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Hrvoje Bubić: DAVID PORTNOW INTERVIEW

Hrvoje Bubić

 |  sij. 3, 2022

David Ulysses Portnow je vlasnik diskografske kuće PIG Records, iz Seattlea. Za Solin Live govori o svojoj diskografskoj kući, sceni Seattlea, suradnji s međunarodnim glazbenicima

Please introduce yourself and tell us about yourself and your beliefs?

My name is David Ulysses Portnow, also known simply as PIG. I’ve been a rock ‘n’ roll journalist, author, record producer, concert promoter, band manager, distributor, comic producer, book publisher, film maker and fan of all forms of music since 1983. I started in the industry at age 13 and have never looked back. My proudest accomplishment other than properly raising my children is the fact that I have commercially released more Washington State Musicians than anyone else in history. You can call me a homer, but I have also commercially released even more artists from other states and countries all over the USA and the world. My company, PIG, produces punk, metal, spoken word, rock, rap, hip hop, reggae, comedy, old style country, books, comics, videos and recently movies. I strongly disagree with the absurd concept that ‘everyone is created equal,’ but firmly believe that’s the way it should be. I’m very outspoken against racism, bigotry, lack of religious freedom, and sexism.  Everyone should have the right to do what they want and worship how they choose provided it’s peaceful. They should be accepted for it regardless of gender, race, disability, religious preference or what not. I’ve studied most religions and visited mosques, temples, churches, and other faith-based gatherings around the world. I choose not to be religious but have almost always been welcomed everywhere I went. I say almost because the Mormon Temples, two different ones, denied my admittance. I’ve experienced great joy being welcomed into several Sikh Temples as an observer and they were very happy to have me observe and learn about their peaceful culture. In Indonesia, and the United States, I have visited Islamic Mosques. They were also pleased by curiosity. I’ve been in Jewish Temples and often go to Catholic and Christian houses of worship to hear music. I’ve observed Satanic rituals and found absolutely nothing to offend me. They too were spiritual and peaceful as well. To each their own. Religion is not evil. It gives people hope, community and a sense of well-being. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous have used spiritual beliefs to cure people of addiction. However, I firmly believe the power hungry and greedy politicians, poor religious leaders and whoring businesspeople have destroyed the world in their lust for power and greed along with the cowards who hide behind and use religion as an excuse for bigotry, rape, corruption, war, and murder. The wealthy and those in their pocket have such a strong grip on Mother Earth. Fuck the one percent! I’m proud to be part of the 99 percent. Hopefully, one day the balance of wealth and power in the world will be more evenly distributed. I fear not in my lifetime.

Is it true that you tried to sign both Nirvana and Soundgarden?

Yes and no. I tried to sign Nirvana multiple times. I always found a great charisma in Kurt Cobain. I knew him before he was a drug addict. He always seemed a little depressed, but honestly who didn’t. He and I often spoke on the phone, we were pen pals (long before email and Facebook,) and I met him a couple times, once at a Melvins show and another time at a Poison Idea show and a third time in his hometown of Aberdeen. I used to mail him Subcore and Ever Rat products and he was one of only a handful of subscribers to my Subway Magazine where all this got started for me. He was a real cool guy. I tried to sign Nirvana more than once and Kurt wisely turned me down multiple times. If they had signed with me, I seriously doubt they would’ve gone on to sell seventy-five million records. I’d also like to acknowledge the skills Kris Novoselic and Dave Grohl and their ability to keep Nirvana going despite many difficulties and complexities involving both Kurt and Courtney Love. Kurt generally gets the credit, but these two were the glue that held the band together for as long as they did. These two individuals have also contributed greatly to the city of Seattle and the State of Washington. Really good people!

As for Soundgarden, I’m still haunted by that memory and my foolishness to this day. I did not attempt to sign Soundgarden. I used to promote All Ages shows around the greater-Seattle area and worked at a club called the Gorilla Gardens. I often booked Soundgarden for my shows because they were great, super nice guys and always very responsible. They showed up on time and were always sober prior to playing. After a show that I had booked for them, Kim Thayil walks over to me and asks what I thought of the performance. “Fucking great, high energy, very good players, great singer, very different…” In return, Kim says to me, “Would you consider releasing something by us on your label?” I could’ve and should’ve had said absolutely. I looked at Kim and said, “I think you guys are great! I really like the music, but I only know how to sell metal and punk. I don’t even know how to describe your music.” The term grunge didn’t quite exist then. Kim was such a nice guy. When you look back upon your life and the mistakes you made, you often tell yourself ‘I wouldn’t have done anything different!’ Well, that’s bullshit. Not going after Soundgarden was the single greatest mistake of my life. If I could change one thing about my life, I’d go back in time and tell Kim “I’d be honored to put out your record!” That’s one mistake I’ll never forget. Everything they’ve ever released is fabulous. They are one of my favorite bands. And one thing that people don’t know about Soundgarden is that these guys really paid their dues and went through struggles to get to where they are. They deserved success! Nothing was easy for them in their early days. This was one of the hardest working bands I knew. They were working the scene long before the grunge explosion and they treated everyone nice along the way. RIP Chris Cornell! Thanks, gentlemen, for some of the best music I’ve ever heard.

Tell us about PIG Records and its roots, your previous companies Subcore and Ever Rat Records, Subway Magaizne and how they came to be at such a young age?

Time to go way back in time, to the origin of my musical ventures. I used to be good at tracking down rock stars and getting a hold of them. I remember at a very young age I laid my hands on a Mercyful Fate record and to my surprise King Diamond printed his phone number on the back of it. I told my parents I didn’t need money, but I did need to call Denmark. Once again, this is before the days of the internet, so it was very expensive to call Denmark. I used to call him a couple times a month. What a cool guy! I remember Elton John came to Seattle and I knew there would be no way to get ahold of Bernie Taupin or him. So, I called the Edgewater Hotel where I guessed they were staying and asked the front desk to connect me with my Father, Nigel Ollsen, Elton’s drummer. To my surprise it worked. Nigel picked up and I told him I was a huge fan and loved his drum sounds. He asked me if I was going to the show and I said “no, I don’t have tickets and I’m too young.” He laughed and continued to speak to me for about twenty minutes. I was thrilled. My Mom started taking me to concerts at a very young age as did my Dad. They had very different tastes. My Mom took me to Frampton, Foghat, J Geill’s Band, Andy Gibb, Kiss, Kansas, the Rolling Stones and so many other bands. My Dad took me to Harry Belafonte twice, Arlo Guthrie, Barry Manilow, John Denver, Herman’s Hermits and two local bands, Junior Cadillac and the Cowboys. He was also constantly blasting Creedence Clearwater Revival . My older brother introduced me to Bowie, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Sabbath, the Ramones etc. I somehow fell in love with metal, and I used to give Ed, Infra ED, my brother, money to buy me records by Priest, Maiden, Loudness, Venom, Motorhead, Raven, Slayer, Wrathchild and anything else metal he could find. For my birthday, he hooked me up with Overlord’s ‘Broken Toys’ EP. They were a local metal band, and the EP blew my mind. I started going to every all age show they played. When my grandma died, she left me a season ticket to the ballet and symphony which I loved. Although, I must admit when I went to the symphony, I was usually on LSD. It was a mind-blowing and fabulous experience. Through all this I developed a great appreciation for all types of music and genres, but I wanted more. I wanted to be involved but didn’t play any instruments other than the Congo drum and I had stage fright. Fuck it, I’ll start fanzine. The Subway Magazine, a Metallic-Death-Metal-Punk Fanzine. The slogan, “Ride the Subway Express to Hell!” My first issue was photocopied and printed two-sided on the school copy machine which I had access to. Undisturbed, I printed 1,000 copies and distributed them free to the local record stores. The front cover story was an in-depth article and interview with OVERLORD! The second issue was similar but people started paying me to run ads in it and better yet I had metal and punk bands mailing me free records, tapes, posters, shirts, and putting me on guest lists to shows. Life was wonderful, I was 12. However, I wasn’t happy with the photo-copied format, I wanted it to be like a real magazine, but that cost lots of money to print, so I got a job. I wound up working for Susan Silver, prior to her managing Soundgarden and Alice In Chains or marrying Chris Cornell. She had me doing some filing and a few other minor tasks, but I wasn’t much use to her. To be honest, she gave me the job because she was a nice lady and loved my enthusiasm. One day she comes to me and says, “I have a job where you can make a lot more money and get backstage to big concerts but I’m worried about you working it alone, do you have anyone older than you that you can work with?”

