How to jump-start a band's career

Daily Hampshire Gazette: Dec. 7, 1995: p.33

by Ken Maiuri

 Northampton residents Aimee Swift and Amy Greene sit cross-legged on the floor in their front room, eating tortilla chips, surrounded by cozy furniture and a dismantled drum set. A swanky New York skyscraper it's not, but nevertheless it is the home base of a new record company - Red Hot Records.

Small record companies aren't a new idea, really. Fifties hits like Wilber Harrison's "Kansas City" were put out on independent - or "indie" - labels, and when southern California hardcore pioneers Black Flag wanted to get their music out to the public in 1978, they created SST, a record company that still thrives today. By starting their own indie label, Swift and Greene, both graduates of Smith College, are following in the tradition of blazing your own trail: The best way to do it is to do it yourself.

The first official Red Hot release is a 45-rpm 7-inch single by Swift and Greene's no-frills pop band, Pirate Jenny. (Swift proudly shows off a caseful of boxes stamped RH-001.) The band will hold a release party for the record - which features two of the band's catchiest songs (the punchy "Conversation X" and the mood-changing "Folly") - at the always all-ages (and free!) Fire & Water Cafe, 5 Old South St., Northampton, tonight at 9 p.m. Tizzy and Diana Davies are on the program, too.

Consisting of Greene and Swift on vocals, bass, and guitar, and Jon Carisi on drums, Pirate Jenny has plenty of experience with self-sufficiency: the band practices in Swift and Greene's frontroom (no, the neighbors don't mind), and when it came time to have band photos taken for the record jacket, they went over to a photo booth at Thornes Marketplace. Three poses - $1.50.

"Since we were doing (the record) all ourselves, we decided that we might as well start a label to release it," said Greene, who explained that they nicked the company name from a '50s advertisement for Red Heart dog food.

"We're hoping to bring in more money, so we can put things out for other people," said Swift. And though they hope to someday release more vinyl records and CDs, Swift realizes they can't get too far ahead of themselves. Therefore, after the release of their 45, Red Hot will be a "cassette-only" label for a while. "It's very low budget. It's lower budget than our band," said Swift, laughing. "And that's low." She added, "If we had a lot of money to work with for the record label - even if we had a little - we could do great things for people. But what we really want to do is create a supportive base for our friends and bands that we like in the area."

Greene said, "We do want to do some small things right away, so we're working on a compilation." The as-yet-untitled cassette compiles songs from the best local rock/punk/pop/whatever bands from the Valley, including The Ray Mason Band, Tizzy, New Radiant Storm King, Pangloss, The Mitchells, Stringbean, Hair Volume, Diana Davies, Encyclopedia Brown, and others. "Compilations are cheap, accessible, and just great because they go all over the place," said Swift. "All the bands involved can take them wherever they're playing, giving them to whatever contacts they have."

"We're really into documenting the scene," said Greene. "To try to contribute to the aura that something is really going on here." Indeed, a fabled Billboard article predicted some years ago that Northampton would turn into the next Seattle, which has been a ground-breaking music scene. People are still waiting, though there's more than enough talent in the area, one look at the sparse turnout at most local shows and one wonders if that Billboard correspondent wasn't talking about Northampton, Penn. "Supposedly people are into alternative music," said Swift, "and they'll pile out in hordes to go see a big-name, out-of-town-band. But they don't seem to be interested in local bands - even bigger-name local bands."

Swift and Greene hope to change that by taking top-notch performers and creating a quality, Red Hot product that can't be denied. "Originally we were asking people to give us recorded material," said Swift, "but we were going to end up with really high-quality stuff, then four-track stuff, and live recordings - it just didn't seem like it would be a unified listen. So we decided to record everybody live, with no overdubs."

And, in fine do-it-yourself fashion, the bands won't be recorded in an expensive studio with an engineer, but by Swift and Greene - in the kitchen of Carisi's house. "It's a pretty big room, with a cathedral ceiling and good acoustics," said Carisi. "And just from a social vantage point, it would be cool to have people from various bands socializing while they're waiting to play." If it sounds like a two-day party waiting to happen, you're right. "To me that would be the ideal," said Carisi, "to have a party feel to it, so that everyone is relaxed and psyched to play. Hopefully, there won't be as much pressure as there is in an actual studio."

Swift underlines the importance of spontaneity. "It will be good quality sound with a raw edge to it," she said, adding with a smile, "and all the mistakes will be there." She added, "It'll be interesting to hear all the bands recorded in the same situation. It kind of reduces everybody to the same thing." In other words, no hiding behind fancy production tricks here.

In keeping with the "red heart" theme, the compilation release party will be on Valentine's Day at the Bay State Cabaret, and Greene and Swift plan to line up the ultimate entertainment: one three-hour show full of performances by each of the bands on the tape. It'll be the closest thing to a Local Lollapalooza you'll ever see.

And while the compilation gears are grinding, including endless phone calls, practices, and planning, Swift and Greene continue to work their full-time jobs. Swift provides child care, Greene is an office manager. How do they do it all? Greene said, "We're young. We take vitamins."

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