Aug 20, 2012

August 20th, 2012 • Label profile

For this week’s installment of our new label profile feature, we’re heading across the pond to sunny Los Angeles to chat to a great new-ish independent label called Hit City USA.

Since 2008, they’ve been releasing some very exciting new indie music from local artists on vinyl (as well as digitally), including Superhumanoids, who toured the UK a couple of years back, and Princeton, a fantastic four piece whose latest album, “Remembrance Of Things To Come”, was produced by the talented Andrew Maury. They’ve also recently put out the debut 5-track EP from the rather promising duo PAPA. We’re sensing a recurring theme throughout all their releases to date – they all sound vital, fresh, have a great pop sensibility and ooze a laid back, California cool.

If you’re not yet familiar with these guys, we hope the following piece will change that. We caught up with one of the label’s founders, Cameron Parkins, to find out more:

LFC: When did Hit City U.S.A. start?

HCU: We put out our first release in 2008 – The Franks’ Un EP.

LFC: What were your inspirations and motivations for doing it?

HCU: Part of it was the appeal of running our own label – curating releases, being actively involved in the music scene around us – and part of it was necessity – we had our own project, The Franks, and wanted a platform to distribute music on. So we founded the label, loosely initially, to do so.

LFC: Are you genre specific, or is it a case of you sign something that excites you?

HCU: Not genre specific – we put out music that makes us feel alive and excited and passionate.

LFC: How do you find bands to work with?

HCU: All different ways – we hear about them, someone tells us about them, they are our friends, we go to a show etc. Up until now we’ve worked with LA artists only, something we are looking to branch out on.

LFC: Do you focus on US talent, or would you sign an international band and introduce them to the local market?

HCU: We would love to work with an international band – until recently, we haven’t been equipped to do so, but we have the infrastructure in place now that a release from an international group could be executed well. It’s all about timing and making sure that if we commit to something, we can commit to it fully.

LFC: Where can people buy Hit City USA releases?

HCU: They can buy our releases directly from us at the Hit City online store (hitcityusa.com), from all major digital download services (iTunes, Amazon, etc.), or from select neighborhood record stores. If your neighborhood record store does not carry Hit City U.S.A. releases, call and request that they do.

LFC: What have you found to be the biggest challenges in running a vinyl-centric label?

HCU: It’s twofold: The cost in manufacturing and promoting vinyl is high, so each release is a major investment. Beyond that, in making sure that we produce the best quality product we can there are a lot of moving pieces and often you won’t actually know how something will look until it’s already been manufactured.

LFC: What have been your most successful releases to date?

HCU: Each of our releases are sacred and successful for many reasons. We have various ways of measuring success, choosing one project above all others would not do justice to our work and that of our artists.

LFC: What can we expect from Hit City USA in the future?

HCU: A lot, we hope. We know better than to make any promises here and now but projects are in motion. Expect more good music and more of that California cool you know and love.

Like Hit City USA on Facebook here, and follow them on Twitter at @hitcityusa.

Tags: Andrew Maury, California, Cameron Parkins, Hit City USA, Label profile, Lord Huron, Los Angeles, PAPA, Princeton, Superhumanoids, The Franks

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Article source: http://laissezfaireclub.com/2012/08/label-profile-hit-city-usa-los-angeles-us/

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