With South Africa’s music industry often choosing safe options when taking on artists, left-field South African musicians often have to find their own ways to put out their albums in true DIY fashion.
A new inventive model for an independent label has found an excellent way to get left-field South African releases stocked in local music retailers and it all revolves around designer T-shirts.
Hruki, the label, is the brainchild of brother and sister Dan and Mary-Anne Hampton. The Mail & Guardian sat down to chat with them about this unique proposition.
How did the company start and where did the idea come from?
The idea was born out of a music industry in its death throes. CD sales are dropping by 5% to 10% a year without even considering the recession. As it continues to collapse, gaps are going to appear for a business model that works within the new parameters — that recorded music is no longer a product in itself and must be repositioned. We’re still working on the model, but what this looks like currently is a high-quality piece of clothing with an album attached to it, available through music retailers. Downloading a T-shirt is more difficult. New bands aren’t really getting record deals any more because the record labels aren’t making any money. So even if they do get signed, the labels don’t have the funds to market or distribute properly. We’re looking to fill the gap.
How do you choose the bands you work with? Do you take demos or do you approach bands?
We mostly do the approaching. The South African music scene is not so big that you can’t keep a good grip on exactly who’s out there, especially as bands now publish songs on the web before they even start gigging. I do get emailed a link to a stream occasionally but chances are I’ve already listened to it.
Tell us about the bands you have worked with in the past?
Some of the better-known bands we’ve released exclusive recordings for are Dear Reader, Wrestlerish and Fire Through the Window. We’re trying to get a good mix of bands like these, that get radio play, and introvert bedroom recording artists like Sven the Bear and Us Kids Know that produce fantastic music but don’t work through standard commercial channels.
Tell us about your new range?
This is the first range we are doing as a royalty-paying label– all the attachments are full albums, most of them exclusive to our range.
What have been your best-selling shirts?
Winter Trees is probably our most recognisable design. It’s the one I see on the street most often and my favourite. We are running a series on this theme — Autumn was released with our last range and Spring is coming up next. Chronology [is] clearly not our strong point.
How important are social network sites like Facebook to the promotion of your company to fans of the bands?
Facebook is immensely important. Most bands we speak to have given up even printing physical flyers and posters, marketing shows and albums almost exclusively through their Facebook profiles. It’s an incredible marketing tool.
Do the bands sell the shirts themselves at gigs too?
Yes, part of our deal with the bands is that they can purchase shirts from us at cost to sell at gigs.
What stores can people find the shirts in?
You can go to www.hruki.com. We’ll post anywhere for free. Otherwise we are stocked in Look and Listen stores, Idols (Durban), Bassline (Cape Town), The Street (Johannesburg) and Boost Surf Shop (Stellenbosch).
How much do they retail for?
In the region of R250.
Who does the design work and do the bands have input in the design Âprocess?
Ninety percent of the design has been done by Mary-Anne. She asks the bands to send her visual references, something similar to what they have in mind. She’ll mash those together and come up with a few options, which are sent to the band for comment before she finishes up.
Do you do multiple colours for each design or are they just one colour?
We’ve used up to nine colours for one design.