The Road Less Traveled

Independent music is a social club more than a state of mind these days. While there are still some bands, record labels and even fans who still operate on the prehistoric principals of hard-work, creative endeavour, and mutual respect, most labels these days would rather flood the “market” with low-quality releases by whatever “hot-shit” band is lighting up the message boards at the moment.

Am I jaded? Perhaps. But once upon a time I wrote a letter to a brave little record label from Northern, California expressing my love of their past releases and enclosing a few of my hard earned dollars to trade for their latest. When I received the package and slid the record out of the envelope I was surprised to find a thoughtful hand-written letter in lieu of an invoice from the owner of the label. I guess that’s when it first occurred to me that the record buyer isn’t always the nameless, faceless open wallets that major labels, and today, most indie labels, perceive them to be.

As Dayton-natives who were frequenting the Sub Galley, 1470’s and the Boys and Girls Club shows during the mid-nineties will remember, Mark Kaiser, Omnibus head honcho, is no stranger to the Gem City. His three-piece speed pop band Shove made the rounds more than once supporting their own Omnibus releases, and after seeing Shove pull-off a particularly fiery set (with Dayton’s Swearing At Motorists) I set pen to paper, stuck a few bucks in an envelope, dropped that letter in the mail.

While the post-millenium Omnibus is an altogether different animal – they’ve gone from hand-packaging and Kinkos copying demo cassettes and liner notes to professionally produced, widely distributed CDs and records – the ethics seem the same. Good music for good people. With Mates of States and The Shins releases under his belt, and a handful of releases that is giving any self-respecting indie rocker the wettest of wet dreams on the horizon, Omnibus is still a tour de force. It was my distinct pleasure to spend a few moments via e-mail to reacquaint myself with Kaiser, his label, and their piping-hot roster.

Interview conducted via e-mail by Tim Anderl. Pictures by Danielle Rubi.

Name: Mark Kaiser
Label: Omnibus Records

Bettawreckonize: How and when did Omnibus begin? Did it start out as a "business" from day one? Was it directly related to releasing the material of your own band, Shove, at the time?

Mark: Omnibus began officially during my sophmore year of college, 1994, in Davis CA. It originally started out as a means of spreading the word about the handful of indierock and punk bands that existed in that area during the early 90’s. I started collecting demo recordings, some recorded live on the local college station KDVS, and home duping cassettes to sell for cheap at shows. Davis is pretty secluded from the surrounding scenes (San Francisco, Sacramento), word doesn’t travel too far about anything going on there. The Omnibus moniker loosely tied the bands together, and people into one band began checking out the others, soon we had a nice following and some attention in and out of Davis. My band Shove was playing out a lot, and touring every chance we got, so we took the name outside of Davis and built up a reputation in areas most of the bands never even went. We tried to bring bands we played with on tour to Davis once we had some sort of a consistent venue (3rd & B, an all ages venue in the basement of the local teencenter), and we ended up creating somewhat of a legitimate scene. Shove was the workhorse at the time, so we did get most of the attention and took priority as far as Omnibus was concerned, but I was always looking for bands other than my own to incorporate into our little family.

The label is, and has always been more of an art project than a business, but as we developed a name for ourselves, and began selling records and making substantial amounts of money, we’ve evolved to becoming more and more business like in order to make sure the bands stayed happy and keep the label itself going. I like getting excited about new bands and introducing them to the masses. Its fun to be part of such a vibrant art scene, and its rewarding to watch your friends’ bands grow due to your collective efforts.

BW: Who is involved in running the Omnibus label?

MK: Omnibus is pretty much my personal project, I have a hard time relinquishing duties to other people since its been such a personal endeavor for so long, Its my little ego problem. My wife Dani helps out a lot, as does our good friend Jay Howell (of Shove, Gift Of Goats). Bands (especially in the beginning) have helped whenever I needed it. I have lots of friends that have contributed to designing covers, the website, and other things I can’t do.

BW: How involved are the bands who release records on your label in the process of getting CDs and records pressed, putting together art and liner notes? Has any band every had a request that you couldn't handle like wanting 3-D, 4.5 inch, hexagonal shaped records or something?

MK: I like to keep the records as true to the bands’ vision as possible. I want it to sound how they want it to, look how they want it to, and be represented how they want it to. Naturally, money is involved which can potentially fuck all that up, but so far we’ve managed to deliver records with as little compromise as possible. I occasionally make suggestions, or will do some graphic design if the band can’t, but ultimately it’s the bands decision unless its something that I know I’ll loose my shirt on in which case I’ll pass on the project altogether. I like having the bands as involved as possible, it gets them used to the business and adds to the sense of responsibility and accountability they have for their own projects.

BW: Some of the very first Omnibus releases, or at least the Maxiwagon and Skyscraper albums/demos, came in tape form. I've always found cassette demos and releases pretty endearing, in fact the first Get Get Go demo I got was on cassette. What was the role of the cassette tape in Omnibus and will we ever see it return to your label?

