Cosmic Records
An interview with Deborah Klein
by Scott Hefflon
Morphine manager Deb Klein recently started a record label, Cosmic Records. Her first three releases, 7″s by Bison, Caspar and Mollüsk, and Trona, cover such a wide range of styles, I just had to sit down with her to get the scoop.
Which was Cosmic’s first release?
A single by Bison, a band I manage. They’re hard rock, progressive…
Why did you decide to manage Bison?
They’re an amazing band. Totally different from everyone else in Boston. They’re really driven. I can’t imagine them doing anything besides music. That’s an important factor for me when I want to work with a band. I’m driven as well, so I want the bands to be just as dedicated as I am. The lead singer has an incredibly different voice.
I read that Eddie Vedder tipped him $50 while he was playing in the street.
Yeah, he’s a busker. He still is, but now it’s getting colder, so he doesn’t do it anymore.
Even now that he’s got a record deal?
Well, they haven’t gotten a record deal yet. Oh, you mean with Cosmic? Actually, we’re talking to some labels right now, and it looks like we’re going to have a larger label give them money to make a full-length album. They’re recording right now in New York.
Are the two songs that Cosmic released on their demo?
On their second demo, which got a lot of circulation. The single is doing well. We’re all out, actually. We have to re-press them.
Great. What was the second single?
Caspar and Mollüsk. My friend, Chris Ballew from The Presidents of the United States of America, was complaining about another indie label who had his tapes and was supposed to put out the 7″ and, ya know, it was just taking a lot longer than he wanted. He asked me to do it, and I said sure, I’d love to put it out. It was something he did with Beck, but we’re not allowed to announce that because he’s on a major label. They don’t really care, probably, but I’m not supposed to officially mention it. We called Beck his “loser” friend from L.A. in the press release.
So how did the release come about?
Chris gave me a really cool tape for Christmas about three years ago called Sloppy Lint Cake. It had all these four-track recordings that he had done alone, all instrumentals, and I loved it. I listened to it over and over again. I asked him if I could take some things from that for the B-side. He said sure.
I get the A and B sides mixed up…
The A side is “Twig in the Winds” which is him and Beck. Distorted vocals and all that.
I like the B side a lot.
It’s from Sloppy Lint Cake. There’ll probably be more stuff from Chris under the pseudonym, because he’s on Columbia. He can’t put out Chris Ballew records, but he can put out Caspar records.
Has Chris released anything before as Caspar?
This was the first. He’s an incredible musician with a lot of different ideas he’d like to explore. I’m giving him the opportunity to release the stuff that’s not so commercial.
What about your third single?
Trona. Again, it was an incredible tape, and they wanted to get something out right away. They sounded different from the other bands out there, and they had a really good song for a single. When I first heard “Red Hot Slag,” I was like, SINGLE! They’re another example of a band that’s really dedicated – they work really hard and book themselves great shows.
Trona has some of those Boston big boys in it, doesn’t it?
Well, Chris was in Orangutang, and Pete was in The Barnies. They started playing together just before, or right around the time Orangutang broke up. Chris was getting away from that metal thing that was kinda bumming him out about Orangutang, and wanted to explore different types of music he was into.
Trona is more pop, right?
It depends on what you call pop. It’s definitely traditional songwriting – verses and choruses – so, yeah, I’d call them a pop band.
Chris has great enunciation. That may sound strange, but that’s why I like his voice. On stage, he opens his mouth this wide!
That’s another thing; they’re a great live band. I went to their first show, and I went to their most recent show. They’ve progressed really quickly in a short time. I can’t remember what band Nick was in, but Mary Ellen has never been in a band. We worked together when I used to work at Taang! Records.
What’s coming out in the future?
Next month, Cosmic is putting out a single for Supergroup. They’re a renowned Boston band from days gone by. Basically, it’s Mark Sandman and Chris Ballew getting together and jamming a lot. I’ve got one song they did at Mark’s house, and the B side is live at the Middle East. It sounds really cool.
Anything else coming out?
Like Swimming. It’s Mark Sandman’s… I don’t want to call it a side project… It’s Mark writing songs and performing them solo, or with one or two other players. He wrote a really cool song called “Swing it Low” that I love.
He’s done quite a few solo shows.
He’s always done solo shows, even when Morphine became popular. He still plays with his Hypnosonics…
Is he going to play his solo shows as Like Swimming?
It’s something that’s just starting. It was hard for him to decide on Like Swimming. People might not get it, or might attribute some kind of meaning to it. If he does solo stuff, he may call it Like Swimming. Only he knows.
Is there a unifying thread, or a Cosmic sound you try to achieve?
I just want it to be good and different. I’m sick of, God help me for saying this, bands that can’t play. I’m into emotion and strong singers with different voices.
Cosmic has nice graphics. A different style for each band, but all really nice.
I’ve been getting involved in the artwork aspect of the releases. Each band does its own artwork. The drummer of Bison did their cover, Chris did the Caspar and Mollüsk, and the Trona cover was done by Hi*Con, a design company Collin Burns from La Gritona, and Spence started. The Like Swimming cover is a drawing that Mark Sandman did on legal paper with a marker. I scanned it and added primary colors. It’s really cool. The Supergroup cover is an old flyer they made for some of their shows. Each cover is personal to the band.