Non-Profit Label Station 1 Records Fuels Des Moines' Untapped Music Scene

Non-Profit Label
Station 1 Records
Fuels Des Moines' Untapped Music Scene

Kicks Off with Folkwave Duo FIELD DIVISION's Reverie State EP

As music hub cities like NYC, LA, and Nashville are becoming increasingly expensive for artists to survive, a new record label is stepping in to encourage artists to make their homes elsewhere – namely Des Moines, Iowa. STATION 1 RECORDS is a non-profit, full-service record company of the Des Moines Social Club (a non-profit arts and education hub) that manages, promotes and distributes emerging artists that have decided to make Des Moines and Central Iowa their home. They challenge the traditional for-profit model of the record industry, emphasizing patronage over profits, and encouraging long lasting musical careers over brief stardom. Station 1 is built around the rapidly changing and expanding list of artists’ needs providing education, recording funds, distribution, PR, marketing, promotion, tour support, and the positive artist-label relationship necessary to succeed in the modern music ecosystem.

"The Des Moines Social Club founded Station 1 Records as a way to support working musicians, to help them develop a national profile while residing in a city that isn't going to price them out of existence. There are thousands of directions the label can go, and all of them point to creating and establishing more working artists from a city with a lower cost of living and a higher quality of life. Tobi Parks and I came up with the idea after too many cups of coffee, debating how to create a label that valued the artist as much as it valued the art itself."
– Zachary Mannheimer, Executive Director of the Des Moines Social Club.

"Station 1 Records really is an experiment in a new kind of record company model, one that emphasizes artist patronage and development. As the music business continues to change in the digital age, we have to start exploring different types of business models. We know music is integral to our collective culture and economy. Station 1 is placing value in the artist, allowing them to create the music, instead of placing all the value on the sale of the end product. We're taking the best parts of crowdfunding and, as a non-profit, expanding that funding pool to institutions and other philanthropic support. This funding approach allows us flexibility to support our artists in a more holistic way and not be solely dependent on record revenues. At the same time, we are giving an injection to the creative economy of Des Moines by using local agents, studios, engineers, and other creative industries. It's a win / win approach."
– Tobi Parks, General Manager of Station 1 Records.

The label's current roster includes:
Dylan Sires & Neighbors: A three-piece power pop group. Drenched in nostalgia, they reinvent the sounds of the 50s, 60s and 70s with a contemporary flair.

MAIDS: Midwest Disco with the purpose of bringing people together in one place to have a good time and get immersed in waves of electronic dance pop. Band members Danny Heggen and Mickey Davis have developed a homegrown, Midwestern concoction that reminds all of us that life, simply put, is awesome.

The Olympics: An indie rock group from Iowa City who excel at weaving catchy riffs and melodies into a unique brand of pop music making for an upbeat live show. Little Village Magazine boasts The Olympics as “one of the most prominent bands in Iowa today”

Field Division: Rich and hauntingly beautiful music created by Evelyn Taylor and Nicholas Frampton that explores the line where dreams and reality blur. "Their blissful music runs high on soulful harmonies and rapturous textures, occupying the gulf between the likes of Feist, Bon Iver, Other Lives and Rumours era Fleetwood Mac." (UK's TRU LUV)

On July 10th, Field Division will be releasing nationally their EP, Reverie State, the debut release from Evelyn Taylor and Nicholas Frampton. The album was produced by Konrad Snyder (Kopecky Family Band, Neulore, Night Beds) and Benjamin Kaufman (Night Beds), and mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound in NYC, with back-up vocals on "Modest Mountains" by Milo Greene's Andrew Heringer. The duo's songwriting skills, Taylor's stand-out vocals, and Frampton's arranging mastery create a stunning ethereal experience kept in check by a humanizing edge.

The two grew up in Iowa embracing a love for Des Moines that has shaped their style of writing. Frampton explains, "Des Moines is a fantastic place to be living right now - I think we all know that; and as an Iowa art community we are growing and gaining traction largely due to the efforts of our peers and the impact of our listeners. It's encouraging. But I think what makes this place so awesome is what lies in the few remaining prairies - the forests and fields - it's the humble spirit of the Midwestern Plains that surround Iowa's cities and towns that make this a magical place and give its artists their sensibility."

Station 1 Records is supported by The Des Moines Social Club, Drake University, the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines.

http://www.station1records.com/
https://www.facebook.com/station1records
https://twitter.com/Station1Records

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