TEN EMAILS with GREG WERCKMAN!

Greg Werckman is co-owner of Ipecac Records and manager to Mike Patton. For the rest, read below
xo

Email #1
Greg,
One thing that has always drawn me to Ipecac Records has been the diversity of your artists. I know you co-own // run the label with Mr. Patton. How much creative influence, if any, do you have with releases or are you strictly the businessman of the operation? That is to say, do you often hear albums, examples being Maldoror's "She" or the Melvins "Colossus of Destiny" and wonder if the artists have been given too much freedom? Or are all of the artists on Ipecac given free reign because you have full faith in their artistic output and the audience's open mind?

* Mike and I are 50/50 partners. While I tend to do more of the business side of things and Mike tends to do more of the artistic/creative side we have to come to an agreement before we put anything out. The two examples you give are not very good examples. Maldoror is one of Mike's projects, so of course there is no limit to the amount of creative freedom he has. That was the main reason that we started the label. As Mike's manager, I was looking for homes for the first Fantômas record and the Maldoror record in 1998. After getting some interest from the wrong kinds of labels, we thought why not do them ourselves. Then when it comes to the Melvins, I mean come on! They are, after all, the self proclaimed greatest band in the history of music. Not to mention that as a label we are VERY open to challenging the music listening public. So much music is way too safe and stale. On a personal level, it is one of the greatest honors in my life, to work for the Melvins. Besides being great and smart musicians, Dale and Buzz are literally two of the nicest people I have ever met. But let's keep that a secret. Getting back to your question, I'll say that some artists need direction and others don't. Some want it and some don't. But I can confidently say that you would be hard pressed to find a more artist friendly label on earth. Not every fan of our label is going to like everything we put out. As a matter of fact, I'd be willing to bet there is not a person alive that loves everything we have put out. But is that a terrible thing? The other thing that I think gets overlooked too often is that music is an art form. I doubt that some of the paintings and books and films that we love would have turned out as amazing as they did if middle aged, coked out, white men were telling the artists how to do their art.

Email 2
So many people blame the internet, napster, peer to peer sharing, etc for killing the music industry, but they also said home tape recording was going to kill the record industry in the '80s.

Is the real problem those "middle aged, coked out, white men were telling the artists how to do their art", management throwing millions of dollars at projects like Guns N Roses' Chinese Democracy, and the major labels lack of risk taking?

Also, when you were shopping around Fantomas and Maldoror what were some of the reactions you get? You say the wrong types of labels wanted to get involved, how so?

* Anyone that blames a change in format for killing the music industry is clueless. Format changes have happened many times. It is the way that the industry embraces and adapts to the changes that gets tricky. In this case, the big labels stumbled and bumbled. They ignored mp3s and file sharing for too long. They were stuck in their "old school" ways. They let the public get used to getting music for free then decided to wake up and get involved, but it was too late. Thank god Apple came along and taught the music industry how to successfully make the selling of mp3s possible.

This brings up another point that baffled me. At the time, Metallica got villainised by the fans and press for taking on Napster. But why were they the bad guys. What they did was stand up for artists rights. They should have been applauded. What they were saying is that they spent a lot of time and money making records, that is what they do for a living, so they wanted to be compensated as anyone would want. They did not want people stealing their art. Is that bad?

Maybe it was because of who they were, if they were a more hip up and coming artist who the press loved, would it have gone over differently? If Thom Yorke or Liz Phair was the one attacking napster, would it have been accepted? I'll take it a step further, I think Radiohead actually did more to HURT artists. By becoming heroes for giving their music away they actually did damage. So this already huge, popular, touring,successful band gives their record away and the public says, "hey, I got Radiohead's record for free, why should I have to pay for this band's music that I hardly know?". The culture of expecting free music magnified. All of us smaller labels and smaller artists that actually need the revenue are suddenly scrambling.

