A Conversation with Gilead Media

I recently had a good long chat with Adam Bartlett of Gilead Media, an awesome indie label that has put out releases from Thou, Krallice, Fell Voices and others. Gilead is one of my favorite labels. The DIY ethic runs through every aspect of his label, as you’ll read below. Adam operates the label, screen prints shirts, patches, and inserts for his releases, and is wrapping up work on a movie. Tons of words, links, and photos after the jump. Banner photo by Mary Manchester.

Hey Adam how’s it going?

Fantastic, just got home from a bike ride, jamming Twin Peaks and full of caffeine. Ready to bust this interview!

Awesome, how is the Oshkosh Summer?

This part of the midwest is in a really great part of the temperate climate zone, so we get unbelievably brutal winters (up to 50 below with wind chill sometimes) and relatively warm summers (averaging high 80s-100s during the warmest weeks). But I love the variety of weather here.

Yeah people I talk to who move to California always say “I miss seasons”

Yea man, winter is critical to mental health, makes you appreciated the warmth. People get seasonal depression here big time, but then everyone’s mega-amped on life in the summer.

Sounds good, we’ll get back into talking about winter a little later. My first question is when did you start Gilead Media and what drove you to start your own label?

I think it was 2005 that I started the label. I was working for an indie music distributor and tons of my co-workers had little labels they did on their own. Thorp Records, Doghouse Records and a couple others were all run by some of my co-workers. In addition to that, we distributed some really incredible labels that I’ve built either personal or professional relationships with, Robotic Empire, Hydra Head etc. So I was 20 years old, working with all these incredibly hard-working people doing great things with music, I was just motivated to do my own thing. The first release was a DVD compiling all the live footage by my old Milwaukee band, since we never recorded our full-length album before we broke up. The first REAL Gilead Media release (catalog #1) was a split between my then active spazzy/tech drum machine band (with Sacred Tapes founder, Christopher Sommer) and Missouri tech band Withchildlikeeyes. From there things sort of just exploded beyond control. Actually now that I do the math, I must’ve been 22 at the point I started the label for real.

Were labels like Robotic Empire and Hydra Head also a sort of inspiration for you?

Oh, absolutely. Even back before I started working for the distro, when I was just hucking records at the local record shop in Oshkosh, WI. I really grew up loving records on those labels. Deathwish Inc., huge influence as well. There are other less obvious ones, but I’d say the DIY ethics, the attention to detail with releases, the aesthetic of those labels in general, that’s something that really drove me and helped direct Gilead Media.

What was/is the scene like around where you grew up in Wisconsin? Was part of your intention with Gilead to help put out releases from local artists?

Ahhhh. Well, I grew up (and now, again, live in) Oshkosh, WI. It’s about 90 miles north of Milwaukee, roughly the same distance north-east of Madison. So it’s sort of out of the way, in the middle of nowhere. There was never much of a scene here outside some good, solid indie rock bands that I enjoyed, but never anything I would want to release on my own label. As I grew older and started going to shows in Milwaukee regularly I identified a lot more with what was going on down there, hence started a band there and commuting 2-3 times a week for practices. There were a ton of bands there that influenced me, but chiefly among them might be Seven Days Of Samsara. That was a band that hit me hard in my formative music years, and I still think they’re one of the most incredibly original “passionate” hardcore bands I had ever heard (one of the big reasons I was so amped to do the Get Rad record). When I founded the label, I never really intended to support any specific scene. Granted my second and third records were WI-related, but that’s really because those were the creative people I knew at the time, and I really loved what they were doing. It really transformed after that. I didn’t want to pigeonhole the label to any one scene. Now over the past couple years I’ve done a few records for great Wisconsin bands, they’re is still amazing music coming out of Milwaukee, but I definitely want to keep things varied.

Northless are from WI, correct?

Yea, you bet. Get Rad and Arms Aloft are as well. Those latter two are definitely not as much in line with where the label is going these days, but I stand behind those bands 100%. Incredible music.

The variation within the label you mentioned brings me to my next question. The first Gilead release I got was the Indrocethere LP (solo recording project of Colin Marston from Krallice, Behold…The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts). How did you end up working with Colin? You’ve since released two (soon to be three) Krallice records.

