A passion for music can propel anyone into a number of thankless tasks ( like magazine publishing or show promotion), but creating a respectable record label is its own kind of challenge. The cheerleading part is easy, but the organization, strategy and cash can be harder to come by. Meredith Fraser is the perfect storm of a person for such a feat. With skills and bills earned at her day job, easy access to experienced record makers ( like John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees, Eric Friedl of Goner Records, and ex-bf and current friend King Louie), as well as a knack for finding undocumented talent, Fraser has quickly established her own Pizza Burglar record label as a legit endeavour and not just the passing fancy of the sonically obsessed. With a catalogue already two releases deep—New Orleans’ own Babes takes the honor of PBR-001 and San Francisco psych-droners CCR Headcleaner at 002—Pizza Burglar is already a well-defined and curated collection, with a third release by Quintron and Miss Pussycat slated for the near future. A true fanatic, Fraser seems committed to reinvesting in a scene that’s provided her with so many amazing moments. In fact, her first encounter with CCR Headcleaner (at the AllWays Lounge, she thinks), was so mind-blowing that she forgot about them completely until they reappeared in Columbia, Missouri (where Fraser was in school) a month later and blew her away once again. “It was divine intervention,” recalls Fraser, noting that Headcleaner singer Alex Cargile had the same crossed Flying Vs tattoo as fellow goners Jay Reatard and King Louie. I caught up with Fraser outside of the Saturn Bar one night this past fall, as Babes (pictured, with Fraser) was about to celebrate their record release. We talked about Protestant karma, label ups and downs, and just how pizza got involved in the first place.
Why the hell would somebody start a record label in 2013?
Meredith Fraser: The reason why I did it, personally, is because I work primarily in the film industry; that’s my would-be 9-to-5 job (except it’s a lot more hours). And all of my time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears goes into working on these films. [And] when they’re all done and you’re sitting in the seat of the movie theater, it’s like “God, this sucks.” [laughs] It’s almost like a karmic thing or Protestant guilt from growing up in the South. I feel like I need to even that out by putting out stuff that’s actually good and producing things that I actually like. That’s how I got started doing this. I’m a fan of music and I figure I can; why not?
You seem to appreciate what a record label actually does. Are you going for a certain aesthetic?
For one thing, I am very into vinyl records. I’m not a collector but I like the practical use of vinyl from a preservationist’s perspective. I want to be able to listen to my favorite songs 30 years from now. I don’t think that I’ll necessarily be able to play an mp3 30 years from now. So that’s very important to me… I am also very concerned—I really appreciate that this is someone’s baby; it’s their piece of art. I just want to be really careful with each release… I want everyone to be able to have access to it and hear it. I want a really good distributor. I want there to be really good press about each release.
How did you get familiar with the whole process?
I have a very close relationship to the industry. A good amount of my friends are professional musicians; that’s what they do for a living. They tour incessantly and record… One of the things I think is how personal it is to put yourself out there in a recording. I understand that it’s a delicate relationship that people have with their releases. It’s not something to be taken lightly.
How did you find Babes?
Rhodes [Murphy, vocals and keys] is basically my child. He was a kid of the 9th Ward. I think I went to his 15th birthday party at the Hi-Ho. He’s had a drum machine and has been doing weird shit in the 9th Ward since his sophomore year of high school. This is the first time he’s really had a band playing with him… I think I snuck him into a Jay Reatard show when he was 15 and it’s very apparent that that was an impressionable age. When you listen to his songs, it comes across that this kid grew up listening to Wizzard Sleeve and Jay Reatard. I just really love [Babes] and I know a lot of it is because of our personal friendship. But I’m a big fan of their band and they recorded stuff and didn’t know what they were going to do with it. And I heard it and I was like, “All right, I wanted to start a label; here’s my excuse. Let’s put out a record.”
What is your favorite part about running a label, so far?
I like that I am finally spending time and energy putting something out into the world that I want to listen to and appreciate and enjoy, and that I think is good and other people should hear it. And that’s so nice when it’s juxtaposed to my professional life, where I work on these things that I don’t give a shit about.
I’m right there with you. What’s your least favorite thing ?
Everyone comes out of the woodwork and they have stuff that they want you to [put out]… It sucks to hear really good things but you can’t put out everything… There’s definitely people you’re a fan of that you’d love to work with. It’s just that you can’t say yes to them all.
Two releases in, how much are you in the hole?
Definitely thousands. You can’t press a record for less than a couple grand, even a really small release. Vinyl’s expensive. Printing jackets is equally expensive. I hired a really good publicist; that’s expensive. Mailing records is expensive. All of these little things add up. But at the same time, I feel like if I can make back what I’ve spent so I can release another record, then I’m happy.
What’s the significance of the name?
I am 86’ed from the bar next door to my house for stealing a pizza and running out the front door with it. I tried to make amends with them and bring back the pan and pay up the next day. The guy told me that I needed to get out and that he never wanted my pizza-burglin’ ass back in there. And it just kind of stuck.
For more info on Pizza Burglar Records, Babes, and CCR Headcleaner, check out pizzaburglarrecords.com