“Hell yeah, I have an older brother!” She had us hanging flyers on telephone poles, pasting them on construction boards and putting them in restaurants, community halls, libraries, and other places for Monqui Presents, a legendary Northwest Concert Promotions company. We were flyering for cool bands like Slayer and Billy Bragg and getting in backstage and getting paid more than we could anywhere else. Monqui started in 1983 and they’re still around today. I earned enough money to print the magazine but then started charging a $1.00 to raise money. I also had to sell a lot more ads. I received a call from Steve Kaplan, the President of Dutch East India, a music distributor, and label out of New Jersey, and a man I still do business with today. He tells me they would like to distribute the Subway Magazine in the United States and throughout the world. To sweeten the deal, he recommends I raise the price to $2.00 a copy and says I get to keep 100% of the money and he’ll advertise in every issue. Dutch East surprisingly didn’t want a distribution cut. The only catch was he wanted me to review and interview some of the bands on his Pentagram Label. The deal was struck, and distro begun. He had no idea of my age. Following the first issue he distributed, I received a call from Dan Christopherson from a Seattle band called DC Lacroix. He had an interesting proposition and wanted me to meet with his wife and him. When we met, they were shocked by my age. I was shocked at how fricking gorgeous his wife was. He wanted me to help him put together a Washington State Heavy Metal Compilation and to help him raise the funds and get distribution. Together, we picked the bands and raised the funds. He left me in charge of the packaging and the distribution. I enjoyed packaging it and distro was easy, Dutch East India. I titled it Metal Meltdown and Dutch East India sold out of a one-thousand copy press run. I was hooked, releasing records would become a lifetime addiction. I set up Subcore Records in conjunction with the Subway Magazine.  It was a punk label, my newfound love and I scored big with it by releasing the Accused, Dehumanizers, GG Allin and State of Confusion. If that wasn’t enough, I also wanted to do a second Metal Meltdown Volume and start a metal label. A lot of metal was coming out of Everett, Washington so I called it Ever Rat Records and signed Sashay to a single and begun work on Metal Meltdown Volume II. I wanted to keep working with Dan because he was a great partner and I was enthralled his wife. In fact, I used to play mind games with myself, who was hotter, Susan Silver or Sylvia Lacroix. I never concluded as they were both perfect tens in every way. I also begun working at the Gorilla Gardens all age club booking both metal and punk at the heyday of the Seattle music scene. I booked hundreds of bands and saw all the shows the other promoters booked there including the Violent Femmes, Guns ‘n’ Roses and GBH. My writing career developed as well. I wrote scene reports for Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll and started a music column in my high school newspaper. For my first high school article, I returned to an old favorite, Overlord. Things were perfect, too perfect. Everything was going fabulous. I had a pressing and distribution deal with Enigma and was selling tens-of-thousands records. I was enjoying the success, but then two devastating things happened. Vinyl died followed by a bankruptcy of Enigma. I had no experience with bankruptcy but quickly learned it meant you lose everything. Enigma owed my entities close to $200,000.00 at the time. I didn’t receive a penny. They set me back a lifetime and I was only 19! I had just started a successful rap label, EVER RAP RECORDS. I was crushed but carried on, nevertheless. Vinyl was dead and compact discs cost a fortune to have duplicated. I became a cassette only label and after releasing Death Squad, Action Buddie and Chilly Uptown on cassette, I gave up. I never was a fan of the cassette format, even though I still release them today. It was no fun! I hung up my shoes and went out to pasture.

Without question, this was the most trying time in my life. I thoroughly missed releasing music and writing. I was depressed for a decade and the sadly, on January 31, 2006 I was inspired by the loss of a great friend of mine. Tom Roberts, also known as Tom Pig and Pig Champion. He was the guitar player for Poison Idea and he was so large that the guitar looked like a spoon in his hands, but he could play, and he could write, and he was personable with stories galore, and he always treated me with great respect despite my young age. Quite a few people judged me by my age and wouldn’t do business with a kid. Tom was different and thought my age was cool. We became friends when I was fourteen. Like me, Tom was an avid record collector and was pressing Poison Idea records out of his own pocket because he didn’t trust labels or distributors. He had just pressed ‘Pick Your King,’ by Poison Idea. Arguably one of the best 7″ records ever made. I asked Tom if I could buy some copies at wholesale. He sold me 25 copies and was shocked that I sent him the money in advance of receiving the records. I went on to sell over 500 copies of that 7″, more than anyone else during its original release. I spoke regularly with Tom, and he taught me some tricks of being a self-financed punk rock label which I shouldn’t share for fear of judgment, but I will because they’re great stories of struggle and perseverance despite breaking the fucking law. I was shipping shit all over the world. Postal costs were a fortune. Tom explained that whenever I ship anything over $10.00 to use stamps instead of going to the post office. He suggested that I take a regular bar of soap and put a little water on the base of it and lightly coat the top of my stamps with soap. I did this. He said to include an envelope with the package and ask the recipient to mail my stamps back. To my delight most of them returned my stamps. I would then take a sponge and use it to carefully remove not only the soap, but also the postmark. It was so simple, yet so genius. I was saving about $400.00 a month reusing my stamps multiple times. Long distance phone calls were also killing me. It’s hard to believe today, but it used to cost a fortune to call out of state and overseas. Tom had a friend in the phone company providing him, dare I say, calling card numbers. He’d provide me one a week at first. “Make sure you only call from payphones,” he used to say. Well now that long distance cost me nothing, I was calling college radio stations, magazines, clubs and more pushing the bands I worked for. Tom loved my tenacity. He started giving me 500 calling card numbers a week. Of course, in turn he had me do some Poison Idea promotion which I enjoyed as well. It was then I became a booking agent. I booked a massive US tour for Raw Power & the Dehumanizers with either the Dayglo Abortions or Slam accompanying them by literally set up office outside a payphone every day after school in the Seattle rain. I also owned the pay phone at school. I definitely paid my mother fucking dues. While I understand that it was wrong to cheat the post office and AT&T, on the flipside I also understand how many millions of people and employees AT&T cheated. I have no remorse, a term I learned from Motorhead!

To conclude, I wanted to honor Pig Champion, so I established a new label and named it PIG Records after that lovable teddy bear of a man. I had intended to only re-issue the DEHUMANIZERS greatest hits as a double CD with a 32-page booklet just for fun, but it didn’t work out that way. Jason Rodger a/k/a Jason Potbelly calls me up shortly thereafter and says he has permission to use a great song on a 7-inch compilation and wants me to release it because he heard through the grapevine that I was back in business and under the name PIG! “No, Jason, thank you very much but I’m just doing a one off and returning to pasture.”

“You must be curious about what song,” this bastard replies. Realizing that he wasn’t going to be brushed off easily, I foolishly encouraged him to humor me. I wasn’t laughing when he retorted with my second favorite song ever, (nothing beats Major Tom.)   DI’s version of ‘Richard Hung Himself!’ Now he was talking punk rock history, and, in my opinion, the greatest American punk rock song ever written. He let me verify with Casey Royer and I was taken in, hook, line, and sinker like a fish after a gummy worm. Jason was good, really good. He continued to bait me. “What are you going to call the compilation,” he asked. I instantly replied, “Shut The Fuck Up & Listen,” and he shut the fuck up. I thought he hung up, it was so quiet. “You still there?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he answers tentatively, “I’m just listening.” Now I was laughing. He thought I was addressing him and naturally he got a little annoyed. “What’s so fucking funny?”

“I didn’t mean for you to shut up, I’m going to call the record ‘Shut The Fuck Up & Listen,’ it’ll be a message to all the governments in the world.”

“Oh,’ and then he started laughing. A great friendship was born. From that day forward I committed to running PIG Records for the rest of my life. Jason was hired to work in the A & R Department and I’ve been so busy ever since that I don’t sleep, often forget to eat, and cannot under any circumstances keep up with the emails, facebooks, instagrams, phone calls, etc. It’s clearly going to be the death of me. And I want you all to remember it because of ‘The Curse of Jason Potbelly!’ The cause of death on my death certificate will read ‘Jason Mother Fucking Potbelly.’ He injected my veins with vinyl, preying upon my weakness and violentlyI returned to my addiction, and it’s now stuck with me for the last 14 years and in the future for the rest of my life.

Victor Hayden, (the Mascara Snake of Captain Beefheart,) was our A&R Director until a few years ago. After sixty years in the music industry, he comes to me and says, “I’m done Dave. I’ve picked my replacement.” He did so without even consulting me or giving me any forewarning. What he fuck Victor! He continues, “Please inform Jason Potbelly that I’m retiring and as of tomorrow and that he is my replacement.” Victor must have had a premonition because eight days later he was run over by a minivan while walking across the street in a school zone cross walk. He was killed. He and I had just wathed the Seahawks game together. Jason pretty much handles all the punk and metal A&R today and oversees all our Artist & Repertoire Correspondents.  I still do a lot of A&R, (I signed Anthony Ausgang,) but when I find an artist I want to work with, I always get a kick out of the reaction when I tell them I want to sign you but that I must first get approval from my A & R Director. They look at me and say, “But you own the company,” and I relish in the response “Yes, but I’m not the Director of A & R.” Jason usually approves whatever I bring him, but he’s rejected me three times recently and on all three occasions he was right on the money. To survive in this industry, you must put the right people in charge to make the right decisions. A couple bad decisions and you’re out of business.

