Label Profile: Peek-A-Boo Records

Now on its twelfth year since beginning here in Austin, Peek-A-Boo Records has established itself as a cornerstone of local indie labels. Behind the efforts of Travis Hidgon, the label is currently home to Austin standouts like the Octopus Project and Peel, and over the years has helped launch bands such as Knife in the Water and Silver Scooter, as well as a little band called Spoon. With the Octopus Project’s upcoming album slated for release October 9 and already garnering a great deal of attention, Peek-A-Boo’s future looks as bright as ever. You can find out more information on the label from their website or on their Myspace.

Label Profile: Peek-A-Boo Records

Year Formed:

1995

Present Artists (*Texas artist):

Peek-A-Boo Records has always worked exclusively with artists from Texas. The current active roster includes:

The Octopus Project*
Peel*
Palaxy Tracks*

Past Artists (*Texas artist):

Spoon*
Black Lipstick*
Knife in the Water*
Super XX Man*
Silver Scooter*
The Prima Donnas*
Drake Tungsten (aka Britt Daniel)*
The Kiss Offs*
Junior Varsity*
The 1-4-5s*
Teen Titans*
...and many others you've probably never heard of.

Recent Releases (Over the past year):

I released Peel's self-titled album in April, which -- in addition to being included on your awesome Austin Sound MP3 mix -- was just featured on NPR's "All Songs Considered" last week! In January I released the label's first digital-only album, Palaxy Tracks "Twelve Rooms Special Edition," which is a re-release of Palaxy Tracks amazing 2005 album "Twelve Rooms" with nine bonus tracks.

Upcoming Releases:

The Octopus Project's third proper album, Hello, Avalanche, is slated for release in October. That will be available on both LP and CD, and the CD is packaged in a digipak with a pull-out poster. This is a very exciting record. It's the band's best yet, and there's a surprise ending... kind of like "The Sixth Sense." M. Night Shamalan co-produced it. I'm also hoping to release a digital EP for Peel later this year.

What was your impetus for starting the label:

I originally just wanted to put out a 7" for the crappy garage rock band I was in at the time. I didn't think anyone else would put it out, so Peek-A-Boo Records was born. I never intended to release anything else, but that record was surprisingly successful, so I decided to use the profits to put out another 7" for my friends' band and it just carried on from there. So, the label started rather selfishly with a vanity release, but in the years since my drive has been to get the music I hear and love in Austin elevated to a national or international level.

What would you describe as the label's general aesthetic:

If you flip through the Peek-A-Boo Records catalog, you'll find an eclectic mix of rock, pop, garage and a few wild cards. I like music that is a little rough around the edges. I believe in heart over proficiency, soul over talent. That's not to say the artists I support aren't talented or skilled musicians. They just don't let that get in the way of making music. And they're all good people. My requirements for working with artists are: great music, no attitude.

Peek-A-Boo has been a fixture in Austin for over ten years now, so how have you seen the music scene change over that time, and how has the label changed as well?

In the mid-1990s, Austin's music scene seemed very small and very divided musically. When you went to shows, you would always see the same people. Garage-punk was huge, as was alt/space rock, and each had a thriving scene that did not mix or mingle. I liked both, although I leaned more to the garage rock and would tune in weekly to Scott Gardener's "Stronger Than Dirt" radio show on KOOP, although then it was simply called "the Garage Show." Austin had a ton of amazing punk bands back then like the Inhalants, Motards and Cryin' Out Louds. My friends and I would go to all the shows and parties where the punk bands were playing, but we were kind of a joke to them - just some annoying suburban college kids who "didn't know what punk was really about."

Opposite that was the "alternative" rock scene, with bands like Sixteen Deluxe, Sincola and Spoon. Some of my fondest memories of the late nineties include many drunken nights seeing Spoon on the tiny front stage at the Hole in the Wall when Britt was still playing his acoustic-electric and everyone thought Telefono was going to be HUGE. Somewhere in between the punk and the pop was also a darker, art-damaged, avante punk scene with bands like Glorium. I paid no attention to the singer/songwriter scene. I still don't.

