Fall of the West Records

Infobox record label
name = Fall of the West Records


image_bg = white
parent =
founded = 2005
founder = Brian Van Slyke Alex Felsinger
current members = Brian Van Slyke Alex Felsinger Lindsey Chamberlain Jay Cassano Zellman other occasional volunteers
defunct =
distributor =
genre = Punk
country = United States
location = San Francisco Amherst Oak Park
url = http://www.fallofthewest.com

Fall of the West Records (FOTW) is an independent record label based out of San Francisco, California, Oak Park, Illinois, and Amherst, Massachusetts. FOTW started in May 2005, as a collective effort between Brian Van Slyke and Alex Felsinger after networking on the internet. Their releases consist of punk and folk punk bands from across the United States and Canada.

Beliefs

From their website:

Three Important Points About Fall Of The West Records:

Not-for-profit. This means that all of the "profit" (if there ever is any) goes back into Fall of the West itself. All of the people involved in running FOTW do it without any monetary compensation. We do it because we enjoy doing it and we really think that music has the potential to change the world.

Collectively-run. All decisions are made by consulting other members involved in running FOTW and by reaching a consensus. While everyone involved acts independently to complete whatever it is they volunteer to do without "supervision", there are no unilateral decisions made.

DIY. Everything that we produce is made in our homes and with our own hands, with a very few exceptions. When there are exceptions to this, we always make it publicly known that something was not made by us. (An example of this is something like pressing for a vinyl release, which we do not have the capability to do ourselves at this point - yet we still print and put together the rest of the packaging.) If there is something that we cannot do ourselves, we try to find another DIY group that can fill that role for us, thus establishing a mutually-supportive relationship.

How We Work With Bands:

We'd also like to take a minute of your time here, if you don't mind, to explain a little bit about how Fall Of The West works. Our about page explains that we are a DIY label that presses the CDs, prints the artwork, and puts together the packaging ourselves (with the occasional exception). However, as you are the person receiving what we create with the bands – we feel that it would be wise to take a moment to explain to you exactly where your money goes. Obviously, one dollar from each release goes to a Non-profit organization of the artists' choice. However, money from each album purchased from FOTW also goes directly to the bands (this has an occasional exception if a different process has been worked out with the bands – such as with Captain Chaos). In fact, with these releases, we only take as much money or less than the band receives. This is not necessarily the most financially viable way of operating, we recognize, but we believe it to be the most ethical way that FOTW is in the position to operate under. That means when you receive an album from Fall Of The West Records, you are directly supporting that artist whose music you are enjoying. This is important to us, and we would be ready to speculate that it is important to you as well. This is about working together – for the people who make the music, for the people who help get it out there, and for the people who it touches. So while our prices for albums range anywhere from between 4 to 7 dollars, just recall that a major portion of that is going to the band – and the part that we receive is enough to make up for the amount we put in. While we maybe don't make much of a "profit" when it comes to money - we think this is the best way to support all bands that work with FOTW, and the most ethical way for us to do so.

Means of production

Originally, Van Slyke produced the releases in the basement of his Oak Park home, doing every step of the production with the exception of cutting the booklets -- a task that is now easily performed.

Most production -- with a few exceptions (including the label's first cassette release which was produced from Felsinger's home in San Francisco) -- occurs in Van Slyke's residence in Amherst. The label has officially become collectivized and a group of friends have come together to assist with the production of the label's 11 releases.

List of bands

* Bookends
* Captain Chaos
* The Capstan Shafts
* David and the Bear
* The English Work Standard
* Forgotten Voices
* Gator Country (from Orange County, CA)
* Giant Squid March On Washington
* The Le Nouns
* Mancub
* On the Strings Of
* The Riot Before
* Tennessee And The Wolf (This particular release has been delayed since the labels inception)
* This One's On Me
* This Ship Will Burn

External links

* [http://www.fallofthewest.com Fall of the West Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/fallofthewestrecords Offical Myspace Page]