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 | Stay Tuned Interview by Nancy Turner |
I call Tom at the arranged time of 4:30 PM, just before he heads out to his part-time job as a bartender at the St. Lawrence Centre. And, not surprisingly, the answering machine alerts me that I have reached Hand'solo Records. I leave a message hoping he'll get back to me before the end of the week because I'm edging dangerously close to deadline. He calls me back the next day at approximately the same time, just as I am about to head out the door.
"Man, we can't seem to get our schedules in synch," he remarks as I drop my stuff and reach for a notepad and pencil. Setting up a meeting with Tom, founder of independent, hip-hop record label Hand'solo Records, has been an exercise in patience. Between the articles he writes as a contributing editor for various magazines, his stint as a DJ on website 2Kool4Radio.com, his record label, and a part-time job to help pay all the bills, Tom is one busy guy. I ask him how he got started with Hand'solo.
"I started [the label] in 1995...to release music I respected but did not see getting released," he begins. By 1996, tapping the emerging hip-hop scene in Halifax, Hand'solo had put out its first CD, a compilation entitled The Bassments of Bad Men, featuring artists such as Witchdoc Jorun, Sixtoo, Stinkin' Rich, and the Hip Club Groove.
"There were a variety of tracks including live tracks, studio tracks, freestyles, writtens, and turntablist orchestrations on it. It sold a respectable 1000 copies and got some good reviews. And it's still a well-received release and has been licensed out on a limited deal to Legendary Entertainment."
So how did you get it out there?
I have a friend who worked at one of the HMV stores in the city and he helped convince the store to display a few of the CDs at one of the listening booths. I guess people liked it, 'cause the store ordered more from me and we sold quite a few through it. We also sold by mail – word of mouth is really good for this sort of thing. When the band/DJs came to play in Toronto, we sold the CDs there. And they in turn sold to all the people they knew in Halifax.
So what is the process? How do you produce a CD on such a modest budget?
Well, first you postpone OSAP payments.... Really, it helps to know a lot of people. I just started going to these gigs, met a bunch of people. My parents live in Moncton, so I get down to Halifax quite a bit. After I had all the artists hooked up, I got my friend Mima, who happened to be in the Radio and TV Broadcasting program at Ryerson at the time, to help with the mixing. Another friend's father owned a CD production business and I, using a little money saved up, orchestrated the whole thing. My girlfriend's friend Kharlo (a fine art student at York) designed the logo and we were set.
Are you still flying by the seat of your pants?
(laughs) Nah. Well...When Hand'solo Records started out, we only released as an on/off project, but by 1999 we realized we would need to sign an artist and build with him, so Tachichi – who made his recording debut on The Bassments of Bad Men as Little T – was chosen as an artist with plenty of potential. Tachichi and DJ Moves had previously released their independent cassette Truth of the Trade and it was an amazing ninety minutes. I suppose we're gonna grow with him. We're not trying to "get big," though. We're just "keepin' it real." Good music needs to be heard. We're trying to give them a voice which'll be heard by a larger audience.
So whatcha got planned for the future then?
We're gonna be releasing Suicidal Soul on CD with the video included as CD-ROM and with some extra tracks produced by DJ Gordski and Buck 65. Should be slammin'.
For more info about Hand'solo Records or to hear some of the tracks, visit their website at www.handsolorecords.com
Discography
1996 The Bassments of Bad Men (Various Artists)
1997 Crystal Senate EP split 12Ó– Sixtoo/Moka Only
1998 Wildlife –12ÓBuck 65
1999 Cock Dynamiks compilation (Various Artists)
1999 Suicidal Soul EP –Tachichi & DJ Moves
2000 Booze Hounds II video – Tachichi & DJ Moves
2001 Suicidal Soul CD – Tachichi & DJ Moves
2001 Untitled forthcoming EP – Tachichi & DJ Moves