After awhile, alternative gave way to indie and punk just got too stoopid and aggro for me. I don't really try to meet people when I go out, so I am not really aware of scenes anymore. I just go to the shows that interest me and check out the music.

I think the main thing I've noticed in comparing the music scene today to that of 10 years ago is how the Internet has changed it. Back then you found out about bands by word of mouth, reading fanzines or going out and seeing the bands yourself at shows and parties. Scenes existed because they had to -- bands had to form networks to get shows and to get people out to shows. There was no way for anyone to hear your music without buying a record or coming to a show.

Now, a band doesn't even have to really exist - a couple of friends can record four songs and make a MySpace page and have 100 people listen to it before they even consider playing a show, and they can network with each other online and form these random disparate connections without ever meeting until they maybe share a stage one night. And one result of this is that it seems to me that bands are not as interested in forming real local networks -- they immediately want to go national and reach as many people as possible. I'm not saying that's good or bad, it's just different. I love being able to check out bands on MySpace. I think there can be some gross side effects, though, where bands are more competitive with each other locally rather than forming a local community and helping each other.

How do you view the label in relation to Austin's overall music scene:

I honestly don't know how Peek-A-Boo Records fits in with everything else that's going on in Austin. There are so many independent labels these days it's hard for me to even keep track of them all, which is great. Austin has a thriving music community, and Peek-A-Boo Records is just one little slice of it.

You also went with the Octopus Project to Taiwan this past spring. We have to ask how that trip was, and what was the strangest experience y'all had while there?

It was such a fast trip that we really didn't get to experience Taiwanese culture as I had hoped. It took over 24 hours to get to our final destination, which was very remote, and we were only there for a few days before it was time to leave. I'd have to say the strangest thing about it was the location. The music festival was hosted at this bizarre American West-themed "resort," with chuck wagons, hay bails, a mechanical bull and the whole bit. We stayed in fake log cabins and they had a sad deer pen with some mangy-looking deer. The food they served us was their interpretation of American food. We never really had much opportunity to mingle with locals or try authentic Taiwanese meals. But The Octopus Project played on a ginormous stage in front of a huge, enthusiastic crowd, so that was neat.

Given infinite resources, what major band would y'all most like to have on the label:

My goal with Peek-A-Boo Records has always been to elevate local bands, so I've never had any pie-in-the-sky dreams of releasing Slanted & Enchanted or anything like that, but there are many Texas bands I would have enjoyed working with or working more with, Spoon being the biggest example, but Spoon was doing fine for themselves right from the start. I'd say my real ambition, given infinite resources, would have been to document more of the local bands I've loved over the years that broke up without ever having the opportunity to release a record.

What do you feel are the most important elements for success of an indie label:

Persistence, perseverance, efficiency, and a good line of credit.

What have been your most gratifying and most difficult moments in running the label:

It's gratifying seeing Peek-A-Boo bands succeed. Sending some of the earlier bands like Silver Scooter and Junior Varsity off to Japan on tour, when The Octopus Project was picked to play Coachella last year or when they swept the Austin Music Awards this year, touring Europe with Black Lipstick... those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.

What are your thoughts on the current state of the record industry, especially in relation to new technology:

I think record labels are slowly (or quickly) becoming obsolete. Labels make all of their money off selling records, and as the physical medium becomes obsolete, the potential profit for labels dwindles, thus making the business model less viable, unless they start taking a cut of a musician's live performances, which would be a bad deal for musicians. The internet is providing artists with more opportunities to directly promote themselves and sell their own music without the help of a label. I don't really think labels will go away. Artists will still need financial help to cover recording costs and promotion, but once they start bringing in a little steady income through download sales and performances, the functions a label currently provides could be done by a good manager. Artists will have more options and will not be so beholden to record labels.

Other than the label's bands, what's playing at Peek-A-Boo headquarters these days:

I don't really keep up with all the new music that's out there, but I think my favorite band right now is The Reigning Sound from Memphis.

Websites:
www.peekaboorecords.com
Myspace