Ryan Immegart of Volcom Entertainment
Posted 07/01/2005 01:14PM by Kazy as Interview
Ryan, let’s be honest. You wanted to start up Volcom Entertainment in order to get distribution for theLINE’s “self tiltled” album, right?
Of course...I used to snowboard for Volcom Clothing professionally and had some money coming to me for photo incentive for some shoots I got published. At the same time that was happening I was becoming more and more serious about theLINE and pursuing a career in the music industry. When it came time to collect the cash I went to the president of Volcom and now the president of Volcom Entertainment and pitched the idea of using my photo incentive money to record a record with my band theLINE. He had always had the idea in the back of his mind and I guess I just gave him an opportunity to make it happen. It was the best day of my life when he said yes and changed the course of life forever…
It was able to sell over 7000 units in boardshops alone. The album was very amazing. It burned a whole in my CD player back in ‘96. Besides the success theLINE had, was there ever a point where you were scared the whole Volcom Entertainment idea might flop?
The whole band was at Volcom just dialing the accounts and pitching them on it, the Surf, Skate and Snow retailers where a lot less savvy in those days and where willing to buy anything with Volcom on it (not to say the retailers were dumb or uneducated, they where just willing to take more chances, carry more inventory and try new things). Could have been watches, shoes, surfboards, anything we just happen to be selling them music which complimented everything the s,s,s industry stood for. With any new business venture you always have a fear of failing at some point in your journey. I never had that feeling till we lost our deal with Universal and where trying to restructure the business. Looking back, MCA going under and us getting out of our deal with Universal was the best thing that ever happen to us. I do not regret doing a label deal with MCA as I meet a lot of get people and learned a hell of a lot about the music industry in the process. Just so glad that they folded and we got out after seeing it “from the other side” so to speak.
It’s been about 4 years since we heard a new album from theLINE. Is there anything in the works?
We just recorded out first new song since “Monsters We Breed” about a month ago and it can be heard on the new Volcom Ent. Comp “The Only Constant is Change”. Our other guitar player besides myself now plays full time for Guttermouth so getting us all together in the studio is not easy. We also have our rendition of Sublime’s “Pool Shark” that will be out on a Sublime Tribute record sometime in winter. But to answer your question we are working on a new record and are hoping to finish the recording by the end of the year and release sometime in early 05.
Volcom Entertainment encourages bands to send in demos. How many would you say you receive a day? How many do you personally listen to? And have you ever signed a bands that you were introduced to through a mailed in demo?
Demo’s a day… I would say about 5-10 min a day sometimes more. We listen to them all, kind of like an end of the day ritual for Mike (my partner) and I, we pop them in one by one and if the first 3 songs don’t grab us it goes on the rack of shame (which is quit full). We listen not only for pure entertainment value but every once in a while you find something you like that just comes out of nowhere, like Single Frame… They sent in their demo, we loved it and did a deal. In any case we encourage aspiring artist to keep recording music no matter if a label thinks it sucks, I always tell bands that there are a million shitty ass bands making it and a million more that are brilliant that will never be heard, just depends on how bad you want it.
The marked theme for Volcom Entertainment is “Youth against establishment”. Could you explain how that theme relates to the artist, athletes and clothing sponsored by Volcom?
That was a termed backed by Volcom Clothing back in 1991 and is backed just as hard today. Even though Volcom Clothing has become very big and successful in the eyes of many, they continue to support divisions like Volcom Entertainment that are a huge financial risk no matter how you toss it. Volcom and Volcom Entertainment have always done what we wanted to do, not thinking about what will “sell” or make everyone rich, just about what we liked and thought was good, if people liked it and attached on to it even better. That’s why today we put out records we like, maybe some of them are not the biggest selling bands in the industry, we don’t care because we like it and it stands for everything that Volcom, Volcom Entertainment, theLINE, myself, the staff and fans believe, “the true meaning of punk, something that is radical and unorthodox”.
The Volcom Stage has been a mainstay on the Warped Tour for six years now. As the years have gone on Warped Tour has gained a large amount of corporate sponsorship. Will there come a time when Volcom Entertainment embodies its theme and pulls out of the tour?
That time will come, not sure when and would not even like to think about it. All good things come to an end eventually.
But in Warp tours defense they offer a great tour that exposes so many bands to people that would NEVER get to see or hear them. Even though they have big corporate sponsors they give it back to the kids by keeping the ticket price low. Name one other touring festival concert that you can see 50 bands playing on 6+ stages all across America and only charges around $30. That is pretty impressive and would be impossible without big time corporate cash. Sometimes you have to give in a little to the corpo’s, but I believe in the long run it’s the concertgoers that benefit. Besides most of us all have cell phones and this year the major sponsor is Samsung, at least they are smart enough to realize that Warp Tour is not just a bunch of punks and a thriving community of youth culture. I am sure in the long run any corporate sponsor’s are just out to make a buck, but I know Kevin Lyman pretty good and he is true punker in the “real” sense of the word and would not let some suit and tie fucker ruin the heart and soul of the Warped Tour.
It’s been five years since Volcom released a commercial compilation album. What was the reason behind wanting to release The Only Constant Is Change this year?
No reason really, just had the time and resources to do it. It worked out, sometimes if you plan to far in advance or do too much of something you end up over thinking it and it not as special. This comp was spontaneous and I am very happy with the final product.
This years Volcom sampler, The Only Constant Is Change holds 46 songs, 36 of them are rare, live or unreleased tracks. How difficult is it to get a hold of this many rare, live and b-side tracks? How important was it for you to, not only have Volcom signed bands, but other acts as well appear on this compilation?
The compilation depended on the getting the unreleased and rare tracks for it to be successful. At first it seemed like it was going to be difficult then it was like turning on the water. Material just poured in. There are also many up and coming bands that I feel will be the NOFX’s, Bad Religion’s, Fugazi’s and for a lack of a better word Rock Stars of tomorrow. It was crucial to have all the bands we like on this comp. Friends of the family so to speak, there are so many great bands that I wish I could sign but just don’t have the money and manpower to do it, this comp was our chance to work with all these great people and bands.
One of Volcom’s latest signings, A Faith Called Chaos have received a lot of praise for their on-stage work, much like Vaux did last year. How important is it for a Volcom band to deliver when playing live? Do you value this more than the work done in a studio?
You cannot have one with out the other. If you make a great record in the studio and get out on stage and suck, what’s the point? Capturing the energy of the live performance is the hard part about making a record. With today’s technology any Tom, Dick or Harry can make a record but it takes a real musician with passion to get on a stage and put on a real show and that is what I am always looking for.
Places To Park made a lasting impression on a lot of people last year on Warped. But, it seems as though they’ve fallen off the face of the earth. Where are they? What are they doing? Can we expect touring and/or a record from them in the future?
Unfortunately they broke up. TheLINE toured with Places to Park years ago and I still remain friends with the band. Not sure why they decided to call it quits. I do know that some of the members are working on a new band, but I have no idea when to expect anything. We have kept and will keep their record in print, as I believe it is a great record and should be heard.
Thank you for taking the time to answer these. I’m a big fan of your work and wish you nothing but more success in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to interview me, it means a lot to me and everyone at the label.
