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My name is Peter Menchetti, my father is from New York, my mother from Italy. I was born in New York and later moved to Nevada. Then to Italy, to Amsterdam, to Spain, and back to Amsterdam.
How did I get into music? I think when I was about five, I saw KISS on television, and I liked them at first because of the costumes, the fire, and the blood-spitting. I was probably conceived when KISS had their first concert, which I believe was in 1973. I was born in February 1974. I liked the music; I still enjoy their early records. From there, it went on to RAMONES and IRON MAIDEN, then to CIRCLE JERKS, MEGADETH, BAD BRAINS... Metal and punk.
How did you get to what you do today?
When I lived in Nevada, we had a basement where bands performed from all over. We held these basement concerts twice a week for five years. I also started a sticker printing business to finance myself, as we ultimately lose money with the label.
For many music lovers, it seems natural to start a band themselves. How did you come to enable others to make concerts and records?
Unlike spoiled Berlin, where there are at least ten cool clubs and at least three cool concerts every night, there is nothing in Reno, Nevada. If my friends and I hadn't done it, there would have been nothing at all. So it was out of necessity to see bands play.
Did you start your label SLOVENLY RECORDINGS around the same time?
First, I founded a label called 702 RECORDS in 1994, a year after the basement concerts began. A band played, I liked them, and they played me recordings. We wanted to release them, and that's how we started a record label. That's how it began. Eight years later, in 2002, I decided to create a new label with SLOVENLY RECORDINGS that had a more unified sound and higher aspirations.
How would you describe that sound?
Oh fuck...
I have listened to some things, but what are the criteria for releasing a band?
Well, first of all, it's a punk label. Some of it is more garage rock, some more psychedelic punk, some more punk rock 'n' roll, we even have hardcore punk. Each of our bands should have their own sound. Of course, no band invents everything 100% anew; everyone is influenced by someone else. But we do look for bands that have something unique. And we like it a bit bizarre, so it stands out from the rest.
Do you think you can set a trend with your label in the sense that the sound becomes popular and influences more people?
We would certainly wish for that because we want to remain underground, but we want to be known within it. The underground has good taste in music.
Would you like to establish yourselves as a specific genre of underground music? So that people hear something and say: That band could appear on SLOVENLY.
More the other way around. One should read "SLOVENLY" on a record and know that it must be good. You might guess the attitude towards music, but it shouldn't necessarily sound the same.
That's why I started a new label; with 702 RECORDS, I basically released records from friends. And these were quite different; there were metal and hardcore bands, we had a rockabilly and a pop-punk band. You couldn't just pick a record from 702 RECORDS and assume you would like it. Therefore, we are more focused on commonalities in sound with SLOVENLY. Ideally, if you like the music, you can find more things you like on other records of ours.
You have bands from many different countries; does that relate to your love of travel and living in many different places, making you a bit of an "International Animal"?
I have been living in Europe for fourteen years now, so I see most bands here. I would love to have bands from every continent, as long as they are good. I have seen good bands there, but none that fit Slovenly.
You also have bands that sing in different languages.
Yes, we encourage them to sing in their mother tongue. The Spaniards usually do that anyway, but we always tell our friends from Italy, the Netherlands, France, etc.: Come on, at least make a few songs in your language! Most of the time, they ignore me because they think rock 'n' roll has to be in English. Which is, of course, total nonsense. In any case, we started with a sub-label, a special subcategory of records where bands only sing in their mother tongue (except English). The series is called "Mondo Mongo," and the first band is a Berlin band named PUFF.
What usually happens from the first encounter with a band to the finished released record?
That can happen in different ways. If I see a concert that I like, I say, good performance, do you have recordings? I then send those to Joe, the manager of the label, and if he likes them too, we send the band our contract. We have a standard contract that is the same for all bands. Then the band sends us the record cover and sets the order of the songs. We then say how we like it, and if there are differing opinions, the band can do what they want – we don't want to interfere with their artistic vision.
This applies to the graphic design and also to the order. Often, bands listen to their own songs hundreds of times and are no longer able to arrange them in a meaningful order. Or they need help from someone who has a virgin ear in this regard. Once we are done with such things, the recordings are mastered. Then we make a test pressing. We start promoting the release, sending it to the press and radio stations, which nowadays happens digitally via a download. When the edition is ready, we send it to wholesalers and to specific stores we know. Additionally, they can be purchased on our website.
Does it also happen that bands haven't recorded anything yet, and you support them at this stage?
That happens too, but today, where you can record everything cheaply in your own bedroom with a computer, most have at least a demo recording. There have been times when I saw a band play, they then sent me their recordings, and while they were good, I thought: That could be better. Because the concert was better. In that case, I help the band find a better studio.
Do you then go yourself to motivate the band to capture the energy of their live performance in the recordings?
No, I have never done that. I don't know anything about that stuff.
No drugs or kick in the ass to motivate them?
No. Maybe Tim Warren does that. At least I can imagine that. Maybe I should do that; after all, he has the best label of all time (Note from the editor: Crypt Records). Maybe I should start doing that too.
You mentioned your partner Joe, the manager of the label?
Yes, he is in the USA. Part of the label is always in the USA.
How do you divide the work? Does each of you do the same on your respective continent?
No. He takes care of the manufacturing process; from pressing to delivering a product, there is a lot of logistics. He also has his own subcategory of records and looks for bands – the series is called "Black Gladiator." We discuss song orders, release strategies, those kinds of things together.
Is there a connected scene that plays, listens to, and collaborates on your kind of music?
There is a huge worldwide underground of music enthusiasts. Wherever I go, I find at least a small circle of friends who are into our kind of music.
Today, it is easier to find them because, thanks to the internet, you know a contact person, and that person is then in contact with someone else, and that already forms a scene. For example, if I look on Facebook, I might find that one guy in Poland who is into this kind of music and discover that we have 35 mutual friends.
You said you live off your sticker label. Does it make you more independent in what you can do with SLOVENLY RECORDINGS because you don't have to obey economic constraints?
Definitely. We don't release anything we don't love.
For example: Right now, psych is the big thing. While I like psychedelic music, I don't like boring shoegaze-stoner-jam-session-type psych. That's in right now, but we don't release that kind of stuff because it doesn't suit us. We could have sold high editions by not rejecting certain bands that are now skyrocketing. But it doesn't fit our label.
You offer vinyl, CDs, and downloads?
Yes, we have also made cassettes. CDs are selling less and less, so it seems increasingly pointless to produce them. Maybe we will stop doing that altogether and just make cassettes with download codes instead. CDs are now only good for radio stations because they don't play cassettes.
What do you think about the general free availability of music on the internet, whether legally or illegally? What is better about a SLOVENLY record than getting music for free?
I think that has nothing to do with Slovenly but rather that a record is simply an unbeatable format – whether as an LP or a 7”. We also try to make nice CDs with fold-out digipaks, but for me, there is nothing better than vinyl. Most people who are really into music, including most punk rockers, have record collections.
When I go into a record store, it becomes harder to find CDs, and even harder to sell CDs. Vinyl has never disappeared. We have been doing label work since 1994 and have always released everything as records. There may have been two compilations that we only released on CD.
Can you recommend some interesting bands from your label to our readers?
Some of the new releases are from STALINS OF SOUND, PYPY from Montreal, SULTAN BATHERY from Italy, and this summer five singles are coming out: from THE ANOMALYS from Amsterdam, PUFF! from Berlin, USELESS EATERS from Tennessee, THEE MVPS from the United Kingdom, and ACID BABY JESUS from Greece.
Thank you very much!
