The Agenda

Interview: Ashley Mercado | Images: Jill Palumbo

Music is one of those curious realms where people are actually respected for rising above the fast fads and cheap phases. If you manage to maintain your integrity in the business at the end of a decade before you’re on to the next, people will take notice, they will want to play with you, and some nosy little publication may try to ask you a whole bunch of personal questions.

We were lucky enough to get local producer Tim O'Keefe to talk with The Agenda about his e-label Cozy Music, his experience of working with independent labels, and the advantages of digital distribution for music artists who are not a part of a bigger conglomerate. For all you aspiring producers or music makers, this actually turns out to be something that will either assist you in your efforts or give you a different perspective on the evolution of the music business. Hold on to your hats — it's getting cold out — and hold on to your questions, because we probably asked them already.

Cozy Music was originally the name of my music event production company. I produced club and one-off electronic music events. I have always been into the ambient and chill-out genres of electronic music, and then later on into the downtempo genre. That music always had a "cozy" feel to it, and I liked the sound of the word "cozy," so that's how the name came to represent my label.

I arranged for the first <tfo> CD (entitled Surface Sounds) to be digitally distributed through IRIS Distribution in Jan ’06. When I received the contract, it was for Cozy Music, and covered all Cozy Music releases. At the time I had been reading a little bit about e-labels, and as a musician who wasn't signed to a label, I had been thinking a lot about grass-roots approaches to getting my music out there. Once I realized I had established a distribution channel, I decided to start a small e-label and ask the many producers, DJs and musicians I have befriended over the years to put out some of their material on my label.

What is the philosophy behind Cozy Music?

There is no big ground-breaking philosophy, but there are a few strong motivations. I want to release music and artists that I think are good. Even though I love the physical object of a vinyl record or CD, I do believe that it is only a matter of time before every human being acquires their music digitally. As an audiophile, mp3s aren't the highest quality of sound for my personal preference, but that is a technical issue, and will be improved as the technology improves. The other thing is that labels will be able to offer interactive liner notes, which fulfills the artwork and packaging aspect that CDs and vinyl records provide.

What type of music is on the label, or is there a "type" of musician associated with Cozy Music?

I am open to any kind of music, and plan to sign a variety of stuff. I want to seek out and produce artists that I think are very talented. I don’t subscribe to a purist approach of only liking one kind of music and not keeping an open mind to different kinds of sounds.

The advantage of digital distribution is that the consumer has the opportunity to find it and purchase it without having to search through a bunch of independent releases in some local record store while the hipster or old bitter rocker behind the counter gives them some sort of strange attitude.Do you hate (stereo)types?

I dislike stereotypes, or people quickly dismissing something by applying a stereotype, but at the same time I must admit that I have seen many examples that reinforce a certain stereotype and I have been guilty of stereotyping. I think when you’re dealing with, let's say, a particular music scene — people who are into that scene often adopt the fashion and lifestyle associated with that scene, and reinforce the stereotype.

Cozy Music is a digital label with digital distribution. Who is managing the digital distro, and how does it work?

IRIS Distribution, based out of San Francisco, handles the distribution. When I have a release, I fill out an Excel sheet with all the release’s information — artist, title, track names, copyright, publishing, etc. I mail them ten CD-Rs along with the press release, and I email them the artwork. They then distribute digital files of the music and artwork to over 80 digital retailers where my label’s releases become available for purchase — such as iTunes, Napster, Beatsport, Emusic and Rhapsody. As a company, they have been making strategic partnerships with music-oriented magazines and websites. They offer the labels they represent opportunities to market releases through these other media resources.

Can you talk about the digital distro boom and how digital distribution of an independent music label is another manifestation in the evolution of music?

The digital music market came out of ingenuity that was independent of the overall music industry. In some respects it is doing for artists what the Internet was supposed to do for them ten years ago. It actually gets their material out there.

The other great thing about it is that there is much less overhead for a digital label than there would be for a label manufacturing CDs or vinyl. I only need to burn ten CD-Rs to mail to the distributor, yet an infinite number of the releases will be available for purchase. The only other CD-Rs I burn are to send to press and radio, and other marketing like giving them to cafés and stores to play. It keeps the cost low.

Obvously iTunes and iPods have a lot to do with the consumer side of the digital distribution boom. At first there weren’t really digital distributors because there weren’t a lot of digital retailers to distribute to. Now there are a lot. A digital distributor cuts down on a lot of work by allowing a small label the ability to give them all the content and let them deal with distributing it to all the possible retailers. The digital music market gives smaller labels and independent artists an avenue to get their music out there, so that the consumer has the opportunity to find it and purchase it without having to search through a bunch of independent releases in some local record store while the hipster or old bitter rocker behind the counter gives them some sort of strange attitude.

