Interview: James Rauh of Transylvanian Recordings

James Rauh of Transylvanian Recordings

In 2011, Transylvanian Recordings formed as a cassette imprint by musician James Rauh. The label was initially created to release music by himself and his closest allies, and that mission continues. Rauh’s own bands like Evulse, Swamp Witch, and Caffa have all released killer cassettes. But the label has exploded over the past two years. During the pandemic, tapeheads eagerly awaited announcements for which rancid tunes would be unleashed by Transylvanian each month. There’s a reason the label’s motto is “the darkest waves in the bay.” Based in Oakland, Rauh has curated a catalogue of jams that span the whole spectrum of heaviness. This piece will be peppered with embedded albums of some of my favorite Transylvanian releases, but that’s just a drop in the blood-bucket. Despite the striking increase in the label’s release schedule, Rauh still maintains a “DIY ’til I die” dedication to the label’s roots.

The future is bright for Transylvanian, who has recently replaced the “Tapes” in the label’s name with “Recordings.” With the label’s first vinyl release on the way a decade into the label’s journey, success didn’t strike overnight. It has required discipline, dedication, and word-of-mouth promotion from bands and fans drawn to the label’s grimy tastes and sense of integrity. Rauh was kind enough to chat with Decibel about Transylvanian before they release another wave of harsh jams this Friday, May 7th.

Scroll below to read Rauh’s thoughts on labels, the DIY ethos, and what makes Transylvanianan distinct in a cluttered field.

When did you start Transylvanian, and what was the catalyst for that decision?

James Rauh: I started the Transylvanian imprint back in 2011, and my goal was to put out my friends’ bands and my own bands. I don’t like asking people for help or handouts, so I figured I would just do it all myself. A decade later and I am still staying true to my roots.

While a lot of other labels slowed production during the pandemic, you ramped up your releases big-time in 2020 and haven’t hit the brakes since. What was your reasoning for that change?

JR: Honestly, I just said fuck it, I am tired of watching all of these brand new labels popping up and acting like they are kings of this shit. I wanted to throw my weight around as well. It seemed like there wasn’t shit else to do and since we are all cooped up, this seemed like the best time to really start pumping out music. This is the entertainment industry, so you want to be able to put stuff out that will help people escape whatever chaos and struggle they have going on in their life, and allow them to zone out. That is what I use music for; it is very therapeutic and cathartic for me, and I think that is the same for a lot of people. So I was like, let’s go all-out here and try to make everything free so folks can just enjoy the music and have something to look forward to in this weird time of existence. I think the ultimate goal with a label, at least for me, is to get people listening to the bands I am pushing, I don’t really care about making a couple bucks off digital or whatever; think it is much more important to have someone give the time of their day or night to listen to the music. Within 6 months in 2020, I put out more releases than I had the previous 3-4 years. You never know what you can do unless you try it out. You gotta see if you are going to sink or swim. So I wanted to see if this was something that I can do full-time, and it seems like it might actually be something I can make a reality. Now I am not recommending this approach to everybody, because the moves I make are calculated. I have a lot less to lose compared to some people, because I’ve already hit rock-bottom, so just being alive and having a roof over my head is more than enough to make me content.

Transylvanian focused on local and regional talent for many years, but has started to incorporate more international artists. Was that a goal for you the past few years?

JR: Yeah, for sure. I definitely think it is super important to make a positive difference and to help elevate the artists in your local community more than it is to worry about people in other areas. That is not a knock to folks outside of where I reside, it just feels more rewarding to rise together with folks; not everything has to be a competition. I’m not sure exactly how many international artists I’ve worked with at this point, but I know that I have connected with every single release I have put out on some level. A big goal of mine has been to find some sort of International Distribution for my releases, but since I don’t have a distro it is pretty hard to make it a reality. There’s the age-old adage of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours, but that is just not what I want to do with the label. I don’t want to sell things that I don’t personally love, so i don’t do trades or stuff like that because it is just impersonal.

