Wallflower Records Interview with Corey Savage.

Cover art for Winter’s Memória Colorida/Wherever You Are 7-inch by Vinyl Williams.

Wallflower Records is an independent cassette and vinyl concern that cropped up in Houston, Texas just a short time ago, soon to become one of When the Sun Hits’ label favorites. Wallflower’s prominence on our radar really jumped forth when we found out last fall that the label had reissued Winter’s sublime 2015 dream pop album Supreme Blue Dream in an edition free of the defect that marred side two of the original vinyl release on a different label. Good news indeed, as the error had created an itch for a proper slab of the record that we hadn’t been able to scratch for the three intervening years. Inquiring about the Winter reissue initiated our contact with Wallflower founder Corey Savage and prompted us to take a closer look at the new label’s small but already richly appealing catalog.

We immediately noticed several artists we already knew and loved in the label’s garage-psych, punk and dream pop garden patch: once more, Winter, with the exquisitely crafted Memória Colorida/Wherever You Are 7-inch; WTSH deep-fuzz favorites Soda Lilies of Austin, with a vinyl edition of 2016 full-length Love Cemetery Tapes; L.A. dream pop duo Summer Twins with the beautifully crafted Another Hit/Dream Girl 7-inch, as well as related project Easy Love with its self-titled full length expression of what Wallflower’s catalog notes call “hazy existentialism”. Here we discovered the distinctive, tremolant dream pop of Wallflower’s several releases by L.A.’s Holy Golden, while familiar Houston janglewave exponents Astragal soon popped up in the Wallflower space with the new Bloomer/Self-Titled EP 7-inch (in February we premiered the band’s single “Moderne Luxury”, which appeared shortly after on a new digital EP).

With several more artists and releases also on the roster, it’s a very impressive list for a label that’s been in gear for only sixteen months, and one packed with delights for listeners drawn to the range of music that this blog celebrates. Clearly, a label interview—it’s been a while since WTSH featured one—was in order. Many thanks to Corey for his considerable time, effort, and patience in answering our questions and otherwise assisting with this post.

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How and when did Wallflower get its start? What motivated you to start a record label? Where did the name come from?

In early 2016 I found myself aimlessly wandering through Los Angeles pretty often—eventually attending Lolipop Records' Lolipop Your Heart Out show at Teragram Ballroom on February 6th. The bill was stacked and I was infinitely stoked to see Peach Kelli Pop, my favorite band at the time, live in person. PKP, Mystic Braves, The Creation Factory, Samira's Infinite Summer (side project by Samira from Winter—who is actually now a Wallflower artist!), Psychomagic, Billy Changer, Part Time and Corners flipped my fucking brain upside down for several hours. The whole night seemingly emanated a liberating feeling that canceled out any self-consciousness, leaving only the sonic undulations of that singular moment in time. It culminated in a cathartic epiphany of eccentric dancing at about the time Peach Kelli Pop was midway into the chorus of either "Panchito Blues ii" or "Dreamphone". I think being so utterly affected by music like that really set me down a path towards curating and documenting it. Actually, later that night in a dimly lit hotel room is when I first began flirting with the idea of a label.

In the days that followed the show, I began bouncing record label ideas back and forth over a Facebook chat with a collective friend group of mine that I was close with throughout my high school and early post-high-school days. This early stage of the label didn't even really do much other than exist for several months. A lot of my friends that were originally on board with the idea ended up getting distracted with their lives or moving away. I found myself alone and began to reflect on how to move forward.

The name "Wallflower Records” was partially inspired by the song "Flowers On The Wall" by Tomorrows Tulips—a tune I'd regularly space out to around that time period. I began laying a basic foundation for the label by doing some research and taking small steps here and there. Soon I ran into Mikey Drag at a local show and we ended up working together pretty regularly, mostly out of shared interest for psychedelic and garage rock. (Houston wasn't exactly big on either genre; hell, you can still count the number of local psych bands on your fingers.) Everything else just sorta bloomed out from there.

Please also tell us about the booking and live show efforts you are making in conjunction with Wallflower.