MK: Cassettes are a pain in the ass. It was fun for awhile when we were doing runs of 20-200 over the weekend, but times and technology have changed. CDs are dirt cheap, and there aren’t many places to even buy cassettes anymore. Distributors won’t carry them, people rarely buy them at shows. I liked cassettes for the same reason I like 7”s, they have a very hand-made feel to them, like you’re getting a piece of artwork made by the band especially for you and your friends. But I definitely don’t miss spending hours wearing out the heads of my roommates tape deck duping them one at a time, or trying to cut and fold 400 tape covers under the fluorescent lights in Kinkos at 3am before leaving on tour.

BW: Are the people who were involved in the label from the get go still around (Torpedo, Skyscraper, the other kids from Shove, Girls' Soccer, etc.)?

MK: A few of them are in new bands here and there, its hard to keep track of everyone though. Alan from Torpedo is now living in Sacramento playing in Gusto, Jen from Shove is going to school in the U.K. playing under the name The Shande. Jay Howell (Shove, Girls’ Soccer) and I are in a band called Gift Of Goats with Mick from Girls Soccer. There are a few others who manage to keep playing and recording even with careers and families.

BW: Does it bother you that people immediately relate the Omnibus label name to Mates of States and the Shins records when those albums came out pretty late in the game? Have the popularity of those records allowed you to push the label in directions that you couldn't before (better-distribution, fatter pockets)?

MK: Not at all, I like getting any recognition for what I’m doing. I’m proud of the records I’ve released and I’m stoked to see my friends go to the next level. That was the point to serve as a springboard for my friends and to have a cohesive group of artists that lend their notoriety to the other bands that helped make that happen. There’s always going to be a release or two that people associate us with, and it will change over time as we keep releasing records we believe in. Its those types of records that have opened doors for us with distributors, press, and other hard to come by opportunities. The Henry’s Dress/Flake Music split 7” is what got us decent distribution and a little pull with some magazines and fanzines back in the day, Shove and Flake Music opened a few more, Mates and The Shins opened even more. Eventually other bands will come along that do the same. If it were 10 years down the line and people were still harping on those records, well maybe that would get old, but we’ve got some sweet new shit on the way…

BW: It seems like up until now Omnibus' legacy has been built on indie pop bands so your last release, the four way split with CFC, Gift of Goats, Johnny X, and Get Get Go, was surprising to me. Is this a new direction the label is headed?

MK: It’s funny, but that comes up a lot. It just so happens that the two bands that started on Omnibus and blew up to some degree were pop bands, but we’ve been more eclectic than that from the start. I chased quite a few punk bands (the Yah Mos, Hickey) for a long time in the early days, but they flaked. A lot of the early stuff was edgier and noisier to begin with, and even Mates were borderline “weird” when they first started. Flake Music was the only band I would have called “indiepop”, but even that would be wrong since they really had nothing to do with being influenced by that scene. “Indiepop” was a buzzword (like “grunge” and “punk”) that’s been misapplied and misinterpreted a million times for the sake of selling records to people hot for the new thing. Its funny because a friend in the Aislers Set was complaining about how they’ve been pigeonholed into that whole scene, and that he hopes they never tour with another indiepop band again. I like a lot of different kinds of music, punk, pop, indierock, shoegaze, postpunk, experimental, mod, psych, hip hop, rock n roll, glitchy electroncia, dub, ska & reggae, French pop…and Omnibus tends to reflect that. Shit, I’ve got a Coachwhips 7”, a Minders 7”, and an A-Frames 7” all coming out around the same time. Punk scene or pop scene, in most cities and towns its all the same 60 to 100 music nerds.

BW: How do you decide what records Omnibus should release? Have you ever regretted making a decision about putting out or not putting out a record?

MK: I can’t say I’ve ever regretted releasing a single record on Omnibus. I’m picky, I’ve passed on things that would have done well but I wasn’t into the band. I’ve put out things I knew wouldn’t sell well, but I loved it and wanted to make sure the recording saw the light of day. There are releases that I feel could have been put together better, better recordings, better artwork, etc. And there have been bands that were a royal pain in the ass, but I haven’t compromised my integrity or the label’s integrity, so I have no real regrets. Every record is a learning experience.

BW: Now I've read that you've picked up bands based on their first demos or 7". Who were they and how did their live show/touring itinerary affect your decision?

MK: Most of the bands that I’ve released records by were bands I saw live and approached afterwards (usually drunk). Only a few demos have ever caught my interest, and even then I had to see them live afterwards. Flake Music was the first band from outside of Davis that I got interested in when they sent me their first self released 7”, Electro Group was the second. Send vinyl, that tends to get my attention. That’s changed recently, now that established bands come knocking every so often, and we get more demos than ever. The internet keeps me in the know as well, especially since I don’t get out to a million shows like before. Live shows are pretty important, you really can tell who’s hot shit and who’s fakin’ it from people who just rule live. Electro Group, Mates Of State, The A-Frames, Ent… they just fuckin’ kill it live. There’s a million bands that are “pretty good”, but I’m not interested in “pretty good,” I want those bands that give you a religious experience for 5 bucks and a few beers. Outhud, !!!, The Lilys… those are a few shows I’ve seen in recent weeks where I was like “Wow, there’s no reason to even start a new band after that.” Black Dice and The Locust have had that effect on me too.

