Produkt 42, the label responsible for bands like Carrion and IAMWARFACE, is rapidly becoming a rising star the world of underground dark music. With so much talent in their ranks, and so much going on, I was lucky to get the audience of owner/founder (and personal friend) Sean Melody to ask him a few questions about the inner workings of both himself and his label. Coming from the scene that he helped create and nurture, I know firsthand the amazing things that Sean and his label are capable of. It is with much pride and no further ado, I present to you, dear reader, this interview with such an incredible person.
NTA: You have been a consistent figure in the music scene for quite some time, be it playing in bands, DJing, or promoting club nights. When and where did your musical journey begin? Did you ever anticipate it evolving the way that has?
SM/P42: I have been surrounded by art and music my whole life. My mom played French horn her whole life including in the Denver Concert Band.
So I was kind of stuck from birth. I remember her introducing me to so many different kinds of music for my earliest memories. One day we would be in the orchestra pit of the Denver Performing Arts complex with different friends of the family or at El Chapultatec watching Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Schellar perform or hanging out at garden and music parties involving people ranging from Steven Stiles to John Denver.
I started playing piano at age 5 from the wife of my mom's horn teacher, when I was 8 she got married. Her husband Jack, who later adopted me, had multiple instruments which led to me starting my road to learning as many instruments as I could. This included trumpet, and cello before I got my hands on my first guitar.
When I was 13, my mom and I had moved to Denver, and I found a Harmony electric guitar at a garage sale for $15 dollars.
It was the 80s and I was already slightly corrupted as you could hear anything from Ozzy and Motley Crue to Depeche Mode and Sisters of Mercy and everything in-between as well as living in Colorado we had a televised video show called Teletunes.
I remember always having a ton of music as far back as 5th or 6th grade and would make mix tapes and DJ our sleep overs and elementary school parties with my friend Matt Carrillo until we moved to Denver.
That continued on after we moved to Denver, as we were in the D.U. (Denver University) area, which gave me direct access to a record store call Peaches that became Sound Warehouse. Half the store was discount records, tapes and CDs.
Nothing over $5 or something like that, so I would shovel walks, mow lawns , etc… and spend that on everything from AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd,. Iggy Pop, etc… but, there was also the stuff that started my decent into everything dark, strange and experimental.
There was stuff like Possessed, Merciful Fate, D.R.I.,Voivod, Kreator and Slayer but there was also The Misfits, Black Flag, Corrosion of Conformity, The Circle Jerks and The Dammed, Joy Division, Frontline Assembly and Skinny Puppy and everything in-between.
I spun mainly metal house parties around that area while playing in bands here and there until I transferred to Englewood High School. That warped things even further with meeting my friend Adam which added New York Hardcore and Industrial to my wheel house as well as the ideas of synthesizers, drum machines and sampling/tape loops.
From there things went haywire.
I never really thought about starting a record label, I just wanted to make and share music.
NTA: What was the catalyst for starting your own label?
SM/P42: At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 I started releasing the archives of music I had been making in recovery from my accident while, relearning pretty much every instrument, programing, etc… that I had known before my head injury.
Shortly after I released 0s0: The Traveler Part 1, I started getting offers to be on different labels thanks to Bret Miller, Audra Hughes and Eardrumbuzz Radio.
With my medical conditions touring is probably never going to be a reality, and there was no way to pay off companies that wanted to give a big advance for what I was/am doing so, I weighed my options for a while.
After a bit, one company came to me with a good offer for digital distribution of pretty much anything I wanted to put out world wide, with no limits to how long the music was up or how much I could release. Best of all I didn't have to pay and got larger distribution than companies like DistroKid and after it's up, it's up. It isn't coming down because I forgot to pay, or because something happens to me. It will always be up as long as the distribution company is active.
After my first year of releasing a portion of my archives, the owner had a phone call with me about my future. The majority of the phone call was trying to figure out why I wasn't doing a record label.
I was rather confused at first. I told him we didn't have the money to start a record label but, would love to. Over the next hour he convinced me that I know too many artists just on Facebook alone that aren't signed or need help in their careers, and the deal I signed was for a full record label distribution contract, meaning I already kind of had one without knowing it.
In February of 2022 my wife and partner and I decided to join forces and open up Produkt 42 as a record label for my 48th birthday. It's been one crazy ride since then.
NTA: Produkt 42 has really started to take off, with exciting new artists, collaborations, and compilations. Are you at all surprised by the amount of success you have had in a relatively short amount of time?
SM/P42: Every second of every day.
I had never even thought about running a record label, managing artists, here and over seas before Oriel (the owner of our distribution side of things) came to me about starting one.
I wasn't sure what was going to come from it, but he was right, I do know music and a ton of musicians that need a vehicle for their work.