You have been in the record industry nearly forty years. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

There’s a hell of a lot more disadvantages than advantages, but let’s start with the advantages as they outshine the disadvantages. The number one advantage is ‘Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘N’ Roll!’ I’ve been fortunate enough to have sex with a lot of very sexy woman. If it wasn’t for rock ‘n’ roll, I don’t think that happens. I’ve also had too many good drugs and too much liquor. I am currently in a state of sobriety. Rock ‘N’ Roll is fucking awesome! Put on a Lynyrd Skynyrd record and I’m in the south. Play “Run Through The Jungle” by Creedence and I get a sense of what a Vietnam War Veteran had to endure. I’ve met and worked with some of the most amazing people on Earth. The average person doesn’t understand producers, engineers or mastering techs. They’re so complex that I don’t fully grasp how they do what they do. I’ve worked with Jack Endino, Adam Kasper, Floyd Reitsma, and Don Zientara. It’s hard to describe, comprehend and understand how much these individuals add to the process. They’re phenomenal! The aforementioned have worked with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Ozzy, Aerosmith, U2, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, Foo Fighters, REM, Queens o the Stone Age, the Offspring, GG Allin and me. Let me repeat “And ME!” These men are geniuses and I’m certainly very honored to have worked with all four. They belong in the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame. I’d also like to acknowledge two other skilled producers and engineers I’ve had the pleasure of watching work. Tom Dyer gave me my upbringing on recording. And today when I’m not working with Jack Endino, I’m watching the mastery of Dana Dougherty. Dana can master, produce, engineer, and edit video as well as anyone on Earth. Observing these individuals at their craft is the equivalent of watching Monet paint in his garden. I have also been blessed to have dinner with Robert Plant.  He is a kind human being who respects his position on Earth and does not abuse it. He doesn’t give a fuck whether your the President of the United States or me. If you deserve kindness that’s how he’ll treat you. We ate rabbit and Cornish game hen at the Chihuly house on the campus of the Chateau Saint Michele Winery in Woodinville Washington with three others, (the Mascara Snake, Pamela Des Barres and Michael Lee,) all while enjoying the winery’s private reserve wines. Robert treated me as his equal. I didn’t, but he did. I had beers with Rudy Sarzo, corresponded with Diamond Darrell (rest in peace,) met Steve Jones, Sylvester Stallone, Emilio Esteves, the goddess Allie Sheedy, Brooke Shields, Pee Wee Herman,  Paul Stanley, Allie Willis, Rick Springfield,  the desire of my life Lita Ford, Peter Tunney, and Robin Tunney. I’ve had lunch with Sheena Easton, the most beautiful women ever.  I sat at a table and discussed business with Bobby Brown. I spent a few occasions with Gene Simmonds, one of the most gifted businesspeople on Earth. He wasn’t very reassuring. He said, “David, I’ve only made one mistake in my life, operating a record label.” I’ve set next to Ice T and judged an event. Partied with Tom Petty, seen a movie with Lemmy. The list goes on and on. And it’s usually a blast and once again it’s something that would not happen if I wasn’t involved in the entertainment industry. These are the unmistakable benefits of owning a record label. They are thrilling, but they come with a price. The disadvantages are simple. I have commercially released more than 500 products. My shit doesn’t sell millions of copies, so it has led to a life of poverty. Drug and alcohol abuse are negatives. I have as many dead artists as living. They were all my friends. It hurts like hell when they die and they’re constantly dying. I have a lot of artists who are incarcerated or once were. I rarely have time sleep or eat, and I will never ever be caught up. Both physical and mental health suffers. A lot of people dislike you because you didn’t deliver the results they were hoping for, fame and fortune. And then you have the fucking haters and that’s a real problem. My political label and I speak out against discrimination, sexism, restriction of free speech, amongst other controversial topics. We support the LGBT community and Black Lives Matters,  I’ve received lots of death threats, more than most people could endure, including recent threats from the two different chapters of the Proud Boys and many hate groups. I’ve been advised by the FBI that I was on the Nazi hit list. Homeland Security has contacted me multiple times to let me know my products are not acceptable and that I either must seize and desist or face consequences. I’ve had my tires slashed; my windows shot out. Some despicable racist graffitied ‘nigger lover’ on my car after I started the rap label. I watch my back when I go out.  I’ve been sued countless times but have always been victorious. I’ve also had death threats for requesting that the Kurt Cobain suicide case be re-opened based on the probability and evidence supporting that it was either assisted suicide or murder. These threats don’t come from people involved, they’re from radical fans of Nirvana. I’ve had at least thirty distributors declare bankruptcy on me in my lifetime and even more just not pay. I’ve had groups show up to play expecting the guarantee we negotiated only to receive a fraction of what they were promised. Artists, musicians, graphic artists, pressing plants often miss hard deadlines set by distributors. Deadlines are deadlines. Covid came along and destroyed the live show. Touring is best avenue of promotion and the only time the artists and I can command retail prices. Nothing is more disappointing than the bands breaking up after you’ve just invested a whole bunch of money in them. There are so many disadvantages, but you just can’t let them get you down. Enoy the rewards and the friendships.

You have collaborated with a variety of performers and artists regardless of their genre and geographical location. Could you tell us why and elaborate?

Certainly. Let’s start with geography because that’s a simple answer. My personal goal, which will never be achieved in my lifetime, is for our Label to release at least one product from every country in the world and every state in the United States. Let’s experience different cultures, customs and societies. Some of these may be familiar to us and we can relate and the others we can learn from. Artists and musician’s lyrics, music, paintings, sounds and works are usually drawn from their surroundings and environment, plus life experiences, imagination and personal knowledge. Therefore, punk bands from Israel and England will have some similarities based off the genre of music but will ultimately be quite different. I cannot imagine a metal band from Los Angeles having the same look as one from Yugoslavia. Rock bands from Jamaica have a tendency to drop in hints of reggae. A southern US band such as Lynyrd Skynyrd is vastly different from a Canadian band such as Rush. From music and art, you can learn so much that you may not have been taught in school. I often learn about the customs, faiths, history and politics of other nations and cultures. PIG RECORDS has Raw Power, High Circle, The Kinn-ocks and Deep Throat from Itay, the relocated VooDoos from Ireland, the Ananas from Japan, Maijinal, Citizen Uselss, Trauma, Antiseptic and more from Indonesia. The Hanson Brothers, DOA and the Dayglo Abortions from Canada all have worked with us. We’ve released Slam from Sweden, Los Amish from Mexico. We’re trying to expand our international presence both through sales and distribution to any place on Earth we can reach as well as bringing music from all corners of the world to the consumer.

Onto genre. I originally stuck with metal because that’s what I knew. All types of metal. Then I found hardcore, and I wanted to do it. Next thing you know, I’ve figured out that you can generally produce three punk albums for the same costs that are involved in one metal album, so we become punk heavy. I decide to do rock records and the audience prefers CD’s to vinyl. Rap music must be in a vinyl format to be authenticated. Certain products need to be limited editions. One thing leads to another and you’re trying to reach your ultimate goal, to be a full-fledged entertainment company and publisher of all forms of art from all over the world, be it music, movies, books, comics, paintings, toys, t-shirts, posters, games and so on. If you can put it all together, it absolutely all fits well with one another. If Warner Brothers, Disney, Relatively and MCA can do it on a grand scale, why can’t we do it on an independent-underground level? There are so many great labels that stick to one genre or another that I love or avoid controversary which I respect. They do a brilliant job at it.  However, my employees and I like the best of all genres. We all read, have strong political and social beliefs, and have a sense of humor, we listen, watch TV, go to the movies and museums, so we have a great need to do anything and everything that’s financially feasible to us because it reflects our lifestyles. It’s definitely tougher to do because it makes capturing a die-hard fanbase and advertising more difficult. We understand and accept that reality. We find ways to work around it. We’re up to the challenge. If someone likes hardcore and only hardcore, well then, we have plenty hardcore for them. The same is true with rap, metal and rock. We have plenty to offer you. However, if you don’t want to buy our rock products because you don’t like that we also do rap and punk, then that’s your loss. To me, that’s as discriminatory as not supporting our label because we have some Islamic musicians in our catalog, which is true, and because of such, we’ve received a few ignorant complaints. Sadly, the same has been true when using our LGBT and Black Life Matters logo, we get complaints of a bigotry nature.  These complaints go in one ear and right out the other unless of course they’re accompanied by threats, which forces us to take a more serious approach. Now if you’re protesting our brand because you’re offended that Anthony Ausgang put a mouse on a crucifix on the cover of Swizzle Comics, or Chilly Uptown is talking about his penis, the vulgar side of Potbelly, the drug inclusion of the Dehumanizers and LSD ReXXX, the fact that we have a few ex-cons on the label, the controversial nature of our band Riot Cop, or the fact that we use lots of scantily clad sexy models, then I accept your protest. I would have to agree that you’re not the best fit to be a fan of PIG and you have every right to boycott and/or protest against the brand. A more plausible common-sense solution might be to just ignore us, but you have the right to speak out against us. We definitely exercise our right to free speech. In the future, we hope to add more and more genres as all gifted artists of every genre and style deserve the right to be heard, seen, viewed, read and supported.

What does the future hold for PIG and can you foreshadow any new products coming to market?

Let’s start out simply with our brand and our logo. We have hundreds of logos, but very few of them represent the female. We’ve tried to balance them out as far as representing different genres, and ‘concepts, if that’s the right word,’ such as LGBT and Black-Lives Matter, but we currently have only one logo representing the female. We’re working on many more that I hope will balance out the brand and come to light in 2022. I think you’ll enjoy them. We’ve hired our fair share of the better side of humanity as cover artists, editors, and graphic designers, and more than our fair share of female models, and have had lots of female representation in the musical department. We have Brenda and Kate from Klondike Kate, Jozet who occasionally appears with Potbelly, female fronted bands such as the Ananas, Porn Stars of Horrors, Pamela Des Barres, and the Skeksis. Compilation songs by the Carvels, Green Lady Killers and Sealth, but we haven’t had a female voice out their representing PIG on an international scale in a while. Fortunately, we just released RAW POWER’s 40th Anniversary seven inch, ‘Land of the Rising Spaghetti.’ Mauro Codeluppi, Raw Power’s front man, wanted to make it a split record with the Ananas out of Japan. Karina Friday, an outspoken woman from Osaka fronts the Ananas. She is fearless in her performance, gaining an international representation and building a powerful presence on the internet. We’ve already inked the band to a second seven-inch record and are hopeful that she continues to gain in popularity. We’re going to push the Ananas. It’s imperative that school age girls see and hear that there’s a place in punk, independent, and alternative music for them. In the late eighties we released Nerdy and Chelly Chell on our Ever Rap Record label. Along with MC Lyte and MC Sha-Rock, Chelly Chell showed the youth that there was and still is a place in rap for the female entertainer.

