LimeWire Music Blog

You may know Western Vinyl best as the label that gave Dirty Projectors their start, or more recently, the home of Luke Temple’s band Here We Go Magic, but the Austin-based label that Brian Sampson and Ryan Murphy founded in 1998 has spent the last decade quietly amassing a treasure trove of captivating sounds, from the artful chamber pop of Salim Nourallah to the solo work of Fleet Foxes drummer/singer J. Tillman to the electro-acoustic ambient music of Bexar Bexar, Sampson’s working alias, who modestly avoided mentioning his own project when we pulled him away from his busy schedule to talk about his continuing adventures in the world of Western Vinyl as they begin their second decade.

LWMB: What was your involvement in music before starting Western Vinyl?

Brian Sampson: I was a music fan/consumer. I dabbled in home recording with Ryan Murphy, the guy I started the label with.

What prompted you to start the label?

Ryan Murphy had a few solo songs we wanted to release under the name Havergal. That was WEST001, a 7″ with the tracks “Crowd” and “Grant’s Pass.”

The artists on the label are stylistically quite varied. Is there any quality that you think they all share?

Sincerity, soulfulness, creativity, uniqueness, and innovation are consistent qualities among many of the releases. These are qualities that attracted me to artists like Dirty Projectors, Callers, Balmorhea, and Glass Ghost, among others. These days I also like to see that the artist is a self-motivated hard worker with realistic goals.

What is the Portrait Series?

The Portrait Series started about 10 years ago. Artists participating in the series present at least one image (photo, painting, drawing, etc.) along with two or more songs about, inspired by, or from the point of view of the subject. Some amazing artists have participated so far, including Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Papa M, Tren Brothers (Mick Turner and Jim White from Dirty Three), Robert Lippok (of To Rococo Rot), Pierre Bastien, Tetuzi Akiyama, and Oren Ambarchi. Formats have included 7″, 10″, 12″, CD, and CD-ROM.

How literally do you take the label’s name — what are your thoughts about the continuing viability of vinyl?

These days I don’t take the name literally at all. I think vinyl is a very viable physical format, particularly in the face of the increasing irrelevance of CDs. Our vinyl sales have increased dramatically this year, and I expect this trend will continue.

What’s your philosophy toward the digital music market vs. physical releases?

I’m grateful for all of the people who’ve supported our releases by purchasing a digital copy rather than taking the illegal download route. I think a significant portion of our audience has shifted from physical to digital purchases. Obviously the digital consumer has a larger number of choices: single song, full album, downloads, streaming, etc., all of which lower their risk when making a purchase. The greater flexibility of the digital formats has definitely broadened our customer base.

What are the most significant changes you’ve experienced since starting WV?

My relationship with IODA for digital distro, and relationships with places like p*dis in Japan and Cargo UK for international distribution of physical products have helped me reach a broader audience outside of the U.S. The revenue from outlets like these has helped keep the label afloat. In the past couple of years most of the projects have been breaking even, which has allowed me to run the label full-time.

What has surprised you most so far in your experiences with the label?

It is actually a little surprising that Salim Nourallah decided to focus on recording and producing other bands — the most famous being Old 97’s and Rhett Miller — rather than his own music. [Nourallah's album] Beautiful Noise…that’s a really strong release that almost no one heard.

If you could have anything, what would you want for Western Vinyl?

I’d like the label to continue to grow, ideally hiring two or three people to help with some of the day-to-day activities like accounting, shipping, graphic design, in-house PR work, etc., allowing me to focus more on A&R and project management.

What have you got coming up that you’re most excited about?

This month we’re releasing Glass Ghost’s debut, Idol Omen, featuring contributions from Luke Temple and Michael Bloch of Here We Go Magic. Next month we’ll have the debut by the Denton, TX, group Sleep Whale and the sophomore release by David Wingo’s project Ola Podrida. All three of these are exceptional. We’ll start off 2010 with releases by the Brooklyn band Slow Six and Balmorhea.