Eskimo Kiss Records: Kim Ware
By Josh Spilker
Eskimo Kiss Records was started in Wilmington in 2000 by North Carolina native, Kim Ware. Now in Atlanta, she has released over thirteen albums, basically all on her own. The Eskimo Kiss lineup is geared towards indie rock/electro pop with a Southern twist. We talked about her providential trip to Vegas, drinking beer with her bands, and the lack of money in record labels. For more info on Eskimo Kiss Records, check out www.eskimokissrecords.com or myspace.com/eskimokissrecords.
Bootleg: How and why did you want to start a record label? Kim Ware: Back in ‘99 or 2000, I was playing in a band called Pacer at the time. I’m a project manager at work my day job I was always the one who did the planning, booking shows, and doing the organizational stuff for the bands I had been in at the time. I had been talking to a band at the time called Lookwell about just trading shows with them and stuff, and when they sent me their CD, which was unreleased, they had just recorded about 5 songs with jerry key, and they were just sending it out to get shows and stuff. When I heard it, I thought I wanted to start a record label.
I got that CD and the wheels started turning a little bit more. We went to Las Vegas that November of ‘99, which was actually a trip that my ex (husband) had won. We thought it was like a scam, we were saying when they sent us the $500 cash that they’re saying we’ll get, then we’ll believe it. Well, they did. It was legit. We won this trip to Vegas, we didn’t have to pay a penny to go, and we got money while we there. While we were there, I won the jackpot on a corner slot machine, and so I won four thousand dollars. And I was like well, we were wanting to start a record label, and we didn’t have the money, and now we had the money to.
Bootleg: So the label is not your full-time job? KW: The label is an expensive hobby. I would love it if it ever turned into a full-time job, but it’s pretty hard to sell music these days. I think it takes a lot money behind records, to have everything in place to have promotion and radio. And the band needs to be touring as much as possible. I think having everything in one place at one time can take a lot of money.
Bootleg: What type of sound are you looking for now? KW: I’ve always liked indie rock and indie pop that sort of has a Southern influence. I sort of do different things, I don’t want everything to sound exactly the same. Hopefully, the common thread is indie pop with a Southern influence.
Bootleg: What is the hardest part of putting out a record in general? KW: From a small label standpoint, the hardest part for me is having the money and the time to do it at the same time. There are times where I save up a lot of money, so then it’s time for me to put out the next record. It really is a lot of work, and I basically do it by myself, so coordinating it and being able to do it along with my full-time job, and I play in a couple of bands, and trying to make it in a relationship, take care of my house, all of that is what’s hardest for me. Having the money and having the time.
Bootleg: What’s the budget like for putting out a release? KW: The Glaciers was the first time I paid a company to do radio promotion for it. It takes so much time to do radio well, even though it was a lot of money, it was about 1400 to get a company to promote it for six weeks. It got played, we sent it out to about 300 stations, and it got played on about half of them, which was so much better than what I could do on my own. If you include that in the budget, that’s about three or four thousand dollars. You could spend a lot more money than that.
Bootleg: What do you think is the role of the small label today? KW: Well, I think it can be a big deal just to have someone spend their time as something that we’re doing. I like to think of it as an extension of the band, as well, I’m really big into the whole grassroots, community event and the way that music is marketed has changed so much with blogs and everything. Which is really cool, it’s just one big circle of different people helping each other out. I like to think of it as an extension of the band, like a family. I think if you have a label like Sony, you won’t have as many people like, oh, the new record that Sony put out is out today and I’m going to get it, because I’m interested in everything (Sony) puts out. I have people, who buy every Eskimo Kiss release, who want to support what I’m doing. It’s just a small handful of people, but still I mean it’s cool, and everyone has their favorite label.
Bootleg: How do you go about finding your bands? KW: When I first started the label, I definitely wanted to focus on the Southeast. And the Glaciers, they’re really the first band that I wasn’t friends with already. They had heard the stuff for Citified, and wanted to get in touch with us. I’m starting to branc out a little more with it, but at first I was trying to do bands from the Southeast.
It’s such a personal thing, anyway, if I can’t sit down and have a beer with you, and get along with you, I probably shouldn’t put out your music. And I’d want people to consider me a friend as well.
The Vital Stats for Eskimo Kiss Bands
The Glaciers: Alt-country layered pop featuring former members of The Mendoza Line
Location: Queens, NYC
For Fans of: Beth Orton, Cat Power, Ben Folds, piano-driven shoegazing.
Release: “The Moonlight Never Misses an Appointment”
www.theglaciers.com
The Preakness: Catchy but calming lo-fi basement rock
Location: Atlanta, GA
For Fans of: The Shins, Beulah, Viva Voce
Release: The Preakness S/T 7”
www.preakout.com
Citified: Slightly spacey guitars, distinct bass lines, and haunting vocals with good allowances for reverb and introspection
Location: Greensboro, NC
For Fans of: REM, Red House Painters, Snowden, stripped-down Echo and The Bunnymen
Release: Citified S/T
www.myspace.com/citified
Jane Francis: Defiant folk in classic singer/songwriter mode
Location: Saxapahaw, NC
For Fans Of: Lucinda Williams, Joni Mitchell, Denison Witmer, Forget Cassettes
Release: “Skeletons For Tea”
www.myspace.com/janefrancis
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