Featured Label: Mexican Summer
It's Featured Label time! This month we're checking in with Keith and Jess of Mexican Summer, a Brooklyn based label that just celebrated their 100th release.
Keith: We started the label in late 2008 but, for some background, I’ve been working on the label Kemado, which is sort of like our parent label, since 2002. So, we’ve been putting out various records on that label. Then we just kind of decided that we wanted another outlet for one-off releases, singles, and 12”. Kemado felt a little bit limited when it came to that kind of stuff; we were doing releases in a more traditional way. We looked at it as a really good opportunity to do stuff like that because we’re all really passionate about vinyl labels. There were a lot of bands we wanted to work with but we didn’t feel we could offer them the opportunity under the Kemado name. So we decided to start an imprint and then Mexican Summer was born.
What is the best part about owning an independent record label?
Keith: Well Kemado is Mexican Summer and vice-versa. There’s no separate staff at Kemado so it’s a very tight knit group of people working in the small offices who love music and that’s just the best part of it, really. It’s about putting out records that we love and working with eachother to do it.
Jess: It’s nice to have the ability to use each label as its own. Each one sort of has their own energy and focus. And it’s certainly nice to shift gears between both of them and to make sure they’re represented the right way.
Who are your favorite bands on your roster?
Jess: Well I’m really excited about Peaking Lights who are recording right now in the studio, in our building. I think that they are a really exciting band and I’m looking forward to what they’re going to come up with. Obviously the new Best Coast is going to be a great one as well.
Keith: I would chime in on the same ones, for sure, but I feel like I should spread the love a little bit. That’s hard, it’s like choosing your children, you know what I mean? But we have a lot of really awesome records coming out next year. There’s a new Tamaryn record, there’s a new The Fresh & Onlys record, anad there’s the Oneohtrix Point Never project that just came out, which is amazing. We’re really lucky, we’ve worked a lot of amazing people and artists. It’s a great environment to be in.
What do you guys look for in a band when you sign them?
Keith: I think there are two pretty crucial elements for me when it comes to working with a band: good songs and a good attitude. Songwriting is fundamentally what’s most important in terms of what speaks to us. We definitely have our fans of certain styles of music; each of us has our own preference. And just working with people that have really good attitudes, that we get along with them as people. Putting out records is our business and you want to work hard for people that appreciate it.
If you could sign one band or artist from music history, who would it be and why?
Jess: I still want to re-issue the Anonymous record Inside the Shadows from 1976. Who knows, maybe that horizon could happen sometimes soon.
Keith: I don’t know, that’s really hard. If I could put out a release it would probably be the unreleased Keith Richards piano sessions from ’77 in Toronto. I would love to release that stuff on vinyl.
So I hear that you recently issued your 100th release! How does it feel to have reached that mark?
Keith: It feels great, it’s such an amazing accomplishment. It’s a record that we really built from the ground up, because we have a studio in the building here and we recorded it here with Joel Ford and Dan Lopatin, who actually have an imprint label under Mexican Summer called Software. They produced the single, which is a collaboration with Tamaryn and Shannon Funchess. Jess set up a really awesome photoshoot with this amazing photographer David Black so we basically created the covers from those photos. We did the layout in-house and came up with a really cool concept for how the record was cut. And, we designed a poster insert. It’s a really special and memorable piece for us.
Jess: Yeah we’ve been getting a little bit reflective here. It’s like, every album cover represents a moment in the past couple of years so it’s nice to have it all together. It’s cool.
So I hear that you recently issued your 100th release! How does it feel to have reached that mark?
Keith: It feels great, it’s such an amazing accomplishment. It’s a record that we really built from the ground up, because we have a studio in the building here and we recorded it here with Joel Ford and Dan Lopatin, who actually have an imprint label under Mexican Summer called Software. They produced the single, which is a collaboration with Tamaryn and Shannon Funchess. Jess set up a really awesome photoshoot with this amazing photographer David Black so we basically created the covers from those photos. We did the layout in-house and came up with a really cool concept for how the record was cut. And, we designed a poster insert. It’s a really special and memorable piece for us.
Jess: Yeah we’ve been getting a little bit reflective here. It’s like, every album cover represents a moment in the past couple of years so it’s nice to have it all together. It’s cool.
Where do you see Mexican Summer in the next 5 years?
Jess: Well, hopefully if we keep going the way we’re going, it seems like it’s got a pretty lasting vibe. If we’re not getting too big or getting too small, I think we’ll be okay!
Keith: Hopefully we’re in business. I guess that’s the best hope. The music business landscape is constantly shifting and changing so I just hope that we’ll be able to keep putting records out that people dig and want to buy. I hope we all have jobs.
Jess: If not, Keith and I will start a lounge act.
Keith: Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.
You guys should just start that right now and add that to the label.
Jess: It’s a good retirement plan.
Keith: Awesome, I’m into that.
