Adam Duritz wasn’t planning on starting another record label.
The Counting Crows frontman had been down that road before – in 1997, he founded the label E. Pluribus Unum, which was bought by Geffen Records in 2000. Even after discovering two great acts on MySpace, Duritz was still hesitant to start a label to sign the musicians and get them started.
It wasn’t just the stress of starting a new independent label from scratch; it was also the time commitment that such an endeavor requires, something Duritz didn’t know if he had.
But as he continued to listen to the music of Blacktop Mourning and Notar, and seeing Blacktop Mourning perform live, Duritz realized he wanted to help these acts more than he thought and he wanted to be a part of their evolution as artists.
“The talent of Notar and Blacktop Mourning just blew me away and I wanted to be a part of their evolution,” he said.
So Duritz started Tyrannosaurus Records (T-Recs), which will be based out of New York City and distributed by Megaforce Records.
Blacktop Mourning will be the first release of T-Recs, and their debut disc is set to drop on May 15. It wasn’t just Durtiz that gave the Chicago band a career booster; MTV discovered them in 2005 and began to play their songs on their shows.
Blacktop Mourning is a punk-pop band, which Duritz compared to the likes of Green Day. He also contrasted Blacktop Mourning’s guitarist and songwriter, Max Steger, with the songwriting abilities of Billy Joe, Green Day’s frontman.
Duritz said the comparison between the two comes before Green Day’s breakout smash album, Dookie. While it was a great record, Duritz said that Joe had always been writing songs in a tone that was beyond his years. Steger is the same, and is only 18-years-old.
Nonetheless, Duritz said that even though he ended up starting a label for the two acts, he realizes his responsibilities with the band do not end with that.
“I know that when you start a label you’re responsible for the hopes and dreams of the artists you sign and that’s a big deal to me,” he said, adding T-Recs will be signing a limited number of artists so that each artists on the label gets the attention they deserve.
Besides starting a new label to help them out, Duritz also performed vocally on four of the disc’s tracks, and Counting Crows guitarist, David Immergluck, also plays on the album.
Notar, a rapper from Brooklyn, New York, also caught Duritz’s eye. At only 26, Notar not only excels in songwriting capabilities, Duritz said, but he also plays the trumpet and attended the University of Dayton on a music scholarship.
By discovering the acts online, it illustrates the change that has occurred in the music business beyond just being able to download music. The fact that new artists can be discovered on places like MySpace open up more opportunities for more musicians than what existed as early as five or 10 years ago.
Duritz said that while he has some problems with people downloading music, it is also a great way for artists – both new and established – to get their music out, get new fans and a way to interact with the old ones.
The Counting Crows have their own MySpace page, as does Duritz. He also does a blog on his page, which keeps fans up to date. He said the web can be a great way for artists to reach out and branch out. He plans to link both Blacktop Mourning and Notar from his personal MySpace page and the Counting Crows site.
“I hope people listen to my bands,” he said.
Duritz, who toured this past summer on a double bill with the Counting Crows and Goo Goo Dolls, explained how important it is for musicians to be able to put on a good live show that their fans will want to come to over and over again. He used his band as an example.
“We haven’t put out a record in five years, and we had a sell-out summer tour (this past year),” he said, adding that he has seen Blacktop Mourning perform live and they put on a great live show.
Blacktop Mourning’s debut disc, “No Regret,” is set to drop May 15, while Notar’s debut will be hitting stores later in the fall.