So what is killing the record industry? I'd say it was a combination of the big labels not guiding the industry into the digital age correctly and setting up a very unhealthy financial template. Bloated salaries by music execs and bloated advances to bands really created a blueprint for failure. From the very beginning at Ipecac we decided that there is not any reason that every record CAN be successful. If a record sells 1500 copies it can still show a profit. Not sure why record labels have been so determined to see that releases are looked at as failures. Bands that sell 100,000 records get dropped or shelved because they received huge advances and can't even recoup on 100,000 sales. That is ridiculous! Common sense HAS to come into play at some time. You also have blame band managers for grabbing as much money as they can and helping setup this perceived failure. For the first Eagles of Death Metal record, I advanced them $600 for tapes. This meant that if they sold 200 Cds, we all broke even. Of course they went on to sell way over 100,000 Cds, so made and continue to make very good royalties. Another thing is the reality that very few records break the 100,000 sales barrier. It is certainly not a given, nor should it be that every record is going to sell 500,000 records. The odds of doing that are very slim, check the statistics, so why create a budget that assumes these kinds of sales? It is actually too much risk taking.

When shopping Fantômas to record labels we got several different reactions.

We got people that questioned if it was even music, we got people that heard that were willing to gamble that perhaps the next record would be more "normal" and we got people that just liked the angle that it was a "metal" supergroup. Very few people understood that it was ok to release music that challenged the listener. That not every record had to be dumbed down for radio. So much of the music industry is based on underestimating the music loving public.
I'm not one of those anti major label people. The funny thing about the music industry is the self importance level that is so prevalent. The reality is that the average fan could care less about what label something is on. Only the music industry insiders care. People want good music. Everyone has an idea of what is good. As a label I can't force people to think our releases are all good. I just have to try to identify our fanbase and try to deliver music that they will appreciate. There are terrible and corrupt big labels but there are just as many corrupt smaller labels. Carrying an elitist attitude about what is cool is very unhealthy. We can't overlook the basic fact that music is an art form and as such, beauty is in the ear of the beholder.

Email 3
Mike always seems to be working on something new and different, how did you two team up?

* I was running Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles record label and Mike was/is a big fan of NoMeansNo who I worked with. He would come to shows that I was at. Mike and I bonded over our love of basketball and video games. We were very good friends and he asked me to help out with Mr Bungle so that is where we started working together, I evolved into being his manager. Mike is always working on 4 or 5 different things. It can get very chaotic and confusing but never dull.

Was part of your attraction to work with him stem from his incredible work ethic
or a similar vision?

* Honestly, it was just wanting to help a friend out at first. Mr Bungle was a crazy and at times dysfunctional family. But his work ethic is great. He really enjoys what he does and wants to try everything. He is not afraid of a challenge and is not content to take the easy way out with anything. I've worked with some interesting and creative people in my life (Jello Biafra, Hunter Thopmson, etc) but none work harder than Mike.

Email 4
One recording I really dig that I felt never got attention from Patton fans was his soundtrack to Crank: High Voltage. How did that come about? Every article I read it just says Patton composed and performed it, but segments sound a lot like Fantomas to me. Do you know who else performed on the sessions for this album? Or was it really an all Patton affair?

* The guys that wrote and directed the movie are Patton fans. We met with the at a horse track and they offered Mike the job. Mike had been looking to more film work. They needed crazy/hyper music, just like Fantômas. Mike moved to LA for several months to do it, it was almost all him. 97% of it is only him. I think it came out well. We were really hoping to put out the soundtrack ourselves but the film company already had a deal in place. I agree, a lot of Patton fans still don't know about it. A shame.

The soundtrack was issued by Lakeshore Records, who released the film, do you think it would have gotten more attention as an Ipecac release?

* Absolutely! It hardly got any press at all. Someday, maybe they will let us give it a shot and re-release it.

Email 5
As many people know Mr Patton is back with Faith No More for a series of reunion shows. How much of your time is that occupying? Were their fierce negotiations or big a group of friends just reconnect?

I don't know about the rest of the band put it seems that Patton and Mike Bordin have been busy ever since the band broke up initially.

* Right now it is not taking up too much time. It was hectic at first. There were negotiations and moving schedules around. The business side of it was hectic, but when the guys got together to start rehearsing it all clicked pretty quickly. They get along very well, which is nice. I don't think they expected the strong reaction that they have received. It was really crazy in Europe, especially. As a fan of rock music, I can see why. There just are not that many really solid rock bands around these days. Going to be fun to do a couple NYC shows. Right now though, the focus around here is Mondo Cane.

