Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Chris Cucci of Post*Records



I've been wanting to do this interview for a while, but I had to take a break for a bit from the blog. I got my motivation back recently and I knew Chris would make for a great interview. He has his own record label, Post*Records. They have helped out a lot of great local bands here in Orlando, and I felt he deserved a spotlight.


When did you first get involved in music in general?

I took guitar lessons for a very short time when I was young. I think I learned to play hot crossed buns or something. I am left handed and played a borrowed righty guitar restrung for a lefty. I didn't play again until high school when myuncle gave me my first guitar and taught me a bunch of chords and scales. It was a right handed guitar so I learned to play that way and have no idea how I ever played the left handed one as a kid. I always liked putting events together and helped organize stuff like that in high school for bands in our little Florida beach town.


What little florida beach town did you grow up in?

Englewood...west coast, gulf beach town south of Sarasota.


What other instruments and such did you end up picking up along the way?

Guitar first, then got a banjo as a gift and learned that as well as all kinds of electronic gadgets. My uncle is pretty nerdy about gear and I own a few homemade tube amps as well as analog synth and midi modules that he built. He is supposed to be making me ananalog synth powered by SID (the sound chip from a Commodore 64). I hope that happens. That synth sounds pretty great.


Think it'll see the light of day in a new band or project you could get involved in?

Hopefully! I am a big fan of the C64 and especially love computer music from that era so I would very much like to use it for a project. I'd probably call the band The Hard Hat Macks...if anyone likes that, we need to do some retro gaming together.


What bands have you played in in the past? I remember that you were a member of The Heathens.

I played a couple years in highschool in a 3 piece called Bootleg!, then played with my friend Alex in a band that we always changed the name of in the late 90s / early 2000s. It was lots of drum synths, phased out guitar, and he was a badass keyboard player. Then I did The Heathens and have played a few parts as guest spots on various Post*Records projects. Oh and I also was in Old Dogs which was super fun...we have a live tape floating around that is supposed to get released someday, so we will see about that. I've also been in a lot of bands
that lasted like a week based on ideas that sounded better on beer.



Haha. What was the worst band idea that sounded better on beer?

There have been many...one will actually be performing as a one shot deal this Halloween at Ethos...Meneaters: A Tribute to Hall & Oates. As the name implies, a Hall & Oates cover band..me, my brother, Shawn McNulty. Joe (brother) and I were drinking beers blasting a live Hall & Oates album one recent night when the idea was born. The record had an 8 minute version of Sara Smile..it was pretty intense.


So eventually, after being involved in putting on shows, playing in bands, etc, you started your own label. Post*Records. When did you start Post?

I started Post*Records in 2004. I had been working with a partner doing local live events in Orlando and I started releasing compilation albums for us around 2001/2002. I really liked that and wanted to release music from unknown bands full time so I broke off and formed Post.


It is clear that aside from just enjoying listening to and playing music, you also care a lot about helping foster a sense of community within the music scene- helping, involving, supporting those involved from all aspects- be it fans, musicians, venues, etc. Do you think anyone influenced you in this regard?

Slim Moon did a lot for independent bands and I respect the fact that he used the success of bigger acts to support releases from lower selling bands and also stayed very loyal to the scene in the northwest, specifically Olympia. Ian MacKaye also was an influence. I would buy records from them via mailorder in highschool and get handwritten notes and always extras thrown in. I try to throw extrasin all the orders and write notes to thank people for supporting. I am also a huge fan of Long Gone John at Sympathy...I appreciate howhis personality is such a big part of the label's brand.


That's awesome. I remember ordering a shirt from a band one time. They sent me two shirts, an old CD, and stickers. I was thinking,"Holy shit this is great!" I totally know where you're coming from on that. It really makes you feel appreciated. So you are pretty involved with everything then, huh? You aren't just the guy who comes up with ideas and helps unknown bands, you're also packing up boxes, dropping in some extras, then driving down to UPS to ship them out. That involves a certain degree of self-sacrifice, from a time and effort standpoint. Do you get a pretty strong sense of satisfaction from knowing you've helped someone else out or making that connection with a fan? It can't be purely entrepreneurial.

Yeah, exactly. It's not about money. If it was, I would be a big idiot. When I had a lawyer draw up the contracts for the label...tailor made to my specifications of giving the bands most of the rights and an easy opt-out, he said "Get ready to work really hard for not a lot of money." He was right. When Phil started Sleepy Bird, I passed the quote along to him. It's a good quote, seems to be pretty accurate for anyone running a small label (and from what I've seen, many bigger ones too.)