This takes us back to my long-time friend Chris Sommer of Sacred Tapes. Before he did that label he had one called Sacrosanct Opuscule and did more hand-made CD-rs and such. He and Colin knew each other from the past through various meetings… Dysrhythmia & Behold… The Arctopus shows, and he did the Indricothere album on CD. I was entirely blown away when I heard that, I guess that was a pivotal release for me, because it was way more metal than most of the stuff I’d done up to that point, and sort of pushed me to turn a corner. From there Colin actually asked me to do the first Krallice album on vinyl (having been really happy with the Indricothere LP). This was something I wasn’t sure about, as Krallice was (again) something entirely different for the label. But I loved the record so I went for it. So glad I did, those two records really helped form the label into what it’s become today.

For sure, The Krallice s/t album really changed the game for USBM. It’s an important record, and I know for me, it’s what really got me looking at your label to see what else was there

Very cool, I’m glad to hear that! I feel the same way about that album. Many people hate on Krallice, but I’ve always loved how they do things differently. And they’re so damn solid.

The hate Krallice gets just doesn’t make any sense. It seems to come from genre purists who want black metal to fit into a certain mold. They want everyone to sound like Darkthrone.

Yea, I don’t know. There is some USBM I definitely don’t like, that I can understand some of the animosity for. But there’s a lot of Euro stuff I REALLY don’t like. I do think there are SOME aspects of black metal that should remain. But I’m really open to different varieties more than most people seem to be.

Agreed. Krallice take those basic elements of black metal that should remain and make them their own. Within one album they forged a sound that was unique to them. The first two Krallice albums featured different artwork than the cd versions. Can you say if Diotima will have some varied artwork?

It sure will. Nick McMaster (bass, vocals) handles many aspects of their artwork alongside Karlynn Holland. The jacket artwork for Diotima was much more his creation than the prior two, I believe. And just like with Dimensional Bleedthrough the artwork is being re-created from scratch for the vinyl edition. Although it’s always awesome that we get different art for the vinyl, it creates a big delay while the art is re-created. It’s always worth it, though.

Oh yeah I remember the delay on Dimensional Bleedthrough quite well, it felt like it would never come out. But it looks stunning of course.

Thanks! I felt the same way for a while there haha.

The first band I got into directly because of Gilead Media is Thou, and I am eternally grateful for that introduction. I remember seeing a full page ad in decibel just for Thou. I figured if an indie label was taking out a full page to back one band, it must be something special. I went out and bought the Thrive and Decay 7″ right after and have been hooked since.

Yes! I’m so glad at least one person gave a crap because of those ads. I’m pretty much their biggest fanboy, so I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure everyone found out about them. Talk about turning points for the label! If it weren’t for Thou it would be safe to say Gilead Media wouldn’t be around anymore. I have no problem admitting that. Not because I make money off them or anything (I haven’t ever taken a check from the label, I reinvest 100% of the meager profits I make), but because that bands is so honest and passionate about what they do. It motivates me to do great things for them and for other bands. Also, Bryan has turned me on to so many of the great bands I’ve worked with recently… Ash Borer, Fell Voices, Barghest, False. Never would’ve done those if it weren’t for Thou. Not only that, but I’ve grown close to those guys personally, and connect with them as people on a fundamental level. I ultimately owe Andy Low from Robotic Empire for turning me onto them. He passed along their info and told me to jam on Tyrant when the only version available was a nearly out of print One-Eye Lp release. I was immediately blown away and emailed Bryan that same day begging him to let me do SOMETHING. I never thought it would grow to be something like this. I also have no problem admitting that Summit is my #1 album, ever, history of music, that’s it. I probably shouldn’t pick favorites like that, but I really don’t care. It should be kind of obvious.

Summit was my favorite release of last year, and I know will have a special place with me for years after. You can tell just how passionate that band is by listening to those released, looking at the artwork and reading their website. Their music is incredible, but it’s their attitude and dedication that makes them one of my favorite bands. What was the first thing you put out for them?

I agree 100%. The Tyrant gatefold CD was the first record I did for them. Followed by the Thrive & Decay 7″ (Black September split) and the Leech split LP. Oh yea! And the Retaliation 12″, duh.