Let’s talk about the Days Of Yore-back when the word "independent" really meant Independence — when you worked for a label called Kinetic in New York City in the ’90s. During that time, indie labels had more of a connection to local artists, but this was dismembered; just as indies were gaining national recognition and beginning to succeed in the marketplace, they were bought-up, co-opted, and swallowed by major labels. This transformed not only the whole industry, but also our understanding of it. What do you think went wrong in this transformation? Did your experience at Kinetic inform how you would conduct yourself in starting up your own music label?

Well, in 1994 I moved to NYC to pursue my musical endeavors. At the time I had been promoting electronic music events in clubs and warehouses here in Providence. I had connected into a network of DJs and promoters across the Northeast. I was also developing my production skills and composing a lot of German influenced techno and trance music. I had met DJ Keoki through a promoter friend. (Backstory: This would be the same Keoki that was Michael Alig’s boyfriend, and Michael Alig was the NYC club kid who killed his drug dealer, as seen in the film "Party Monster.") Anyway, Keoki liked my productions and asked me if I would be interested in moving to NYC to produce records with him. He was an amazing DJ, but didn’t really produce stuff, and there was interest from a number of electronic music labels. So I moved there. Unfortunately he was a bit disorganized and flaked on me because once I had arrived he was off to a three-month DJ tour of Germany. So I began to collaborate with a friend of mine, John Trepp, who had built up a nice little production/promotion company in the city. During this time I had formed a few friendships with some folks I met through Keoki, including Michelle Lolli, who happened to be the fashion editor for URB magazine, and also an employee of Planet Earth Recordings. She gave my demo to Planet Earth’s PR person, who was doing some freelance PR work for a dance crossover band called The Waterlillies. The Waterlillies were signed to Kinetic/Sire Records. It just so happened that they were looking for a touring keyboardist, and she hooked me up with them. From this introduction, I met Steve Lau, who ran Kinetic Records and had previously been the keyboardist in a band called The Ocean Blue. I arranged an internship at Kinetic with Steve.

I felt like I was in the office of the Media God who had controlled everything I read, watched, and listened to throughout my life. It played well into my fascination with conspiracy theories.

At the time Kinetic was pretty much a one-man operation, so I got to see all aspects of what a label does. Kinetic was a sub-label of Sire Records, which was a sub-label of Warner Brothers, which was part of Time Warner — so I pretty much felt like I was in the office building of the Media God who had controlled everything I read, watched, and listened to throughout my life. It played well into my fascination with conspiracy theories. Kinetic was basically a cubicle in the offices of Sire Records, and I have to say that my experience at Sire was an eye-opening one in a variety of ways. The people there were all very nice, and they were the label that had worked with some of my favorite artists including The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Talking Heads and Aphex Twin. I learned about the daily workings of a label and about the general culture of the music industry. In some respects I was a bit awestruck because I had always wanted to do music for a living, and it seemed like I was moving fast on a path towards my dreams. It was also an exciting environment to be a part of a label trying to break an artist.

My role was as someone who had his ear to the street, and someone that was a part of the emerging electronic music scene, which established itself through independent labels, zines, websites and events. The Waterlillies were a techno-pop band similar to bands like Opus 3. While Steve worked on larger elements like getting writeups in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Details Magazine, I helped set up street team promotions and arranged for my partner John to book the Waterlillies tour in electronic music venues across the U.S. I also assisted in A&R tasks, by making Steve aware of artists who were making a buzz in the underground. Some of the ones I brought to his attention, and he eventually ended up working with, were BT and Rabbit in the Moon. Kinetic put itself out there as an independent label that could sign and nurture new emerging artists, while at the same time having the PR and marketing machinery of the majors at its disposal. In some ways it seemed like major labels were courting artists under the guise of being a smaller "independent" label. It appeared to be a good tactic because Kinetic could play itself off as an "independent" label when it was to its benefit, or it could be part of a "major" when it was to its advantage.

Touring with the Waterlillies was a great experience for me. It was the first time I had driven cross country, so I got to get to see a lot of things I hadn't seen before. Since The Waterlillies were funded by a major, we toured in a comfortable way. We often had our own hotel rooms, a per diem, and everyone on tour got along pretty well. On off-nights or after shows, we usually went out to other clubs and had a good time.

Near the end of my internship with Sire, things began to change because Time Warner was going through upper management changes. Time Warner consisted of numerous labels including Warner Brothers, Reprise, Sire, East West and Electra. Many of the label executives were negotiating new positions, and it seemed to create an atmosphere of everyone out for themselves while the reorganization took place. Unfortunately, it seemed like the stereotype of major labels being evil was starting to play itself out right in front of me. I found this to be unfortunate, and actually sad, since Sire as a label seemed like a group of very genuine, forward-thinking people. They were now being split up and re-incorporated into various labels as the reorganization took place. I felt like I had been swept away from my original focus, which was being an artist, and the role I was playing was one of a record label employee. I decided I wanted to return to Providence and develop my production skills, while maintaining the connections I had made in the industry. I sometimes regretted that decision since Kinetic went on to become a much larger label, but I really developed as an artist by refocusing my efforts on music production and composition — and when it comes down to it, that is much more important to my central core.