7/3/2005
Corporate Punishment: An Interview with Thom Hazaert
by Jay Wollin, Mobile Vixen
Thom Hazaert isn't a pop icon, or the 5th member of a famous british
band (i'm not?), but what he is may influence music just as much, if not more.
Hazaert, a producer from Los Angeles has an ear for the new and a twist
for the old. Having produced and secured major record deals for bands
such as Chimaira, Switched, Erase the Grey and Depswa, and having
co-founded enterprises such as Loudside.com, Total Assault, and
Corporate Punishment Records, Hazaert is anything but average, and
nothing if not influential.
Our senior music editor Jay Wollin (Mobile
Vixen Magazine, Lock, Firescore.com) interviews Thom to see just what
makes this king of indie metal, well, rock.
MV: What is Corporate Punishment Records, (CPR) and what does it do?
CPR is an independent Hard Rock/Metal label run by myself and my partner Eric Nielsen, who also runs Loudside.com and Total Assault Street Teams, a company that does street and internet marketing for bands like The Used, My Chemical Romance, Glassjaw, Him, Breaking Benjamin, etc.
We actually started TA together in the 90's before I really got into the whole management/shopping thing with Chimaira, Switched, etc, and then we were doing stuff like Nine Inch Nails, Cold, (Hed)pe, Snot, Chris Cornell, Pitchshifter, Downset, etc. We were blessed to work on a lot of great records.. .Eventually it just kinda morphed into the desire to start a label, enter CPR. So back to your question, like any other record label, we release and market records.
For the most part, we just started CPR to put out records for our friends. And that's still pretty much what we do.
MV: As the ever expanding sea of "cock rock," or "jock rock" consumes
the mainstream market, where do you see your label making it's biggest
splash?
Jock Rock?. . You mean like that "Dr. Who" song they play at football games? Hahahaha
Honestly, I try not to really get into all the labels. Everyone gets hung up on "Emo" and "Screamo", and "Nu-Metal", and "Post-This and That", and it's all just bullshit. Labels come from people who don't understand music trying to throw stuff into neat little containers, and it is really unhealthy for music, both as an artform, and as a business..
Personally, I grew up in the real heyday of metal, and watching it evolve, there really wasn't all these labels, and all these 19 year old "purists" who weren't even alive when Iron Maiden came out, with their "death to false metal" bullshit. I grew up listening to everything from Celtic Frost to Slayer to Warrant and no one gave a fuck about labels.
That's basically how we run CPR. If we like it, and it's heavy, we'll put it out. To me, it seems like there's this whole style of music, whether it's "Melodic Hard Rock", "Nu-Metal", or however people try and label it, that major labels are deathly afraid of, because it's not "hip". Bottom line, I like heavy music, I like guys who can sing. And since i'm pretty much the final word on A&R, that's mostly what is on our label.
Honestly, we're really not too worried about being "hip", We're more worried about putting out music that we like, and that we know people like. I think we'll make our splash as a label being consumer-centric, as opposed to industry-centric like most major labels, who instead of signing what people want to buy, they sign what THEY like, and think they can shove it down people's throats. Then they wonder why the record business is in the toilet. There's just so much hype, and 99% of the time it's just complete bullshit.
Someday they'll wake up and realize it doesn't work. Either that or they'll just keep swallowing up indies who do well because they get it. Whatever.
MV: What is your favorite color?
Green. Duh. :)
MV: As the fanbases and distribution of your label's artists increase
at seemingly exponential rates, what would you say your goals are at
this point, both short-term and long-term?
Well, we just signed a long term distribution deal with Navarre, which will get our records into pretty much every store in the US and Canada, and we are in talks on European and Japanese deals. Obviously, that is one of the biggest obstacles as a label is to get proper distribution, and to even get people to take you seriously.
Now that our distribution is in place, we're really just trying to make the most of our resources, and do all we can to market our bands properly, and make sure the records get out. We are getting back to the old school ideologies of developing bands, and hopefully careers.
MV: How do you feel the industry will be/is being affected by the
so-called "digital revolution," and how does CPR plan on riding the
wave?
Honestly, i'm not that into the whole "digital sales" thing. Maybe it's more of a nostalgia thing, but to me, there's just something about going into a brick-and-mortar record store and buying an album, that going to a website will never touch.
Don't get me wrong, I adore the internet, and it's been an intricate part of my life for the past 13 years, and it's definitely changed ALL the rules as far as marketing and getting music to a larger audience. But in the same breath, just as the internet has been a huge asset, I also think there's a HUGE liability as well, which is just this rampant oversaturation of everything.
There's too many bands, too many labels, too many "genres' and "sub-genres", just too much data. It's confusing. There was kind of a great Darwinian thing that went on in the 80's and 90's, when not every band could afford to record and press an LP and put it out. There was Headbanger's Ball and like 5 magazines and a handful of labels, and that's where you got your music from. And just as it helped the cream rise to the top, it helped weed out a lot of the shit.
MV: Do you prefer Coke or Pepsi? I am more of a Pepsi guy myself.