Thou- I was Ignored, And Judged, And Cast Down

Yeah while Summit was an achievement and a milestone for the band that Tyrant album is untouchable. That song “I was Ignored, And Judged, And Cast down” …forget about it

Man, no kidding… and “Fucking Chained To The Bottom Of The Ocean.” So god damn heavy. I forced them to play that one the first time I saw them in Madison in 2008. There’s actually an old demo of a Tyrant-era song called Solace, from before Bryan did vocals, where guitarist Matthew Thudium does all vocals – clean singing. His voice, it is gold, let me tell you. That’s high on the list of my favorite Thou songs, I feel like it would probably knock most peoples’ socks off. Sorry, Bryan!

Where can people find that song?

No where, ever. I’ve been begging them to let me put it on the split collection 2CD that’s coming out this year, but I keep getting turned down. They said they might put it on some absurdly limited, friends-only compilation of mega rare/old/weird demos and live stuff. So no one should hold their breath on that. But I am listening to it right now, so take that twist of the knife!

Ouch!

Ha!

So that Thou 2 cd set is compiling all the non-album material into one comprehensive package?

Not ALL of it, but everything pre-Summit that the band wants out there. All their split, ep etc stuff. It won’t have any of the covers on it, just their own songs. We’re going to do a 2LP of it as well later this year. Then next year we’re going to do a volume 2 of all the post-Summit stuff that is out of print at that time. That’s all the plans we have for the collection stuff right now. Reuben Sawyer (RAINBATH Visual/Hollow Sunshine) is actually handling the art for the first volume of the collection, which I’m so stoked on. He did the art for the Fell Voices LP and the Ash Borer/Fell Voices split LP I did w/Howling Mine & Eternal Warfare, respectively. In addition to the art for his own LP with The Austrasian Goat, the Deafheaven LP on Deathwish and some other great records. There is going to be an extensive booklet with the package that has original art from the original releases and some additional info that wasn’t included with those records originally.

My next question was gonna be about Rainbath but you beat me to it! I read on his blog that he would be involved with the Thou stuff and I got way excited. He’s been a big influence on my visual art since discovering him via Deafheaven.

Yes! He is really putting some great stuff out there. The Ash Borer shirt design I printed for my store that they used on one of their CS, that’s one of my favorite pieces of his. But yea, I think he might be doing art on the new Thou full-length mid 2012 as well. That’s going to be huge. Reuben is a great creative mind and I’m honored to be working so extensively with him. I’m actually doing a Hollow Sunshine 7″ this year, the songs for that are great. Then there is another project involving Hollow Sunshine and three other bands all collaborating, two per side of an LP, that I can’t really give details on yet. But I’m really crossing my fingers that it comes together.

That sounds exciting. It will be interesting to have someone make an art piece specifically for a Thou record rather than have it be culled from Bryan’s library.

Exactly, that’s the thing I’m most excited for. And I really don’t think there’s a person better suited for that right now.

I totally agree. While we’re on the subject of Thou, you’ve co-released some records with the label Howling Mine which is run by Bryan Funck from Thou. What are the advantages of co-releasing records?

Man, so many. I was SO against it the first few years of the label because I’m a high-strung, anxiety-ridden, control freak maniac. But I guess I just didn’t find the right people. Now I have and I love it. Splits the cost of the pressing, way less of a burden. I can work on more records, which I love. One of the best parts is you have two people working on getting the records out there, too, so pressings move faster. Whether through trades or direct sales, it’s great.

Good answer, it sounds like a cool way to do things. I’m looking forward to seeing what else comes out of Howling Mine. You guys are teaming up on the False record, correct?

Absolutely. That one is actually almost done, should be shipping from the plant to arrive just in time for their August tour. I have to say, the FALSE record is one I’m specifically excited for. It’s a band that basically NO ONE has heard, many haven’t even heard of, and those press partners I’ve sent the tracks to have responded very well to it. It’s so furiously intense, I can’t wait for people to hear the songs over the next couple weeks. Bryan is doing some great things with Howling Mine, most assuredly. In addition to the things he’s doing alone we’re doing a Tyrant vinyl reissue together that compiles that and the Retaliation 12″ together as a 2LP (like the CD programming), and of course he’s doing the US release of To The Chaos Wizard Youth.

