Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Rozell.
Hi Scott, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started my work in the music industry after many years of playing drums and touring with two punk rock bands, Scatterbox and Moral Crux. Around that time, I had started my own record label, Blackhouse Records. I had no idea what I was doing. It was more or less a platform to promote local shows and to promote Scatterbox releases. Shortly after that, I met Neurosis frontman Steve Von Till. He and his wife Kristin ran Neurot Recordings, and they hired me on as a mail-order manager and label assistant. I learned so much working there, and it served as a wealth of worthwhile experience to translate into the way I ran my label, but also in other music industry endeavors. Around 2016, Blackhouse had signed Atlanta rapper Slug Christ to a physical release deal. Slug Christ had been a core artist on the Atlanta powerhouse label Awful Records, but all their releases were digital-only at the time. It wasn’t long after that where I began working more closely with Awful and its founder, ATL rapper Father to start working on more physical releases for them via a physical licensing and release partnership. It’s been a great thing for both labels, and Awful has become a major player in independent music.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There has been years of trial-and-error, to say the least. I’ve been extremely lucky over the years though. I hear so many horror stories about indie labels and music industry people getting so screwed, and I can thankfully say that has never been an issue. I have a great team of partners, resources and friends that have all worked so well together. It’s a very laid-back, natural progression, and I don’t take that for granted, ever.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a long-running independent record label that celebrated our 20th year of operation just last year. We sign artists to licensing agreements for limited-run releases of their work on physical and digital formats and its subsequent release to the marketplace. We handle project management, PR and marketing, manufacturing, distribution and advertising associated with an album release. We pride ourselves on being an ally to artists and work to give them as much control as possible over their art. We are dedicated to the natural progression of art and working for the artists to get their musical endeavors heard by as many people as possible.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Make sure that when looking for a mentor, that it is someone that has a solid reputation with a reputable body of work that can actually teach you something. Also, it’s important that it’s someone who shares your ethics and values and it’s someone you can work with. There’s a lot to learn, so pay attention when you finally find a mentor who is willing to “show you the ropes”, so to speak.
Contact Info:
- Website: Blackhouserecordsinc.com
- Instagram: Blackhouse_records
- Facebook: Blackhouserecordsinc
- Twitter: Blackhouse_recs
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCF-cI0V3GYBiZotNaXte6Uw
Image Credits
Photo of Scott by Dan Couillard Other photos of label related shots by Scott Rozell and Marie Rozell.
