SAVE MY SOUL Records Interview

SAVE MY SOUL (GER) Records is a new, upcoming DIY hardcore label out of Germany.


We did the following interview with Fabian - one of the two founders. Thanx for your time!!

Please describe SAVE MY SOUL Records in a few sentences. Who is in the label, when did you start your business and so on.

SMS is basically me and Christoph. Also, we now have Angela and Jan helping out with layout stuff and Sven is starting to help us out with the zine. We started this thing around April/May 2010 with our zine and, shortly after, the SOUL SEARCH demo.


What inspired you to start your own record label?

I have been writing for Ox Fanzine since 2001 and somehow just felt like I needed to do something more. Since I don’t have any musical talent (check out the first THE ICE demo for proof), doing my own zine just came natural, and since I was asked by the SOUL SEARCH guys to distribute their demo in Europe, I just thought “what the hell, let’s do all of this under one flag”. I mean, I studied business sciences, so running a label should also come natural to me, haha.


What is the difference between SAVE MY SOUL Records and other hardcore labels?

I don’t think we’re really that different from other labels. I mean, not a lot of them are run full time or are really making any money. But, we try to set us apart from the mass of labels by only releasing stuff we’re really into, no half assed records or demos. Oh yeah, and I try to ship out stuff as soon as I received the payment, which is something a lot of labels should take as an example, haha.


How you mentioned above you guys publish a fanzine besides releasing music. SAVE MY SOUL Records´ „Fanzine No. 1” contains stuff about FLOORPUNCH, THE ICE, ANIMAL INSTINCT, a Scott Vogel (TERROR) Interview and a lot of other stuff. Please tell us something about this fanzine.

Well, Christoph and me sat together for about an hour each to come up with the questions for the interviews, most of them were conducted by email unfortunately, except for the interview with Mike “The Gook”, which is the one I am most satisfied with. We didn’t write any reviews, since I still do that for Ox Fanzine from time to time, and I feel like reviews become outdated pretty quick these days, so it’s just interviews and 2 band related articles. We sold 230 copies within 3 months, which I think is pretty rad for a brandnew DIY zine.


Are there plans for „Fanzine No. 2” in the near future?

Yes, we already have finished 2 interviews (Mike Dijan and Jeff Perlin + Toby Morse), which I still need to type down, though. Running the label is taking up more of my free time than I thought, so the zine is a bit on the backburner right now, unfortunately, but I hope to have issue 2 out within the next 2-3 months.


How much time (and nerves also) do you spend for SMS?

That depends, officially it’s about 4 hours a week, but if you count in the time spent doing bookkeeping and packing + sending orders, it’s quite some hours on top.


As we mentioned above SMS is a DIY label for hardcore music. Please describe, what “Do It Yourself” means to you.

“If you want something done right, do it yourself” – unfortunately, I do adhere to this sentence way too often, which means that I am doing most of the work for SMS, even if time might be a limiting factor for me sometimes when it comes to stuff like packing orders. Actually, screw that answer… DIY could perfectly sum up my love life, haha.


How does it work? If we have a band, could we just ask SAVE MY SOUL to release our stuff or do you choose the bands?

Yup. It’s simple as that, even though I don’t think I can afford doing any new releases besides the ones already planned this year. Maybe some extra demo tapes, since they mostly sell pretty fast. Any band can get in contact with us, but please be reasonable and check out the stuff we released so far… we wouldn’t even consider putting out a deathcore band, for example, since that’s just not what we’re into.


What experiences / previous knowledge do you expect from a band that wants to be signed to SMS?

First off, we don’t “sign” bands. We expect them to be cool guys and have a good sound, that’s it I guess.


Which bands are signed to SMS right now?

Like I said, we don’t sign bands, but we did demos for SOUL SEARCH, ENFORCERS, WORLD EATER and LOOK MY WAY, a brand new 7’’ from THE PLATOON and will hopefully be doing a new 7’’ by THE ICE soon, as well as future stuff from HANGIN’ TOUGH, WORLD EATER and LOOK MY WAY.


Apart from the costs – which bands would you like to work with?

I could list half of the Reaper roster right now, haha. We thought about doing a DYNAMO discography LP, but after speaking to this guy I know who tried the same thing, I don’t think it’ll ever happen. I would like to do another release with SOUL SEARCH somewhere down the line again, and I am hoping that FINAL WORD will someday get around to record those new songs they have been playing during the last years.


