Exclusive Interviews Only Found Here at MetalCore!

Open Grave Records 

Open Grave Records is an awesome new label out of PA. I got hold of owner James Mattern for and interview and he was kind enough to send it back the next day. Keep your eye on this label as I expect some great stuff from them in 2007 and beyond.

MC: How long have you been into metal and what were some of the 1st releases that you got?

JM: Well let's see it all goes back to when I was around 12 years old. I had a friend into Motley Crue, Britney Fox, Kiss and other bands along those lines. I used to go over to his house and check out new stuff he was getting into which later lead to bands like Primus and Metallica. In time I started purchasing my own cassettes and got into heavier and heavier music. Some of my first purchases I can remember vividly being Napalm Death's, "From Enslavement to Obliteration", Vengeance Rising's, "Human Sacrifice", Unleashed's, "Where No Life Dwells", and Morbid Angel's, "Blessed are the Sick". The best part was that I had to literally hide these from my parents!

MC: Any early concerts that you saw way back when you were a kid that stick out in your mind?

JM: Well this won't seem very "metal" of me but the one concert that sticks out to me was seeing Fugazi on the "In on the Kill Taker" Tour. Ian MacKaye threw his hat out in the audience that night and I managed to get it, I still have it somewhere I believe. I also learned bigger people shouldn't stage dive that night, as I landed flat on my face. I had pretty strict parents growing up so I didn't get to many shows until my mid teen years, and even then I grew up in a college town that was pretty much strictly punk and hardcore. Not much metal to speak of.

MC: How did you get the idea to start up a label? Looking back was starting a label harder or easier than you thought it would be?

JM: Starting Open Grave Records was a thought I've had in the back of my mind for many years. I've always loved the scene and the music...I was just never musically inclined myself. I did a zine for a number of years in the past, and I felt like I wanted to do something for the scene again.

JM: Was it hard? Hell yeah! Is it still hard? Hell yeah! When I decided to launch, I decided it was going to be all or nothing. I knew where I wanted to be within a year, two years etc...I believe in our first year we surpassed my original expectations. But it's not easy, not at all. It's a lot of hard work and sacrifice both financially and when it comes to spending time with family and friends.

MC: How did you come up with the name and how many did you throw around before you came up with the current name?

JM: To give you an honest answer, I don't know. The name had been in my head for some years before actually launching the label. I felt that it was catchy and easy to remember. So I went for it.

MC: How do you go about signing bands? Do you except Cd's from unsigned bands? Do you give any kind of budgets and if you don't mind me asking where do you get your discs done at?

JM: The most important factor for me when I'm looking to sign a band is if they have a professional attitude and look about the way they present themselves as a band. Our website clearly outlines what a band needs to send us for us to take a look at them, and I would say 50% don't follow those guidelines. It's pretty simple what we ask for too: Cd, bio, past shows, photos and any press clippings the band may have. I can't even tell you how many times I don't even get contact information with press kits!

Budgets are private as every artist's agreement is different based on their experience and what we believe they'll bring to the label.

All of our discs thus far have been printed by a company based out of West Chester, PA called Disc Hounds. We are a reseller for them and get some killer deals. So hit us up if you're looking for manufacturing.

MC: How many people do you have currently working at the label and about how many hours a day do you spend working on the label?

JM: Myself, and I handle all of the business aspect of the label as well as PR. I would say I probably average 15 hours a day 7 days a week.

Meghan, my lovely wife takes care of the sales and distribution end as well as managing our huge online store.

Michelle is our Street Team Director who does an extremely effective job at rallying the troops and giving them their marching orders.

Mark & Kyle over see our online radio station. They work to fill empty DJ slots as well as look over the general day to day operations of the station.

MC: How big do you think the internet plays upon getting the word out about your label?

JM: I believe it plays the biggest role. The days of print are pretty much over. Most people would rather turn to the internet and listen to bands instead of just reading about them. People like the interaction; I believe it helps them feel a part of something.

MC: With so many bands and labels out there what do you do to try to make yourself stand out?

JM: I've learned to be the king of persistence. I try to make sure our name is everywhere as well as our bands. It all goes back to the general rules of advertising and needing so many impressions before someone even takes notice, so many more impressions before they act.

MC: Do you think sites like You Tube and My Space are going to be the future of music or not?

JM: I give a lot of credit to Myspace, I believe that although their servers pretty much sucks most of the time that this is the place to be right now. People would rather go to myspace to check out music than a bands own website. I know on an average day that our website will receive between 400-500 unique visitors, which I know our myspace page will receive 1500-2000 unique visitors. Big difference! As for You Tube, I don't have enough experience with it to really give an opinion.

MC: If you could sign any 5 bands who would they be and why?

JM: Vengeance Rising - Well I have Once Dead, why wouldn't I want Roger Martinez as well?

Awake the Suffering - Death/core band out of Tennessee. Their sound is really current and they have an amazing female vocalist that puts any other female growlers to shame!