The fact we have done over 50 releases in our first year blows my mind.
NTA: Owning a operating a label seems like it must be a labor of absolute love, but not without its own set of problems. What has been your greatest joy? What has been your greatest challenge?
SM/P42: It really is… I mean I, get to work with some amazing artists of all levels, doing something I always dreamed of, but, never really thought I would be able to do.
It definitely has it's set of headaches from artists that expect the world to hackers corrupting the work I have just finished. With the distribution side of things being out of Spain, they have gotten hit a few times so, I have spent full weeks reconfiguring and rebuilding releases.
But I think the biggest challenge has been getting people to believe in the label and not scamming us. We have lost a couple of thousand in PR expenses for little to no avail or artists that have enormous egos without really being anywhere with their career.
We had one make us jump through multi-thousands of dollars worth of rewrites on our contract because they weren't happy or didn't understand to blow up on us the day our cat Kamala passed away in my arms.
That said there are more joys than challenges. Each day there is some reason that makes me want to jump out of bed and hit the floor running since we started Produkt 42, be it releasing music from artists such as Sever the Servants and Carrion, to Microwaved and IAMWARFACE and beyond.
Everyday there is something new for us to listen to or prep for release from some other area of the world. Right now we have artists on or from every continent except for Antarctica and Australia.
We currently have artists in Croatia, Serbia, Israel, Germany, Norway, the UK, Canada and Ecuador as well as all over the US. Which dumbfounds me every damn day.
It's kind of like having a 27 children that all want to be the center of attention and all want something different from ones time and energy.
NTA: Produkt 42 is steadfastly based out of the largely conservative Colorado Springs, CO, which, no offense, seems to be the most unlikely place to see the birth of a rising dark music label. Has this presented any issues with signing artists? Have you ever thought about relocating, why or why not?
SM/P42: We are…
It, as you know from living here, has it's own set of problems but, I am not sure if I would have gotten as far or had the time if I was anywhere else.
That said it does have it's own set of issues coming from here from all the extreme rightwing BS like the tragedy at Club Q (the only reason we weren't there that night was my health) to the fact that club and venue owners don't want to pay the entertainment they want booked.
As a DJ I went from making $150-300 a night for 1-4 hours of my time DJing in Denver and across the country to $15 an hour split between 2 to 6 DJs that all think they deserve the lion's share for just showing up.
On that note, there is a ton of talent that has and is coming from Colorado Springs, the extreme conservative side of things also pushes out some amazing stuff in answer to that side of things. Just on Produkt 42 alone there are 4-10 artists from here alone.
Most days it feels like people want to help us stand against the status quo.
As for thinking of relocating… we have thought about it in the past, especially with some of the opportunities that come our way with Apryl and my unique skill sets but, we don't see ourselves relocating for a while, as we are here for family and to help with Apryl's parents. It's tempting but we feel we are needed here currently.
NTA: What does the future hold for Produkt 42 and its family of talent?
SM/P42: We don't see an end to what we are doing anytime soon.
Besides our already amazing roster of artists and releases, we have signed some incredible new artists IAH Female fronted Electroclash from Ecuador and NSST which is a project of Thinder S Hawk (Joey Wilkie) know for his work on Microwaved's The Dead Shall Walk album with the track Swamp and Immumortal as well as the Remix series from The Dead Shall Walk
There's new stuff from Revolution State, 0s0, Ms. Mynx and more on the horizon as well as IAMWARFACE's second album Synesthesia and the debut EP of Brides (was Black Knives Inc and Brides in the Floodlights) as well as new Angel of Violence and more.
As well we are still doing the LEGO side of things with Under the Brickfluence partly as a way to connect our music with new fans and audience that may not ever hear it otherwise. As well as relaunching Sonic Umami as more of a magazine instead of a show talking about music, food, hobbies, books equipmemt and more
Plus Ms. Mynx and I are back to DJing so keep an eye out for Produkt 42 sponsored nights popping up as well, as other things in the works we can't really talk about.
NTA: Who on your roster of incredibly talented artists should we really be on the lookout for? What is the most exciting thing you are anticipating for your label?
SM/P42: That is an incredibly hard question to answer. Genuinely believe in every artist we are working with so I would have so many to list.
I would recommend all things Microwaved, especially The Dead Shall Walk and the Remixes, IAMWARFACE's Year of the Dragon is a must own as well.
Look for the Brides EP out 08/08, and IAH coming later this year, as well as NSST, and TB Roberts.
We are looking forward to doing SxSW and getting some of our European acts over here for everyone to see and just what the future holds for Produkt 42 in general.
You can find all of our artists and releases at https://produkt42.bandcamp.com
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