In addition to the aforementioned ‘Land of the Rising Spaghetti’ by Raw Power and the Ananas, we’ve also just released a split (album/CD/ and cassette) with Marjinal from Indonesia and Potbelly from Whidbey Island Washington, and a 104-page, full color, coffee table/art house book by Anthony Ausgang called ‘The Shifting Years!” It’s an object of beauty. And speaking of Mr. Ausgang, we have Issue #2 of ‘Swizzle Comics’ coming out on Christmas Day. Thank you, Santa. We did fabulous with Swizzle # 1. We have another very important Christmas release coming your way from PIG in a 7-inch format. ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed War Pig,’ by legendary guitarist and Jimi Hendrix impersonator RANDY HANSEN.  Ever Rap Records will be presenting a re-issue of P-D2’s ‘Dope Muzik 4 The Head,’ a 1990 classic on both CD and digital this year and vinyl in 2022. As I’ve already mentioned, we have a 7-Inch record coming out by the Ananas in 2022. To further add to our international collection, PIG will be reissuing Dutch metal gods BAD HABIT. This is a great record. For those of you who’ve never heard of Bad Habit, they have some of the best eighties style hard rock and metal and they’re really from the eighties. They’ve influenced so many bands. While we’re on the topic of Holland, we’ve recently struck up a release partnership with both Headbangers Records and Big Bad Wolf Records out of the Netherlands. They have just released a 500-copy limited-edition version of POTBELLY’s ‘Legacy of Debauchery’ in Europe and will be releasing many more PIG products over the years. On the subject of Label Partners, I’d like to recognize some of our other partners. (Moribund, Little Mafia, Bath Salts Brigade, 1332, Die Laughing, Snatchee, Innocent Sinners, Toxic Shock, Chicanery Chic, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few.) Our goal in 2022 is to add as many label partners and sponsors as possible. It helps spread the music and keeps prices reasonable. If interested call or email me at (206) 618-8711 or dportnow@msn.com. In conclusion, we have had and currently have some real soldiers working for us. The never get enough credit so I’d like to share the love. Novocaine – Ever Rap Records. Neil Sussman – Attorney. My son Max Portnow, Mylo Milam and John Morse who keep things moving. A shout out to Mark Mendez as well.  And especially Mike King, the King who helps me with the day-to-day operations and the not so fun side of the business such as accounting, contracts, back up, one-sheets, planning, reminders, timelines. His services are invaluable and unreplaceable.

HRVATSKI

Molim Vas predstavite se i recite nam nešto o sebi i svojim uvjerenjima?

Moje ime je David Ulysses Portnow, također poznat jednostavno kao PIG. Bio sam rock ‘n’ roll novinar, autor, producent ploča, promotor koncerata, menadžer benda, distributer, producent stripova, izdavač knjiga, filmski stvaratelj i obožavatelj svih oblika glazbe od 1983. Počeo sam u industriji u dobi 13 i nikad se nisam osvrnuo. Moje najponosnije postignuće osim što sam pravilno odgajao svoju djecu je činjenica da sam komercijalno izdao više glazbenika države Washington nego bilo tko drugi u povijesti. Možete me nazvati homerom, ali sam također komercijalno pustio još više umjetnika iz drugih država i zemalja diljem SAD-a i svijeta. Moja tvrtka, PIG, proizvodi punk, metal, govornu riječ, rock, rap, hip hop, reggae, komediju, starinski country, knjige, stripove, video zapise i nedavno filmove. Izrazito se ne slažem s apsurdnim konceptom da su ‘svi stvoreni jednaki’, ali čvrsto vjerujem da bi tako trebalo biti. Vrlo sam otvoren protiv rasizma, netrpeljivosti, nedostatka vjerskih sloboda i seksizma. Svatko bi trebao imati pravo raditi što želi i obožavati kako želi, pod uvjetom da je mirno.Trebali bi biti prihvaćeni za to bez obzira na spol, rasu, invaliditet, vjersku sklonost ili što ne. Proučavao sam većinu religija i posjećivao džamije, hramove, crkve i druga vjerska okupljanja diljem svijeta. Odlučio sam ne biti religiozan, ali sam gotovo uvijek bio dobrodošao gdje god sam otišao. Kažem gotovo zato što su Mormonski hramovi, dva različita, odbili moj ulazak. Doživio sam veliku radost što sam kao promatrač primljen u nekoliko hramova Sikha i bili su vrlo sretni što sam promatrao i učio o njihovoj mirnoj kulturi. U Indoneziji i Sjedinjenim Državama posjetio sam islamske džamije. Razveselila ih je i radoznalost. Bio sam u židovskim hramovima i često idem u katoličke i kršćanske bogomolje da čujem glazbu. Promatrao sam sotonske rituale i nisam našao apsolutno ništa što bi me uvrijedilo. I oni su također bili duhovni i mirni. Svakom svoje. Religija nije zlo. To ljudima daje nadu, zajednicu i osjećaj blagostanja. Anonimni alkoholičari i Anonimni narkomani koristili su duhovna uvjerenja kako bi izliječili ljude od ovisnosti.Međutim, čvrsto vjerujem da su političari gladni i pohlepni moći, siromašni vjerski vođe i kurvanjski poslovni ljudi uništili svijet u svojoj žudnji za moći i pohlepi zajedno s kukavicama koje se skrivaju iza i koriste religiju kao izgovor za netrpeljivost, silovanje, korupciju, rat , i ubojstvo. Bogati i oni koji su im u džepu tako snažno drže Majku Zemlju. Jebeš ti jedan posto! Ponosan sam što sam dio 99 posto. Nadamo se da će jednog dana ravnoteža bogatstva i moći u svijetu biti ravnomjernije raspoređena. Ne bojim se za života.

Je li istina da ste pokušali potpisati i Nirvanu i Soundgarden?

Da i ne. Više puta sam pokušao potpisati ugovor s Nirvanom. Uvijek sam nalazio veliku karizmu u Kurtu Cobainu. Poznavao sam ga prije nego je postao narkoman. Uvijek je djelovao pomalo depresivno, ali iskreno tko nije. On i ja smo često razgovarali telefonom, bili smo prijatelji po dopisivanju (davno prije e-pošte i Facebooka) i sreo sam ga nekoliko puta, jednom na Melvins showu, drugi put na showu Poison Idea i treći put u njegovom rodnom gradu Aberdeen. Slao sam mu poštom Subcore i Ever Rat proizvode i bio je jedan od rijetkih pretplatnika na moj Subway Magazine gdje je sve ovo počelo za mene. Bio je pravi kul tip. Pokušao sam potpisati s Nirvanom više puta, a Kurt me više puta mudro odbio. Da su potpisali sa mnom, ozbiljno sumnjam da bi prodali sedamdeset pet milijuna ploča. Također bih želio odati priznanje za vještine Krisa Novoselića i Davea Grohla i njihovu sposobnost da održe Nirvanu unatoč mnogim poteškoćama i složenostima koje uključuju i Kurta i Courtney Love. Kurt općenito dobiva zasluge, ali ova dvojica su bila ljepilo koje je držalo bend na okupu koliko i oni. Ove dvije osobe također su uvelike doprinijele gradu Seattleu i državi Washington. Stvarno dobri ljudi!

Što se tiče Sound Gardena, i dan-danas me progone to sjećanje i moja glupost. Nisam pokušao potpisati Soundgarden. Nekada sam promovirao All Ages emisije po širem području Seattlea i radio u klubu pod nazivom Gorilla Gardens. Često sam rezervirao Soundgarden za svoje emisije jer su bili sjajni, super dragi dečki i uvijek vrlo odgovorni. Dolazili su na vrijeme i uvijek su bili trijezni prije igranja. Nakon emisije koju sam rezervirao za njih, Kim Thayil prilazi do mene i pita me što mislim o nastupu. “Jebeno super, velika energija, jako dobri igrači, sjajan pjevač, vrlo različiti…” Zauzvrat, Kim mi kaže: “Biste li razmislili o tome da mi objavite nešto za svoju izdavačku kuću?” Mogao sam i trebao reći apsolutno. Pogledao sam Kim i rekao: “Mislim da ste super! Stvarno mi se sviđa glazba, ali znam prodavati samo metal i punk. Ne znam čak ni kako bih opisao vašu glazbu.” Pojam grunge tada nije baš postojao. Kim je bio tako dobar momak. Kad se osvrneš na svoj život i greške koje si napravio, često si kažeš ‘Ne bih učinio ništa drugačije!’ Pa to je sranje. To što nisam krenuo za Soundgardenom bila je najveća greška u mom životu. Kad bih mogao promijeniti jednu stvar u svom životu, vratio bih se u prošlost i rekao Kim: “Bila bi mi čast objaviti tvoju ploču!” To je jedna greška koju nikada neću zaboraviti. Sve što su ikada objavili je fantastično. Oni su jedan od mojih omiljenih bendova. I jedna stvar koju ljudi ne znaju o Soundgardenu je da su ti dečki stvarno platili svoje obveze i prošli kroz borbu da dođu do mjesta gdje jesu. Zaslužili su uspjeh! Ništa im nije bilo lako u prvim danima. Ovo je bio jedan od najvrijednijih bendova koje sam poznavao. Radili su scenu mnogo prije eksplozije grungea i usput su se prema svima ponašali lijepo. RIP Chris Cornell! Hvala, gospodo, na nekoj od najbolje glazbe koju sam ikada čuo.