What tips do you have for someone- a musician, or a fan, that wants to get involved in music and do some of the things you have done over the years? Lessons you've learned from your mistakes, or your successes.

Running a tiny record label is like becoming a Pokemaster..it takes hard work and dedication. You can't just go out there with a Chimchar and expect to conquer the world, you need to cultivate and stay at it, turn that little guy into an Infernape so you can really kick some butt. Be nice to people. Everyone has their share of success and failures. Get ready to work hard for not a lot of money (thanks, Greg the lawyer.)


What do you do when you aren't working with music? Would you say there are things you have learned working with music that translate to that?

I help other people grow their businesses. I think that everything I do probably affects everything else...so yeah, it all translates. I like working on business plans, interpreting data from businesses, and learning about how different types of companies operate. From that standpoint, I can say with some certainty that a record label is a horrible business idea despite being a very rewarding one if you like supporting your scene.


Are there any new Post*Records releases, or even just new bands in general you've recently discovered that you are excited about?

1991 is working on a release for Post and Darin from Happy Valley is recording it...should be great! There's this other local thing coming from Post that's sort of a surprise but all I can say right now it that it's an album themed around the ancient greek gods and most locals will know who when they hear it. I think Mowgli is an awesome local band right now. And I really love the band Buff Clout from Jacksonville and urge everyone to go out and see them live (US tour starts in a few weeks)...they give an amazing live show...lots of energy, raw..no stupid theatrics, all fingertap shreddage and hard drum hits. I try to see Garbo's Daughter whenever I can, they're great live and on tape. I really like Hot Hands too. Another suggestion..go see Reviver/Reviver on Oct 24 at Wills! There's lots of good bands playing that night. There's this French band called The Last Rapes of Mr Teach that has a new 7" coming out soon...look them up, I really like them and I have bugged them to do something a few times....we'll see.


How do you feel about the current state of the Orlando music scene? Do you feel it is as strong today as it was in some of the earlier years in which you were involved with it? In what ways would you say it is different or similar now as it was then? What do you attribute this to?

Orlando's scene has these waves of greatness and then HUGE periods of dull nothing. I think we have some really awesome stuff going on in Orlando right now and it's totally attributed to the younger bands out there..like high school thru 20 yr olds mostly but then a few others. It is always like this from what I've seen. I attribute the dull times to bands getting a few good turnout shows and then thinking they're some superband and not playing shows in town anymore to the point that when they do, nobody even cares anymore. Or really crappy bands overplaying, also a problem. I would like to see more people put on events instead of just the same shows with the same 3 bands playing every month at the same place. There are lots of house shows now and that's great, it was not like that for a while but house shows really help make a scene. I wish people would stop relying on myspace and facebook as their sole promotion tools ( and I don't mean that they need to add twitter and texting to their marketing tactics)...it's nice to see posters for shows and flyers around town. I was in barbq and I mentioned to Henry that the wall was covered in posters for shows at Firestone. He said something about how it's true but he likes that there is someone actually putting posters on the big wall in there. It's true, it would be nice to see some other bands and venues putting up their posters in there...


Anything new you're planning to get involved with? You don't strike me as someone who stays sedentary without working on new things.

Oh yeah, also about to launch a new company called "the DIY team" www.thediyteam.com its what I'm calling an "indie co-op"...basically a big indie band/label collective for anyone who needs help with getting distribution and also some assistance with press campaigns, college radio promo, and booking. The idea is that I've gained some nice resources thru doing Post*Records but it's a small operation and I can't take on every band. the DIY team is a way to use my resources from Post to help bands and small labels out there who want to help themselves. I give the bands digital distro at a way better deal than anyone out there and also provide them with members-only access to an online community of other bands...as it grows, so will the diversity and depth of the resources it provides. I'm just getting it started now locally to test out the concept but it should be national by the end of the year or sooner.


The last questions I want to ask you, is: If you were kidnapped, and forced to start a band with *any* member of the Orlando music scene- past or present- who would it be, and what would you want the band to sound like?

I would like to start a 50s rock band with Sean McNulty on sax, my brother Joe on piano, Dino from the Copper Rocket on drums, and this girl with this awesome squeaky voice that used to work at Panera Bread (the old Rollins location) as singer. I would play guitar. And you would not have to kidnap or force me because it would be awesome. I would probably have to kidnap and force all of them to make it happen.

Thanks a lot Chris!

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