David Fufkin:
The Dean Brownrout
Interview:
May, 2002

Dean Brownrout started in the music business when he attempted to book Todd Rundgren at a local theater in Buffalo, New York. Although that attempt failed after Todd's agent realized that Dean was 16, Brownrout became a promoter in the Buffalo, New York area, introducing Western New York to bands such as Billy Idol and L.A.'s Fear. He moved to New York City after high school and worked in various capacities, acting as road manager for Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club and, later, Discharge.

He is also known as the talent agent who booked a pre-major label Metallica and Anthrax at a particularly famous show at Roseland in New York called "A Midsummer's Night Scream". He worked at Celluloid Records as label manager, working with talent such as The SplatCats and others. He formed Mercenary Records where he signed the multi-platinum Goo Goo Dolls to their first recording agreement. After Mercenary, he was the label manager at heavy metal label Noise. He then formed Big Deal, a recording company that was home to the Yellow Pills series, The Gladhands, Dan Kibler, Splitsville, The Vandalias, Cockeyed Ghost and a host of other quality artists.

His new venture, Confidential Recordings, kicks off with two releases on May 7, 2002. We had a very interesting conversation about a variety of topics.

DF: So, Dean, you and Michael Shelley just started a new record label, Confidential Recordings. Tell us about how that came to be.

DB: Well, I knew Michael Shelley from my days at Big Deal. Michael recorded for us. I was always impressed with his understanding of the music business from an artist's perspective. When I left Big Deal a couple of years ago, we stayed in touch. I came to the realization a while back that the two things that I was qualified for were running a record label and asking the question: "would you like fries with that?" So, the record label thing seemed to be the best option.

DF: So, what's the focus at Confidential Recordings?

DB: Our focus is a bit more varied and different than Big Deal. On May 7, 2002, we will be releasing our first two recordings. We're proud to be releasing the debut by the Kustard Kings, Blam!. They've attained substantial recognition in the New York area as the house band at the Loser's Lounge. One of their first gigs was a tribute to Henry Mancini at NYC's Fez. The band played a set of instrumentals. They received substantial press from there. Guests at some of their shows included Deborah Harry, Lenny Kaye, Bob Mould, and Joey Ramone. Another early fan was Burt Bacharach who invited the band to hang out while recording "God Give Me Strength" with Elvis Costello. The original tunes on Blam! reflect lounge and surf influences. It's really quality stuff. The other release is a compilation called "Greasy Kid Stuff". It's based on the WFMU hit Saturday morning radio show. It's children's music for hip parents. We're trying to work on children early so that the new generation of music fans will have good taste! I think that a lot of your readers will really like both releases. They are hard to categorize. They are just good, period.

Click here or on the CD cover above to learn more about/purchase the Kustard Kings, Blam!

Click here or on the CD cover above to learn more about/purchase Various Artists: Greasy Kid Stuff: Songs From Inside the Radio

DF: How is it working with Michael?

DB: Because of his working as a DJ at WFMU, Michael has kept his finger on the pulse of what the best artists are doing out there. Combining that with his own artistic perspective, the combination is a unique touchstone from both an A & R perspective and music business perspective.

DF: You ran Big Deal. How is the new label different? How is the new label the same?

DB: Well, the focus is still on the song. However, I believe that the music business has changed drastically since Big Deal's demise. At the time Big Deal was operating, we were in the middle of the internet boom. Today, the music industry is in a real state of flux as to how music is going to be distributed, and how a label will reach its market. One of the things that we will attempt to do at Confidential Recordings is focus physically on the New York market. The Kustard Kings are, in essence, a New York band. We will also rely on the internet to spread the word around the country and world regarding what we are doing. Unlike a few years ago when brick and mortar retail concepts were being cast aside as an anachronism, I think that there is a real understanding that there is a place for the retail store and for the actual physical product of a recording, being in CD form or other format. In addition to the manner in which we intend to market the releases, we are attempting to define a new business model for the label as it relates to the manner that we deal with the artists. Traditional recording and publishing agreements contain arcane clauses which have allowed record companies to pad their balance sheets to the detriment of artists. Without getting into too many details, we don't take packaging deductions nor do we calculate what is owed to the artists based on amounts that can be artificially inflated or deflated with the use of creative accounting. Really, Michael has been very helpful in that regard because, as an artist, he understands the confusing, intimidating aspect of such agreements. I have worked with these agreements since before I was 20 years old and they make sense to me. But it is complete Greek to most artists. Because of their inability to understand, even with legal advice, what they are agreeing to, my feeling is that expectations of artists become skewed. With Confidential Recordings, our agreements hopefully will lay out exactly what we can and can not do for an artist. It will also lay exactly on the line what we feel that an artist must do in order to succeed.

DF: What are some of your proudest moments at Big Deal?

DB: I am very proud that David Wolin and I took Big Deal from my apartment where we ran a Caroline-distributed label to being purchased by one of the biggest corporations in America. I firmly believed in the artists. I stood steadfastly behind my original position that a label that was "song centered" could succeed. Although we were categorized as a pop label, we signed and released many different types of recordings. Again, the focus was on the song. I know that some of your readers weren't so fond of some of the non-pop releases, but the bottom line is that many of those releases sold more copies than the best of the best pop releases that we had on the roster.