Recently SAVE MY SOUL Records released a demo (75 tapes, 100 CD`s) of a new traditional oldschool hardcore band: LOOK MY WAY (ex-ANOTHER VICTORY, ex-KILL THIS DREAM, ex-CHEAP THRILLS…). How is the feedback so far? You can download the demo for free right now. So, is this demo sold out?

The feedback is great, we sold out of 75 tapes and 100 CD’s within 3 or 4 weeks. The band made another batch of 50 CD’s, this might be the last pressing, so if you want a copy, you’d better get in touch with them ASAP.


And do you offer any other free downloads?

All demo releases are or were available for download from the band, some even before we made copies of the tapes. The links are on the bands’ MySpace and Facebook pages, so check them out, and if you enjoy them, please buy a copy.


Your latest release is the limited (330 copies) new 7“ by THE PLATOON. This nice piece of vinyl is called “Birth To Box” and contains 4 new tracks. The exclusive Platoon(-movie) rip off pre-order cover (limited to 50) was only available through Save My Soul Records. Did many fans utilize this pre-order deal? Is this 7” still available?

We sold 39 package deals, the majority of those within the first week after pre-orders were announced. The remaining 7’’s were sold separately. The regular pressing is still available, if you want to buy a copy or get some for your distro, please get in touch.


Most of the releases are demo tapes and vinyl pressings. Why?

Cause that’s they all good hardcore releases should be released. No one really needs CD’s these days, since everything is available as MP3’s, and CD sales figures have been falling rapidly during the last years, so why invest in a dying medium, when vinyl is coming back, looks and sounds that much better? Of course, nostalgia also plays a big part in this decision…


Which releases are planned for the near future?

Like I said, we will be doing a new 7’’ by THE ICE soon, as well as the HANGIN’ TOUGH demo tape and possibly a WORLD EATER split 7’’.


Any other news?

Well, this is kind of personal, but I am in some trouble financially, since I unexpectedly need a new car, so I am selling a lot of stuff to finance the car and keep SMS Records going at the same time, you can check out the list of stuff I am selling here:
http://www.itstimetoreact.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3698


Please tell us something about your Top-Friends on your MySpace-Account.

We obviously have all the bands we released on there, as well as the Sinner And The Saint, Andreas’ (the guy who drew our logo and the cover of the „Birth to box“ 7’’) tattoo shop. Also, CHEAP THRILLS, Christoph’s first band, is on there, since they were just a really great band, which, in my opinion, never really got the credit they deserved.


Do you like the new design and the new handling of MySpace?

Screw MySpace, I hardly ever log on there since my PC always seems close to shutting itself down while loading the page. I can’t stand it at all, and since none of my friends seem to use MySpace anymore, I don’t see any reason in being active on there, except for posting news on the label.


Everyone who is into HC should know, that fans keep a band and the scene alive by buying CD´s (vinyl, tapes), merch and visiting shows. Any words for those who just download music (illegaly)?

If you only download stuff for free, at least don’t be a leech at shows and support the bands by paying entrance and buying a shirt. If you don’t even do that and only “support hardcore” by running your mouth on the net: get lost, you don’t have any place in our scene. It really is that simple. Without anyone buying releases, this thing of ours will die, at least they’ll have free bandwith to download midget porn or whatever then…


Are there any plans to organize a SAVE MY SOUL show with all the signed bands?

Actually, we were planning to do a show with our german bands this February, but since there were rumors about one of our non-european bands touring Europe, these plans were put on hold until that happens.


Last words?

Thanks to everyone supporting us, to our bands putting trust in us, and especially to Christoph, Angela, Sven and Jan for being a part of this (whether you want it or not, ha!).


Thanks for your time and all the best for SAVE MY SOUL Records!

And now:
BRAINSTORMING!!!

Filled With Hate Records?
Axel and Nils are cool guys and I loved CHEAP THRILLS’ last MCD.

Beatdown Hardwear?
From what I heard, they will be putting out a CD by TWITCHING TONGUES, great!

Hartz IV?
Glad I don’t need it.

Nude emo teen sluts in the www?
I’m too old for that, and if they’re teens, it’s child pornography… you’d better stop looking at that shit.

Current situation in Egypt?
They got rid off a dictator and now are run by the military, not quite perfect. Let’s see if they really get free elections, and, most importantly, who they’ll elect.

Throwdown or Pantera?
Honestly, I don’t really care about either these days, but would prefer PANTERA for nostalgic reasons.



Check out, support and buy their stuff at:
www.myspace.com/savemysoulrecords
www.facebook.com/savemysoulrecords
http://savemysoulrecords.limitedpressing.com