Northfield News covers our Vinyl Release
Kevin Krein of our hometown newspaper, the Northfield News, interviewed Doug and our producer/manager/guru Michael Morris about the upcoming vinyl release of “Heavy On My Mind.” You need a subscription to read the article on the newspaper’s website, so the full text is below.
Northfield music mogul Michael Morris knows he has to make good business decisions, and asks a lot of questions along the way.
On the topic of the vinyl reissue of “Heavy on My Mind,” the 2013 album from Matt Arthur and The Bratlanders, Morris said it comes down to questions of stewardship.
“Why would you manufacture a bunch of things that the world doesn’t need,” he asked.
If people aren’t asking for something that takes up as much space and resources as hundreds of pieces of vinyl, then manufacturing those just because you want to say your music is ‘on vinyl,’ is for all the wrong reasons according to Morris.
“That’s an act of personal ego over environmental stewardship,” he added.
Morris also wanted to be a steward of the meaning of vinyl as he believes a band’s music has to earn its way onto wax.
Although it’s the way Morris wants music to be heard, if 500 people aren’t demanding to hear it that way, it might not be the most responsible
thing to do.
It was the response to the CD release of ‘Heavy on My Mind,’ and the first tour of the Pacific Northwest, when Morris felt that people cared about the record existing on vinyl.
“Fans wanted to hear it that way, record stores wanted to sell it that way.” he said. “I felt comfortable making the choice of bringing all of this vinyl into the world. I think it is a record that is needed and will be appreciated.”
Bratlanders bassist Doug Bratland agreed.
“We would have loved to put it out on vinyl the first time around” he said. “We all grew up listening to vinyl records, so we’ll always think of vinyl as the ‘real’ way to put out an album.”
But it’s an investment, Bratland acknowledged.
After the 2013 tour to the West Coast, things really started to change for Brantlanders, he said.
“We made a bunch of new fans in new cities, and we sold a lot of CDs—way more than we expected,” he said.
And it was the people that kept asking if they could get it on vinyl.
“Now the chips finally fell in place to do it,” he added.
In the age of special edition, colored, 180 gram vinyl, Bratland said that the reissue of “Heavy on My Mind” isn’t anything fancy.
“This record is on classic, standard weight, virgin vinyl, just the way Johnny Cash would have released it,” he said.
The band has a lot slated for 2015. Bratland noted that they have enough songs for another album, but are going to give “Heavy on My Mind” a little more time to gestate, especially now with the reissue, prior to moving ahead with plans to record.
“After the release show, Matt Arthur hits the road for a short tour in support of the reissue,” Bratland said, “Then we’ve got a residency lined up in Minneapolis.”
He added that they also have some local festival gigs coming up, and are making plans for another full-band tour. “It’s a lot of really exciting stuff, and we’re having a great time with it all,” he said.
