From the Vault – Inside The Label: I’m Better Than Everyone Records
“It was something new,” label founder Karim Khan said. “[Everything] caught me by surprise. And from [that] record, I discovered bands like Eyehategod”
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In last week’s chapter of Inside the Label, we put our high beams on Bloodshot Records, a ‘print founded 15 years ago by two people whose combined previous record label experiences amounted to basically nothing. Nan Warshaw and Rob Miller’s labor was one of love, derived from a sheer and uncompromising appreciation for independent music (rowdy, beer-soaked independent music, in particular).
But while neither Warshaw nor Miller had worked at a label before, they had at least served some time in the industry: Warshaw with promoting artists and shows, and Miller with music production.
This week, we introduce to you Karim Khan, a record label founder who not only has exactly zero prior experience working for labels – but no previous experience working in the industry at all. Ever. Like, zip, nil, nada, 毫无 (that’s Chinese for “none”).
The next time you moan to a friend that you don’t know the first thing about starting a label, hopefully that friend punches you in the arm. Because if Khan can do it, so can you. His story, as you will discover, is something of a how-to manual on how to run a DIY record label. (It’ll fit comfortably beside our recently published DIY tour guide from Dr. Know.)
“This is my first foray into the music industry,” he recently confessed to IndiePit. “I’m just a fan of heavy, heavy music, it’s that simple. I’m just surviving on my own business savvy and a love for really heavy music.”
It all started in 2007 – or was it 2006? Khan isn’t quite sure – when he scoped out the Emissions Festival in Youngstown, Ohio (the annual gala of gloom has since relocated to Austin). An avid metal fan – having grown up with the likes of Slayer, Nuclear Assault and Pantera – he was particularly struck by Deadbird, an Isis-like Arkansas band that pummels with 10-ton riffs belted out at 10 m.p.h. speeds.
After the show, Khan went back to Pittsburgh, where he was living at the time. But he found himself unable to shake Deadbird out of his skull – and became certain that he wanted to “do something to help these guys out.” For a little while at that point, he had been mulling over the idea of starting a label, and now he had found his excuse – and potential maiden artist.
A bit later, the band “played this show in Pittsburgh, and I took them out for drinks afterward. After that point, we just hit it off. And then I came into some money and said I was going to start a label. I talked to them and I was like, ‘This first record of yours needs to be on vinyl. So let’s put it out.’ “
And there you have it, ladies and germs: Deadbird nodded their heads, Khan did his research and The Head and the Heart (which had come out on CD in ’05) resurfaced in limited-edition vinyl form thanks to him. As he would plan to do with all future releases, Khan did the release up right: He only pressed 500 copies, used thick vinyl, included a nice matte finish, slipped them into deluxe gatefold jackets and hand-numbered the packages.
And thusly, like a bloody chick chipping its way out of the egg, I’m Better Than Everyone Records was born.
So at this point, some of you might be wondering, “Well, why didn’t Khan reissue the CD while he was at it?” Funny that “you” would “ask”: Just as metal musicians loathe sunlight, so Khan loathes the format.
“I just don’t like CDs,” he said bluntly. “As time has gone on … it actually makes even more sense to not even mess around with CDs because of the current state of the music industry right now.
“I’m not going to ever put out a CD,” he later added.
After the Deadbird record was all good to go, Khan came to the realization that while having his own label was going to be tough, having his own label in Pittsburgh was going to be even tougher. So he packed his stuff into boxes, blew that town and set up camp further north, in the pequeño pueblo that is Chicago.
Since then, while stationed at the IBTE base camp – a.k.a. his apartment – Khan has hooked up with a slew of other bands who dig his concept: a cottage label that issues short runs of vinyl releases by artists with admittedly limited audience potential. If you’re going to serve a niche market, this is exactly the way to do it: by granting the enthusiasts just the type of high-quality, collectible items they’re lusting after, and by working with bands who are privy to appeasing those fans. Khan noted that Hail!Hornet’s Vince Burke – also the guitarist for Beaten Back to Pure – has also been instrumental with the label, giving him advice and mastering all the releases for vinyl.
Also already aboard the IBTE train are Eyehategod, US Christmas, Hail!Hornet, Power Pellut, Black Skies and Altamont, a side proj by Dale Crover of the Melvins. If those names make your ears perk up, you might notice a Southern thread connecting many of them. That isn’t a coincidence: Even though he was PA-bred, Khan has an affinity for the Confederate-state neo-sludge movement that Down kick-started with their first album, 1995’s NOLA.
