To start a label of your own is a brave move, to start a label during pandemic is even braver. In doing so, the foundations and principles of any such venture must be strong. Theoria Records have looked to do this starting with their name, an ancient Greek word which translates to “contemplation” or “looking into”. Co-founders Chris Wethington and Cody Frain have twenty years of experience across all trades in the industry; touring artists, managers, booking agents, marketers, label directors, and A&R reps. Now they are looking to use their experience to solidify that foundation with their four traits for success.
Having PASSION for what you do;
INTEGRITY in how you do it;
CREATIVITY in overcoming obstacles;
and HUMILITY in success.
After securing a worldwide distribution deal with We Are Triumphant and, by extension, partnership with The Orchard. And overseeing the releases from bands such as Colony Collapse, Polterguise, Dead Days, The Difference Between, RVNT, A Scent Like Wolves, and S’efforcer this summer. We chatted with Cody Frain to reflect on their year so far.
Having now been on both sides of label negotiation, do you believe it gives leverage to working fair deals with artists?
I personally believe that Theoria offers something that a lot of labels fail to do, and that is that we have empathy to the struggles of being in a band. We have been through it all already. Both Chris Wethington and I have played in touring bands for close to 15 years each, have been sent shady contracts from shady companies, and totally understand the daily grind that bands deal with day to day. We also know how important it is to be as transparent as possible when working with artists. We try to do everything that we can to be as understanding of the needs/constraints of our artists and to offer artist friendly and transparent deals that all parties fully understand. I personally believe that Chris and I were only successful at acquiring the roster that we currently have as a brand-new label due to bands being able to respect and trust us. Respect and trust are values that are very difficult to find in the cruel and fickle world of the music industry, and it is something that really separates Theoria Records from a lot of other Labels.
How much has your experience as an artist influenced the decisions you make in management?
My experience as an artist influences literally every decision I make as a Label Director and artist manager. I have an empathetic view on what the artists are going through since I have been there before as well. I wouldn’t want to have one of my artists do something that I know as an artist myself would hate to do. I also can relate with the struggles and barriers that artists face while trying to navigate the very demanding world of the music industry, but also trying to be functioning adults in their own personal lives. I think a lot of management and labels fall short on this concept sometimes and end up trying to force bands to try and do things that all their members personally can’t do at the time. Each band is variable in what their members feasibly can accomplish, and it puts a lot of interpersonal stress on the band by pushing them to do certain things when a member or two can’t.
A great example of this is forcing a band to tour as much as possible when a member is struggling financially or recently just had a baby. Yeah, touring is great, but potentially losing that member by pushing them to do something that is out of their current bounds could end up being more detrimental for the band. As an artist manager you must figure out each band’s strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately what is realistic for them to do before creating a growth plan for them.
How has it been working as a start-up record label in the midst of the pandemic?
Starting a brand-new record label in 2021 probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do financially, but honestly it has been going great. I am so proud of our growth since the inception of the label, and the roster of bands that we have accumulated so far. Chris and I both had to learn to pivot a bit in what we were doing in the music industry already, and things kind of just fell into place in a way that June 2021 just felt like the right time to start the label. It was something that Chris and I have been talking about and working on creating since Fall of 2020. Prior to the pandemic I was a concert promoter, and like all other concert promoters in 2020, I had to pivot my time and energy into something new. During this time, I was also an A&R for We Are Triumphant. Chris and I presented our business plan to Greg Long of We Are Triumphant, and he allowed us to make Theoria Records an imprint of We Are Triumphant/The Orchard.
The biggest struggle is trying to push our artists and have their content stick in a currently very oversaturated market caused by the pandemic. Since bands didn’t have to worry about touring it led to an overabundance of new music/content being put out. This forces us to find creative ways to market our band’s music so that it will be able to reach new listeners and compete against all of the other content flooding social media and digital streaming services.
Have there been any personal highlights since the label’s formation?
My personal biggest highlight has been having Revolver Magazine premiere one of our artist’s, The Difference Between, debut song “Envenom.” I have also been happy with the large amount of press that we have been able to secure for all of our artists. It just reinforces to me that our artists are as incredible and captivating as I think they are. We have also gotten a lot of support from Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal as well. One of our artists, If Not For Me, actually just recently made the cover of Tidal’s “Rising Metal” playlist. I think a lot of these bands are going to blow up one day, and we are going to do everything that we can to make that happen.
What current trends will be most important to success of bands and labels in the future?
Learning how to navigate the world of marketing and PR is probably one of the most crucial aspects to a band’s success in this current digital landscape. Everyone is pushing a huge amount of content and competing to grab people’s attention on social media. You can be the best band in the world, but if you don’t know how to market your music, and get it heard by the masses, no one will ever hear the incredible songs that you make. I personally believe that TikTok is going to be the leading name in how people discover new artists going forward. Bands should really capitalize on the success of TikTok quickly and find their niche before it gets as regulated and oversaturated as Facebook and IG.
When bringing a band on board, what do you look for?
We look for a lot of different things when scouting out new bands to bring on board. Is the music produced well? Do they have a following established already? Have they done any touring on their own? Do they post on social media frequently, and actively try to engage their audience? We also heavily look at a band’s image and artwork style. We want to make sure that there aren’t any barriers that would make it difficult to market/promote the band. Another big thing we look for is how well the band works internally with itself, and how well they can be guided by direction and listen to feedback. Ultimately though, we just want to be blown away by the music. If we believe in a band’s music all the other criteria can potentially be coachable.
What’s the most exciting part about the future of the label?
The most exciting thing about the future in my opinion is just seeing how much growth comes to the label and all our bands. We currently have 10 active bands on our roster, and I would really like to double that amount by next year. I would love to see some of our bands get picked up by bigger labels such as Sharptone, Hopeless, or UNFD after we have worked on a couple of their releases and developed them. We want nothing but success for our artists and want to see them go off and do way bigger and better things after we have worked on a couple of their releases. Every “bigger band” gets their start somewhere by someone believing in them, and we hope to be that outlet for many artists.
What can people expect from the label in 2022?
People can expect a huge amount of growth from the label in 2022. We typically work with smaller emerging artists who have a huge amount of potential but just need a team behind them to coach them in the right direction. By next year most of our roster will have already gone through an album cycle and will have grown tremendously to the point where they will have built up a platform/fanbase to absolutely crush their next release. We also have been working hard at getting all our artists solid booking agents if they didn’t already have one. People can expect a lot of our artists to be hitting the road in Spring and Summer 2022. We also have some incredible artists who haven’t been announced yet and we are very excited to start working on their releases.