Franki Chan Interview

We had Interviewed Franki at beauty bar and  basically the video was no good cause the mic was bad, but we did transcribe it as best as we could ..  it was such a great interview too  we were going to not put it up but decided to do so  for what its worth… thanks franki…

So here it goes….

illson, bass player for POSR. We’re here live at the Beauty Bar with Franki Chan of I Heart Comix. He’s gonna spare a couple of minutes to talk with us and well, here he is! How are you doing?

Franki Chan:
I’m good; how are you doing?

illson:
So your loyal fans have a number of questions here.

Franki Chan:
Ok, hit it!

illson:
O.K.! Is there anything in your boyhood that indicated that you would be in the position you are in now?

F.C.
I was always a pretty independent thinker, and rebelled constantly against my parents, my teachers, and everybody else – so much so that I was constantly in trouble. I wasn’t doing bad things; I wasn’t doing drugs or getting into fights or anything, but I always kind of knew what I have to do and what I wanted to do and never let anybody else tell me anything differently. I never imagined that it would lead me to a place where I was any kind of boss or anything but, looking back on it, I think those signs were right there.

illson:
So there was an independent streak in you, even as a child?

F.C.
Very much so. Independent streak, and wanting to be some sort of … uh … entertainer.

illson:
When the artists on your label speak of you and your company, they always speak of it very highly and with a great deal of enthusiasm. What do you think you and your company provides that inspires that kind of loyalty?

F.C.
Well, first and foremost, we’re all friends, and secondly I put their wants and needs and creative-ness first. We’ve kind of been able to develop everything as more of a family, and I don’t really take the same measures or play the same rules or even know the same rules as most labels or majors do. I don’t really come from a business background, but I do understand what its like to be an artist, what its like to make your own stuff, what its like to book your own shows, put out your own merchandise and all that, and I’m just trying to treat everyone fairly. I don’t try to charge them for dumb stuff or any of that kind of thing. I make sure folks get paid. I make sure we’re all getting taken care of, and I work from start to finish, no matter what project that is – versus some label who would only give someone lots of focus if it’s, uh … a full-length. I don’t treat any differently a full-length, versus a single. If no one had anything else out at the moment, I wouldn’t treat them any differently either. We’re all family, we’re all going towards the same goal, and ultimately treating them well and divvying everything up only goes back to making our accounts right, so it’s a win-win kind of thing.

illson:
In your interviews you often speak about ‘progressive politics,’ ‘D.I.Y.’ ideals, and re-shaping the business of music. Can you give an example, aside from the things you’ve already said, a specific example of the way you do business that may not be the norm, but that you feel is a real progression?

F.C.
We’ve figured out a lot of ways to do everything by … ourselves, or at least have intimate say on everything that we are doing and directing, so for example: because we come from a background of doing shows, because we have a blog, because we’re friends and I let the artists be involved in what we do, it gives us a lot of flexibility in what we’re able to do as a label… We can just be more creative and approach business in that way. And also it doesn’t make us as a label dependent on record sales. Because we have lots of little bits of money coming in from lots of different places, I don’t have to put pressure on “sell, sell, sell, sell, sell!”…

(tape noise)

…. and do all these things that …

(tape noise)

… I can do one thing and maintain it. I can give away things for free, and be very flexible on how …

(tape noise)

illson:
So you’re not bound by one approach, and you have several revenue streams?

F.C.
Yeah, we try to (tape noise) every thing for every artist. Even though everyones friends there’s still a wide array of what their sounds are or who their audience could be…

TApe.. Noise THE END