Mike – Firstly, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for Crannk, I’ve been following your label most of the year and its been an exciting ride for a fan, I even bought a cheap record player just to listen to your vinyl releases. For those that don’t know, can you explain what kind of label ‘Wreckless Enterprise’ is and when it started ?
Ronny – Wreckless Enterprise is a self indulgent label run by a couple of old punk rock fans,started in January 2019. We put shows on for the bands we like and come across, and we put out compilations on vinyl and CD of the bands we like.
Mike – What is the music scene like in Wollongong?
Ronny – The scene in Wollongong has exploded in the last few years with some really diverse acts, after having spent the last couple of decades spawning a series of grunge/stoner inspired bands. They were great for keeping the scene alive, but we’re loving the resurgence of the punk sound happening now.
Mike – How many staff are involved in the day to day running of Wreckless Enterprise?
Ronny – Day to day running of the label really just involves the two of us (Ronny & Madame Wreckless) keeping an eye on our social pages, posting only once daily on fb and insta, and responding to messages. We do get busy packing and sending orders from time to time when there’s a new release and we do spend time planning new shows or small tours, and we spend time talking to lots of people around the country and overseas who run punk rock radio shows and podcasts, but it’s definitely not a full-time thing. We also have a couple of good friends who help us with all the artwork, like we will give them the concept and idea and they’ll make it look pro. We’re really lucky to have them on board! Posters and record covers too.
Mike – How many releases does the label have on the books now? and what ideas are you thinking about doing next?
Ronny – We only started less than a year ago on a shoestring budget, so there hasn’t been a huge amount of releases yet. We got a couple of things planned for 2020, but up to this point, it’s been the two Short Fuse 7″ records, a CD version of both Short Fuse comps combined, a 4 track 7″ vinyl release from the Leftards, and a CD comp called ‘the 8 Ball’ which sold out really quickly and are waiting to get more of.
The shows we put together are always extremely self-indulgent, we try to make it a bit eclectic (nobody wants to see 8 bands doing exactly the same thing right?) in terms of musical styles, gender and age differences etc so it’s truly a great little snapshot of what’s happening around the place. We get a lot of bands from all over the place, we even had the Flangipanis drive all the way down from Brizzy just to be on one of our bills. We are now getting people asking if they can be on our bills but it’s hard to fit them all in when we only do one show a month and they’re booked months in advance. Time constraints just won’t allow us to do much more, we have day jobs and families and our own bands to work on on top of everything else.
We have a couple of ideas we are still floating between each other at the moment, on such a tight budget we have decisions to make on what’s going to sound great and what’s also going to also going to recoup in costs. We don’t make any money for ourselves on this stuff, we just keep feeding the same initial budget back into the next thing.We’re considering an all woman release, a two-piece bands comp, a hardcore comp, all sorts of stuff.
Mike – I liked the Short Fuse 1 & 2 CD, I got really excited when you started putting out CD’s cause that’s my preferred platform. Which Wreckless Enterprise release has been the most successful so far?
Ronny – I guess by virtue of the fact it’s been out longer than the others, Short Fuse 1 on the red vinyl has been the most successful release so far. We really had no idea how it was going to go initially, and we gave a fair few away to try and create interest, but over time it’s almost sold out, as has the
The Leftards record.
Short Fuse 2 on the white vinyl has only been out a month or so and is doing well too, and we will probably continue the Short Fuse ‘Brand’ as our flagship for as long as the label continues. We’ve had orders from overseas as well as really good support from a few record shops and distributors scattered over a wide area, plus all the direct orders that come from right across the country, places we’ve never heard of, especially up Queensland way. There is a real interest in the kind of punk rock we are putting together, it’s definitely not the generic stuff.
Mike – What is it like working on a project with each other?
Ronny – We decided to do this label to be able to do something we’ve always had a passion for together.
Apart from being half of the decision making process regarding bands to approach, where the budget should go, and certain tactical decisions regarding posts, Madame Wreckless takes care of a lot of the tech side of things, setting up the pages, negotiating uploading to platforms like bandcamp, all the final proofs and editing of posts and artwork etc. She’s definitely the brains required to make everything more pro. She also makes sure the compilations are as balanced as possible and it doesn’t just come across as one big sausage fest!
I am more the day to day running of things, ‘the face’. I approach and liase with bands, radio and podcast people, the record pressing people and the artwork people, promoters and merch suppliers etc, take care of sales and making sure stuff is packed and sent ASAP, keep an eye on the socials, deal with inquiries etc. People mostly deal with me but it’s definitely a team effort.
Mike – Would you rather be working on a release or a show ?
Ronny – we like working on both, a new release or a show, it’s a very similar process really with its own mix of fun and regular headaches with all the usual stuff you’d expect. Bands pulling out last minute, sorting backlines, accomodation, making sure bands are getting paid, dealing with egos, (‘I’m not playing as an opener’ etc) sorting out endless details, promo and all that, but that’s the job we brought on ourselves and it’s mostly cool. Turns out most of the bands we like are actually happy to be part of things and very helpful and supportive. Most punks are lefties so are decent people to deal with!
Mike – Which release has been the most memorable so far? Can you tell us why?
Ronny – most memorable release? That is too hard. We don’t release anything we don’t love so it’s all been a blast. It’s all come out better than expected generally and when it stops being anything but a total blast we’ll stop.
Mike – thanks so much for making time to chat, it’s been great to learn more about your label and I look forward to what Wreckless Enterprise does in 2020.
Facebook Link;https://www.facebook.com/wrecklessenterprise/
A Wreckless Enterprise Discography
The Leftards – Deep C Divers Released March 2019 on vinyl
http://leftards.bandcamp.com/album/deep-c-divers
Various Artists – Short Fuse Vol. 1Released May 2019 on vinyl
http://wrecklessenterprise.bandcamp.com/album/short-fuse-volume-1
Various Artists – Short Fuse Vol. 2Released November 2019 on vinyl
http://wrecklessenterprise.bandcamp.com/album/short-fuse-volume-2
Various Artists – Short Fuse Vol. 1 & 2Released September 2019 on cd
Various Artists – 8 BallReleased November 2019 on cd