DF: Some of my favorite records of all time were the recordings that comprised the Yellow Pills series which you based on the fanzine of the same name. That seemed to become a launching point for the label. Do you agree?

DB: Absolutely. In 1993, I walked into SeeHear, the fanzine store in New York, and noticed a 'zine cover with the name of a 20/20 song on it. It brought me back to my high school days. I picked it up and couldn't believe what appeared to be a vibrant scene centered around "power pop". I called the editor, Jordan Oakes, that day. I asked him if he wanted to make a record. He said yes.

DF: The rumor is that you have actually seen Jordan Oakes in person? Is that true?

DB: Yes, actually it is. Jordan and I met on at least two occasions. The rest of our contact has been either by telephone or other methods. No, but seriously, Jordan Oakes and his writing provided a lightning rod for the entire scene. I give him a tremendous amount of credit for his ear and ability to create so much excitement around the releases. I really miss his writing. As irreverent as Jordan was/is, he is a guy who really knows what he is talking about.

DF: Do you have any regrets about Big Deal?

DB: It's the same answer to your question as to my proudest moment. Moving from my apartment into corporate America was both a blessing and a curse. As an indie label, if you are worth your salt, you understand that an artist takes time to develop. You may have to spend a lot of money before you see a single dime. Look at the great labels like A & M. They spent years pouring money into bands. Finally, those artists bore fruit. I truly felt that that could happen with Big Deal. But you need money. Corporate America has money. Unfortunately, they also have accountants and attorneys who look at a balance sheet on a quarterly basis. If you're not making money, they ask why. To tell the people writing the checks that your "instinct" tells you that your artist will eventually make money just doesn't cut it. That's why, in my opinion, the traditional music business is dead. That is why you have artists that are as disposable as toilet tissue. It's really a shame, but I do have hope that as a label we will have an artist that has an immediate impact on the public, allowing us to have the financial power to influence taste. With money comes the ability to develop artists. We hope we can do that at Confidential Recordings.

DF: How can an indie label make money today?

DB: One of the ways that a label can generate revenue is through perennial releases. Many of our future releases are focused on holiday music. Those recordings sell on an annual basis. You also have to consider signing and releasing material such as quality reissues. We are proud to announce that we have acquired the rights to release recordings by The Wildweeds. Al Anderson was a member in his pre-NRBQ days. They had a regional hit in 1968 called "No Good to Cry". This material has never been reissued and is of extreme high quality. As many attest, you can hear the greatness that would follow in NRBQ. We are positive that there is a big market for this release and I feel confident in saying to your readers that many of them will enjoy this when it comes out.

DF: Talk about the "pop label" heading that was placed on Big Deal.

DB: Certainly, the Yellow Pills releases became somewhat of a touchstone for us. We also were part of the infamous Billboard article along with Not Lame talking about the vitality of the power pop movement. This was the first time that many in the major label community had ever heard of many of the artists that comprised the power pop bands at that time. Dawn Eden deserves a lot of credit for making that article happen. She followed that article with a New York Press article. There was a lot of excitement and a lot of meetings as a result of that press. Unfortunately, we couldn't translate that initial excitement into sales. I can tell you I worked every second of every day after that publicity trying to make it happen. One of the problems is that many in the music business still had a bad taste in their mouth from the fallout created by the Knack success and failure. After the first smash record, the second record was a failure from a sales point of view. Every single band that was signed as a result of the Knack's success just didn't sell records. That's the bottom line. Power pop didn't sell on a mass level. The major labels were not gonna get burned again.

DF: Why did Big Deal close?

DB: We didn't sell enough records. We found ourselves selling the same amount of records with a fifteen person staff as we did with a staff of one, me. We found ourselves marketing to the same people, some great, supportive, wonderful, loyal people, but it still amounted to relatively few sales. We had all the tools at our disposal. The bottom line is that we didn't sell enough records. I acknowledge that and take my share of responsibility for that.

DF: Final question: who are your music business heroes?

DB: Ahmet Ertegun, Berry Gordy, David Geffen, Robert Stigwood, Brian Epstein, Dick Clark and Don Kirschner, to name a few. I have a grudging and tempered admiration for these people. None of these people will win the "Citizen of the Year" award, but they did invent the rock music business as we know it. I'm also fascinated with certain scenes and individual label history. For example, Stiff Records and Creation Records have fascinating histories which really are a model for any label as to how to do it right. The people involved with those labels would have to go into the "hero" category. Then, there is the entire Los Angeles music scene from its inception. There are so many visionaries associated with the development of the music business in L.A. from before World War II and after. Barney Hoskyns' book Waiting For The Sun does a great job chronicling the development of the L.A. music scene and the people behind the development of the business. If you are a student of history, I think you can really learn from other people's successes and failures. It's a great blueprint to at least get you on the right track. I've been doing this a long time, and if I've learned anything it's that I don't know everything. As long as you can look at yourself, do what works, reject what doesn't and learn from other's successes and failures, you have a chance at success. Michael and I are very optimistic about Confidential Recordings where we are trying to live up to the classic record label model from an A & R perspective, yet combining that with a new plain language, simple partnership philosophy with the artists. We're excited and we hope people will respond to what we are trying to do.

For general inquiries and to learn more about Confidential Recordings and its upcoming releases, feel free to contact Dean at info@confidentialrecordings.com

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