Independent record labels make the rock ’n’ roll world go round, but few people nowadays have the gumption to start one. Justine Covault’s newly launched Red on Red label is one proud exception.
A longtime local rocker, Covault is also a first-class networker. Last winter she was comparing notes on social media with a bunch of mostly female musician friends who were looking for a good gig; this led to their creating the Whistlestop Rock mini-tour that played eight New England cities before the pandemic.
“It started as a Facebook chat with nine or 10 talented women — It was hilarious and ribald and inappropriate in every way. That creative spark started the fire.”
During shutdown the Whistlestop crew pieced together a single and video — the playful rocker “Queen of the Drive-In” — and it got enough attention for Covault to take the next step. Red on Red officially launched two weeks ago with the release of two Christmas singles — a rockabilly take on “Angels We Have Heard On High” by her own band, Justine’s Black Threads, and a high-spirited original, “An Irishman for Christmas,” by the duo of Simone Berk and Jerry Lehane (from two well-liked bands, Kid Gulliver and the Dogmatics). And a whole lot more is on the way.
“This is a good time for artists to be writing and recording. Everybody is thinking, ‘What the hell, I have some down time.’ So this is a good time to bring the community together.” She’d previously worked with another local label, Rum Bar, whose owner Lou Mansdorf gave his blessings.
Most of the original Whistlestop women (including the bands Chelsea Curve and Linnea’s Garden) will be recording for Red on Red, but Covault’s already branching out — signing the fine alt-country band Cold Expectations and rock-soul favorite Andrea Gillis. She’s even snagged one of the all-time great Boston bands: The Neighborhoods, whose first album in 20 years, “Last Known Address,” will come out through Red on Red after a limited self-release last year.
So far she’s only doing digital releases, which are easier to market internationally. “Good content now is more than a great song — you want a good video, good dialogue, good energy, and that translates into social media if you do it right. We’ve got songs out now by the Neighborhoods and Kid Gulliver that are getting played all over the world. That comes from having a set of known indie stations that will play what you put out.” The label even has a theme song and video, which she sang with a couple of the Neighborhoods.
Turning a profit is also a goal, but maybe not right away. “I’m investing a certain amount into each band, and we’re doing a revenue share. So far I’ve made 37 dollars. But I believe that if we all support each other, something’s going to break in a big way.”
One potential buzz band she’s got is Nightspell, which brings together three women — singer/guitarist Seana Carmody, drummer Joyce Raskin and bassist Karen Orsi — who’ve all been in high-profile outfits before (Raskin’s first band, Scarce, was on a major label and toured internationally). Raskin and Carmody have been housemates during shutdown, and have also been doing a regular podcast, called Red Jumpsuit, with sometimes hilarious chats with their musical peers.
Asked what attracted them to sign with Red on Red, Carmody and Raskin respond in unison, “Justine.” Raskin elaborated, “We love her, and she put the bug in us to get excited about being a community again. What more could you want than having a good support group around?” Added Carmody, “Besides, who else would sign three middle-aged ladies like us?”
But these particular ladies have some new musical tricks up their sleeve. “I think Justine likes us because we’re different from a lot of her other stuff,” Carmody said. “It’s a little psychedelic, with a lot of harmonies and guitar noises. But it’s all something that happened organically between us. That’s been the upside of this pandemic, that we get to go down to the basement and play.”
December 06, 2020 at 05:04PM
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Rocker finds upside in pandemic downtime by launching new label - Boston Herald
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