Welcome to In Conversation, a special interview column on the site where we sit down with artists, producers and more and dive deep into everything music. This week, Joe spoke with Manic Kat Records founder Peter James to discuss the label’s eight year history, Punk Hub Live and community programmes.
Joe: How have you developed as a label over the past eight years?
Peter: We’ve had some great growth over the last eight years. We have some amazing bands on our roster right now that are just itching to get back out on the road. We’ve been so fortunate to secure global physical and digital distribution with a company and team that truly understands us and isn’t just all about the “numbers” and “forecasting”. We are truly grateful for all our partnerships and relationships that we’ve built over the last eight years. We couldn’t function successfully without them.
Joe: What have been the most challenging hurdles as a label so far?
Peter: For us the most challenging hurdles have always been finding the right artists to work with. Our business model greatly differs from traditional labels so it finding artists that understand how we operate and see the value to it.
Joe: With such strength and depth on your roster, how confident are you about the next eight years?
Peter: After eight years we are extremely happy with the roster and catalog we’ve built. We’re confident that we’ll just keep growing and building our artists’ reach and our brand for eight more years and beyond.
Joe: How has it been seeing the success of Punk Hub Live?
Peter: It’s been pretty surprising actually. This only started as a small project to keep everyone busy during the COVID lockdowns. It wasn’t really meant to be much more than that – but we’re really excited that it has evolved into something more.
Joe: What was it like seeing the fan response to that?
Peter: At the time it was originally launched, we figured people would see a value to it since we were all sitting at home for months on end. I honestly thought it would fizzle out once things opened back up but people still tune in, comment, and are really into it!
Joe: You recently partnered with American Colosseum Wrestling for a live event. Where did the idea for the “Rock N Wrestling” collaboration come from?
Peter: We’ve partnered with ACW before actually. We teamed up for an event in February of 2020, literally right before we went into lockdown. That first event had over 4.3K people in attendance with very little promotion or advertising beforehand. We are extremely excited for this upcoming event because there’s just that “buzz” in the air. I think it may be even bigger this year.
The idea for this concept really was a collab between myself and Kevin Clark, founder of ACW. The overall concept is nothing new, but something that hasn’t been done to this extent. We are intertwining the high energy of live sport entertainment with that of live music throughout the entire event. That’s a concept that hasn’t really been done before.
Joe: Are there further plans for more partnerships and community projects in the future?
Peter: Definitely, we are very supportive of our local scene and community. We’ve worked with Blankfest.org for many years and really love what they stand for and how they operate. It is run by two of the most giving people I’ve ever met, Kenn Rowell and Yvonne Sotomayor.
Joe: What’s it like being working with John Naclerio?
Peter: I love John – he’s absolutely insane, but in the best way possible! We’ve been working together now for over five years and honestly without his involvement, we couldn’t do what we do to this extent. I’m so grateful to have his backing and support as we continue to build and grow MKR. John and I also have some cool collaboration surprises coming for later this year that we’re really excited about.
Joe: How has it been returning to live shows?
Peter: I’m definitely split on this honestly. I think it’s been much needed and overdue, but initially it has been a bit unnerving as well. I think as we continue getting back to some semblance of normalcy, everyone’s level of comfort will continue to get better and better, myself included.
Joe: Which releases from your roster should people keep an eye out for in 2022?
Peter: We’re really excited for all the new music and tours happening in 2022! We’ve got new music dropping from New Age Affair, Just Happy to Be Here, Lights on the Coast, and a ton more – along with a bunch of new signing announcements!
Many thanks to Peter for sitting down for a chat with us, you can find more about the label their site here.