Assjack - Hank Williams III's punk/metal band. Some of the most extreme music I've heard in years, and killer live show to boot!

Obituary - Yeah, far stretch on this one. Obituary has always been my favorite Death Metal band, and I don't see anyone ever touching that crown.

Within Temptation - Yes that girly goth metal band from The Netherlands. I've been listening to them since their debut, "The Dance" and would have loved the opportunity to introduce them to North America.

MC: Do you plan on re-releasing any more underground goodies besides the Extermiance re-release you have coming out soon?

JM: Well we have already put out some other classic goodies like the Atrocity, "Contamined" EP which was alternate recordings from the "Infected" album. As well we reissued Feast Eternal's, "Prisons of Flesh" with two new bonus tracks. Coming soon we have the digitally remastered Hellwitch classic, "Syzygial Miscreancy" as well as Crucifer's digitally remastered, "Pictures of Heaven".

MC: Do you think underground metal will have get back to the way it was in the late 80's and early 90's when you had 1000's of people at shows?

JM: As much as I'd like to answer yes, I doubt it. To be realistic there are far too many bands and shows and people aren't going to make it to all of them. As well the kids of today aren't so into metal, well at least metal like we know it.

MC: Have you had any of your artists lyrics or artwork censored at all?

JM: Lyrics no, artwork we've had some issues with. The original name of Skitzo's, "Five Point Containment" was "Heavy Shits" and the cover depicted a girl having her face shit on. Personally I didn't care but we knew that we couldn't get that on store shelves. The band knew this going in, so making the changes were not an issue.

MC: How far would you like to go with the label? Could you ever see your label being big as say, Metal Blade one day?

JM: That is what we are striving for, and to do it as quickly as possible. It's not easy these days, as you have to keep a sharp eye on what everyone is doing around you to bring themselves into the next era of audio media. We are doing our best to keep up with the competition.

MC: What type of music do you listen to when you're not listening to metal?

JM: Lots of different things actually, I like a lot of punk music like Aus Rotten, Violent Society, Anti-Cimex, etc... As well I listen to a good amount of country music like Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Hank III, Shooter Jennings...things along those lines.

MC: I know the label is based in PA? Any thoughts of moving out of PA and what part of PA is it and is there much to do out your way?

JM: We are based in the Allentown, PA area...about 40 miles North of Philadelphia. Not a bad little area, we have some good promoters in the area that do their best to bring in some good touring acts, and of course you can always find a show in Philly as well. Other than that, not much going on here...not that I know of at least.

We are considering moving the label in the future, not sure when yet...but it's something that will eventually happen. I've been contemplating the move to Southern California (Mojave Desert to be more exact). It's more personal reasons than business, but it will have its business advantages as well as we have multiple artists California.

MC: Would you ever start to release DVD'S or live CDs?

JM: DVD's possibly, I've looked into a few but nothing really grabs me by the balls. I'm not much of a fan of DVD's and find them hard to sit through, but it's a possibility. Live CDs, doubtful...once again not a personal fan.

MC: Do most of your sales come from your website or do you still get a bunch of sales in stores and stuff?

JM: Our webstore does really well, however I would not call it our main source of sales. We are distributed in the US by Koch Distribution Plastichead in the UK. Between those two distributors we do well in stores as well.

MC: What do you like of sites like EBAY where fans have to pay huge prices for out of print CDS? How about bootlegging out of print cd's? Would you ever sell such stuff?

JM: I think Ebay is great, if it wasn't for that site some of the stuff you would never be able to find. As for bootlegs, in my opinion that is just as bad as downloading a CD from a torrent site or file sharing website. So no, we'd never sell anything like that.

MC: How often is your website updated and what is the url of it and what will people find when they log onto it?

JM: Our website(s) can be found at the following:

http://www.opengraverecords.com

http://www.myspace.com/opengraverecords2

All of our sites are updated almost daily in some way shape or form as I believe that people like something that is constantly being updated and keeps them coming back for new content.

On our actual webpage you'll find full artist bios, discography, sound bites from all of our releases, as well as tour dates, our online radio station, webstore, and honestly much more.

MC: About how many bands would you like to have on the label and what are your future plans for the label?

JM: At this time we are home to 16 artists, with reissues from two additional artists. I believe my goal is to top out at 20 for the time being. I've become more and more selective as to who I'm willing to work worth as I really want to top the label off with some over the top exciting bands.

As for future plans, the biggest thing for me is to grow our distribution into countries we're not reaching yet. I really want to see distribution in Germany, The Netherlands and Brazil by the end of 2007.

MC: James thanks for letting me interview you. Any last words? Horns Up!

JM: Thanks Chris for the interview, I consider it an honor as I've been reading your zine since the print days. As always thank you to the supporters of Open Grave Records and all of our artists...Open Grave is as much a part of me as it is you. Cheers!

www.opengraverecords.com