HoZac label celebrates by reviving Chicago Blackout Festival
The sky-is-falling financial numbers from the music industry say it’s a lousy time to start a label specializing in actual records as opposed to no-fuss digital music with its convenience, considerably lower overhead and instant portability.
But don’t tell that to Todd Killings; he and his boyhood friend Brett Cross have released a steady stream of vinyl artifacts on their Chicago-based HoZac Records. In less than five years, HoZac has released nearly 90 records by bands ranging from the Smith Westerns and Dum Dum Girls to Nobunny and the Spits. The label's rise has coincided with a surge in vinyl sales; while CD sales have plummeted in the last decade, the much smaller niche market for vinyl albums has climbed 33 percent in 2009 and 14 percent last year.
“It’s actually a great time for labels like ours,” Killings says. “Even in 2008 and ’09 when the economy was slowing down and I lost my day job at a skateboard company, we got confirmation that the Dum Dum Girls wanted to do a split release with us and Sub Pop. The fact that she (singer Kristin Gundred) went to bat for us was a great sign we were doing the right thing. It’s been smooth sailing ever since.”
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