Email 6
I've heard Mondo Cane will tour Europe extensively, will they also be making appearances in the US? I read somewhere there might be some issues with getting visas because so many of the members are European citizens.

Is Europe more receptive in general of Patton's work? Or is it just a different
atmosphere?

* I don't think Mondo Cane will tour anywhere extensively. We are doing 5 or 6 shows in Europe at the end of July/early August. Hoping to return again in the Fall. We are working on trying to set up some shows in the US and Australia, but nothing booked yet. Mondo Cane is a very tricky show to set up. It is very expensive. It is a large band. Orchestra, choir and band. It is not a 4 piece rock band. The venues need to be different for this type of show. It has nothing to do with visa issues. As a matter of fact the band in North America will be completely different then the band in Europe. The reason that it is "easier" to pull together in Europe is that there is actually support and funding for arts and cultural programs there. In the US, not so much. This music has to be presented in the right way. Seeing this show in a general admission rock venue would not be enjoyable for the audience at all and would miss the spirit of the project.

Email 7
A few people have told me that the difference between touring the US and Europe, is that overseas even smaller acts are guaranteed a place to stay, a safe place to store their equipment and a meal.

* Hmmm, that might be true to some degree, but it's not all wine and roses in Europe either. Look, touring is hard work. Bands that are not willing to put in the work should give it up these days. You REALLY need to tour to have a decent chance at getting exposure. You can't rely on labels, clubs and promoters to make touring easier and better, you gotta do a lot on your own. Advance work is key. Spreading the word, contacting retailers, etc. It does seem that the arts are respected more in Europe and crowds seem more accepting of different styles of music, but commercially speaking, you do need to do tour and develop a fanbase in the US if you have a hope of greater success.

Is the problem in the US that so many of the venues are owned by large corporations that don't feel the need to take better care of musicians? That if one band does not tour, there will always be someone else to take their place?

* I think that might be part of it. There is also the bad economy and the competition for the entertainment dollar. I think it would help if radio and print media were more willing to cover a wider range of musical acts. If a club sees that a certain act has media support they will pay more attention to it and spend more to market the show. Everything feeds the other.

Email 8
So if you were interested in releasing a band, what would you say the Ipecac
promise is?

* That we don't make promises! HA. No, what we tell bands is that we can't make you a "star". You have to do that by working hard. But we offer a ton of artistic control, you can be involved as much or as little as you want to be in the whole process. We pay royalties every 6 months and pay a very good royalty rate. You will always be able to get us on the phone and we will work hard for you and respect you. We don't do multi record deals. That way, if the artist is unhappy or if we are unhappy with how it is going, we part ways. We license the record from the artist so they retain ownership.

What services do you provide for artists on your label? Are you just handling manufacturing and getting albums to stores and leaving promotion to publicists and touring to booking agents?

* We hire a publicist for each release. We market each release. We try to help with management issues, like finding a booking agent, merch company or lawyer or manager if needed. We offer a lot of advice on anything. And provide a shoulder to cry on.

I realize you don't run a cookie cutter label, and one formula will never work for every band, but were would you begin to focus?

* Where we begin is with a HUGE amount of respect for the artist and the art. We work for the artist.

Email 9
Now this is always a hard question for a lot of people, because they don't wanna reveal too much, but what can we expect in the future from Ipecac? Any surprises lurking in the near future? Or will it just be focusing on the new Melvins album and Mondo Cane for a little bit?

* Well, it is not so much about not wanting to reveal too much as it is mentioning something that does not end up coming out for a loooooong time and it bums people out. But since this is just between us..... We are very sad to announce that Isis just broke up. But we have several interesting things that we are working on. I wish I could say more, but I don't want you to ask me about them in a year and I'll look stupid. With these 2 new releases (Mondo Cane & Melvins) we got our work cut out for us for the next few months. We ARE going to be putting out an original soundtrack from famed composer Daniele Luppi and Josh Homme has been putting together a cool Desert Sessions retrospective for us. Been talking to several artists that we have never worked with and trying to pull together some cool Dvds. Is that vague enough?

Email 10
Well Greg, thanks so much for following through with this whole process and the time you put into your responses.

if you want to send a photo to run with the interview, id love it.
thanks again!

Here is a pic of Mike and I in a helicopter in Australia, not sure if it is high enough quality

best, Greg

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