Recite nam o PIG Records-u i njegovim korijenima, svojim prethodnim tvrtkama Subcore i Ever Rat Records, Subway Magaizne i kako su nastali u tako mladoj dobi?

Vrijeme je da se vratim daleko u prošlost, do podrijetla mojih glazbenih pothvata. Nekad sam znao pronaći rock zvijezde i uhvatiti ih. Sjećam se da sam u vrlo mladoj dobi uzeo u ruke ploču Mercyful Fate i na svoje iznenađenje King Diamond ispisao je svoj telefonski broj na poleđini. Rekao sam roditeljima da mi ne treba novac, ali sam morao nazvati Dansku. Još jednom, ovo je prije dana interneta, pa je bilo jako skupo zvati Dansku. Zvao sam ga nekoliko puta mjesečno. Kakav kul tip! Sjećam se da je Elton John došao u Seattle i znao sam da neće biti načina da se dočepam Bernieja Taupina ili njega. Stoga sam nazvao hotel Edgewater gdje sam pretpostavio da su odsjeli i zamolio recepciju da me spoje s mojim ocem, Nigelom Ollsenom, Eltonovim bubnjarom. Na moje iznenađenje upalilo je. Nigel se javio i rekao sam mu da sam veliki obožavatelj i da volim njegove zvukove bubnjeva. Pitao me da li idem na predstavu, a ja sam rekla “ne, nemam karte i premlada sam”. Nasmijao se i nastavio razgovarati sa mnom dvadesetak minuta. Bio sam oduševljen. Mama me kao i tata počela voditi na koncerte kao vrlo mlad. Imali su vrlo različite ukuse. Mama me odvela u Frampton, Foghat, J Geill’s Band, Andyja Gibba, Kiss, Kansas, Rolling Stonese i mnoge druge bendove. Tata me dvaput vodio Harryju Belafonteu, Arlu Guthrieju, Barryju Manilowu, Johnu Denveru, Herman’s Hermits i dva lokalna benda, Junior Cadillac i The Cowboys.Također je neprestano raspalio Creedence Clearwater Revival. Moj stariji brat me upoznao s Bowiejem, Doorsima, Led Zeppelinom, Hendrixom, Sabbathom, Ramonesima itd. Nekako sam se zaljubio u metal, i davao sam Edu, Infra ED, svom bratu, novac da mi kupi Priestove ploče , Maiden, Loudness, Venom, Motorhead, Raven, Slayer, Wrathchild i bilo što drugi metal što je mogao pronaći. Za rođendan me spojio s Overlordovim EP-om ‘Broken Toys’. Bili su lokalni metal bend, a EP me oduševio. Počeo sam ići na sve nastupe svih uzrasta koje su igrali. Kad je moja baka umrla, ostavila mi je sezonsku ulaznicu za balet i simfoniju koju sam volio. Iako sam, moram priznati, kad sam išao na simfoniju, obično bio na LSD-u. Bilo je to zapanjujuće i nevjerojatno iskustvo. Kroz sve to razvio sam veliko poštovanje prema svim vrstama glazbe i žanrovima, ali sam želio više. Htio sam biti uključen, ali nisam svirao druge instrumente osim kongo bubnja i imao sam tremu. Jebi ga, pokrenut ću fanzin. The Subway Magazine, metalik-death-metal-punk fanzin.

Slogan: Ride the Subway Express to Hell!   (“Vozite se podzemnom željeznicom do pakla!”, op.prev.)  Moj prvi broj bio je fotokopiran i obostrano tiskan na školskom fotokopirnom stroju kojem sam imao pristup. Neometano sam otisnuo 1000 primjeraka i besplatno ih podijelio lokalnim prodavaonicama ploča. Priča na naslovnici bio je dubinski članak i intervju za OVERLORD! Drugi problem je bio sličan, ali ljudi su me počeli plaćati da u njemu postavljam reklame, a još bolje, imao sam metal i punk bendove koji su mi slali besplatne ploče, kazete, postere, košulje i stavljali me na liste gostiju na emisijama. Život je bio divan, imao sam 12 godina. Međutim, nisam bio zadovoljan formatom fotokopiranja, želio sam da bude kao pravi časopis, ali to je koštalo puno novca za tiskanje, pa sam se zaposlio. Na kraju sam radio za Susan Silver, prije nego što je vodila Soundgarden i Alice In Chains ili se udala za Chrisa Cornella. Natjerala me da obavim neke dokumente i još nekoliko manjih zadataka, ali nisam joj bio od velike koristi. Da budem iskren, dala mi je posao jer je bila fina dama i voljela je moj entuzijazam. Jednog dana dolazi mi i kaže: “Imam posao na kojem možeš zaraditi puno više novca i otići u backstage na velike koncerte, ali brinem se da to radiš sam, imaš li nekoga starijeg od sebe da možeš raditi s?”

“Dovraga, da, imam starijeg brata!” Dala nam je objesiti letke na telefonske stupove, lijepiti ih na građevinske ploče i stavljati u restorane, društvene dvorane, knjižnice i druga mjesta za Monqui Presents, legendarnu tvrtku Northwest Concert Promotions. Letjeli smo za cool bendove kao što su Slayer i Billy Bragg i ulazili u backstage i bili plaćeni više nego bilo gdje drugdje. Monqui je započeo 1983. i još uvijek postoji. Zaradio sam dovoljno novca za tiskanje časopisa, ali onda sam počeo naplaćivati ​1,00 dolara za prikupljanje novca. Također sam morao prodati puno više oglasa. Primio sam poziv od Stevea Kaplana, predsjednika Dutch East India , distributera glazbe i izdavačke kuće iz New Jerseya, i čovjeka s kojim i danas poslujem. Kaže mi da bi željeli distribuirati Subway Magazine u Sjedinjenim Državama i po cijelom svijetu. Kako bi zasladio dogovor, preporučuje da podignem cijenu na 2,00 dolara za primjerak i kaže da ću zadržati 100% novca, a on će se oglašavati u svakom izdanju. Dutch East iznenađujuće nije želio smanjenje distribucije.

Jedina kvaka je bila što je želio da pregledam i intervjuiram neke od bendova na njegovoj etiketi Pentagram. Dogovor je sklopljen i distribucija je počela. Nije imao pojma o mojim godinama. Nakon prvog izdanja koje je distribuirao, dobio sam poziv od Dana Christophersona iz benda iz Seattlea pod nazivom DC Lacroix. Imao je zanimljiv prijedlog i želio je da se nađem s njegovom ženom i njim. Kad smo se upoznali, bili su šokirani mojim godinama. Bio sam šokiran koliko je jebeno prekrasna njegova žena. Htio je da mu pomognem sastaviti kompilaciju heavy metala Washington države i da mu pomognem prikupiti sredstva i dobiti distribuciju. Zajedno smo odabrali bendove i prikupili sredstva. Prepustio mi je pakiranje i distribuciju. Uživao sam u pakiranju i distribucija je bila jednostavna, Dutch East India. Nazvao sam ga Metal Meltdown i Dutch East India rasprodana od tisuću primjeraka tiska. Bio sam navučen, objavljivanje ploča postalo bi doživotna ovisnost. Postavio sam Subcore Records u suradnji s Subway Magazinom. Bila je to punk izdavačka kuća, moja novootkrivena ljubav i s njom sam postigao velike rezultate izdajući Accused, Dehumanizers, GG Allin i State of Confusion. Ako to nije bilo dovoljno, također sam želio napraviti drugi Metal Meltdown Volume i pokrenuti metal label. Puno metala je izlazilo iz Everetta u Washingtonu pa sam ga nazvao Ever Rat Records i potpisao Sashaya na singl i počeo raditi na Metal Meltdown Volume II. Želio sam nastaviti raditi s Danom jer je bio izvrstan partner i bio sam oduševljen njegovom ženom. Zapravo sam se igrao umnih igrica sam sa sobom, tko je zgodniji, Susan Silver ili Sylvia Lacroix. Nikad nisam zaključio jer su oboje bile savršene desetke u svakom pogledu. Također sam počeo raditi u klubu svih uzrasta Gorilla Gardens rezervirajući i metal i punk na vrhuncu glazbene scene u Seattleu. Rezervirao sam stotine bendova i vidio sve nastupe koje su drugi promotori rezervirali tamo, uključujući Violent Femmes, Guns ‘n’ Roses i GBH. Razvijala se i moja spisateljska karijera. Napisao sam reportaže sa scene za Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll i pokrenuo glazbenu kolumnu u srednjoškolskim novinama. Za svoj prvi srednjoškolski članak vratio sam se starom favoritu, Overlordu. Stvari su bile savršene, previše savršene. Sve je išlo fantastično. Imao sam hitan i distribucijski ugovor s Enigmom i prodavao sam desetke tisuća ploča. Uživao sam u uspjehu, ali onda su se dogodile dvije poražavajuće stvari. Vinyl je umro nakon čega je uslijedio bankrot Enigme. Nisam imao iskustva sa bankrotom, ali sam brzo shvatio da to znači da gubiš sve. Enigma je mojim subjektima dugovala blizu 200.000,00 dolara u to vrijeme. Nisam primio ni peni. Vratili su me cijeli život, a imao sam samo 19 godina! Upravo sam pokrenuo uspješnu rap izdavačku kuću EVER RAP RECORDS. Bio sam slomljen, ali sam ipak nastavio. Vinil je bio mrtav, a umnožavanje kompaktnih diskova koštalo je bogatstvo. Postao sam izdavačka kuća samo za kazete i nakon što sam izdao Death Squad, Action Buddie i Chilly Uptown na kaseti, odustao sam. Nikada nisam bio obožavatelj formata kazeta, iako ih i danas izdajem. Nije bilo zabavno! Objesio sam cipele i izašao na pašnjak.