“When that record came out, it was something new,” Khan said. “It caught me by surprise. And from [that] record, I discovered bands like Eyehategod” – Jimmy Bower guitar in EHG and drums in Down – “and a lot of slower, heavy stuff. … Neurosis, Melvins, Crowbar.”
Just as Khan’s horizons expanded as he delved deeper into those huge, thudding sounds, so did his social network grow once he met Deadbird. Through them, he was introduced to other bands – like fellow AR-sters Rwake. While Khan had gestated for a while over the idea of starting a label, so had Rwake frontman CT been toying with an idea of his own: making a documentary about growing up in the Southeast metal scene.
Khan was immediately sold and signed on as executive producer. And while adding an extra endeavor might sound like a burden, it’s actually been the contrary since he took on the documentary: The label and film are feeding off each other. Through “Slow Southern Steel,” he’s been introduced to more bands, and through the label, he’s discovered more bands to included in the movie.
Needless to say, Khan and his bands get along pretty well – they know he’s in it for the love of it. And because his relationships with them are so casual, he leaves it up to the bands to opt to put out their albums on CD via other labels. “I’m not going to stop a band from putting out a CD on their own,” he said.
IBTE, which is being distributed via Relapse, also doesn’t handle digital – but unlike CD releases, those could just be a matter of time. “I’m not going to slam the door on doing digital stuff for my label in the future,” he said. “But as of right now, I probably won’t [be putting out any].”
Some of Khan’s artists prefer to go the vinyl-only route, but others, like Eyehategod, are or were involved in other partnerships that require consideration.
For example, Eyehategod’s Confederacy of Ruined Lives originally came out in 2000 via Century Media, a label Khan has had to negotiate with for his vinyl re-release. And from the sound of it, the negotiations could’ve gone smoother.
“I would love to comment on that, but I’m not gonna,” Khan disclosed. “I might comment on it after the record’s out.”
When exactly that record will be out, Khan isn’t quite sure. In fact, that goes for all his titles: Don’t expect to see any release dates appended to future releases. For one thing, there’s really no need for release dates, since the pressings are limited. But for another:
“I’ve learned from having a label that there are so many issues that can come up,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with artwork. [But also] issues with bands not being able to get into their studio to record stuff in time. So I set everything up for tentative release dates.”
With that said, because Khan plans to devote most of next year to making his movie, he’s trying to pump out before the end of ’09 all the releases he currently has on tap. He’s eying August for the Eyehategod reissue, to be followed by the US Christmas record and then “hopefully” the Altamont one.
Here’s a rundown of everything Khan has on the burner:’
Eyehategod’s Confederacy of Ruined Lives:
“I’m hooking up the packaging, putting a triple-gatefold on it,” Khan said. “We’re changing two panels on the back, because … [the band] didn’t like some things when the record first came out.”
When asked if future Eyehategod albums might be coming through IBTE, Khan said: “As of right now, it’s a one-record deal. That band’s been around for so long, and they take so long between records, I’m not going to try to hold them to anything. … I’m not going to even try to put pressure on them. I’m just honored and thankful to be able to put out one record by them.”
The performance film captures the band’s acoustic performance shortly before the Scion festival earlier this year. “They recorded it and came to me, like, ‘Do you want to put this out on vinyl?’ It’s pretty freaking amazing.”
Look for side two to feature one brand-new track and a slice from last year’s Eat the Low Dogs.
The “art is phenomenal. It’s beautiful and evil at the same time. [Baroness collaborator] Jeremy ‘Hush’ [Clark] did an amazing gatefold cover. He’s actually going to be doing a shirt design for the movie [too].”
Split release featuring Samothrace and the Roller:
“The Roller is this band from Austin – really heavy, sludgy, Southern-y,” Khan said. “Samothrace is this band from Kansas, recently relocated to Seattle … there’s a big buzz about them.”
Bonus: Khan talked Laura Pleasants – frontwoman for Kylesa – into doing the artwork for the release.
Split release featuring four Louisiana bands (the Devil and the Sea, Thou, Haarp and A Hanging):
This one stems from “being caught up in Louisiana” for the filming of “Slow Southern Steel,” he said. “They’re four really different bands … and every band gets about 18 to 20 minutes.”
For this one, Khan tapped L.A. artist Stephen Kasner, whose apocalyptic artwork should make for a nice fit.
Finally, look for some Beaten Back to Pure reissues at some point down the line.
For more labels we explore in our Pet Sounds series, check out Ipecac Recordings, Queer Control Records, Prosthetic Records and Sentient Ruin Laboratories.
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