Ritorna la rubrica di DLSO dedicata alle etichette discografiche che più amiamo. La possibilità di parlare con l'iniziatore di una delle più belle avventure musicali che siano mai state intraprese negli Stati Uniti ci ha dato l'occasione, più unica che rara, per riattivarla. La label Stones Throw infatti vanta un catalogo che include nomi stellari quali J Dilla e Madlib -in alcune delle sue innumerevoli incarnazioni. Quasimoto, Madvillain e Yesterdays New Quintet su tutte- ed ancora Aloe Blacc, Mayer Hawthorne, Dãm-Funk, Karriem Riggins e tantissimi altri. Il meglio del meglio dell´hip hop underground ma anche del soul e del funk, negli ultimi venti anni ha trovato casa sotto la sigla ST. Con il suo deus ex machina, il produttore e dj Peanut Butter Wolf, abbiamo voluto ripercorrerne brevemente la storia, farci raccontare qualcosa del suo presente e dei suoi programmi per il futuro.
Un grazie a Dariush e Stefano per l'aiuto.
We imagine you told this story a hundred times already, anyway, would you like to tell to our readers how Stones Throw was founded?
I think I’ve answered every question in every interview a hundred times at this point in my career. At least some people are still interested though, so that’s good. I started Stones Throw in 1996 in San Mateo, California, which is 15 minutes south of San Francisco in a car. I was working at a record distributor and was impressed with how many small hip hop labels putting out my favorite records were coming out of New York and felt like nobody was doing that in the San Francisco Bay Area. And I knew a lot of talented rappers who didn’t have the resources to release a record on vinyl, so it made sense to me. I had gotten my business degree a few years earlier, so might as well put that to use.
Can you reveal which are the most successful ST releases so far, saleswise?
Aloe Blacc, Madvillain, and “Donuts” come to mind.
When did you choose to publish what you find interesting over what would surely sell, in other words to privilege quality over quantity, and how did you realize the label could afford this kind of strategy, or non-strategy if you prefer?
I think there are a lot of independent record labels that do this. Especially when the label is owned by a record collector. But, yeah, the process of choosing an artist and putting together an album with that person is the part I enjoy most. Promoting that artist is always the tricky part. In a perfect world, I’d love for people to seek out and discover everything I release without me having to push it on them, but of course, it’s harder than ever to get people’s attention these days when they’re being pulled in so many different directions. As a fan of new music myself, I’m finding it harder and harder to remember what’s what when there’s so much out there. But yeah, my strategy has always been to favor things that are interesting over things that would sell that are boring to me. I’ve passed on a lot of things that have been a success that were boring for my personal taste and don’t regret any of them.
If you should pinpoint the highlights of the label, from the beginnings to the 2000s, in terms of influence on hip hop and its history in general, which records would you choose?
I try not to answer that question anymore. I think we have a spotify or Apple Music playlist called “Stones Throw 101” for that. I just did a “20 Years Stones Throw” mix for Stüssy and I purposely put songs on it from our catalog that even Stones Throw fans most likely don’t know.
Talking about the A&R side of your work, what do you look for in an MC or a producer when it comes to finding new talents for your label? Are demos still a good way to get your attention?
Demos are always important, although they’re given to me in different formats. CDs are OK because I can listen to them in my car, but when I’m on the road and have a bunch of CDs that were given to me and need to downsize, I don’t bring them home. A lot of people send or give me demos on cassette for whatever reason, but I don’t really listen to these too much because I don’t wanna press fast forward and look through the songs that way. Some people give me demos on vinyl and that’s pretty cool. But Soundcloud links is my preferred method these days.
If there was one thing all the artists on Stones Throw have in common, what would it be in your opinion?
That they make music that Chris Manak likes. (Chris Manak is Peanut Butter Wolf´s real name Ed.)
Your 12hr Boiler Room set -especially when Dam-Funk’s words of wisdom turn up- infuses a genuine peacefulness, and a real sense of joy shines through. How important is your relationship with the label’s artists as human beings?
Well Dam is one of those artists that I talk to every day via text messages. We’re always sharing stuff with each other. But generally, I love all my artists. They’re my best friends, whether it’s Vex Ruffin, Mild High Club, Mayer Hawthorne, J Rocc, MNDSGN, KNX, KTO, Egyptian Lover, Jonti etc. I’m thankful for my relationships with everyone because I truly look up to everybody I sign from a creative standpoint and it just turns out that most of the guys have a similar sense of humor as me, and we have a lot in common as music fans too.
A choice of yours we really admire it´s the release of some of Gary Wilson’s work. We need to ask you: how is that guy in real life?
I’m tearing up visualising how he is in real life. He’s awesome. Such a great guy. Talk about a humble genius. He’s one of the guys I still look up to most in terms of everyone I’ve worked with in my career.
As a listener, which are the records or the artists that excite you at the moment?
Mild High Club’s new album is pretty exciting. And Frankie Reyes is one to check out too.
Can you tell us about the releases you got in the pipeline for the rest of 2016? Is any new artist about to join your roster?
Karriem Riggins new album turned out really good. I’m thankful that an artist of his caliber who works with much bigger artists than us like Kanye and Common and Paul McCartney, still finds value in working with Stones Throw! And yes, I do have some new artists I’m talking to, but waiting for the deals to get signed before mentioning.
Our last question: It looks like you’ve been winning the challenge against the Internet, or rather keeping pace without distorting the label’s philosophy. What do you fear the most about Stones Throw´s future?
My biggest fear is that I get disinterested in modern music and run out of finding artists that I like, but that hasn’t even close to happened yet. I’m finding better stuff than ever right now, so I’m happy.