Bez sumnje, ovo je bilo najteže vrijeme u mom životu. Jako mi je nedostajalo objavljivanje glazbe i pisanje. Bio sam depresivan cijelo desetljeće i nažalost, 31. siječnja 2006. bio sam inspiriran gubitkom mog velikog prijatelja. Tom Roberts, također poznat kao Tom Pig i Pig Champion. Bio je gitarist za Poison Idea i bio je toliko velik da je gitara izgledala kao žlica u njegovim rukama, ali znao je svirati, znao je pisati, bio je karakterističan s obiljem priča i uvijek se prema meni odnosio s velikim poštovanjem unatoč mojoj mladosti. Dosta ljudi me ocjenjivalo prema mojim godinama i ne bi poslovalo s djetetom. Tom je bio drugačiji i mislio je da su moje godine cool. Postali smo prijatelji kad sam imala četrnaest godina. Poput mene, Tom je bio strastveni kolekcionar ploča i tiskao je ploče Poison Idea iz svog džepa jer nije vjerovao izdavačima ili distributerima. Upravo je pritisnuo “Izaberi svog kralja” od Poison Idea. Vjerojatno jedna od najboljih 7″ ploča ikad napravljenih. Pitao sam Toma mogu li kupiti neke kopije na veliko. Prodao mi je 25 primjeraka i bio šokiran što sam mu poslao novac prije nego što je dobio ploče.

Prodao sam više od 500 primjeraka tog 7″, više nego bilo tko drugi tijekom njegovog originalnog izdanja. Redovito sam razgovarao s Tomom i on me naučio neke trikove da budem samofinancirajuća punk rock izdavačka kuća za koje ne bih trebao dijeliti strah od presude, ali hoću jer su to sjajne priče o borbi i ustrajnosti unatoč kršenju jebenog zakona. Slao sam sranje po cijelom svijetu. Poštanski troškovi su bili bogatstvo. Tom je objasnio da kad god pošaljem nešto iznad 10,00 dolara da koristim marke umjesto da odem u poštu. Predložio mi je da uzmem običan komad sapuna i stavim malo vode na njegovu podlogu i lagano premažem vrh svojih maraka sapunom. Učinio sam to. Rekao je da priložim omotnicu s paket i zamolite primatelja da mi vrati markice. Na moje zadovoljstvo većina ih je vratila moje marke. Zatim bih uzeo spužvu i njome pažljivo uklonio ne samo sapun, već i poštanski žig. Bilo je tako jednostavno, a opet tako genijalno. Štedio sam oko 400,00 USD mjesečno koristeći svoje marke mul više puta. Međugradski telefonski pozivi također su me ubijali.Danas je u to teško povjerovati, ali nekada je poziv izvan države i inozemstva koštao bogatstvo. Tom je imao prijatelja u telefonskoj tvrtki koji mu je davao, usuđujem se reći, brojeve telefonskih kartica. U početku bi mi davao jednu tjedno. “Pazi da zoveš samo s govornica”, znao je reći. Pa sad me ta duga udaljenost ništa nije koštala, zvao sam sveučilišne radio stanice, časopise, klubove i još mnogo toga gurajući bendove za koje sam radio. Tom je volio moju upornost. Počeo mi je davati 500 brojeva telefonskih kartica tjedno. Naravno, zauzvrat me natjerao da napravim promociju Poison Idea u kojoj sam također uživao. Tada sam postao agent za rezervacije. Rezervirao sam ogromnu turneju po SAD-u za Raw Power & the Dehumanizers uz Dayglo Abortions ili Slam koji su ih pratili doslovno postavljajući ured ispred govornice svaki dan nakon škole po kiši u Seattleu. Također sam posjedovao govornicu u školi. Definitivno sam platio jebene pristojbe svojoj majci. Iako razumijem da je bilo pogrešno varati poštu i AT&T, s druge strane, također razumijem koliko je milijuna ljudi i zaposlenika AT&T prevarilo. No remorse (Nemam grižnju savjesti, op. prev.) izraz koji sam naučio od Motorheada!

Da zaključim, želio sam odati počast Pig Championu, pa sam osnovao novu etiketu i nazvao je PIG Records po tom ljupkom plišanom medvjediću. Namjeravao sam samo iz zabave ponovno izdati najveće hitove DEHUMANIZERS kao dvostruki CD s knjižicom od 32 stranice, ali nije išlo na taj način. Jason Rodger a/k/a Jason Potbelly me nazove ubrzo nakon toga i kaže da ima dopuštenje za korištenje sjajne pjesme na kompilaciji od 7 inča i želi da je objavim jer je čuo  glasine da sam ponovo u poslu i pod ime PIG! (SVINJA!, op.prev.) “Ne, Jasone, hvala ti puno, ali ja samo radim jednu i vraćam se na pašnjak.”

“Mora da te zanima koja pjesma”, odgovara ovaj gad. Shvativši da ga se neće lako odbiti, glupo sam ga potaknula da mi se šali. Nisam se smijao kad mi je uzvratio s mojom drugom najdražom pjesmom ikad, (ništa nije bolje od Majora Toma.) DI-jeva verzija ‘Richard Hung Himself!’ Sada je govorio o povijesti punk rocka, i, po mom mišljenju, o najvećoj američkoj punk rock pjesmi ikad napisanoj. Dopustio mi je da provjerim s Caseyjem Royerom i ja sam uhvaćen, udica, konopac i tonuo kao riba za gumenim crvom. Jason je bio dobar, stvarno dobar. Nastavio me mamiti. “Kako ćeš nazvati kompilaciju”, upitao je. Odmah sam odgovorio, “Shut The Fuck Up & Listen” (Ušuti j…te & Poslušaj,op.prev.), a on je začepio. Mislio sam da je poklopio slušalicu, bilo je tako tiho. “Još uvijek si tamo?” Pitao sam.

“Da”, odgovara on nesigurno, “samo slušam.” Sad sam se smijao. Mislio je da mu se obraćam i prirodno se malo iznervirao. “Što je tako smiješno?”

“Nisam htio da zašutiš, nazvat ću ploču ‘Shut The Fuck Up & Listen’, to će biti poruka svim vladama na svijetu.”

“Oh,” a onda se počeo smijati. Rodilo se veliko prijateljstvo. Od tog dana nadalje, obvezao sam se voditi PIG Records do kraja života. Jason je bio angažiran da radi u Odjelu za A&R, a ja sam tako zauzeta od tada ne spavam, često zaboravljam jesti i ni pod kojim okolnostima ne mogu pratiti mailove, facebook, instagrame, telefonske pozive itd. Jasno je da će to biti moja smrt. I želim vas sve da ga se sjećam zbog ‘Prokletstva Jasona Potbellya!’ Uzrok smrti na mojoj smrtovnici će glasiti ‘Jason Mother Fucking Potbelly’. Ubrizgao mi je u vene vinil, hvatajući se za moju slabost i nasilno sam se vratio svojoj ovisnosti, a to je sada zaglavljeno sa mnom zadnjih 14 godina iu budućnosti do kraja života.

Victor Hayden, (Mascara Snake Kapetana Beefhearta, glazbenik koji je njegov suradnik, op.prev.) bio je naš A&R direktor do prije nekoliko godina. Nakon šezdeset godina u glazbenoj industriji, dolazi k meni i kaže: “Završio sam, Dave. Odabrao sam svoju zamjenu.” Učinio je to čak ni bez konzultacija sa mnom ili bez ikakvog upozorenja. Što je zajebalo Victora! Nastavlja: “Obavijestite Jasona Potbellyja da se povlačim i od sutra i da je on moja zamjena.” Victor je zacijelo imao predosjećaj jer ga je osam dana kasnije pregazio kombi dok je išao preko ulice u školskoj zoni. Ubijen je. On i ja smo upravo zajedno gledali utakmicu Seahawksa. Jason danas uglavnom vodi sve punk i metal A&R i nadzire sve naše dopisnike za umjetnike i repertoare. Još uvijek radim puno A&R, (potpisao sam s Anthonyjem Ausgangom,) ali kada pronađem umjetnika s kojim želim raditi, uvijek me razdraga reakcija kada im kažem da želim potpisati s tobom, ali da prvo moram dobiti odobrenje od mog direktora A & R. Gledaju me i kažu: “Ali ti si vlasnik tvrtke”, a ja uživam u odgovoru “Da, ali ja nisam direktor A & R.” Jason obično odobrava sve što mu donesem, ali me je nedavno tri puta odbio i u sva tri navrata bio je u pravu što se tiče novca. Da biste preživjeli u ovoj industriji, morate postaviti prave ljude da donose ispravne odluke. Nekoliko loših odluka i bez posla.

