Jun

13

Local Labels Interview - Datawaslost

Posted by Administrator

June 13, 2006 |

Datawaslost
Im happy to announce a new feature here at Each Note Secure where we interview local labels around the area! First out of the gate is local lable DataWasLost. My thanks to Micheal for the great responses.

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ENS- How long has Datawaslost been in existence and who were the founders?

Datawaslost - DWL got its start in May of 2000.. I don’t quite remember the exact date, but we probably just had our sixth birthday in the last week or two. Matt Dennewitz & I were both finishing up albums that we’d made, and figured, why not release them under the same umbrella? I don’t think either of us even considered submitting our stuff to a ‘real’ label - we’d traded tapes and mp3s w/ friends for a while, so continuing to go the DIY route was just sort of just a gut reflex. I bounced the idea off of some friends of mine at DAAP (Tim Heyl, GD MIlls) and by June we had the core group together, with a handful of CD-Rs pressed and ready to go.

ENS - Whats the story behind the name of the label?

Datawaslost - In the liner note art of Radiohead’s Airbag EP, there’s a small clipping of computer paper that says “DATA WAS LOST”. For some reason this clicked with Matt & I, and we registered a domain w/ that name in 1999, which sort of turned into a dumping ground for various art/music/programming/writing projects we were doing at the time. When we started putting out records, we just used the old website name, and kind of mixed the two - everyone involved at the beginning was a designer, artist, or writer in one way or another as well as a musician, and the early dwl did a lot more visual art as well as music - gallery shows, online exhibitions, etc. It’s only in the last few years that we’ve focused more on being a ‘label’ than an art collective that happened to put out records as well.

ENS - How many people have a hand in running the label?

Datawaslost - Anyone who’s made a record, basically.. we’re entirely musician-run, which makes our lineup also our staff. Tim, Matt, & I run the day-to-day operations, but each release is basically a collaboration with the artist that recorded it - everyone pitches in and helps out. Any band that’s averse to licking stamps and booking shows probably wouldn’t fit in around here very well.

ENS - How many bands are currently on the label and what has been your top
selling release ever?

Datawaslost - We’ve got about 6-7 artists on the label right now, depending on how you define ‘active’.. Our best-selling release always seems to be our most recent, which right now is Coltrane Motion - “No Well OK Maybe Just A Little”.

ENS - How has the music scene changed in Cincinnati since you began?

Datawaslost - I doubt the scene has actually changed as much as my expectations of a city’s ’scene’ has.. Eventually you realize that it’s a moving target, and if things seem boring, it’s probably because you stayed in one place. Limit yourself to a single genre and you’re probably going to end up disappointed.. I’m sure there’s folk singers who thought manchester was boring as hell in the 80s, or rastas complaining about how dead Seattle was in 1992. It’s all a matter of perspective - most scenes that we look back on reverently now were basically a half-dozen guys with the same basic idea that worked really hard for a few years. It’s not something you sit around and wait for.

ENS - What is the ulitmate goal of the label?

To continue putting out better and better music, which basically boils down to more of an artistic goal for ourselves as musicians, rather than some grandiose world takeover plans. If I really wanted a job in the music industry, I’d be scalping tickets in front of Bogarts. At least then you know who’s screwing who.

ENS - What bands on Datawaslost have upcoming releases you are excited about?

Datawaslost - We’re really excited to be releasing the new LP from Cincinnatians The Minor Leagues, called “The Pestilence Is Coming”. It’s home-recorded and ridiculously catchy, but with a epic scope and humor to it that you don’t find much in indiepop today.. We’re having a CD Release Party for it on Friday, June 17 @ Alchemize - $5 gets you in the show and a free copy of the new disc.

Well, you heard the man, get on over to Alchemize on Friday for the show. Sounds well worth it.

Here are a couple of mp3s from Datawaslost artists……

The Minor Leagues- Scene it all before
The Minor Leagues - The Pestilence is coming
Coltrane Motion - Pi is exactly three
Bishop Allen - Things are what you make of them (from a DWL compiliation, more details here)

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Coltrane Motion - Songs About Music + Tour DatesThe Minor LeaguesMy Favorite Cincinnati Music - 2006Local Lixx on WOXY.comMidpoint Music Festival - Preview and Cant Miss Acts

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