Well, it used to be Mountain Dew, I drank that shit by the gallon. Somehow I ended up on Pepsi, but now i'm coming up on 30, and suddenly decided I want to see 40, so it's pretty much just water now. I even got myself a water cooler man, it's the way to go. But, on the rare occasion I drink Soda, it's usually Pepsi. At the moment, i'm drinking Dr. Pepper.
MV: When you are considering a new artist for your label, what do you
look for, as if to say, what turns you on or off about a band or
artist?
Honestly, right now our focus has been on bands we have a prior relationship with, like Switched, or guys we have previous relationships with. And, as you probably noticed, a lot of it is guys from other, more established bands, whether it's new projects, or side projects, or whatever. Really as a startup label, it just seemed like the way to go. Breaking baby bands is just a monstrous task, and so financially taxing, that we didn't really think we were ready for it.
Probably sometime next year, when we get through this initial slate of releases, we'll be looking to pick up some more "developing" bands. I've definitely got some things I have my eye on.
MV: What bands on your current roster should we be looking out for in
the near future?
Right now we have some amazing new bands coming out, like Trigger Point and Rikets, which is guys from Switched and Erase The Grey. And then later in the year we are releasing the new Switched album Ghosts in the Machine, which is fucking awesome, and re-releasing their Immortal record Subject to Change with a bunch of bonus materials, extra tracks, etc. Then there's Allele, which is Kelly Hayes from Cold's new band. It's Kelly and some guys that use to be in Otep and some other great bands. Their record Point of Origin comes out in October.
MV: It seems as though CPR has become somewhat of a haven for side
projects. How does that effect your label, and what do we have to look
forward to in terms of fresh new collaborations?
Well, it was never really an intentional thing. We didn't set out to be a "side project" label, or a "guys from other bands" label. Really, it just kind of happened. Again, it's really just guys we are friends with, and people we were around a lot, and had history with, and it works out. And in the end we get to work with some amazingly talented people, and get a chance to put out some things that might really have a chance of making an impact.
We also just did an imprint deal with our friend Tumor, who was the bass player in Snot, and Amen, and is currently the bassist for Lo-Pro. We're putting out some great records together, including KCUF, a side project Tumor did with his friend Crazy White Sean, who is this insane freak show artist from Europe. During the show he hangs himself from meathooks when he sings and cuts himself up and shit, it's pretty intense. The Hell's Angels in Europe call him "Little G.G." (of course in reference to punk legend GG Allin.)
There's a bunch of amazing guys from bigger bands who played on the KCUF record like Shavo from System of a Down, Munky from Korn, and Sid from Slipknot, and Munky actually produced two tracks on it as well. Of course, sometimes that tends to overshadow how real of a project it is, when you have all these super famous guys playing on the record, but I think when people hear it, they will understand it's not really about that. It's just this insane, punk-rock fucking sideshow.
MV: On a more personal note. Looking at you. Well, you're kinda a
scary looking dude. Does this help or hurt your ability to function on
such a professional level in the music industry?
Hahahahaha. I am???.. I dunno man. Honestly, a lot of the most successful people in the record business have always been on the more eccentric side, John Kalodner, David Geffen, Tom Zutaut, Rick Rubin. etc..Those are pretty much the guys who inspired me, and they were all geniuses in their own right. And every one of them just kinda did their own thing.
Admittedly, i'm definitely not a suit and tie kinda dude, and yeah people are sometimes taken aback by my appearance. Amusingly enough, it's more bands who are surprised when they meet me, because with my resume, they expect some 40 year old guy in a suit, and then I roll up and it's like, "what"?.
But usually once I start talking, they realize i'm all business, and after that initial shock, I don't think it really matters. Luckily it's the one business where you can get away with being yourself and still be taken seriously, even if you look like me.
MV: Last but not least. It would be interesting to know what
experiences in your life, both personal and professional led you down
this path. Was it a matter of circumstance, or did you dream of being
a burly, pierced owner of a heavy-hitting indie metal/rock label since
you were first eating peas?
Honestly, until I was about 20, I figured it would be as a musician, but eventually I ended up on this side of the fence. I guess I decided I like money more than chicks. :)
The context of my career, God it feels weird calling it that, was most definitely a matter of circumstance that just evolved through a series of random events. But I always knew someday I'd end up running a label, just never had any idea what, when, or where.
But in all seriousness, as long as I can remember, this is pretty much what I was going to do. There never really was a Plan B. I'm sure it sounds cliched, but when I was 8 years old listening to Motley Crue and Iron Maiden records, I pretty much always knew I would move to LA and be in the music business. There was never really any question. And, 22 years later, here I am.
MV: In closing, I would like to sincerely thank you for taking the
time to share all of this with both myself and our readers. I can only
imagine that there are at least a few other people out there as
excited, if not more so, than myself about the future of CPR.
Thank You.
Feel free to check out Corporate Punishment's website at
http://www.corporatepunishment.com, and open up one of the many cans
of aural whoop-ass that await.
Jay Wollin is the senior music editor for both Lock and Mobile Vixen
magazines as well as a contributing editor for Firescore.com.
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