U diskografskoj ste industriji gotovo četrdeset godina. Koje su prednosti i nedostaci?

Postoji vraški puno više nedostataka nego prednosti, ali počnimo s prednostima jer one nadmašuju nedostatke. Prednost broj jedan je ‘Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘N’ Roll!’ Imao sam sreću da imam seks s mnogo vrlo seksi žena. Da nije bilo rock ‘n’ rolla, mislim da se to ne bi dogodilo. Također sam popio previše dobrih droga i previše pića. Trenutno sam u stanju prisebnosti. Rock ‘N’ Roll je jebeno strašan! Stavi ploču Lynyrd Skynyrd i ja sam na jugu. Pustite “Run Through The Jungle” od Creedencea i dobivam osjećaj što je veteran vijetnamskog rata morao izdržati. Upoznao sam i radio s nekim od najnevjerojatnijih ljudi na Zemlji. Prosječna osoba ne razumije proizvođače, inženjere ili svladavanje tehnologija. Toliko su složeni da ne razumijem u potpunosti kako rade to što rade. Radio sam s Jackom Endinom, Adamom Kasperom, Floydom Reitsmom i Donom Zientarom. Teško je opisati, shvatiti i razumjeti koliko ti pojedinci doprinose procesu.Fenomenalni su! Spomenuti su radili s Nirvanom, Soundgardenom, Ozzyjem, Aerosmithom, U2, Pearl Jamom, Daveom Matthewsom, Foo Fightersima, REM-om, Queens o the Stone Age, The Offspring, GG Allinom i mnom. Dopustite mi da ponovim “I JA!” Ovi ljudi su genijalci i svakako sam počašćen što sam radio sa sva četvorica. Pripadaju im u Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame. Također bih želio odati priznanje još dvojici vještih producenta i inženjera koje sam imao zadovoljstvo gledati kako rade. Tom Dyer mi je dao moj odgoj na snimanju. I danas kad ne radim s Jackom Endinom, gledam majstorstvo Dane Dougherty. Dana može svladati, producirati, projektirati i uređivati ​​video kao i bilo tko na Zemlji. Promatranje ovih pojedinaca u njihovom zanatu jednako je promatranju Moneta kako slika u svom vrtu. Također sam bio blagoslovljen što sam večerao s Robertom Plantom. On je ljubazno ljudsko biće koje poštuje svoj položaj na Zemlji i ne zlorabi ga. Ne zanima ga jesi li ti predsjednik Sjedinjenih Država ili ja.Ako zaslužuješ ljubaznost, on će se tako ponašati prema tebi. Jeli smo zeca i kokoš od divljači Cornish u kući Chihuly u kampusu vinarije Chateau Saint Michele u Woodinville Washingtonu s još troje, (Mascara Snake, Pamela Des Barres i Michael Lee), svi uživajući u privatnim rezervnim vinima vinarije. Robert me tretirao kao sebi ravnog. Ja nisam, ali on jest. Pio sam s Rudyjem Sarzom, dopisivao se s Diamondom Darrell (počivao u miru), upoznao Stevea Jonesa, Sylvestera Stallonea, Emilia Estevesa, božicu Allie Sheedy, Brooke Shields, Pee Wee Herman, Paula Stanleya, Allie Willis, Ricka Springfielda, želju mog života Lita Ford, Peter Tunney i Robin Tunney. Ručao sam sa Sheenom Easton, najljepšom ženom ikad. Sjedio sam za stolom i razgovarao o poslu s Bobbyjem Brownom. Proveo sam nekoliko navrata s Geneom Simmondsom, jednim od najdarovitijih poslovnih ljudi na svijetu. Nije bio baš uvjerljiv. Rekao je: “Davide, napravio sam samo jednu pogrešku u životu, upravljajući diskografskom kućom.” Postavio sam pored Ice T i sudio događaj. Zabavljao se s Tomom Pettyjem, gledao film s Lemmyjem. Popis se nastavlja i nastavlja. I to je obično eksplozija i još jednom to je nešto što se ne bi dogodilo da nisam uključen u industriju zabave. To su nepogrešive prednosti posjedovanja diskografske kuće. Oduševljavaju, ali imaju svoju cijenu.Nedostaci su jednostavni. Komercijalno sam izdao više od 500 proizvoda. Moje sranje se ne prodaje u milijunima primjeraka, pa je dovelo do života u siromaštvu. Zlouporaba droga i alkohola su negativni. Mrtvih umjetnika imam koliko i živih. Svi su mi bili prijatelji. Pakleno boli kad umru i stalno umiru. Imam puno umjetnika koji su zatvoreni ili su nekad bili. Rijetko imam vremena spavati ili jesti, i nikad me neću uhvatiti. I tjelesno i psihičko zdravlje trpi. Mnogi vas ne vole jer niste postigli rezultate kojima su se nadali, slavu i bogatstvo. A onda imaš jebene mrzitelje i to je pravi problem. Moja politička etiketa i ja govorimo protiv diskriminacije, seksizma, ograničenja slobode govora, među ostalim kontroverznim temama. Podržavamo LGBT zajednicu i Black Lives Matters, dobio sam puno prijetnji smrću, više nego što bi većina ljudi mogla podnijeti, uključujući nedavne prijetnje iz dvaju različitih ogranaka Proud Boysa (ekstremistička desničarska organizacija, op.prev.) i mnogih grupa mržnje.

FBI me je obavijestio da sam na nacističkoj listi za ubojstvo. Državna sigurnost me kontaktirala više puta kako bi me obavijestila da moji proizvodi nisu prihvatljivi i da se moram uhvatiti i odustati ili se suočiti s posljedicama. Izrezali su mi gume; prozori su mi pucali. Neki odvratni rasist ispisao je grafit ‘crnjuški ljubavnik’ na mom autu nakon što sam pokrenuo rap etiketu. Čuvam leđa kad izlazim. Tužili su me bezbroj puta, ali uvijek sam bio pobjednik. Također sam imao prijetnje smrću jer sam tražio da se slučaj samoubojstva Kurta Cobaina ponovno otvori na temelju vjerojatnosti i dokaza koji potvrđuju da se radilo o potpomognutom samoubojstvu ili ubojstvu. Ove prijetnje ne dolaze od ljudi koji su uključeni, one su od radikalnih obožavatelja Nirvane.

Imao sam barem trideset distributera koji su proglasili bankrot nada mnom tijekom mog života, a još više samo da nisu platili. Grupe su se pojavile da igraju očekujući jamstvo o kojem smo pregovarali samo da bi dobili djelić onoga što im je obećano. Umjetnici, glazbenici, grafičari, biljke za prešanje često propuštaju teške rokove koje postavljaju distributeri. Rokovi su rokovi. Covid je došao i uništio emisiju uživo. Turneja je najbolji način promocije i jedini put kada umjetnici i ja možemo određivati ​​maloprodajne cijene. Ništa nije više razočaravajuće od raspada bendova nakon što ste upravo u njih uložili hrpu novca. Ima toliko nedostataka, ali jednostavno ne možete dopustiti da vas smuše. Uživajte u nagradama i prijateljstvima.

Surađivali ste s raznim izvođačima i umjetnicima bez obzira na njihov žanr i zemljopisni položaj. Možete li nam reći zašto i elaborirati?

Sigurno. Počnimo s zemljopisom jer je to jednostavan odgovor. Moj osobni cilj, koji nikada neće biti postignut u mom životu, je da naša etiketa objavi barem jedan proizvod iz svake zemlje svijeta i svake države u Sjedinjenim Državama. Doživimo različite kulture, običaje i društva. Neki od njih su nam možda poznati i možemo ih povezati, a drugi od kojih možemo učiti. Tekstovi umjetnika i glazbenika, glazba, slike, zvukovi i djela obično su izvučeni iz njihove okoline i okoline, plus životna iskustva, mašta i osobno znanje. Stoga će punk bendovi iz Izraela i Engleske imati neke sličnosti temeljene na žanru glazbe, ali će u konačnici biti prilično drugačiji. Ne mogu zamisliti metal bend iz Los Angelesa koji ima isti izgled kao onaj iz Jugoslavije. Rock bendovi s Jamajke imaju tendenciju da upadaju u naznake reggaea. Južnoamerički bend kao što je Lynyrd Skynyrd uvelike se razlikuje od kanadskog benda kao što je Rush. Od glazbe i umjetnosti možete naučiti toliko toga da vas možda nisu učili u školi. Često učim o običajima, vjerama, povijesti i politici drugih naroda i kultura. PIG RECORDS ima Raw Power, High Circle, The Kinn-ocks i Deep Throat iz Itaya, preseljeni VooDoos iz Irske, Ananas iz Japana, Maijinal, Citizen Uselss, Trauma, Antiseptic i još mnogo toga iz Indonezije. Hanson Brothers, DOA i Dayglo Abortions iz Kanade svi su radili s nama. Izdali smo Slam iz Švedske, Los Amish iz Meksika. Pokušavamo proširiti svoju međunarodnu prisutnost i prodajom i distribucijom na bilo koje mjesto na Zemlji do kojeg možemo doći, kao i dovođenjem glazbe sa svih strana svijeta do potrošača.

