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We are not in the business of writing long-winded editorials proclaiming our love for the best releases of the year and the people behind them, but if we were to develop that type of content for the 2014 calendar year there would be no way we could ignore the awesome accomplishments of Pure Noise Records. The California based label, which is run by founder Jake Round, put out a series of universally praised releases throughout 2014 that helped to diversify the company’s already strong roster of talent. As the year winds down, the company is now gearing up for an even busier 2015, and earlier this month Round somehow found time in his busy schedule to speak with us about life as an independent label owner.
The interview you are about to read contains highlights from an hour-long chat we had with Jake Round on December 5. We may release the extended version in podcast form, but we ensure you all the best moment are included below. If you have any additional questions for Jake, or if you simply wish to give us feedback on this content, you can add your thoughts at the end of this post. Please be sure to follow Pure Noise Records on Twitter.
H: Hello, Jake. How is California today?
J: It’s pretty miserable today, honestly, or at least miserable for us. It’s been raining a lot. I’ve been in Europe for the last week and a half though, so it feels good to be home.
H: What were you doing in Europe?
J: Story So Far and State Champs were playing in London. I also had some meetings with distributors and booking agents. I try to get out there once or twice a year, and I realized I hadn’t been out there since February.
H: Well it pretty much goes without saying that you have been incredibly busy since February. Not only have you been releasing a lot of albums, but you’ve been doing a lot of press for the label as well.
J: We did a lot of press around the five-year anniversary of the label. Early March is technically the anniversary of the label, so we did a SXSW showcase, a party/show in Oakland, and yea – we did some press around it as well. Then we had a pretty busy release year in terms of actual releases. A lot of EPs, which were kind of annoying, but part of the game. Next year we’ll have less releases, but more full length albums. We’re forecasting to do a lot bigger numbers, so I’m looking forward to that.
H: I’ve heard a lot of label people say in the past that while EPs can be good for artists, the profit margins are typically small. The same has been said for 7”, but is that true?
J: 7” are the biggest money losers on the Earth. I’ve put out a ton of them, but at this point they’re used more as a marketing tool than anything. I just did a CD/7” with Seaway in November, and we’ll totally make some money on it, but after you factor in all the time and other aspects it’s not much at all. The fact of the matter though is that the band isn’t ready to make a record. They won’t be ready for the until May of next year at the earliest, and we needed something to do here on the label end. This allows us to do that and build steam behind their future releases.
H: I’ve noticed you’ve done a lot of interviews this year, and from my research a few feel pretty repetitive. I’m sure you’re a bit tired of being asked about your ‘upcoming releases’ at this point.
J: I don’t know about that. The bands sometimes complain how many interviews they have to do, so I feel I have to do them all. I can’t force them to do something I wouldn’t do. At the same time, there was a time when no one really gave a shit. I’m flattered people want to talk to us, and I don’t take that for granted in any way.
H: When did you first notice people outside your circle of friends caring about the label and its plans for the future? As we just said, when did they start to ‘give a shit’?
J: That’s debatable, but I quit my day job in 2012. I spent a few years selling merch on Warped Tour for Rise Records. They’ve taught me a lot about the industry and are still some of my very close friends. They sent me out in 2010 and allowed me to sell a few of my own CDs on the road. Then I went out in 2011, right around the time Story So Far put out their full length, and it became clear things were starting to happen for them. When the album did come out, I knew I needed to get home because the album was blowing up. That’s probably when I first knew things were really taking off. We planned a much bigger 2012, I quit my job, and we bought office space. I actually lived here for a while as well, but now it’s just the office space and we have two full-time employees as well.
H: I read about the employees in another interview. You brought on your first employee in the spring, but when did the second join the Pure Noise team.
J: Just in November. He’s a video guy.
H: That’s great. Someone like that can cover a lot of tasks/costs.
J: Yea, that was the deciding factor. I put out 9 records this summer, and all of a sudden I got hit with this gigantic bill I had accrued on video costs. I decided I would try to get around that by bringing on someone full time, and that’s what we’ve done. He does a lot of marketing videos right now, but he can do music videos as well. We really need a fourth person, to be honest, but we’re not quite ready for that just yet.
H: I’m sure you wouldn’t have to look too far to find someone who would want to join the team. At the same time, I guess you want to be careful with when you start your search and how you go about vetting candidates.
J: It’s really hard to find good label people. If I wanted to spend the money we would already have another person, to be honest. It’s one of those things where, as a business, you operate with a lot of debt. I have never had any outside support for the label. I got a little money from my parents when we started, but we’ve been using credit and working while in debt. Right now we’re trying to grit and bear the workload while we pay down some of those debts.
H: Speaking of accounting, I read somewhere that your mom does all the accounting for Pure Noise. I was wondering how you approached her about that role and whether or not you could, in theory, do it yourself.
J: I was actually a math teacher before running the label, if you can believe it. I just never liked accounting. That was my problem, and as a result I would put it off. So one year I didn’t take care of any of our transactions at all, and at the end of December my mom and I had to manually input all of the receipts from the entire year. She was so mad (laughs).
She doesn’t do any royalty accounting. We do our own accounting for merchandise royalties, as it’s fairly easy to add everything and divide by two, but for royalties and those costs we have an outside company. I could do it all myself, but it’s one of those things where we are so overwhelmed that it’s nice to have someone else come in and make sure it’s handled.
H: I do want to talk about your releases as of late. You’ve had a big 2014 overall, but here at the end of the year you’ve really delivered some universally praised albums. How would you compare the work you’ve done this year to everything you’ve accomplished in 2013?
J: In 2013 we had our first really big hit with The Story So Far’s record, but in 2014 we really found a nice groove with our releases and we had a lot of diversity. We hadn’t put out many heavy records in the past, and it wasn’t because I didn’t like heavy music, but because I was playing heavy music myself. I didn’t want to potentially put myself in a position where I took an opportunity away at the label for my own selfish reasons. Once I stopped playing music, I dove back into heavy stuff and we started bringing on bands like Vanna and Into The Wind.
My first job was at Fat Wreck Chord and I felt they had a really diverse lineup. With Pure Noise, I want to do everything that applies to the world of young punk music. That applies to a lot of different kinds of music, and I feel we are starting to showcase that well on the label. I’m really excited for Gates and how it has been received because it’s one of the most unique records we had ever done. We took a lot of risks with that album and fortunately it has gone really well.
I’m really looking forward to next year as well. We have a lot of great full lengths on the way, including The Story So Far and Four Year Strong. We’re about to announce a record from (REDACTED) that I think will be received really well. We have a few more things we haven’t announced yet that I’m pretty excited about, but I can’t really talk about those yet.
H: You mentioned the fact there would be less releases from Pure Noise in 2015, but more full lengths.
J: There are still going to be a lot of records. 15, I think.
H: That’s more than one a month. I don’t think anyone can really scoff at that.
J: I would love to be doing less.
H: Do you feel like you have to maintain a high number of annual releases?
J: No, not at all. I could probably release zero albums next year and not go broke. I don’t think out output has been all that intentional. When we first started, I signed a lot of bands because we could. Not that we needed to, but we could, so we did. Now we’re reaching a point where established bands want to do albums with us, and that’s really cool, but we still want to develop new bands as well. I want to find a balance between those two.
H: That’s a smart move.
J: Looking now, I think we have 17 releases this year right now. That’s not including a few things I still have to figure out. Should be a great year though, I’m excited about it.
H: Well I won’t keep you from working on those efforts any longer. Thanks for your time Jake.
J: Thank you for your time. Have a great day.