BW: How important is touring to being a successful Omnibus band? Is it harder to book D.I.Y. tours among all the MTV2-ready, first-year bands out there clogging up the indie/hardcore scene?

MK: Touring is THE KEY, it’s the most direct and effective way to get yourself heard on your average band budget. The “indie” and “punk” scenes aren’t really that indie or punk anymore, they’ve proven to make money and as a result have gotten to be more professional, less D.I.Y., and crowded as hell. There are professional publicists and booking agents setting up and promoting tours by the same types of bands that did it D.I.Y. in recent years. Trying to wade through that quagmire isn’t easy, but its still possible and there is (and always will be) a healthy underground if you look for it. Seriously, touring is the best part of being in band, it certainly isn’t sitting in a studio all day and night. I can’t believe how many bands I’ve worked with who find excuse after excuse to avoid touring. Traveling to a million places you’ve never been, making lots of friends, shooting the shit and gossiping with people you only get to see so often, getting stoked on new bands and scenes, and having a fun adventure with your friends, fuck yeah…

BW: How does the Davis, California "scene" differ in 2003 from when you started the label in the mid-nineties?

MK: There isn’t much of a scene, or at least hasn’t been much of a scene since we all graduated and left Davis in the late 90s. The only consistent all ages venue that booked this kind of music died when Max Hart (Girls Soccer) and I stopped booking it and moved away, not to mention most of the bands had disassembled by then. That meant no more touring bands coming through, few local shows worth going to, and nobody pumping the press to cover what bands were left. Just hippie jams, lesbian folkies, and 10 years too late alternative bar rock. There’s been a resurgence of good house shows in the last couple of years, and a few new bands are sort of popping up. That’s how it goes in small college towns, there’s peaks and valleys, motivated people only stick around long enough to graduate then you’ve got to wait for a whole new group of people to come around. What we had in Davis in the 90’s was incredibly rare for a town that size, you usually don’t find too many places that small getting acknowledged for their indierock, punk AND hip hop (DJ Shadow, Blackalicious, Solesides Records) scenes all at the same time. Sacramento has been on the up and up big time over the last few years though, tons of good bands and underground happenings there. KDVS is always a good barometer for that area, when there’s a good variety of shows and knowledgeable DJs, it tends to reflect (and affect) what’s going on near by.

BW: You've been in several bands yourself - how has the dichotomy of running a label and playing music shaped the way that you conduct business?

MK: I think its given me a clear picture of what bands deal with to be a band, and allows me to better mold and shape the label to their needs. Its also allowed me to know what to expect when working with other bands.

BW: Do you listen to music put out by major labels? What are your feelings about historically indie-bands that sign to majors? Do you think punk and indie-history (especially in the cases of Jawbox, The Smoking Popes, Jawbreaker, etc., etc.) has taught us to know better?

MK: I listen to music that’s good, honestly, it doesn’t matter what logo is stamped on the back, I’m interested enough in music to know what’s genuine and what I like personally. There’s a million indie labels putting out shitty music too. What sucks is the raw deal a lot of good bands have gotten, but its not like little bands haven’t been picked up by majors before. People know by now to watch their arses, if you get screwed, chances are you could have avoided it if you were paying attention.

BW: What is the last record you paid money for and what were your impressions of it?

MK: Paid money for? Probably this series of 12”s on Lex Records, really great underground laptop hip hop stuff, or Lee Perry The Compiler Vol. 1 which is great dirty dub, and I got a reissue CD from this great minimalist garage band from the early 80s called The Tronics, and the Historie de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourgh, I love that guy. I’ve gotten a lot of great stuff from friends or with trades. The two A-Frames records on S-S, that’s one of the best bands I’ve heard in the last 5 years, and S-S keeps putting out amazing underground stuff. The Geeks reissues on vinyl, The Coachwhips, FM Knives, The Lilys, Outhud, Boom Bip, Aislers Set, Michael Yonkers Band reissue, Blutt (French rock band), LCD Soundsystem or almost anything on the DFA… that’s what I’ve been stoked on lately.

BW: What does Omnibus have planned for the rest of this year in terms of releases?

MK: Assuming I can get all of this out on time, I’ve got a Minders 7” coming out in August, a split CD/LP with Rocketship (great Slumberland pop band) and Trace (Tim from Electro Group’s other band), The Dipers debut CD/LP (guys from the A-Frames and The Intelligence), a Sexy Prison one-sided 7”, and Electro Group CD EP/12” or CD/LP or both, a Coachwhips 7”, an A-Frames 7”, and a bunch of other stuff that’s just now being talked about, like a Shins/Busy Signals side project, a Get Get Go 7”, some solo stuff from the Cave-Ins/Ceramic Isles guys, and a bunch of other things on the table that I can’t talk about yet. We’re finishing up the new website (finally). I’m always in over my head for one reason or another.

For more information about Omnibus Records, visit their website at http://www.omnibusrecords.com.