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The fourth in a series of interviews with small/underground/independent labels. Featured items are available through KRS mailorder.
DECOMPOSITION RECORDS
(San Francisco, CA / 1996-Present)
Sharon Cheslow interviewed by Tobi Vail, February 2002.
Sharon
Cheslow has been a major feminist force in US underground culture for 20 plus
years now. She had a pivotal role in the male dominated DC
punk scene playing in Chalk Circle DC's first all girl punk band (who formed
after she was inspired by seeing bands like Delta 5 and the MoDettes) and she
later co-edited Banned in DC with Cynthia Connolly and Leslie Clague which was
one of the first books to document any US hardcore scene. In the early 90's
she played a big role in starting the riot grrl movement working with members
of Bikini Kill and Bratmobile and playing in bands with Kathleen Hanna and Tim
Green of Nation of Ulysses/the fucking Champs. She has done a fanzine called
Interrobang for over ten years now which you can now check out online and continues
to play push the boundaries and inspire with her projects. She is currently
doing experimental composition and sound installations in SF. She also has a
really interesting website (which documents the History of Women in Punk and
much more) and label called DECOMPOSITION:
1. Your label is interesting to me because it is so small and seems to document
stuff done by your friends and you seem to make it work, which I think is a
hard thing to do. I was wondering why you started Decomposition and if part
of your label idea was to keep it small or if that is just the way it's turned
out.
A combination
of both. My inspiration was small underground presses of the 60s and independent
punk labels of the 70s, that were more about quality than quantity. I've also
always gravitated towards mass produced, inexpensive or free, aesthetically
strong, politically poignant cultural artifacts. So when I started Decomposition
I had all that in mind. But on a practical level, I really just started the
label as a way to document what had been going on in DC in 1991, by distributing
the A Wonderful Treat cassette and releasing the Suture 7", and just kept
going from there.
2. You are one of the few label
owners that I know of in the history of the world who is female. Plenty of women
work at labels, but barely any own one! Do you have any theories about this?
I know this is something you are fully aware of...
Really?
I wasn't aware of this. Now you've got me interested in doing some research!
The only theory I can think of off the top of my head is that most females aren't
encouraged to become knowledgeable about music, so they don't develop a love
of it like many of their male friends. I think also the technical process of
releasing music can be intimidating for many girls brought up in a society that
keeps girls technophobic, which is unfortunate. Especially because it's not
that difficult to understand. I learned a lot about the technical side of music
when I was very young - everything from recording and editing to production.
My father had a reel to reel tape recorder which I used, and I liked to read
his audio magazines. It was curiosity on my part - asking myself how does sound
get from a voice or instrument onto magnetic tape and then onto vinyl in a way
that the ear can pick out all the different parts of an arrangement. I was fascinated
by the process. I started buying records when I was ten. So I developed a love
of music and records early on, and became interested in how a label worked.
This lead to volunteering for Skip Groff's label Limp Records, which was one
of the first DC punk labels, when I was in high school. He ran the label out
of his record store Yesterday & Today, and then he hired me to work there,
so I learned a lot about small independent labels from that experience. There
have been studies showing that when girls aren't encouraged to excel in math
and science as teenagers their self esteem plummets. There are lots of other
reasons why girls' esteem plummets around that age, but I think encouraging
girls to become interested in the technical side of music and art would be one
great way to deal with this.
3. How did being a part of the
early DC punk scene effect the work you are doing now as an artist and label
person?
It's had a tremendous effect. I was very influenced by the whole do-it-yourself
attitude, so I probably wouldn't do things on my own if it weren't for that.
Also, I was inspired by HR of the Bad Brains talking about "positive mental
attitude". When I first began hanging out with Henry we talked a lot about
PMA. The whole idea was to take control of your own life so that society and
other negative experiences don't get you down. So in regards to creativity,
it meant doing things on your own terms. I also learned about the positive aspects
of being part of a tight-knit group of creative people who supported one another,
and this became my model for friendship and community.
4. Can you talk a little about
your favorite Decomposition releases?
I really don't have any
favorites, because I've enjoyed the process of putting each one out and seeing
what happens once it's out of my hands.
5. How do you distribute your
stuff?