One thing that I love about Gilead Media is the extras that you get when you buy a record. The newest Fell Voices came with a big poster, a button, a patch, and a screen printed insert. Getting these extras really enhances the record buying experience and encourages repeat customers. Where did you come up with the idea to include cool bonus stuff with your releases?

That was one thing that sort of started with doing releases for Thou, but that I had seen with many other DIY labels. Once I started doing it for Thou records I got REALLY into it. I love buying stuff with bonus goodies, and hardly any records come with them. So now I try to make sure every record gives the person a REASON to be stoked on the physical product. I think it would be obvious to anyone who buys Gilead releases that I treasure the physical product and presentation (hence the heavy-duty packaging on most records I do). I don’t download records. People probably think I’m lying, but it’s true, I don’t. I buy stuff because I want to support the labels and bands, and I love the physical presentation. When something is lacking in presentation I flat out feel ripped off. I never want anyone to feel that way. Sometimes it’s a bands aesthetic (the Barghest LP has no insert) but you can at least do a patch and button or something cheap and fun. It helps that I manage a screen printing shop and own a bunch of button makers!

I’m the same way (about downloading)

Right on. I realized a long time ago that it RUINS the music experience! There was no excitement anymore for me and that crushed me. Now that I refuse to download music is much more exciting again!

Right, the anticipation is a huge part of being a fan and waiting for new material. You mentioned the feeling of being ripped off, and it’s totally true. If you spend almost $20 on an LP, you’re gonna want more than just the vinyl. You’ve managed to keep prices down and include extra stuff which is awesome. You mentioned working at a screen printing shop, how long have you been screen printing?

I’ve been printing for just a couple years now. I did it in high school (like most) but didn’t really get into doing it for work until my friends started a shop here in town. One left the business and I took over as shop manager. I really love it, my favorite job I’ve ever had. Mostly because I’m a robot and I love repetitive movements and precision. We don’t use automatic presses, if we did, I’d quit the day they arrived. 100% manual presses, 100% manual work and human touch.

And it’s that human touch that you can see and feel with the patches. So it’s perfect that you can do all the screen printed stuff you need to do for the label at work?

Yup. Even with inserts, tour posters, shirts for bands etc. All of the Thou/Leech posters, Thou “Smoke Pigs” posters, Thou tour posters, Fell Voices inserts, Gilead Media slipmats, every patch I’ve done in the past 2-3 years, every shirt I’ve done for a release/touring band in the past 2-3 years, all of those were printed by me or by the shop (when my pal John was still there, he helped with some of the printing before I started working there). Saves me an absurd amount of money, although it takes the time, I really take a lot of pride in the fact that I am the one hand-printing those components.

You should feel proud. I remember browsing the Gilead blog a year or so ago and seeing just how much work you were putting into these releases. Hand printing and and holding cd and lp assembling parties. I remember thinking “this guy is a hero!”

Ha! Thanks man, I’m glad the hard work and dedication shines through.

What kind of work does the shop do when you’re not printing stuff for the label?

The majority of our work is just doing shirts for local businesses and organizations. The owner is very involved in a lot of socially progressive & green industry stuff, so we do a lot of stuff for the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, and we’ve done a ton of shirts for Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (especially in light of all the political stuff going on in Madison right now). I don’t align myself with any of that stuff politically, or anywhere really that I care to discuss in a public forum, but that’s a lot of what we do. Then there’s tons of stuff for the local college (Oshkosh is a total college town) and all of the offshoot organizations of the college. We’re sort of like the only alternative to old jaded bar-scene screen printing shops in the area. We do water-based and discharge printing on a manual press, which not many do around here, and offer a lot of design services that those other places can’t provide. We’ve done some big orders for national organizations as well, but primarily Wisconsin-based business.

Awesome, it sounds like a cool facility. My last question is about the movie Dead Weight that you co-directed. It sounds like it’s a mix between The Road and a sort of Jack London survival story. When will Dead Weight start to see some screenings?

