Collective Mindset of Selfishness: A. Star Recordings, American West Free Society Press, Magic Goat Music
by Andrew Glassett [andrew@slugmag.com]
Issue 239 / November 2008 More from this Issue
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A. Star
Owner/Founder: founded by Michael Biggs &Garrick Arthur
Year Established: 2004
Current artists: Stag Hare, The Tenants ofBalthazar’s Castle, Hew Mun,Sly Aye, WYLD WYZRDZ, The GrizzlyProspector, Paper Cranes collective,Mothers of Sons
Number of releases to date: 26
National Distribution: None
Is Roster Available on itunes? No
Number of albums sold: Unsure, but at least 500
Website: astar-recs.net
Magic Goat Music
Owner/Founder: Braden J McKenna
Year Established: 2004
Current artists: Navigator, WYLD WYZRDZ,Mothers of Sons, Sparks and Spools, WyerdChildren, Dark Sea of Awareness, etc ...
Number of releases to date:22 (12 Physical, 10 Digital)
National Distribution: None
Is Roster Available on itunes? No
Number of albums sold: Unsure
Website: magicgoatmusic.com
Photo by Adam Dorobiala
The swagger of the self-proclaimed artist abounds in Kaysville. I’mstill unclear what it is about that area of Utah, that sits between Ogdenand Salt Lake, which allows it to produce so many prolific musicians.I have a feeling it may have to do with its isolation and the oppressionof suburban sprawl. The members of A. Star Recordings (ASR),American West Freedom Society (AWFS) and Magic Goat Music(MGM) are bonafide weirdos, but the best kind of weirdos.The major question these labels should be asked is about the massquantity of albums produced (20+ this year alone). Unlike themajority of labels, they seem to have no discretion when it comes towhat they choose to release. Instead of promoting a few albums andhosting large release parties to sell as many records as possible,it appears that they choose to release whatever comes there way.Ultimately, these guys don’t really care if anyone listens to what theyare producing. They produce the music for their own benefit andenjoyment. Their attitude about creating is obvious—the more thebetter.
SLUG: Why did your label start? What is your label like?
Michael Biggs (ASR, AWFS): When I was in high school, I’d hearpeople talk about having their own record labels, and I thought that itwould be really cool to have my own record label, although I had noidea what you were supposed to do. The band I was in recorded anEP and instead of just releasing it with no name on it (like I had donein the past), I made up a record label called "Anti-Star." That probablywould have been the end of it, but when Garrick [Arthur] made hisfirst We Are Seagulls album, he decided to put Anti-Star on it, andit turned into a record label. After the first six releases, we shortenedthe name to A. Star, because the name Anti-Star sounded too muchlike we were trying to be punk rock. Until 2007 the label was a venuefor Garrick’s and my music, but more of our friends had stuff to putout, and we were all inspiring each other to make lots of good music.The main people actively involved with A. Star are (alphabetically):Andrew Alba, Garrick Arthur, Michael Biggs, Skyler Hitchcox,Braden J. McKenna, Matthew J. Munn and Parker Yates. We allhelp each other out with everything—recording, playing and puttingstuff together. We tend to think of A. Star as more of a communitythan a label, and our music has branched out to other labels likeAmerican West Freedom Society Press and Magic Goat Music. Westill don’t really know the business side of what record labels aresupposed to do, but gradually we’ve learned enough to do most ofwhat we want to do.
Braden McKenna (MGM): Magic Goat is whatever I feel like. It’ssomething I started in high school in 2004 when I lived in Washingtonto put out CD-Rs. I resurrected it at the beginning of 2008 because Iknow way too many people making rad music. The focus was initiallyon free digital releases (we have released 10 free digital albums thisyear so far).
Photo by Adam Dorobiala
SLUG: What are your guidelines for releases?
MB: We pretty much put out our friends’ stuff. I think most of thegood indie labels are like that. We are friends, so we’re on similarpages. We aren’t competing against each other, we inspire eachother. Although there are a variety of styles, we’re coming fromsimilar mindsets and the music groups together well. Quality is selfregulating.I think it would be a mistake to try to build a label out ofsome arbitrary sense of quality. I think only the artist knows whensomething is ready to put out. We’re not trying to put anything on themap. We don’t care what is commercially viable. We are in it for theart.
BM: Magic Goat is pretty low key, so no one is officially on or off thelabel. Some of my favorite bands that have released on Magic Goatthis year are Mothers of Sons, Sparks and Spools and Dark Seaof Awareness (from Florida). I guess what makes the label uniqueis we have been releasing a lot of music in a short amount of time.We’ve put out an EP or LP every month digitally for free this year,plus the three physical releases. While I plan to start putting out morephysical stuff, the free digital albums will still be finding frequentupdates. Plus we have comics, and really what more could you wantfrom a label than poorly drawn web comics!?
Owner/Founder: founded by Michael Biggs &Garrick Arthur
Year Established: 2004
Current artists: Stag Hare, The Tenants ofBalthazar’s Castle, Hew Mun,Sly Aye, WYLD WYZRDZ, The GrizzlyProspector, Paper Cranes collective,Mothers of Sons
Number of releases to date: 26
National Distribution: None
Is Roster Available on itunes? No
Number of albums sold: Unsure, but at least 500
Website: astar-recs.net
Magic Goat Music
Owner/Founder: Braden J McKenna
Year Established: 2004
Current artists: Navigator, WYLD WYZRDZ,Mothers of Sons, Sparks and Spools, WyerdChildren, Dark Sea of Awareness, etc ...
