So you want to be in this Rock And Roll Business hey?
At last, at 3AM it was time to go to sleep. With the alarm set for 7.30 – that’s a few hours and a bit to get some ‘rest’.
I wake up before my alarm. That gives me 30 minutes to pack some orders that need to be posted today. Orders packed and then the day-job ritual begins. Coffee, shower and drive to work.
9am – check the work email and plan for the day ahead. At the same time, I check the Rue Morgue Records email. I have been sent a few tracks to check out by a potential seven inch single via the label. One track didn’t grab me, the other did! I like it. I like the title. Already in my mind’s eye I am seeing a concept for the record’s cover. Let’s put this aside for now and get back to the day job.
Plugging away, more Rue Morgue Records email arrives… an order from my distributor is ready to be picked up. Ok, I’ll drive there on my lunch break and pick that up. Another email reviews the cover concept I provided for another client. They don’t want any band photos on the sleeve. Not a problem. I’ll revise the art when I get home after work tonight and send it to them.
A phone call from the record plant. Records I need to be shipped to Adelaide for a launch this Friday night will be ready on Wednesday. Can we please speed this up? I need these in the artist’s hands on Friday.
The printer calls. Covers are ready and have been posted express from Mildura to Toorak. I should have the sleeves all ready to go by tomorrow.
Ok, back to the day job. Plugging away again in total auto-pilot mode. Feeling nervous about a phone-call that is to come that just might change the future of Rue Morgue Records. Then again, it might not – so the nerves build and build and build.
Back to the label. I need to prepare a mail for the mailing list to let all punters in Adelaide know about Subtract-S single launch this Friday. Email is already written in my head so it doesn’t take long to prepare and send away to the subscribers.
More emails from my distributors come through. Preparing for Record Store Day in April. All orders have already been placed and I am hoping I have enough capital to pay for the big shipment that is to come through. We’ll cross that bridge in due course I can assure you.
Lunch time. Ok. Grab a shitty sandwich from 7-11 and drive to my distributor to pick up some stock. I’ll eat as I drive and if I plan this correctly, I’ll be back at the day job within my allotted hour break.
Shit! I need to print address labels for 50 singles which are being shipped to waiting customers this week. That gets taken care of and I realize I am running out of mailers. An order is placed. Oh I need a new batch of promo stickers too, the last lot is all gone. Let’s take care of that too.
Grab some lunch, quick pitstop to the post office to despatch some orders, jump in the car to head to distributor/wholesaler. Pick up that order. Chuck one of the records in a prepared mailer and stop off again at the post office to drop it off. Shoulda been a little better organized there.
Back to the day job. I need to concentrate now and get a slab of this work done. Ignore the other email account bringing in Rue Morgue Records mail at a regular pace. I’ll deal with all that when I am home tonight.
THE phonecall happens. There are changes afoot. Good changes. Growth for Rue Morgue Records but as of right now, you dear reader, are on a need to know basis and right now – you don’t need to know what’s going on. Or am I not going to tell you! Not yet!
Back to the day job. I feel like falling asleep at my desk. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I nodded off for a second or two. These four hour sleep nights are not doing me any good.
For the rest of the work day, I am dirty on myself that the day job is taking up so much of my time that I could be spending growing my company. Alas, I am not in a position (yet) to leave the job and concentrate fully on Rue Morgue Records. So the balancing act continues and the fatigue grows! But I must soldier on.
I make arrangements to get the records to my South Australia act by overnight courier. With the sleeves arriving tomorrow and the records on Wednesday… I can pack it all on the day and prep it for an overnight courier. Hopefully the records should arrive to my artist on Thursday and on Friday the launch happens. I am imagining we will sell a lot of records on the night! I have a gut feeling we will and I am also banking on it!
Finally it is 5.30. Get home have some dinner and then straight back to Rue Morgue Records duties. I answer mails, prepare orders, pack orders, update the socials, write some new content, enquire about merchandise I need to prepare (new t-shirts, slipmats, stickers et al).
I then concentrate on preparing some artwork for Palace Of The King. The band and I are doing a joint release with their main label Golden Robot Records. This promises to be our biggest release to date and it is a joy to be in association with Golden Robot.
Rough art is prepared and sent to the band. They approve. We can refine it over the next few days and get things ready to go.
More emails trickle through, a couple of orders as well which is pleasing.
It’s only 9pm. I’ll be awake at least until 2am. I will grow this company into something special. I need to be in Sydney in 2 Fridays time so I’ll unwind a little by looking for flights and accomodation.
Just as I am about to jump into a hot relaxing shower, another email arrives. A band I have been chasing wants to work with me on a single.
Shower can wait…
Thank fuck I have no gig shoots tonight…