self-titled - no. 1 - (Page 32)

LABEL WHORE Daptone Records O nstage, singer Sharon Jones is electrifying. But who knew she could wire up a studio? “I put the electrical sockets in the walls,” says Jones of renovating the Bushwick apartment that houses her Brooklyn-based label, Daptone Records. “I went in like, ‘Show me something. What do I gotta do?’ And all of those sockets worked!” Launched at the turn of the century, Daptone has established itself as the leading producer of raw R&B and soul records, the kind you’d expect to find amid dusty crates of snap-crackle-and-pop vinyl. And according to the label’s founders, Neal Sugarman and Gabriel Roth, that’s exactly the idea. “We drive ten hours a day while on tour sometimes,” says Roth. “Those van rides are filled with old records. We’re listening to Tyrone Davis, Darrell Banks, the Ohio Players. When you get out of the van, that’s the sound that’s in your head. It’s what makes sense to you.” As the two lead self-titled around Daptone’s headquarters, they pride themselves on the hard work that went in to transforming the building’s two apartments into a studio space containing analog recording equipment, an isolation room (which Sugarman notes is built atop old car tires stuffed with T-shirts), a live room packed with instruments, an office walled by shelves of vinyl and even a spare bedroom and kitchen—complete with a working stove. “Our meat and potatoes was this real niche audience of people who are looking for raw deep funk records,” says Roth. “In the beginning, we couldn’t much aspire to get much past that.” Today, however, they’re finding their music discussed in the context of Top 40 artists such as Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse, with whom Daptone house band the Dap-Kings have toured and recorded. Even MTV News paid a visit to the studio for a piece plugging Jones’s latest album with the Dap-Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights. Sugarman and Roth somewhat shrug off the newfound attention, even joking about the house’s disarray for the MTV cameras. “There were flies and dirty diapers on the floor,” Roth jokes. “Crack pipes and soiled condoms.” But it’s clear there’s a slight panging to get back to their roots of flipping 45s and touring, not having to deal with licensing, wide-scale distribution through Caroline, digital downloads and figuring out the details this past year of performing with Mark Ronson at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. “Daptone is part of me. I’ve been there from the scratch.” For an artist-run label—Sugarman plays tenor saxophone in the Sugarman Three and the Dap-Kings; Roth, under the guise of “Bosco Mann,” plays bass and is the Dap-Kings’ chief songwriter/producer—success can be a gift and a curse. It calls more attention to such label acts as the Budos Band, Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, as well as support for lost gems such as Bob & Gene’s If This World Were Mine But it can also strain resources and exhaust those in charge of keeping it all together. In the end, though, Daptone’s founders are making the music they know and love. And most importantly, the success allows the label to keep its best assets happy. “Daptone is part of me,” says Jones. “I’ve been there from the scratch. I always tell Gabe, ‘This is the last job I will ever do. So you guys gotta take care of me.’” aaron richter – photos by chris hires http://www.daptonerecords.com http://www.daptonerecords.com http://www.daptonerecords.com

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self-titled - no. 1 Contents Spiritualized No Age Les Savy Fav The Teenagers Booka Shade Michael Gira Ellen Allien Magik Markers Jens Lekman Yeasayer Daptone Records Tipping Point Boris Fiery Furnaces Black Dice Black Mountain The Black Lips

self-titled - no. 1

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