Mikey Drag, the other half of Wallflower Records, is actually the one to thank for that. He handles all of our live booking and events and assists with mailing orders and other logistics. Mike has been booking shows in Houston for over ten years now and is locally well-respected in both freelance work and as a permanent fixture of the long-time Rockabilly-vibed venue, The Continental Club, which serves as sort of home base for us. We first met at Satellite Bar a few years back when he was still playing as his old sixties-style garage band, Mikey and The Drags, which would later evolve into the more psychedelic-oriented Flower Graves, with whom we did our first 7-inch release.

Our mutual love for psych and garage rock really forged our early partnership. Not long after, I think we both realized we were pretty in tune on music taste across the board. It's

pretty dang handy having someone on the same wavelength like that, even borderline spooky at times, considering how accurately he can anticipate me!

I can't remember exactly when or why we started booking shows; it just sorta seemed to weave itself in naturally. Mike was definitely the driving force behind it all. It was primarily just for fun—we were putting on the shows we wanted to see, even sometimes joking that if turnout was a bust, it'd just be our own private concert (and it was, at times).

Our first show was a small shindig at Continental Club in February 2017, which featured Austin's Delicate Boys and our local buds Redpalms. The first bill that really felt like a self-produced Wallflower show in earnest wasn't until the sweltering summer night of June 29th, 2017 at Rudyard's Pub, when we hosted Missing Pages of Austin and Winter from L.A. with local support from Tee Vee, our friend Teresa of Houston dream pop favorites Rose Ette, and Mikey's former side project, Cleen Teens.

I think that night was pretty essential for me in particular. It felt like one of those "hey, maybe I can actually do this" moments.

I helped tag-team the booking with Mike up until several months ago when an increasing vinyl and cassette production workload (along with my already busy day job as an aircraft mechanic) resulted in us officially defining roles within the label, with Mike running booking and events and myself handling the traditional label responsibilities (production, PR, finances, etc.). We still have some minor overlap though, depending on what's happening.

Is anyone else involved in Wallflower besides you and Mikey? Do you ever use interns?

Last fall we brought on our friend, Alex Barclay, to help run social media and PR. He's the perfect fella for it too. Alex knows damn near everybody in the Texas music scenes. Chances are, if you see him at a show—more than likely, filming—you're in the right place.

I make sure to pay both Mikey and Alex for their help, but it's definitely not a full-time gig.

I'd like to bring a few interns on beard at some point, but I honestly don't know what I'd have them doing, other than maybe art design, street teaming posters and basic stuff.

How would you define the spectrum of music in the Wallflower catalog? Do you think of the label’s purview in terms of genre(s), or in other terms?

Wallflower is the spectrum of us. We find pieces of ourselves in those songs, for better or worse. That's what makes music universal.

You only need genres to market music, not to enjoy it. My core music taste is rooted in the dimension of everything raw, garagey bordering on dissonant, often with a touch of atmospheric brooding. Granted, I don't pigeonhole myself into just those categories, but I do regularly tend to wander back in that general direction.

Can you tell us about your most recent releases and about what’s coming up in the near future?

In March, we released a 7-inch reissue of the self-titled EP by our local buds and jangle-pop heroes, Astragal, with an all-new track on the B-side.

At the end of last August we co-released GYMSHORTS' brand new album KNOCK KNOCK with Burger Records and Bachelor Records in Europe on lovely, slimy green 12-inch vinyl! It was pretty surreal doing this one, as I've been a big GYMSHORTS fan for a few years now and frontwoman Sarah just sorta hit me up outta the blue. I can't stress enough how fucking phenomenal this album is—I'm almost certain it'll be a punk classic. The whole thing is imbued with this snotty, rebel youth attitude that harkens back to the likes of Descendents.

In late October, we released a metallic gold 12" vinyl pressing of Holy Golden's brand new album Sleepwalkers in the Milky Way. For those who aren't familiar, Holy Golden is essentially what would happen if Wes Anderson wrote a script about a nomadic dream pop band who sleep in haunted castles and exude spookily serene energy...except they're totally real, and yes, it's very rad. Go watch their video for "Lost Island"—you'll feel it.

