Infectious Organisms (1 of 2)
Telling that story about Jim Carroll brought back a flood of memories from years ago. When I used to run an unprofitable record label called Annex Records and when I managed a few artists. A topic I haven’t really covered here before and I’m not sure why. They were a formative couple of years in my life. I remember the feelings I had back then very well. They provided the basis for a kind of professional humility I’ve acquired that I think has served me well in the years since. The primary feeling I remember from those days was one of desperation. A sense of futility pervaded much of what I did. I tried hard. And I did what I thought were the right things to do. And it mostly didn’t matter.
There was a band called Infectious Organisms.
They had been touring and building up their fanbase along the East Coast, primarily, I think, in the South. They played live hip-hop in the vein of The Roots. A super tight backing band with Brooke Blair on guitar, Will, his brother, on drums, and Dave Sunderland on bass. Dave used to have a lot of hair and he’d have this red thing in his hair, like a wrap or something, so that he almost looked like a white Erykah Badu when he played bass. It was a good look. Sprinkle in some strong MC work and you’ve got a great band. My first interaction with the band was when I was putting together the second Annex Records Sampler. I got in touch with Will Blair, the drummer, and got him to agree to allow the song, “The Balance”, to be the second song on the record. Leading off the compilation with both The Interpreters and, to a lesser extent, Infectious, was a minor coup and was a strong opening statement for a label nobody had heard of. (Aside: Again, memories. I need to tell some stories about that sampler.)
In the course of those conversations, I learned that Infectious was putting the finishing touches on their long-awaited follow-up record, Human Experience, and that, surprisingly, they didn’t have any formal management. Considering they were one of the bigger acts at their level and at the time, this was rather unexpected. I think I floated the idea of working together on something more substantive and I think the band was looking for some additional help as they prepared for the release of the record.
The turning point for my enthusiasm came when Will sent me an advance copy of the record. I remember popping it into my computer. This was another example of a major lesson I learned back in those days.
Lesson: There is more very good music out there than there are resources to support or promote said music. You will be shocked and amazed at the quality of artists and musicians you’ve never heard of.
I think, in retrospect, I could find a number of flaws with the record. And I could quibble about things that I like to quibble about. But the bottom line, and I believe the truth, is that Human Experience is a mature accomplished record and it was deserving of a larger audience. I heard the still recognizable tone of Brooke Blair’s guitar. I heard Will’s drumming. I heard some very accomplished MC work. I even heard what I would call some hits. The production quality had increased noticeably since their first release and the dreamy ethereal tone of Brooke’s guitar conjured, at least to my ears, something at least in the same broad geography as what Radiohead was trying to do with Kid A. On a much smaller scale of course. But that’s where my head was at. By the time the record reached Track 6, “Medelling [sic] Cartel”, I was almost jumping out of my seat. I could not understand how I was even being given the opportunity to do anything at all with the band. This seemed so of the moment. So perfectly timed. This was the era of the pre-Fergie Black Eyed Peas. The Roots were holding court in Philly. It just felt natural. It felt like this would be something that obviously became huge. And I’d have the opportunity to help this great band reach that next level.
We planned a meeting around one of their shows in Harrisonburg and I drove out from Charlottesville to Harrisonburg to meet them. I’d put together a presentation detailing everything I wanted to do with and for the band. It was a good looking plan. We’d leverage their fanbase in the South and expand northward. We’d open up Europe, sign with an indie European label (those Europeans love their artsy hip-hop) and use that exposure to get a deal in the States. We’d take the next step together. It sounded good.
Of course, it was a complete fiction. It was a hope. An aspiration. I wasn’t referencing or leveraging any experience doing this for a band in the past. I was just putting some stuff that looked good on paper and hoping that my belief in the record would push the group over the edge. That plus my smarts and my ability to market and sell the band.
I remember sitting in the back of their touring van with the band and being able to spot the Kruder & Dorfmeister they were playing on the radio and I think I got a little bit of street cred when I did that. I liked the guys in the band, especially Will and Brooke, and it felt like we were maybe at the beginning of something special.
Would that it turned out that way.
[Part 2 will run tomorrow on this very blog. Stay tuned compadres!]
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