The Frequency

Today we meet Pink Frost. They are an outlier in the sense that they never played The Frequency, nor are they on Crustacean Records. One of the best parts of booking bands is discovering new acts. I saw this band open for The Giraffes @ Liar's Club a while back and have been trying to get them here since. Friday Sept 5th @ Crucible is the date. We are excited to have them!

https://youtu.be/5AZL_ZhGmDQ

1) Verified band members and function?

Adam Lukas Vocals/Guitars/Instigating
Angela Mullenhour Guitars/Vocals/Caterpillar Raising
Nate Furstenau Drums/On Timing
Matt Lemke Bass/Vibing

2) Where does the band hail from?

Chicago

3) How long has the band existed?

For a minute now, but this is the first show with Matt, so we're basically a new band.

4) Do you have new music you are promoting?

Currently putting the finishing touches on a new LP, but still love playing tunes from our last LP Until the Summer Comes.

5) Did the band ever perform at The Frequency?

Unfortunately, we never had the chance. Just heard the legends.

6) What is the band reading / watching?

Stars. Terrariums. Sopranos on repeat.

7) Give us 5 bands we may not know but should?

Flower Travellin' Band. Sybris. Doom Flower. APTEKA. Sasquatch Turf War

8) Which band member will survive a zombie apocalypse, and who will be the first to go?

Think we would just all drink the Kool Aid and be done with it.

9) Will AI (not A1) destroy civilization?

We will destroy civilization fine on our own, thank you very much

10) Give us a reason to have hope in these weird times?

Rock and Roll

As we get closer to the shows, let's get to know some of the bands and people involved. Today we look at the man behind Crustacean Records, Sooper Dooper (two major sponsors of the BFW), and many groovy bass lines in The Known Unknowns. 30 years doing anything qualifies as a labor of love, and Chris surely loves music. I can't thank him enough for his help and support over the decades. Come see Chris rock Saturday September 6th @ Gamma Ray Bar.

MEET CHRIS LANGKAMP - OWNER of CRUSTACEAN RECORDS & SOOPER DOOPER.

1) Tell us the origin story of Crustacean Records?

Back in about 1992/1993 I was playing in a band named Crabshack. We had a demo tape and were looking for distributors to carry it in stores. We hooked up with a west coast distributor who wanted to carry our release, but we needed to have some sort of formal entity for checks, etc. Thus, Crustacean records was started as a way to get distribution. Shortly after the formation of the LLC we also picked up distribution through Twin Cities Imports and Dutch East India Trading.

2) How many bands has Crustacean worked with over the years?

Wow, that's a good question. I would say if you included bands with tracks on compilations it is at least 100.

3) Crustacean has always had cool artwork done by Pat Moriarity. How did Crustacean get involved with Pat?

Pat is awesome. Back when we did the first compilation we added a band named Fat Tuesday after the art had been finalized. We made a separate card to put in the case to let people know about the "secret track" Pat did all of the artwork for Fat Tuesday including their first record "Califuneral" on Red Decibel/Columbia. Pat offered to remake our first logo and then we continued to work with him on several releases.

4) What keeps you doing this after 30 years?

For the same reason that I started it 30 years ago and that is really just because I'm all about music. For my day job I also work at a company that creates music packaging for labels, bands and businesses. * editor's note - this company is SOOPER DOOPER *

5) Music consumption has changed greatly over the years. How has this change impacted Crustacean, if at all?

It has completely changed. After kind of laying low with the label the last few years, my friend Darwin Sampson and I are looking at revitalizing the label and are looking at the model. In the early days when physical media ruled it was easy to create a model where we manufactured the product and then sent to stores/distribution. We would keep 100% of money until recoup was met and then split 50/50. That included radio/magazine mailings, fanzine and other newspaper ads. It was a model that we had a lot of success with. In this day and age when any person/band can pay $25 and get on bandcamp/cd baby, etc and get the music out to the world via streams and downloads the question is, in this revitalization, what is it we can really offer? That is what we are currently trying to figure out.

6) Is touring absolutely necessary these days?

It depends on what your goals are. From the view of somebody who manufactures media that is the #1 place where you are going to sell product and get the word out. When people go to see a band play live, and have a good time, they want to support that band and take home a memento, even if they don't have a cd player. I see that bands who play often reorder their CDs multiple times.

7) What does Crustacean have on tap?

In the immediate future we have the new release from Eau Claire band The Jaggernauts. Following that up in the next few months to a year we should see releases from Big, Big Furnace, A Warhawks/Pyroklast split seven inch and a cd from Madison's Gridlock.

8) Are you prepared for a zombie apocalypse?

I am the zombie apocalypse.

9) Will AI ruin or improve music?

I think there is a potential for AI to create many hit songs that people will love, but for me the magic is in the live show and the interaction with people. The band I play in had a gig just yesterday where we had about 100 people singing along and dancing to our music. That's what it is all about, it was pure magic and AI can't replace that.

10) Give us a reason to have hope in these weird times?

Hmm, I don't know the future but I'm certain we can't stay in this corporate manufactured existence for too much longer. Big change will come. In my lifetime I'm not sure, but I have
hope and so should you.