Number of releases to date:22 (12 Physical, 10 Digital)
National Distribution: None
Is Roster Available on itunes? No
Number of albums sold: Unsure
Website: magicgoatmusic.com
Photo by Adam Dorobiala
The swagger of the self-proclaimed artist abounds in Kaysville. I’mstill unclear what it is about that area of Utah, that sits between Ogdenand Salt Lake, which allows it to produce so many prolific musicians.I have a feeling it may have to do with its isolation and the oppressionof suburban sprawl. The members of A. Star Recordings (ASR),American West Freedom Society (AWFS) and Magic Goat Music(MGM) are bonafide weirdos, but the best kind of weirdos.The major question these labels should be asked is about the massquantity of albums produced (20+ this year alone). Unlike themajority of labels, they seem to have no discretion when it comes towhat they choose to release. Instead of promoting a few albums andhosting large release parties to sell as many records as possible,it appears that they choose to release whatever comes there way.Ultimately, these guys don’t really care if anyone listens to what theyare producing. They produce the music for their own benefit andenjoyment. Their attitude about creating is obvious—the more thebetter.
SLUG: Why did your label start? What is your label like?
Michael Biggs (ASR, AWFS): When I was in high school, I’d hearpeople talk about having their own record labels, and I thought that itwould be really cool to have my own record label, although I had noidea what you were supposed to do. The band I was in recorded anEP and instead of just releasing it with no name on it (like I had donein the past), I made up a record label called "Anti-Star." That probablywould have been the end of it, but when Garrick [Arthur] made hisfirst We Are Seagulls album, he decided to put Anti-Star on it, andit turned into a record label. After the first six releases, we shortenedthe name to A. Star, because the name Anti-Star sounded too muchlike we were trying to be punk rock. Until 2007 the label was a venuefor Garrick’s and my music, but more of our friends had stuff to putout, and we were all inspiring each other to make lots of good music.The main people actively involved with A. Star are (alphabetically):Andrew Alba, Garrick Arthur, Michael Biggs, Skyler Hitchcox,Braden J. McKenna, Matthew J. Munn and Parker Yates. We allhelp each other out with everything—recording, playing and puttingstuff together. We tend to think of A. Star as more of a communitythan a label, and our music has branched out to other labels likeAmerican West Freedom Society Press and Magic Goat Music. Westill don’t really know the business side of what record labels aresupposed to do, but gradually we’ve learned enough to do most ofwhat we want to do.
Braden McKenna (MGM): Magic Goat is whatever I feel like. It’ssomething I started in high school in 2004 when I lived in Washingtonto put out CD-Rs. I resurrected it at the beginning of 2008 because Iknow way too many people making rad music. The focus was initiallyon free digital releases (we have released 10 free digital albums thisyear so far).
Photo by Adam Dorobiala
SLUG: What are your guidelines for releases?
MB: We pretty much put out our friends’ stuff. I think most of thegood indie labels are like that. We are friends, so we’re on similarpages. We aren’t competing against each other, we inspire eachother. Although there are a variety of styles, we’re coming fromsimilar mindsets and the music groups together well. Quality is selfregulating.I think it would be a mistake to try to build a label out ofsome arbitrary sense of quality. I think only the artist knows whensomething is ready to put out. We’re not trying to put anything on themap. We don’t care what is commercially viable. We are in it for theart.
BM: Magic Goat is pretty low key, so no one is officially on or off thelabel. Some of my favorite bands that have released on Magic Goatthis year are Mothers of Sons, Sparks and Spools and Dark Seaof Awareness (from Florida). I guess what makes the label uniqueis we have been releasing a lot of music in a short amount of time.We’ve put out an EP or LP every month digitally for free this year,plus the three physical releases. While I plan to start putting out morephysical stuff, the free digital albums will still be finding frequentupdates. Plus we have comics, and really what more could you wantfrom a label than poorly drawn web comics!?
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Posted on December 18, 2008 by james
Really getting sick of hearing about shitty precocious music groups that don't mean anything to the actual music scene in SLC... I guess it's cute when you're in junior high, but how about featuring a real up and coming label? Not going to lie, Navigator is a fucking joke... Does he have one single fan...?
Posted on November 28, 2009 by hewmun
what is the actual scene of SLC? i've heard a large variety of genres. the majority being blues/country/folk/metal/electronic/indie/emo/etc. the popular traditional basic money making type stuff that's played throughout the world and that gets people dance. copies of copies. people love it! labels like these play only the music they love for fun and other different reasons than getting the green and selling as much albums as they can or gaining a large fan base. like, trying something different and new. experimenting with many different genres and perhaps creating new ones. some that people have probably never experienced before. why not move forward and try something different than staying inside the musical box. i think music can evolve into something much more greater than it is and has always been. labels like these have the possibility of doing just that. it could be the beginning of something greater. the "label" could evolve. learn to step outside of the box, and perhaps you will see and hear and feel music differently. in support of navigator, this is only one of the many projects he has done. often moving on to the next. not only is it a learning process to circulate in different genres, it is also a hobby and a passion to have large amounts of fun playing music that he believes is fun to play. he has plenty of fans, his navigator album had almost sold out. people like it. lastly, alot of the musicians on these labels are mainly focused on mixed art, therefore the seriousness of the label varies because other types of art mediums are being experimented with and sometimes mixed and changed. consistency and solid structure are difficult to achieve. it is all done with the sense of mass creativity of the mind. if you are tired of hearing about this kind of stuff, choose not to listen. everyone has a chance to share what they love to the world. with so many different personality types, there will always be someone with that type of interest.
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