The Deli NYC #55 - Half Waif, NYC MixCon 2018

“We don’t want to sand
down quirks, if anything
we only encourage artists
to get weirder!”
Live shows still generate a lot of revenue. Is your label
involved in that side of things—relative to your artists—
at any level?
N: If you’re talking about “360 deals” we prefer to focus on
our own live label events rather than touching artists’ individual
touring. Which is not to criticize that practice across the
board—any situation where all parties are truly bringing value
to the table is worth a discussion.
M: Shows drive P/R and P/R drives sales, so yes, it’s important.
However, we leave it to the Booking Agent, the Promoter
and the Tour Manager. All of our artists keep all of their live
performance fees. We do help promote the shows and lobby
to get them on bills or with a Booking Agency, but we’re not
show promoters.
Z: We’re very conscious of adding value wherever we take
rights. When we build in live revenues to our deals, it’s in
order to justify a greater advance and only until that is recouped.
An artist can need money for any number of things
and we see it as our responsibility to try and support their
needs but it can be difficult to recoup on record sales alone.
Is there a specific list of qualities you look when you sign
a new artist?
M: First and foremost, it’s about the songs. If the songs aren’t
great, there’s only so far you can go. So my own and
the staff’s taste will have an influence on who we sign. Then
it’s the artists’ dynamics in their sound, the way instruments
work together. Is it exciting to listen to? After that, it’s on the
artist to impress on us that they’re willing to work really hard.
These days you need to support an LP with a minimum of
75 shows to generate real traction, but artists also need to
find a way to be great sounding and provocative performers.
The last thing is that we want the band to already know their
aesthetic and goals. Someone like Drahla or Naomi Punk had
the visual aspect of their music already figured out and what
they wanted their audience to be. Molly Burch did as well, but
in a completely different way.
Z: Yes, vision. They have to know what they want, what kind
of world they want to build. The music alone is rarely enough
to build a career, not for the types of artists that we work well
with. They need to have ideas and the ability to collaborate
and communicate is important. We’re constantly assessing
where our value is and that differs from artist to artist, even
from record to record with the same artist. We need to be
able to communicate well with an artist and their team to be
able to figure out where we’re most useful to them.
A: We love to catch artists at a point where they’ve already
figured out their sound and their identity, but they still show a
ton of promise for growth. It’s fun to sign someone relatively
early in their career like that because we get to present them
to the world.
N: We look for artists who are individuals, period. There are so
many new rappers and young Soundcloud producers, but we
are looking for distinct and unique sound, plus a look and aesthetic
to match. We don’t want to sand down quirks, if anything
we only encourage artists to get weirder! FG is a big umbrella,
and the unifying element is that everyone is an awesome misfit
in their own way. Then we can add our special sauce, whether
it’s helping pinpoint the strongest songs to release, or pairing
artists with the right guests or collaborators. We treat ourselves,
the label, as a collaborator helping elevate the material!
Why for a band, these days, is it better to get signed than
to go DIY? What does a label do for the artists it signs?
Z: I joined the label from the services sector myself so I’ve
seen both sides of it. I’d say we have two strengths as a grow-
14 the deli Summer 2018