Mostly through mailorder. I like the direct contact. Early on I had the help
of other distributors, such as KRS, Dischord, K, Cargo, Ajax, Simple Machines,
Scratch, and Revolver. A lot of people think there's no way to have your music
heard without the help of larger distributors, but now people can release mp3s
which is great. I'd like to have more digital audio on the Decomposition website.
The only thing I don't like about mp3s is that they're purely digital information
and I like the artwork that goes along with a music release. I guess one way
around this is to have people download digital images to go along with the audio
files.
6. How do you keep from losing
money?
Let's see, maybe a better question would be "what is more important than
making money?" and I'd answer doing what I love, living simply, helping
friends get recognition for their work, and trying to pay people when I can...which
right now means focusing on distribution. I'm trying to come up with ways to
get around the whole monetary system, like by publishing the last issue of Interrobang?!,
which is an anthology available online as a free Acrobat pdf. I was able to
do it because I relied on voluntary contributions.
7. What underground activity excites
you in the year 2002?
The application of the discovery of the human genome sequence into music and
art. Street protests & musicians for peace. The use of MIT Media Lab's recently
invented audio spotlight. Kinetic sound sculptures. Lady robot performance art.
Real time digital video processing. Bands playing on the floor instead of the
stage.
8. What are your future plans
for Decomposition?
To follow my inspiration. The most recent news is on the website at http://www.mindspring.com/~acheslow/AuntMary/decomp.html.
9. Do you see what you are doing
as being political?
Yes. Being political, to me, encompasses different aspects of life, such as
personal, social, economic, and ideological. I'm interested in breaking down
the boundaries between art and life, so what I do usually deals with at least
one of these various political aspects. I'm most interested in the connection
among all of them, but that's a very difficult thing to get across. I think
anytime someone is able to make choices about how they exist in society in relation
to others, it's a political act, and these choices - consciously or not - make
up a person's political values. One thing I think is important, especially for
women, is to document creativity as a form of cultural resistance.
10. What bands are you listening
to these days?
Almost all the bands I've
been listening to lately are from San Francisco, which is bursting with creative
energy right now! Aside from the bands Decomposition distributes - Deerhoof,
Erase Errata, Quails, Concentrick, and the music from the Charm soundtrack -
there are tons of great local bands and performers all with their own unique
style and sound. Some newer ones include Numbers, Curtains, Crack, Total Shutdown,
Gold Chains, Pink & Brown, Coachwhips, Tiny Bird Mouth, and the Pattern.
At home I've mostly been listening to the Tigerbeat6 compilation and new releases
by Neotropic and Dymaxion. As far as older stuff, I think I've listened to Alice
Coltrane's Journey In Satchidananda release from 1970 with Pharoah Sanders at
least once a week for the past year! Also I just found a copy of Borbetomagus'
first LP and absolutely love it. Other than that, mostly bands from the 60s
like the Feminine Complex and Pretty Things, hip-hop like Blackalicious and
Dilated Peoples, and very avant garde experimental and electronic music. There's
a composer/sound artist Maryanne Amacher whom I like quite a lot. And lots of
ESG.
Decomposition
Info
3288 21st St. PMB #33
San Francisco, CA 94110
website
decomposition@mindspring.com
Interrobang?!
#4 (free PDF)
This issue features Pauline Oliveros, Maggi Payne, Public Works, Melissa Klein,
Nicole Panter, Jay Stuckey, Sharon
Cheslow, Randy Nordschow, Niko Wenner, plus interviews with Terre Thaemlitz
by Marc Kate and Jean Shepard by Allison Wolfe.
| Decomposition Releases available through KRS mailorder: | |
|
Red Eye is Carlos (Peechees), Julianna (Electrolettes, The Quails), Kim (Delta '72), Sharon (Electrolettes), Tim (The Fucking Champs) |
Bonnot Gang is Dale, Sadie, Sarah (all from The Lies), and Maggie (Bangs, Gene Defcon). |
|
Sharon Cheslow related items: |
|
|
Sharon Cheslow's short film "Dream/Construct" is on this compilation. |
Electrolettes is Sharon Cheslow and Juliana Bright (The Quails) |
