Today I managed to successfully avoid record label business, with a few exceptions. Receiving all of those parts for Koro and Logic Problem EPs had turned my study/office/record room into a total wreck, so I packed up everything and managed to jam it all into the storage space. For about the last year I’ve been renting a small, walk-in-closet-sized, climate-controlled storage place that I use as a warehouse for the label’s backstock. It only costs $60 per month, an expense that I was nervous about at first but has ultimately proved negligible to my monthly operating costs. Thus far I’ve always had plenty of room in the storage space, but this last shipment of records has gotten me to the point where boxes are now stacked in front of one another and there are several boxes that are stacked behind other large boxes, which is obviously not an ideal situation for a warehouse that I visit at least once per week.
I think that a few hours of dedicated cleaning would get things back below the breaking point, but especially with the Devour 12″ looming on the horizon I’m going to have to make some big decisions about my storage space. Basically, I’m either going to have to upgrade to a larger space or start destroying backstock that hasn’t sold, mostly CDs. I have at least half of the pressing of 1,000 Rabies CDs sitting in my storage space almost 2 years after that record was released, and I don’t see those units getting shifted any time soon. It’s really hard to destroy something that I put so much time and effort into and that I’m still really proud of, but what’s the point of sitting on stock that probably will never sell? When you first start a label you’re determined always to save everything, but as your life fills up with more and more paper and vinyl and plastic you just want to wrestle some sense of an orderly, organized existence from the mess. I guess I’ll keep this space updated as I come to a decision on that.
Besides that, all I did was add the Logic Problem EP to the webstore, which felt like a momentous event. I haven’t received any orders for it, but I’m hoping that’s just because I haven’t announced it on myspace or any of my email lists yet… hopefully as soon as word spreads this will be another hot item from Sorry State.
Hours spent on the label today: 1