I figured by branching out to international artists I would be able to help spread the word for these bands here in America and on the platform that I have cultivated over the years. At the same time, each of these bands would hopefully have something positive to say about our working relationship in their respective areas. I am still super selective of what I will cosign or release. But now I know that I can genuinely help out a band that may have only been released in one region to be heard by a larger and hungrier audience, and I think that is pretty amazing. I have a couple international releases coming up that I am doing that I am excited about. My own bands are still somewhat active, so I see each as a possibility like, “Hey, I’ve put out two killer bands from Japan in Oozepus and Kruelty. So shit, if I can make it out to Japan sometime maybe I could play a show with them or maybe they can show me around or something?” Just like decent human things.

Same for bands I release in Australia. I went to Australia and got to hang out with the folks in the bands, and if they find themselves out my way I will do the same for them. It’s about establishing connections and friendships. There’s a Funeral Doom band from Mexico called Abyssal that I worked with, and they had been buying tapes from me for a while. They came out here on tour and I got them a show and took them all out for a meal and just tried to help them out on their journey. I would love to tour Mexico, and they have said they would be down to set something up to make that happen. Those are the kind of connections I really appreciate. I am not just cherry picking bands that I think might sell well that I know fuck-all about and are created by folks I don’t like. The humanity behind the music is also very important to me as a person.

Some people inherently distrust labels and think of them as predatory entities looking to gnaw profit away from hard-working artists. What have you done to dismiss that perception with Transylvanian?

JR: I understand that to a certain extent, but I think if you think like that and you play underground music you are delusional. There’s no real money being made doing a label. Usually a best-case scenario which in of itself is pretty rare is breaking even on a release. If I tried to think about how much money I have spent running this label and compared it to what I have, eesh… let’s just say I don’t want to think about that. I don’t really work with people I don’t know on a personal basis, so I am pretty upfront about everything with bands. If someone thinks I’m gonna rip them off, they can go fuck themselves. I will gladly point them in the direction to put their own music out; it’ll save me time, effort, energy and headache. It’s a hell of a lot easier for me to purchase a single copy of something than it is to buy hundreds. I tell all of the bands I work with to retain the rights to their music and that I won’t ever repress their music without their consent. I’ve seen bands getting chewed up and eaten alive by greedy parasitic labels and that is not the space I am trying to occupy. I try to offer advice to bands to help them out and just be real with them. I offer a bigger physical merch percentage than any other label I know of because, 1) I am dumb, and 2) I genuinely want to help bands. Being nice has only bit me in the ass once or twice because I am super selective of who I let in and who I will work with.

I regularly see up and coming bands so hyper-focused on their own promotion that they neglect to lift other artists around them. Do you encourage bands to focus on community-building, since the label is such a supportive platform for other artists?

JR: Hell yeah, it is super important to try and elevate those around you so you can all rise together. More than in Metal and Punk, that is a huge inspiration and take away that I have absorbed from Rap. You have to build up the next wave of folks, that way you all win and it is not as lonely at the top. But let’s be honest, we’re all just a bunch of miscreants and outcasts that “normal” people look down on. So alienating people around you is counterproductive and lame. If you can’t champion others, why should anyone do the same for you? I not only encourage the bands to support each other, but I will directly put bands in contact with one another. If someone is going to go on tour and hit a certain area where I know some folks in bands that I have worked with on the label or that I have interacted with in general, I will try to hook those folks up with one another. You have to do that sort of stuff. I’m not saying you have to work with every single band out there, but you should at least know whose who and try to help each other out that are on a mutual playing field or level. That is not to say play with every single shitty local band. But if some national touring act is coming through and looking to play your town, it would be in your best interest to play that show if you dig their music and maybe one day if you are in that bands hometown you can hit them up to support your band. It is the underground, and we are all in this together. Support and respect go a long way.

Now that the music industry massively favors digital streaming, is it becoming more difficult to break even or profit with a small DIY label?

JR: I’ve never really relied on digital streaming being something that made any money. I grew up pirating, and like I mentioned before, I think people listening in general is more important than trying to make a few bucks here and there. So in that regard the move to digital is great for people being able to listen on the go. I know that what I do is for an diehard audience that wants to own something tangible. But the goal is just to get folks listening. However they choose to do so is totally up to them.

