Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Stain.
Hi Chase, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started Bad Stain Records in 1995 with two friends after I sold my first record label to my good friend Mike. I ended up buying out the two other partners in 1996 and became the sole owner of the label. I started the label to help promote my first band, Dirty Laundry. After releasing albums from my old band, I ended up signing other local acts D-I-X, Corrupt Citizen and Subject Mad. All three bands had former members of Dirty Laundry, so I was really helping my friends. In 1997 I started releasing bands across the U.S., and also started releasing compilation albums with well-known bands in the independent punk scene ranging from At The Drive In, Link 80 and The Weakerthans, to Buckwild, Yellowcard and Less Than Jake. In the late 90’s the industry changed, and I found sales started to decline. In 2002, I ended up putting the label on hiatus and my first band Dirty Laundry split up. I ended up forming a new band called Numbers On Napkins in 2003 and released our debut album on Bad Stain in December of 2004. I started running Bad Stain again and signed local artists, as well as band from across the U.S. and even signed bands from Canada and the Ukraine. Numbers On Napkins became a powerhouse for Bad Stain, and helped the label grow and I was able to help several small independent artists. In the late 2000’s, major labels started buying up all of the small independent labels, and many labels disappeared, forcing most bands to do everything D.I.Y. I chose to keep pursuing Bad Stain in order to help small independent artists. Bad Stain is a stepping stone for many bands that require a label and the label also greatly supports those artists that do not want to maintain an online presence. Several Bad Stain artists do not have any websites or social media accounts, as they feel like the internet has corrupted music over the years and they want to keep their bands a magical experience that only release physical releases.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Running the label has been anything but a smooth road and I’ve made several mistakes over the years. I actually told Blink 182 at Denny’s that I just didn’t think that they had a great sound and needed some work in 1995. Blink had just signed with Grilled Cheese and wanted Bad Stain to release their first demo recordings. I told them to contact me when they were ready to release their next album. Mark did call, and laughed when he announced that Dude Ranch was being released on MCA Records. Oooops. Owning a label is a gamble, and to be honest Blink’s earlier recordings were rough, and they improved tons with the release of Dude Ranch. I think the biggest struggle was in the late 90’s when CD Burners became affordable, and Napster was created. I saw album sales decline from over $250,000 per year to around $35,000 per year. Although I don’t have the label to make money, I have it to help support struggling independent musicians.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m probably known best as the bassist for the former pop punk band Numbers On Napkins. I have been a musician for several years, and performed with several bands, including Dirty Laundry, Forever Falling, Yars Revenge, and have also performed as a solo artist since 2005. I am also known for Bad Stain Records, but I have done a lot for the local music scene in Arizona. I am the former owner and editor of Unspeakable Thoughts Fanzine and former co-owner and co-editor of Bad Stain Fanzine. I also started a booking agency in 1997 called Laundromat Productions that has booked over 1,000 shows for local and national artists. Laundromat Productions also started the Arizona Ska Punk Awards, an awards ceremony that paid tribute to local musicians, labels, magazines, venues, studios, and more. The AZ Ska Punk Awards started in 2003, and the annual event ended in 2010 when I felt as though the competitive nature of the awards had started to cause a rift in the local scene and my goal was to unite the scene, so I stopped the awards. It was a hard thing to do because the awards generated between $8,000 and $12,000 profit every year, but my main concern is helping the scene, not tearing it apart.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I’ve learned too many things to even talk about if I’m being honest. I learned web and graphic design because of the label. I learned how to engineer and mix music. I learned accounting. I learned the ins and outs of basically everything involving the music industry, and a lot of business knowledge as well. Running the label was pretty much like going to college for me. I’m grateful that I was able to learn so much by doing something that I love. I have seen so many amazing bands. Arizona has an amazing local music scene. and bands like The Generiks, Mandingo and Dr. Divine really inspired me when I was young. Over the years, bands like Jimmy Eat World, The Format, The Maine, Authority Zero, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Job for a Cowboy, Lydia, The January Taxi, Blessthefall, Mega Ran, and Dollskin have just blown me away by how amazing they are. New bands are always popping up. I just heard a newer band called Crack Rabbit that has a ton of potential. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that Arizona produces great music!
Contact Info:
Email: badstain@yahoo.com
Website: www.badstainrecords.com
Instagram: www.instragram.com/officialbadstain
Facebook: www.facebook.com/badstainrecords
Twitter: @badstainrecords
Youtube: www.youtube.com/badstainrecords
