Season 3 - Ep. 20 - The Story of One of the Best Indie Rock Records Labels with Rob Castellon of Wiretap Records

Hello and welcome to the Powered By Rock podcast where I am going to be speaking with one of the most important people in the rock music scene in Southern California right now, Rob Castellon of Wiretap Records.

Rob founded Wiretap Records about 8 years ago, and has built it into a solid independent label that routinely pumps out great release after great release with some of the best bands in punk and rock music out there today including bands that have been on this show like Mercy Music, The Dreaded Laramie, Breaklights, Decent Criminal and SHIIVA as well as some other great bands like Bristol To Memory, Odd Robot, Upper Downer, Wicked Bears, Moldy Roses, Reminders and American Thrills just to name some of the bands you may have come to know over the last 8 years.

I finally got to meet him in person last month during the annual Attention Fest that he puts on to showcase some awesome bands from the label, and hearing his story of undying passion for helping the rock music scene, all while having to run the label and manage a life and full-time job is nothing short of heroic.

He also has an offshoot of Wiretap called My Grito which we will talk about as well. Hold on to your butts, and get ready for the true story of running an independent record label right after this…

 

Intro Music: "Colorado" by Birds Love Filters

Outro Music: "Snail Mail" by Speedway Sleeper

Donate to keep the Powered By Rock Podcast alive and well: https://anchor.fm/poweredbyrock

 

Wiretap Records: http://wiretaprecords.limitedrun.com/

Make sure to check out Rob's Recommendation: Lovebreakers, Rebuilder

 

▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

0:00 - Intro
2:42 - Why did Rob Castellon start Wiretap Records?
6:43 - How did Rob Castellon start Wiretap Records?
9:24 - What have been the ups and downs and financial risks of creating Wiretap Records so far?
12:32 - How does Rob from Wiretap Records find good bands to put on his label?
14:13 - What would Wiretap Records do to help make the company better?
18:27 - Does Rob Castellon from Wiretap Records have any advice for someone who wants to start a record label?
22:57 - Three Big Keys to running your own record label
26:47 - Why Wiretap Records is more than just a punk label
30:44 - How do bands submit their music to Wiretap Records?
36:23 - Is there a band that is NOT on Wiretap Records that Rob would like to see get bigger or that he would like to work with?
40:43 - Is there a mistake that Rob Castellon from Wiretap Records wished he didn't make when starting his record label?
45:13 - Why did Wiretap Records put out a compilation of cover songs from Vagrant Records artists and how does their yearly Record Club work?
54:40 - Would Wiretap Records put out a compilation of their own bands?
56:45 - What's Rob's secret in finding good bands to put on Wiretap Records?
59:16 - What's Rob Castellon's new project My Grito about?
1:07:16 - What new music would Rob from Wiretap Records recommend?
1:09:12 - Outro

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