Q&A WITH BICYCLE RECORDS >>>

This Friday, Feb. 12, Olympia's Bicycle Records will present what should be an awe-inspiring show at The Loft on Cherry Street. Bringing Mason Lindahl, Eleanor Murray, Briana Mariela and Ellie Fortune to the stage, for lovers of great music and DIY ethics, it's sure to be a show not to miss.

But what is Bicycle Records really all about? Sure, it's an Oly based record label - but, these days, what does that really mean?

The Weekly Volcano caught up with Bicycle's Ross Cowman to find out...

WEEKLY VOLCANO: First of all, talk about the creation of Bicycle Records and how it came to be. What was the original vision, and how closely have you come to it? Who's involved, and who deserves credit?

ROSS COWMAN: Bob Schwenkler started the record label back in 2004 when he was a recording student at Evergreen. I came on board first as an artist, then as a co-owner in 2005. At the time the only thing we knew about record labels was that you put the name of the record labels somewhere on the album. We started off releasing CDRs in photocopied jackets in batches of 50 that we burned on Bob's computer.

Originally the idea was to release music on the quieter side of things. Bob was a big fan of Portland's HUSH records, and he wanted to do something like that.

I really admired the professionalism of Slim Moon and his label Kill Rock Stars, and also the simplicity and ethics of Plan-It-X records and Discord. For both of us it was a big priority to have close working relationships with our artists and to capture the regional sound where we lived.

VOLCANO: The job and (in general) idea of a record label seems to be ever changing these days. What exactly is it that you guys do? Is it similar to what most labels do, or is it different?

COWMAN: Bicycle records, produces and promotes music in hand printed packaging. We also distribute music digitally, through our website, and to independent retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and New Zealand.

One big difference between us and other labels is how we pay our artists.

An artist on a major label will earn one or two bucks for each 15-dollar album that sells. Even most indie labels only give their artists 20 or 50 copies to sell, then make them pay six bucks or more for additional copies to sell.

Our artists keep fifty percent of the profits from everything we sell, 200 albums from the first pressing to sell at their shows, plus seventy percent of everything they sell after that.

This helps our artists to support themselves on and off the road.

Another difference is the broad scope of what happens here. We built our own website, our own database, we distribute, we promote, we record, we do all the graphic design, and we hand letterpress and silkscreen our own packaging. I think this helps us to have a cohesive aesthetic, and a consistency in how we work with our customers and clients.

VOLCANO: How does your location in Olympia impact Bicycle Records? Is Bicycle Records a reflection of Oly, or does Oly reflect Bicycle Records?

COWMAN: Bicycle would not exist without Olympia. The support from the community, from K and Kill Rock Stars, and from all the talented artists who grew up or were drawn to live here has been crucial. I don't even know if I would still be making music if it were not for this place.

VOLCANO: Talk a little about the show coming up at The Loft. Anything you're particularly excited about? What can folks expect, and how was the show put together?

COWMAN: I met Mason Lindahl in Sacramento when he was 16 (I think - he lied to me and told me he was 18). He was scouted by some record label as the next Brighteyes or some bullshit. Later he got signed to Columbia (the label, not the country) and moved to Olympia to record demos for his album. The demos were amazing - think Animal Collective and Hella on acoustic guitar. The A&R guy listened to the demos and sent Mason back a mix CDR of John Lennon and Bob Dylan, asking Mason if he could do something more like that.

The label dropped him, and Mason moved to Seattle and got a job as a cook. Kind of dropped out. I didn't hear from him for years. Now suddenly, he's got this new album out and what I've heard so far totally shreds. I can't wait to see him live.

I'm also a huge fan of Eleanor Murray and Briana Mariela, though I won't take up more space talking about them now.

Oh and free Jambalaya.

VOLCANO: Anything exciting you're currently working on? What does the rest of 2010 and beyond hold for Bicycle? Basically, where is this all going?

COWMAN: We just hired two sales reps and are trying to convince Jordan Smith to move back here from New Zealand to be our full time promotions director. (I think it's going to work.)

Expect new albums from June Madrona, Eleanor Murray, Rye 'n Clover, and Eli Moore (of LAKE).

VOLCANO: What does Bicycle Records look at when choosing whom to work with? What's important to you guys?

COWMAN: I'll assume you're talking about the artists we release. Part of it is taste; Bob and I have to both like their music.

I care a lot about lyrics and the intention behind the song. Part of it is business, the artist either has to have a track record of touring and be willing to commit a couple of month to supporting the release, or be able to help finance the album. Sometimes both depending how our finances are doing. 

VOLCANO: If you didn't spend your time doing this, what would you be doing?

COWMAN: Playing dungeons and dragons in the forest.

VOLCANO: What is your favorite record of all time and why?

COWMAN: Cold Black Cascades, by Forest McBrian. Imagine Elliot Smith on a backpacking trip through the Rainforest. Tears me up every time I listen to it.  Don't bother trying to find it online, Write me a letter I'll send you a copy.

VOLCANO: If you had to sum up Olympia in one sentence, what would it be? How does Bicycle fit into that? 

COWMAN: The myth of Olympia will always be more powerful then the reality of Olympia.

VOLCANO: Fill in the blank: The show coming up with Eleanor Murray, Mason Lindahl, Briana Mariela and Ellie Fortune at The Loft is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick because _____.

COWMAN: I'm not going to make any promises.

UPDATE: In the first version of this blog post, we incorrectly refered to Mr. Cowman as "Russ." His name is Ross. We've very sorry about any confusion. All we can say is our monkeys are extremely overworked, and we suspect they huff glue at lunch.

Again, we apologize - especially to Mr. Cowman.