You have mentioned that the label is “one of the least stressful things going on in [your] life.” But what are some of the recurring challenges you face running a label?

JR: I am a hard and hot-headed bastard, so one of the most difficult things for me to try and deal with is probably just the different personalities. Some shit just doesn’t sit right with me and I hate texting and having to be on a phone, so the correspondence sometimes is laborious. A lot of times I just have to put my phone down and walk away so I don’t say something that fucks up all the effort I already expelled. Working with new bands that think they have the world figured out and just knuckleheads in general tests my patience more than anything else. But I’ve already dealt with anger management in my adolescence so I am somewhat prepared for these obstacles. But it’s not like it happens that often; for the most part everyone I have worked with has been a breeze and been super easy to work with.

Do you ever temperature-check extreme music for which genres are selling best before you invest in releasing music?

JR: I don’t even know what that means. I just put out stuff that I like; I don’t care so much for what’s hot and what’s not. Sometimes stuff does well, and sometimes it takes a little longer to get rid of things. But I do small enough runs that if something isn’t doing super well, I will just eat the cost and throw it in with orders that people pick up from similar artists and usually those folks will be stoked on getting free music and be more open to giving that release their time. If I were to seek out stuff that might sell well, that would detract from the integrity of what I am doing. I’ve carefully curated the label thus far, and I’d like my imprint to be a stamp of approval for folks that can trust what I put out is going to be at least worth listening to. A lot of times these hyped labels putting out whatever is hot at the moment fall into obscurity because trends come and go and oversaturation of the same shit is boring. All of those fair-weather fans will just move on to whatever is cool next. That is not my target audience, and I am not interested in attracting them. If someone likes something I do, great, but I am not gonna be like, “Hey I saw you bought this one release, how would you like 15 more clones of this to go along with that?” There’s no way to know what is going to sell well and what is not. For me, a lot of times something that I think is going to be a home run might be a ground rule double, and then something that I think might be bunt ends up being a grand slam. It is hard to predict what is going to resonate with people and that in itself is exciting to see play out.

You tend to release albums without the usual pre-order and early-premiere publicity cycle adopted by a lot of other labels. Have you noticed that the anticipation of your unannounced releases makes up for the month or more of promotional teasing?

JR: That is hard to say. I don’t do that stuff because I’ve been ripped off by press people before. It seems like a waste of time and like flying a sign or digital spanging (spare change signs on the side of the road for you oog free individuals), and if I were to factor that into the money I am already investing to do tapes there would be absolutely no way for me to break even. Right now I have to sell pretty much every copy of a release I do to try and break even because of the absorbent cost of production. If I had to add an extra 200 bucks per release to try and get so-called journalists to copy/paste what I send them in an email to lazily post on their website I would lose way too much money and probably have to close shop altogether. For me, being consistent for so long has helped create a loyal following and those folks make it possible for me to unload several releases at a time.

I’m experimenting more this year with stuff that I have never done before just to see how it goes, but I don’t know if it’ll be something I stick with. For instance, I am doing a release for a band from Japan called Kruelty but I am not posting the music online to try and encourage folks to purchase the tape to play it on their own. I am also working with a band called Kosmodemonic that is rolling out PR and doing track premieres. I am not totally opposed to the idea, but I just know that if I had to pay for it myself, I wouldn’t be able to keep the momentum moving forward that I have going, and no single release in my opinion is worth jeopardizing everything I have worked for. There are always other bands out there that I could spend my time working with. Fortunately for a band like Kosmodemonic, they understand how the underground works and they know that if they want to see their name in fancy publications it is worth them coming together to pay for a PR campaign to help elevate their band. Not every band is sharp enough to realize that you have to invest in yourself if you want to get anywhere. Just because you get on a label it doesn’t really mean jack shit, you have to hustle to get where you want to be. So having the opportunity to work with a band like that it is just super refreshing and rewarding because this is often a thankless job that naïve individuals take for granted.

