Thick Records
An interview with Zak Einstein
by Jenn Zweig
Thick Records is a little over a year old and has already “sold out.” According to Zak, the label’s 24-year-old owner, Coca-Cola features Calliope on the soundtrack to one of their Olympic Games commercials. The ad has been running since January and will continue to air until July.
Warning: If you are ready to boycott this label, don’t. Zak isn’t a Michael Goldstein (Epic Records) and doesn’t send nude pictures of himself to young, cash-able bands. In fact, he’s quite against major labels, not only because two such labels stole some of his best employees, but because “major labels are all about chart position.” Zak claims, “For major labels, it’s all a numbers game.”
One exceptional feature about Thick are the actual records. Not only are they thick, but they’re pieces of art. You could hang these records on your wall and redecorate your apartment. Sides of the Back of Dave 7″ have renditions of Michelangelo paintings, and SpeedDuster have a devilish-looking Uncle Sam on their B-Side. Although Zak admits the process is a little expensive, he says, “It looks nice and does make us semi-unique among the millions of record labels out there. Plus, a lot of people think it’s cool, so we’ll keep doing it.”
Look for new full lengths from Judge Nothing (pop-punk), The Laurels (slow psychedelic ‘core), Calliope (quirky space rock), and an Edsel picture disc (an indie pop/noise band from Washington D.C.).