We have three more days of filming we FINALLY locked down for the first three days of August. We’re going to finish all of the post-production this year and we’re submitting to Sundance in September. If they accept the film then the showing at their festival must be the world premier, so we’re holding out for that to see what happens. That’s in January, so after January we’re going to be scheduling screenings anywhere we can with whomever we can, in addition to doing film festivals, conventions and nerdy comic conventions all throughout 2012. We’re really proud of what we’ve done so far and I can’t wait for people to see it. The DVD release is going to feature limited edition artwork by Walking Dead co-creator Tony Moore (also done some amazing art with Fear Agent, Punisher and tons of others – but it’s NOT a zombie movie!) and contain an absurd amount of extras, like, Lord Of The Rings style (we hope). Nick Elert from Northless is working on the soundtrack right now (actually just got an email from him with a sample while doing this interview, loved it, great ambient soundscapes) and Adam Tucker from Signaturetone Recording in Minneapolis (masters tons of my stuff, including the SUMMIT album) will be mixing/mastering audio in a couple months. We really can’t wait. It’s been a two year process since John and I started writing together, a wild ride, for certain.

 

From the production photos it looks like filming turned into its own test of survival, all that snow…

Well, that’s our own dumb fault. We filmed a primarily exterior story in Wisconsin in the middle of April. Easily the most volatile weather period of the year. We had gale force winds the first day, a campfire scene the second day (5 hours in front of a campfire, still windy), a blizzard w/7″ of accumulation the third day, melting snow and mud the fourth day, and then it calmed down for the final two. But yea, it was a brutal test of patience, determination and heart. Everyone made it an incredible experience, though. And, despite re-writing the story EVERY SINGLE DAY to accommodate our situation and stay on schedule, we ended up with a story that’s BETTER than we even intended. So it all worked out for the best.

The storm probably added some considerable atmosphere too?

Oh, you have no idea. But only because we shot chronologically. If we hadn’t done that we quite literally could not have made the film. All locations would’ve been even more messed up, to the point where it wouldn’t work and we wouldn’t be able to salvage it. It really made the story believable, breathed life into it that I don’t think we could’ve achieved without the atmosphere & weather.

Did you get a similar sense of accomplishment out of filmmaking as you do out of running the label, or was it a different feeling entirely?

Ahhh. That’s hard to gauge. Parts of it were similar, the feeling of achieving a production that I had so much stake in and put so much effort into, that was similar. But really to a much greater degree. Literally 1.5 years of preparation, countless sleepless nights, and running on caffeine and pb sandwhiches for an entire week of relentless, brutal torture filming. It was almost like a personal achievement in mental and physical endurance, on top of the creative achievement akin to releasing records. It was a very psychological experience, very emotional. At the end of the week, the primary cast was so tightly-knit that people were crying for days after they left set. We’re talking 5 people that spent all day together, spent all night sleeping in the same room together, eating every meal together. They really bonded immediately, it was unbelievable. That’s when we knew we pulled the right people together to make it work, and that feeling of success was unparalleled. There were some serious life-long friendships that were founded that week. That’s something that a single record release can never live up to.

That’s so intense, I can’t wait to see it. It’s interesting that some of the people involved in Gilead releases were involved in the audio for the movie.

With any sort of independent production, film, music, etc, it’s important to draw on the talented people you’ve surrounded yourself with that you can count on to support you and add to the creation. That part is very similar. I called in a lot of personal favors from people I’ve known a long time (like Adam Tucker from Signaturetone, the third Gilead release was his band, A Scanner Darkly), and some people I’ve recently only met (like Nick from Northless) and the result has been an unbelievable combination of many different talents.

And that’s part of what I love about the DIY community, the amount of creativity and the true and honest love for the creation of art is what drives people. They give it their all, and the results are astonishing.

Well we’ve covered all the bases I wanted to touch on for the interview. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, I’ve wanted to do this interview for a long time.

No way, thank YOU for taking two+ hours on a Saturday morning to sit down and go over everything. I love talking to people about the label and about music stuff in general, and it’s really hard living in an isolated area where people really are not into what I do. Makes everything seem much more tangible than a bunch of records stacked up in my basement.

Be sure to check out the Gilead Media online store. Buy a record or two, get some killer music and a sweet patch and button for your jacket, or a screen printed poster for your wall.