Q: In other interviews you mentioned starting the label to release your own music. Do you think encouraging DIY autonomy for the bands jeopardizes the label in any way?

JR: Not necessarily. I think if you have the means to do it on your own, why not. Go for it. But what I will say is that I have seen a lot of labels with much deeper pockets than mine come out and spend a lot of money on fancy releases for bands that don’t deserve that treatment that have all went belly up. Anyone with money can pay a pressing plant to put something out for them. But once they have the title, if they don’t have a distribution network set up they are doomed to fail because how the fuck are you planning on getting rid of those now that you have them? If a band thinks it is easy to self-release, more power to them, go for it. But I think if you do it you are going to find out that this is not a glamorous job, and that you will have rather saved yourself some headache and let someone else do it for you. I don’t pay myself, I don’t make money, and I easily spend 20-30 hours a week just packing orders and talking to people in bands behind the scenes. So if some band wants to do that on their own, total support.

What other labels or bands were your biggest inspirations when you first started?

JR: For tape labels I really dug on Eternal Warfare, Woodsmoke, and Crepusculo Negro. All three of these labels were putting out some pretty incredible albums that are worth listening to. It is also 3 labels ran by 3 guys in super sick bands that I respect a lot. I think there is something special about labels and promoters that are curated by folks in bands because they tend to care a bit more about what they are presenting, as opposed to some folks and labels that are just outsiders that haven’t been in a band that don’t have the same sort of respectable filter. To me, I don’t really care if a band is made of studio wizards that can put together an amazing record. I think it is much more important to find a band that is actually good in and out of the studio. I want that sort of authenticity to be present in bands I give my time and money to.

For record labels, I dug on Enemies List. I tried to get one of my bands on that label back in the day, and it seemed like it might happen. But then the label stopped, so I ended up putting out our release on my own. It honestly just felt pathetic writing some random dude online and essentially begging them to put my music out. It is just a feeling I don’t really like. I definitely dug on Southern Lord, they put out a ton of incredible releases. I dug what The Flenser was doing, I got to be one of their first releases on the label, so I got to see their journey through music and got to pick their brain from the beginning. Coincidentally enough, years later Flenser basically swallowed Enemies List and has kept all of those titles in circulation and done quite well with those releases.

Probably for as long as I have been obsessed with metal I have been heavy into electronica, so I spent an ungodly amount of time back in the day browsing bleep.com, and I really dug the Benbecula imprint. Still to this day, if I put on their compilation Music Volume 1 & 2, I’ll smile listening to it. Actually, I am going to put it on now to be the soundtrack to this interview. It is probably one of my favorite collections of sound or at least one of my most listened to. On the subject of electronic-based music, I worshiped WARP Records; Aphex Twin was/is one of my favorite artists. I loved everything I could get my hands on from Richard D. James, so when I did my research on him and his label I found so much killer music. The music video compilation with Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, and Chris Cunningham definitely opened my eyes to a lot more from that camp. Major label imprints like Immortal and Capitol Records released music that I was addicted to. I could go on and on about record labels that inspired me or helped shape my journey, but I don’t want to take up too much time here. Let’s just say that music has and will always be one of the few things that bring me joy and comfort in this world, and I have dedicated a majority of my existence to consuming it.

I certainly dig DIY underground ethics and values, but at the end of the day good music is good music and that is what I am after. The label attached to it is secondary in my opinion.

What are your goals for Transylvanian for the rest of 2021 and beyond?

JR: GLOBAL DOMINATION! No but seriously, I am going to continue to stay true to my original vision putting out bands I believe in and am friends with. After a decade of doing this, I’ve finally landed some International Distribution so I am looking forward to spreading my tentacles further. I’ve got a lot planned on the way that I am excited about; people are just gonna have to follow me online to see what is in store. You can follow or subscribe to my network on Bandcamp for monthly newsletters that I send out and you can follow me for more active updates on Instagram @ TransylvanianRecordings or on Facebook @ TransylvanianRecordings

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