Interview with Sara Tolbert of Touch and Go Records
Music Video Press: Talk about your job at Touch and Go, how long have you been there and how does your time break up between your normal duties and all you do with video promotion?
Sara Tolbert: I have been with Touch and Go Records for three years. If you count my time as an intern, I’ve been here almost 5!
My time breaks up between what needs me most, which is usually radio. Many doors have opened to indie artists over the last few years. My job is to push each album as far as it will go in radio and video. Working with people like HIP Video and college radio promoters AAM is invaluable; it allows me to focus on the edges. One person can only cover so much ground, but a team can conquer entire territories.
MVP: Three items about Touch and Go that I'd like you to expound upon. These are what we think are the reasons why the label is so successful. Number one; reputation for landing the best bands on the planet. Can you expound on that? How do you find them? Or do they find you?
ST: They say you find love when you stop looking for it. I think the same holds true for Touch and Go.
MVP: Number two. Tenacious and thoughtful low cost marketing with lots of touring. You guys seem to get a lot of bang for your promotional buck at Touch and Go... how do you guys do it? Just long term relationships with good radio and publicity people?
ST: Low cost marketing? Ahahaha!
I tease; the goal is to spend wisely without holding back so much it hinders the album’s potential. Touch and Go distributes for a handful of other indie labels. I think we’ve gained a great deal of experience about what you can do with a record based on the level it’s at, through being involved with such a wide array of albums.
It’s also true we love bands that tour. No matter how much money you invest in promotion, nothing sells it better than touring. A great example of this is CocoRosie. Their music is abstract, so it’s easy for programmers to close their mind to the possibility of it having mass appeal. I’ve learned the best way to change their perspective is getting them to see the band open for Bright Eyes, Blonde Redhead, TVOTR or most recently Antony & the Johnsons. Every time disbelievers witness an unsuspecting audience get completely blown away. They will see people so moved that long lines form at the merch table. After purchasing a copy of Noah’s Ark they get into another line to have the album autographed. I can sit in my office and tell you those things happen every night, but it doesn’t really register until you see it first hand.
MVP: Number three, unflappable ongoing commitment to your artists. It seems like you guys have a real personal commitment. Is a close relationship with your artists the key to your success?
ST: Touch and Go looks for bands that we find interesting musically and personally. It just goes without saying that you don’t make a handshake deal with a jerk. You’ll find that the people willing to go into an agreement purely based on trust are cut from a very special mold. It’s easy to have a personal commitment to those types of people. I think success is just a natural side effect of that business model.
MVP: You'll stick with a band for a long time and really be there to help grow their buzz organically. Any comments on how or why you do that? It seems at the big labels a band gets one quick shot and if nothing happens, they are toast!
ST: Indie labels sign bands because something about the music drives them so crazy they feel a duty to getting it heard. If an artist makes music that fits the current climate, it’s certainly exciting to work. However, it’s just as fun to release a record that is opposite from the popular trends and defiantly stand behind it (see: The Ex: Singles. Period just released Sept 2005, go buy it, you’ll thank me later!).
MVP: Well so many good things happened in 2005. For instance, CocoRosie opened for Bright Eyes, had a warm welcome at CMJ and will soon be on tour in Europe. The buzz you have created for TV on the Radio is amazing! How did you get your artist's buzz started? It seems as though you realize the power of touring, can you tell me how touring helps a band such as CocoRosie get well known?
ST: To add on to what I said earlier, I think the importance of CocoRosie touring is less convincing people CocoRosie isn’t weird and more increasing their level of familiarity. It’s like when a new kid moved to town. At first you thought the way he dressed was funny, but the next week you want to borrow his shoes!
TVOTR was a magical feat! We were so psyched to release that Young Liar’s EP but no one got it (at first). Most albums you are a part of are not homeruns, they are base hits, but even still the response to this EP didn’t make any sense. I remember being in a meeting where we discovered the people that got TVOTR on the first listen were the ones that heard it blaring from someone else’s office. That afternoon I went back and started telling college radio MD’s, “I swear, just turn up the volume really loud, you’ll hear it!” (that actually worked a couple of times too!) I guess time caught up with the EP and things just started clicking. KEXP threw the EP in heavy rotation and Pitchfork declared it GOLD.
Then TVOTR formed a full band with real instruments and they became mystifying to watch. That band has a way of performing that makes reality seem clearer. When they returned to the road on that second tour, the pitchfork buzz transformed into frenzied anticipation around the release of Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. It was a fun year. Instead of following up with stations they called to tell me how great the record was doing for them!
MVP: Who decides which bands get a video, which song, and I know that the bands get involved to. Sometimes almost to the point where the video is being shot by friends of the band. Is that true in the case of Touch and Go?
ST: When it comes to picking a single, I listen for the moments where a listener would reach for the radio dial. You have to listen to each song separately and picture someone tuning in or out at every transition. Often times your heart wants to pick a “deep cut” but when you take that song out of the context of an album it won’t stand on it’s own.
We make videos for albums where we think it will be successful in reaching new audiences. If a band has a talented friend in film willing to direct, then we’re very supportive. Working with people you love always breeds great results. If they don’t have a friend, I’ll work with a band to find a director. There is more competition for videos than ever before. We can’t make something that looks low budget and expect it to fly. You also have to balance this with the idea that a video is a visual representation of an artist. The challenge is finding a director that can capture the artist’s aesthetic as well as create a video that will appeal to any random viewer watching say ‘Subterrnean’ on MTV2.
Once we find a director, I’ll work with the band and director as a middleman to help finalize the treatment. Musicians and directors also have different vocabularies and some artists are more hands on than others. My job is to make sure everyone is on the same page before the video is shot. I have nightmares about answering the phone and it’ll be a band in tears about how their video turned out. On the bright side, that’s only occurred in my dreams!
MVP: What's coming up for the fall of 2005 and early 2006?
ST: We just released a stunning Dirty Three album called Cinder. The song “Great Waves” features vocals by Chan Marshall! It’s a terrific track for radio and Dirty Three made a great video with Chan! You can see it on our website: www.touchandgorecords.com.