel, experimental, & local with a even mix of 7” and 12” with some rare sizes mixed in. I tend to pick up rare and limited releases, and have been since the beginning. Odd sized, colored, picture, unique packaging, and recalled and banned records are always exciting for me.
What are some of your go to records over the years?
The record I have found I have played consistently over the years is the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album. it’s a first pressing with the real zipper on the cover. I should probably frame it under glass, but the sound is just so fine… The Damien Jurado “I Break Chairs” LP is a great album and the packaging actually unfolds into a paper chair. The Superchunk Foolish 7” with the umbrellas cut into the vinyl, and the Amalgamated songs of rest LP also with a cut image into the vinyl are always great to show audiophiles.