Na žanr. Prvo sam se držao metala jer sam to znao. Sve vrste metala. Onda sam pronašao hardcore, i htio sam to učiniti. Sljedeće što znate, shvatio sam da općenito možete proizvesti tri punk albuma za iste troškove koji su uključeni u jedan metal album, tako da postajemo punk heavy. Odlučujem raditi rock ploče i publika preferira CD-e nego vinil. Rap glazba mora biti u formatu vinila da bi se potvrdila autentičnost. Određeni proizvodi moraju imati ograničena izdanja. Jedna stvar vodi drugoj i pokušavate postići svoj konačni cilj, biti punopravna zabavna tvrtka i izdavač svih oblika umjetnosti iz cijelog svijeta, bilo da se radi o glazbi, filmovima, knjigama, stripovima, slikama, igračkama , majice, posteri, igrice i tako dalje. Ako možete sve to spojiti, apsolutno se sve dobro slaže jedno s drugim. Ako Warner Brothers, Disney, Relatively i MCA to mogu učiniti u velikim razmjerima, zašto mi to ne bismo mogli učiniti na nezavisnoj-underground razini? Postoji toliko sjajnih etiketa koje se drže jednog ili drugog žanra koje volim ili izbjegavam kontroverze koje poštujem. Oni u tome rade briljantan posao. Međutim, moji zaposlenici i ja volimo najbolje od svih žanrova. Svi mi čitamo, imamo jaka politička i društvena uvjerenja, imamo smisla za humor, slušamo, gledamo TV, idemo u kino i muzeje, tako da imamo veliku potrebu učiniti sve i sve što nam je financijski izvedivo jer to odražava našim stilovima života. To je definitivno teže učiniti jer to otežava prikupljanje baze obožavatelja i oglašavanje. Razumijemo i prihvaćamo tu stvarnost. Pronalazimo načine kako to zaobići. Dorasli smo izazovu.

Ako netko voli hardcore i samo hardcore, onda imamo dosta hardcorea za njega. Isto je i s rapom, metalom i rockom. Imamo što za ponuditi. Međutim, ako ne želite kupovati naše rock proizvode jer vam se ne sviđa što radimo i rap i punk, onda je to vaš gubitak. Za mene je to diskriminatorno kao i ne podržavati našu etiketu jer imamo neke islamske glazbenike u našem katalogu, što je istina, i zbog toga smo dobili nekoliko neukih pritužbi. Nažalost, isto je bilo i kada koristimo logo LGBT i Black Life Matters, dobivamo pritužbe fanatističke prirode. Te pritužbe idu na jedno uho, a odmah na drugo, osim ako naravno nisu popraćene prijetnjama, što nas tjera na ozbiljniji pristup. Sada, ako protestirate protiv našeg brenda jer ste uvrijeđeni što je Anthony Ausgang stavio miša na raspelo na naslovnici Swizzle Comicsa, ili Chilly Uptown govori o svom penisu, vulgarnoj strani Potbelly, uključivanju droge u Dehumanizers i LSD ReXXX, činjenica da imamo nekoliko bivših zatvorenika na etiketi, kontroverzna priroda našeg benda Riot Cop, ili činjenica da koristimo puno oskudno odjevenih seksi modela, onda prihvaćam vaš protest. Morao bih se složiti da niste najprikladniji za obožavatelja PIG-a i da imate svako pravo bojkotirati i/ili protestirati protiv brenda. Uvjerljivije zdravorazumsko rješenje moglo bi biti da nas jednostavno ignorirate, ali imate pravo govoriti protiv nas. Definitivno ostvarujemo svoje pravo na slobodu govora. Nadamo se da ćemo u budućnosti dodavati sve više žanrova jer svi daroviti umjetnici svih žanrova i stilova zaslužuju pravo da ih se čuje, vidi, gleda, čita i podržava.

Što budućnost nosi s PIG-om i možete li nagovijestiti nove proizvode koji će doći na tržište?

Počnimo jednostavno s našim brendom i našim logotipom. Imamo stotine logotipa, ali vrlo malo njih predstavlja ženku. Pokušali smo ih uravnotežiti što se tiče predstavljanja različitih žanrova i ‘koncepta, ako je to prava riječ’, kao što su LGBT i Black-Lives Matter, ali trenutno imamo samo jedan logo koji predstavlja ženu. Radimo na još mnogo toga za koje se nadam da će uravnotežiti brend i izaći na vidjelo 2022. Mislim da ćete uživati ​​u njima. Angažirali smo naš pošten dio bolje strane čovječanstva kao umjetnike naslovnica, urednike i grafičke dizajnere, i više od našeg poštenog udjela ženskih modela, i imali smo puno ženskih predstavnika u glazbenom odjelu. Imamo Brendu i Kate iz Klondikea Kate, Jozeta koji se povremeno pojavljuje s Potbelly, ženskim bendovima kao što su Ananas, Porn Stars of Horrors, Pamela Des Barres i Skeksis. Kompilacijske pjesme Carvelsa, Green Lady Killersa i Sealtha, ali već neko vrijeme nismo imali ženski glas koji bi predstavljao PIG-a na međunarodnoj razini. Srećom, upravo smo objavili 40. godišnjicu RAW POWER-a, sedam inča, ‘Zemlja špageta u usponu’. Mauro Codeluppi, frontmen Raw Powera, želio je to napraviti podijeljenu ploču s Ananasima iz Japana. Karina Friday, otvorena žena iz Osake ispred Ananasa. Neustrašiva je u svom nastupu, stječući međunarodnu zastupljenost i izgrađujući moćnu prisutnost na internetu. Već smo upisali bend u drugu ploču od sedam inča i nadamo se da će ona nastaviti dobivati ​​na popularnosti. Gurat ćemo Anane. Imperativ je da djevojčice školske dobi vide i čuju da za njih ima mjesta u punku, nezavisnoj i alternativnoj glazbi. Krajem osamdesetih izdali smo Nerdy i Chelly Chell za našu Ever Rap Record izdavačku kuću. Zajedno s MC Lyteom i MC Sha-Rockom, Chelly Chell pokazala je mladima da postoji i još uvijek ima mjesta u rapu za zabavljačicu.

Uz prethodno spomenutu ‘Land of the Rising Spaghetti’ od Raw Power and the Ananas, upravo smo objavili i split (album/CD/ i kaseta) s Marjinalom iz Indonezije i Potbellyjem s Whidbey Island Washington, te 104- stranica, puna boja, stolić za kavu/umjetnička knjiga Anthonyja Ausganga pod nazivom ‘The Shifting Years!” To je predmet ljepote. A kad smo već kod gospodina Ausganga, imamo broj 2 ‘Swizzle Comics’ koji izlazi na Božić. Hvala ti, Djede Mraze. Prošli smo fantastično sa Swizzle #1. Imamo još jedno vrlo važno božićno izdanje koje stiže od PIG-a u 7-inčnom formatu. ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed War Pig’, legendarnog gitarista i imitatora Jimija Hendrixa RANDY HANSEN Ever Rap Records će predstaviti ponovno izdanje P-D2 ‘Dope Muzik 4 The Head’, klasika iz 1990. na CD-u i digitalnom ove godine i na vinilu 2022. Kao što sam već spomenuo, imamo 7- Inch rekord izlazi od strane Ananas-a 2022. Za daljnji dodatak našoj međunarodnoj kolekciji, PIG će se ponovno izdati g Nizozemski metal bogovi LOŠA NAVIKA. Ovo je sjajan rekord. Za one od vas koji nikada nisu čuli za Bad Habit, imaju neke od najboljih hard rocka i metala u stilu osamdesetih i stvarno su iz osamdesetih. Utjecali su na mnoge bendove. Dok smo na temi Nizozemske, nedavno smo sklopili partnerstvo za izdavanje i sa Headbangers Records i Big Bad Wolf Records iz Nizozemske. Upravo su izdali ograničenu verziju od 500 primjeraka POTBELLY-jevog ‘Legacy of Debauchery’ u Europi, a tijekom godina će objaviti još mnogo PIG proizvoda. Na temu Label Partners, želio bih prepoznati neke od naših drugih partnera. (Moribund, Little Mafia, Bath Salts Brigade, 1332, Die Laughing, Snatchee, Innocent Sinners, Toxic Shock, Chicanery Chic, a siguran sam da sam neke zaboravio.) Naš cilj 2022. je dodati što više partnera za etiketu i sponzori što je više moguće. Pomaže u širenju glazbe i održava razumne cijene. Ako ste zainteresirani nazovite me ili mi pošaljite e-mail na (206) 618-8711 ili dportnow@msn.com. Zaključno, imali smo i trenutno imamo neke prave vojnike koji rade za nas. Nikada ne dobivam dovoljno kredita pa bih želio podijeliti ljubav. Novocaine – Ever Rap Records. Neil Sussman – odvjetnik. Moj sin Max Portnow, Mylo Milam i John Morse koji pokreću stvari. Povika i Marku Mendezu. A posebno Mike King, Kralj koji mi pomaže u svakodnevnim operacijama i ne baš zabavnoj strani poslovanja kao što su računovodstvo, ugovori, sigurnosna kopija, jednostruki listovi, planiranje, podsjetnici, vremenski rokovi. Njegove usluge su neprocjenjive i nezamjenjive.