Lately I've been trying to taper off my involvement in new projects so I can focus on some internal renovations

You’ve just mentioned GYMSHORTS’ slimy green LP and Holy Golden’s gold LP pressing. Meanwhile, Soda Lilies’ Love Cemetery Tapes is on beautiful purple vinyl and Winter’s Memória Colorida/Wherever You Are 7-inch is a lovely red. What’s the attraction of colored pressings from your standpoint?

Colored vinyl is kind of becoming a new standard in the music industry. Most labels will tell you that it's noticeably more difficult to move black vinyl in comparison to colored pressings. I think this is something of a side effect of our social and cultural zeitgeist, which favors holistic and inclusive values. There's this sort of contemporary tendency to focus on the whole of an aesthetic, rather than solely perfecting a single dimension of it. It's kind of a blessing and a curse for art, in that you can generate lovely atmosphere, but sometimes at the expense of depth.

How about vinyl weight? What weight do you use, and do you think vinyl weight makes an important difference in sound?

It varies on the release, but most are 140 gram vinyl. We pressed Holy Golden's Wax Castle LP on 180 gram vinyl via Pallas Group in Germany last year and it was the best record ever. I love that pressing, it felt so full and lush. I wish we could routinely replicate it, but the price-point would be monumental, given how frequently we're tackling new projects. Maybe someday...

What steps do you take in terms of quality control to make sure you’re releasing quality records, tapes, and downloads?

Any time I get a test pressing or tape, I'll listen to it fifteen to twenty-five times per side. Afterwards, myself or Mikey will take it around Houston to our favorite local record stores for second opinions. I particularly like to reach out to my friend John Baldwin at Deep End Records, as he's immeasurably knowledgeable across so many genres, and just in general a swell fuckin’ fella. For digital, it's a similar process except done over email or Facebook messenger.

What’s the beginning of the process that leads to a release on Wallflower? How does the initial connection between the artist and label get made?

It's pretty informal, to be honest. I just get drunk at shows and ramble about absurd bullshit with bands, or get pantslessly drunk at home and answer demo submission emails. Dimming those pesky social inhibitions is definitely key.

Even if it takes me awhile, I'm pretty good about checking out every demo submission. Just shoot an email to us at wallflowerrecordsmusic@gmail.com.

I'll even take physical submissions, just shoot me a message and we'll coordinate it!

How do your products get sold and distributed?

A very elaborate messenger pigeon system. They're unionized and everything, it's wild.

But seriously, we just have a simple order fulfillment system via our Shopify webstore. Mike and myself ship everything by hand, which can be daunting at times, but ultimately rewarding when you see how tangible these people's love for music is. We'll also sell in person as a vendor at certain shows, festivals and neat events around Texas.

Our bands also have their own stock for sale while out on tour.

I actually set up some other distribution channels awhile back, but never really utilized them. I'm thinking of revisiting this soon and cutting a proper deal with a distributor.

How is Wallflower funded? Does it lose money, break even, or make money? If it’s presently losing money or breaking even, is there any prospect of moving up, either to a break-even or profit level, in the near future?

I personally fund everything out of pocket via my day job in aircraft maintenance. It's definitely one of those money-pit hobbies, given that the costs associated with vinyl production are pretty steep. An average pressing can be anywhere from $700 to $2800 or so, depending on what you're going for. Also, take into consideration that you're generally doing multiple releases at any one time. I'm a fucking idiot for doing any of this, but I earnestly believe in the people behind these bands.

I don't really foresee us feasibly making a huge impact or moving up too much in the food chain. We're too amateur in our current incarnation. Processes need to be streamlined a bit. We'll see how it all plays out, in due time.

Is there anything you would say to someone who’s interested in starting a label?

Running a label is...well, it's like "Ahhhhhhhhh", but in both the good and bad context all at once.

Pace is everything; don't murder yourself. Persist.

Most importantly, have fun.

Summer Twins’ Another Hit/Dream Girl 7-inch.