| Label
of The Week:
Smile Records
An
interview with the "Great" Tony Valenziano
"Hey,
you talking to me?"
|
Some
consider Tony Valenziano the king of LA Pop Music. A musician
and President of Smile Records, he knows a thing or two
about getting ahead in the industy - and most importantly,
getting a band signed. Publicity Whore sat down in a rarely
granted interview request to see what insights musicians
can pick up and get their careers going in the right direction.
PW: Tony I understand
you have a label called Smile Records here in LA. How did
it get started?
SMILE: I had just ended
my deal with Wondlerland / Epic in '94 and wanted to put
out my own albums. I was in a 2 yr. "no competition
" clause and I couldn't use the name "The Stand"
so I called the band "Smile" and the label "Smash".
Unfortunately, a band that year came out called "Smile"
and a label from the 50's that had been inactive for over
40 years wouldn't let me use the name "Smash"
- so I switched them. The site is Smilerec.com, and we have
links to all the bands and they to us, so we have become
a leader with the type of person who likes to find and hear
new music - instead of waiting until they are 21 to get
into clubs.......
PW: Why the name "Smile"?....
SMILE: Because when I
get blown I Smile....! (okay maybe too loose and laid back).
I took it from an album title of the best record ever made
that was never released by Brian Wilson called "Smiley
Smile." Note: At the last night of a two week fest
I met Brian and told him why I named the label what I did.
He thought that was cool and signed the program on the huge
logo we had on there and we took pictures. It was a great
moment for me and the reason he was there is because his
backing band, "wondermints", had a member playing
the show and wanted to be there.
PW: Any advice you'd offer to a new band starting out in
LA looking to get a record deal?...
SMILE: It’s hard
here because everybody comes here. Sure the biz is here,
but the bands I work with already had a minor career going
on and I helped that along. Believe me, there's more money
in making and licensing your own record and being in control.
You can get a deal here, but it's a long road and you have
to put years into it to make someone believe. LA's not the
place to break - but a good place to get noticed.
PW: What's a great way to stand
out from the crowd?
SMILE: Songs and a show.
PW: OK, I gotta ask - why Pop music
of all things? You could have started any type of label,
why this particular genre?
SMILE: It's all about the
sound and the songs. Very melodic, sonically it is ear candy
and everyone loves a good melody, it sticks with you. This
is one of the best rocknroll styles of music. It gets you
moving , feeling and emotional all at the same time. It
has a look, a scene and a way of life that allows you to
be yourself and not copy the person next to you but your
all in the same vein. We all have something in comon and
that usually breaks the ice for people looking to enjoy
other peoiple enjoying what you get off on. Smile has some
of the best artists for this pop and it shows with the attendance
and shows we put on here and across the country. I have
always been that way and this music seems to draw people
of the same ilk. I also think that most people who like
music like this style and it is definitely the new trend
of pop.........Power Pop is the name.
This was in LA in July
- and you missed it?!
PW: What's the deal
on the International
Pop Overthrow? did you create this festival and what
oppsare there for bands that want to play in it?
SMILE: No, I didn't create
it - but have participated in it over the years. I have
been a major sponsor for the last four and have participated
twice as a player. It is cool though. Over 140 bands attend
from all over the world to participate. It gives you an
idea of what's going on for this kind of music, and helps
us locate
where this music sells and who's buying. It also helps everyone
network on the Internet especially, and gives some bands
opportunities that normally they wouldn't get.
PW: What book(s) are you reading right now?
SMILE: Dino - Dean Martin's
biography
PW: What is one everyone should?
SMILE: The Kennedy's (no
not D.K. but it's about the real dead ones). What a fooked
up family but a one smart martha fokker.
PW: What band had the single greatest influence
on you musically?
SMILE: The Beatles of course
would be the heavy, but the I also throw in the Baby's and
The Plimsouls, The Knack and The Records basically any band
with "The " in front of it.
PW: Can you remember the first concert
you attended?
SMILE: Beatles 1965 Busch
Stadium St Louis, Mo. Sure I was a toddler but unbelievable.
My father
was a cool "gonna be" big wig at Capitol (that’s
why my family is here - because he did become a big wig
at Capitol; and we were living there at the time and he
took me because I cried so much My mom would have killed
him if he didn't.
PW: Is it getting
easier or more difficult for new artists to break into the
scene?
SMILE: Little harder because
the scenes that are today are so tight knit. Unless you
just do the dance club circuit, music scenes are their own
myopic worlds.
PW: How has it changed since you first got
started?
SMILE: In my day the "scene
way" was just the way life was. Post punks got tired
of the fights and non-stop street living (minus posers)
and got total New wave. Power Pop was the look for sure,
but the new wavers were punkers that changed just like the
punks that came out of the stoner scene - which was a colony
for young ones in the hippie scene and so on. We are all
the same - just different parts of the same thrift store.
PW: What do you look for in a group
you are considering signing to your label?
SMILE: Songs. I keep saying
that, but that’s what makes records. I know a million
songs, like a juke box (ask my friends, unfortunately).
I can pick up a guitar and play so many tunes because they've
been stuck in my head for so long. That's what good songs
do- they last somebody's lifetime.
PW: Are you taking
submissions?
SMILE: I listen to everything
that comes across my desk. I listen but I work on the ones
I think have potential with me and start from there. Can
be a long process, but at least there is a starting point.
PW: What's the Best Live Music Club
in LA & Why?
SMILE: Well, technically
it's the House of Blues. Great sound and venue for so much
(food is good too). Coolest club was the "Bar Deluxe"
but it has since gone bye bye.....
PW: Eminem, love him or hate him?
SMILE: Don't think about him. I think about
the music he is involved with though and I don't get turned
on by it. Whites doing black prefab music makes me laugh.
It's not like we found another Elvis doing black inspired
music. One day they will do Motown and Soul again, and then
let's see how many whites try to emulate that....NONE. That
was true to the soul of black inspired music. There won't
be a white guy doing Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder. The clothes
make me laugh more, but mainly on white guys. That sound
was the New sound for the new generation that made everyone
become one. Pop one of those tunes on the turntable and
everyone starts groovin.' That's what music does, it shouldn't
segregate. Nat Cole, Ella, Sammy, Louis Jordan; all of them
made their music their way, but it made everyone come together
no matter what color you happened to be. I saw a video about
Eminem kicking his wife's ass, which I read was a true description
of what happened, but the child got in his face so he backed
off and gave her millions instead. Rap.....Louis Jordan
or Cab Calloway rap is cool (listen to that from 1930 and
then you'll know what rap is) but "nigger this"
"nigger that", "cap that nigger in the ass"
lyrics just makes most people get a foul taste in their
mouth.
PW: If you weren't doing music, what would you
be up to?
SMILE: Hitting fastballs for a living.
PW: And lastly, what do you think of those Crazy
Freedom Fighters at Publicity Whore Magazine?
SMILE: Wait, their crazy??......No one
told me
that!!
PW: Oh, we never were much for details I guess.
More info on Smile Records:
Smile
Records is the brainchild of musician / producer Tony Valenziano.
Smile Records recently signed a long-term distribution deal
with Image Entertainment, one of the leading distributors
of videos/DVD's.
Wanna Know More About Tony Valenziano
and Smile Records? Of Course You Do!
http://www.smilerec.com
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