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Interview: Lazy Bear Records (Sebastian Simone)

Posted on Play Crack The Sky Music on Thursday, December 1st, 2011.

With their “Definitive Guide to Pop-Punk 2011” compilation being released today, Play Crack The Sky Music recently spoke to Sebastian Simone of UK-based Pop-Punk label, Lazy Bear Records.

“Definitive Guide to Pop-Punk 2011” is Lazy Bear’s first release and will feature tracks from familiar and unknown UK bands such as Paige, Fine Young Firecrackers, Who’s Driving? Bear’s Driving!, Next Stop Atlanta, A Day Overdue, Maycomb and more.

Simone spoke to PCTS Music about how Lazy Bear Records started, how the compilation came together, the label’s clothing line and involvement with the Hauser Bears charity, why Pop-Punk has made a comeback and more.

How did Lazy Bear Records start?
We founded Lazy Bear Records for a final year university project in Spring 2011 on a music management course. Following the founders graduating in June (with 1st class honours just to add!) we decided to carry on the label, which has been functioning as a real venture for almost 4 months now.

You’ve recently announced plans to release a compilation entitled “Lazy Bear’s.” First of all, where did the idea come from?
We wanted our first release as a label to be something that would get some good, great exposure and in order to do that, apart from the resources and capabilities we have, we wanted to get some really enthusiastic bands involved who would not only help expose the label, but also get some well deserved recognition themselves.

We’re really passionate about pop-punk music here at Lazy Bear HQ and we know there’s some awesome talent, particularly here in the UK, so we took this opportunity to basically help push the UK pop-punk scene.

How did the compilation come together?
The compilation took a while to get rolling. As a start-up label our credibility was pretty low and we were getting a lot of ‘maybes’ and ‘who else is involved’ responses, which ultimately slowed down the process a lot. After we got a a few of the bigger bands confirmed, the rest sort of fell into place. Now we’re stoked about the line-up. We’re working with some amazing bands!

Is there any reason the compilation only has UK bands?
We wanted the 2011 compilation, our first release, to be focused on promoting UK bands. Like we said before, we know there’s so many amazing UK artists and we just want to give them some of the recognition they deserved.

The compilation has both familiar and unknown bands, what bands are you especially excited about?
We’re big fans of the pop-punk music scene and had done some extensive research into who we wanted on the compilation. Admittedly, we wanted to keep it to around 13 tracks, but once we had the credibility factor from a few of those familiar bands confirming, the rest flooded in. We’re very excited about Sell Your Sky, these boys are incredibly talented and are going to be doing some awesome things in 2012.

How important is it for lesser-known bands to be part of a compilation like yours?
I’d say it’s crucial! I mean, there’s really nothing to lose, we’re committed to putting in a lot of our efforts into PR, promotion and marketing. We got a little mention in Kerrang! this week which also highlighted some of the bands involved, and we’ll have a more substantial feature in the December issue of Rock Sound too.

This type of coverage allows the smaller bands to get some real solid exposure and of course being associated with the more well known bands is a great way to get your foot in the door, so to speak.

The compilation is being released for free. Do you think this is more beneficial for both the label and bands involved, as it means more exposure?

Absolutely. We hold a very strong opinion that you simply shouldn’t expect people to pay for digital music, it’s too easy to get hold of illegitimately. We’re all for selling unique physical copies, presented in a more ingenuitive way than just a CD in a case and even people paying optionally, but when it comes down to it, we believe for bands of this size and for a label of our size, that releasing this for free is the most encouraging way to share and expose the talent these artists have to offer.

The Pop-Punk genre is one that is very popular at the moment. Why do you think it’s made somewhat of a comeback in recent years?

Bands such as All Time Low have began to push the genre in to the mainstream sphere. Don’t get me wrong, you won’t be hearing independent pop-punk bands on (BBC) Radio 1 every day, but it’s certainly growing. The genre also has a much more dominant presence in the States and Asia; Warped Tour has certainly helped cement the pop-punk genre into the mainstream over in America and the UK is starting to follow their lead, especially with the expansion of the Slam Dunk Festival over the past few years.

The music’s awesome, it’s catchy, can be enjoyed in many subcultures and there’s some great musicians making pop-punk music. There’s obviously different sub-genres of pop-punk and in their own right, they all appeal to a slightly different market, which is really helping roll out the music.

Do you think the popularity of the genre may become a problem in the future? Will it become a genre that is saturated?
Possibly. The lighter orientated pop-punk could become very easily commercialized. On a general level, I don’t think it will ever have the same problem ‘Rock’ has when associating a musical genre. To be honest, every genre could be classed as saturated, there’s so many bands and artists all doing the same thing, but there’s only ever going to be the best and the select few that make it and help push the genre, and we’re here to help find them and be a part of the pop-punk growth in the UK.

Away from the compilation, the label has a clothing company. Tell us about it?
We set up the clothing side properly about a month ago, although it’s been something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. It was set up as we simply wanted to sell clothes that represented the music scene we’re associated with and to help roll out the Lazy Bear brand. At the minute it’s sort of a learning curve. Expect a new line come in the new year including a professional approach down to the tiniest detail! We cant wait for it.

In addition, the label works with Hauser Bears charity. What is this charity and in what way does Lazy Bear help Hauser Bears?
Hauser Bears charity is a bear conservation and welfare charity, they’re helping change the fate of bears worldwide by educating, saving and tackling political issues at the center of the problem.

Lazy Bear currently donates £1 of every T-shirt sale to the charity, so the more people buy, the more we give! Due to distribution rights, we won’t be able to provide the upcoming compilation for free from iTunes, one of the many distribution methods we’re utilizing to get the compilation out there. For this reason, 100% of any purchased individual tracks or compilation sales as a whole will go directly to Hauser Bear Charity.

Going into 2012, what does Lazy Bear have planned. Will you be working with any bands from the compilation again?
We’ve got a hell of a lot planned! We’ll certainly be working very closely with a some of the bands from the compilation, we can’t say just yet, but keep your eyes out! We’ve developed an awesome relationship with some of the bands involved and we share the same ethos towards the music and the future of the industry, so expect some collaborations!

As I mentioned above, we’ll also be improving and expanding Lazy Bear Clothing, so keep your eyes out on that. Head over to our Facebook page and give us a ‘like’ to receive the discount code for 15% off too, not bad eh!

Lastly, we’re having a website re-design. This is being rolled out over the next few months and the intention is to segment the Lazy Bear brand more clearly.

Currently, we’ve got Lazy Bear Records and Lazy Bear Clothing in operation, but we’re finding people are seeing the Clothing side as label merch and that’s not the look we’re going for. Coming with this website re-design is a brand new Lazy Bear service, which we hope will really help out bands, locally and internationally, so keep your eyes out for that too!

Any final words to close the interview?
Keep it lazy!

“Lazy Bear’s Definitive Guide to Pop-Punk 2011” is released on Lazy Bear Records on December 1st.

The compilation includes tracks from:
Kids Can’t Fly, Autumn In Disguise, Sell Your Sky, Paige, Fine Young Firecrackers, Scream Don’t Whisper, Hey! Alaska, Who’s Driving? Bear’s Driving!, The Headstart, As We Climb, A Day Overdue, Highrise, Promise Me Tomorrow, Above The Underground, Better Left Alone, Next Stop Atlanta, Maycomb and These City Lights.