TOPSHELF RECORDS

[Spencerhannowsky]

They put out a few good bands and some of my friends bands but they also put out Dads and The Clippers...

Flannel Gurl put out the Dads LP and all releases before that were self-released

Oh I have no idea why I thought that. Band still sucks though.

true that.

[Spencerhannowsky]

i know of endless amounts of two piece twinkly bands and they all suck.

Two Knights is the only band that I have come across that seem to do the 2-piece twinkly thing (or even the twinkly thing in general) in a way that sticks out to me.

i agree. two knights is good. father figure is better.

[Spencerhannowsky]

I think it's funny that mr. Kevin of Topshelf records didn't have enough time to respond to my emails asking for some contact info from 2 years ago because of the sheer number of emails that he just can't conceivably get to, but has enough time to come make like a dozen posts in a silly thread I made on a forum he doesn't normally post on. Anyway can we get back to talking shit on topshelf records fan dorks / reptilian illuminati topshelf fans.

[kyeospeaks]

hey everyone. Kevin sent an email responding to criticisms and gave me permission to post it on here. I will be doing that and also posting my response. whenever kevin gets back to me with another email, i'll post it on here again.
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haven't looked at that thread in a few weeks, just noticed they're SPAMMING my board now, wonder what's new over there... Oh 16 pages, goody." Since I can't respond, please feel free to post this on my behalf:

1.) Re: FOAN. Wow. Where do you get this stuff? All proceeds to FOAN go directly to Mitch's family — we don't make a penny. Colored vinyl? More money to Mitch's family. This wasn't done tastelessly and a great deal of careful planning and consideration was put into this record; from many of Mitch's closest friends. Get a clue.

2.) I work really hard on this label. I quit my job to do it full time and I eat, sleep and breathe it. I make no apologies for anything I do with it, especially not to this audience. I put out records from bands and people I love. I'm not concentrating on one specific genre because I *like* more than one specific genre. I have little interest in "growing our family" so much as I have interest in releasing music from bands I like with an ethos and approach that I can relate to — and music I can enjoy. Some of you do the same so you know it's rewarding and creates some great relationships you'd otherwise never have. I'm just doing it with bands none of you seem to like or appreciate and that's, ya know, totally way OK with me, haha. Don't like it? Don't buy it! Haha, and certainly don't make a 16-page thread about it on a message board. Whatever, anyways. Next.

3.) Tumblr IS hype. Geez. What the fuck else is tumblr for? Hentai porn and Ryan Gosling memes? I can't hand pick who likes our label and posts about it and who doesn't. Frankly, I think the notion that some kids are getting into music through something I have a part in is pretty cool, but who the fuck am I. Sure it's a reblog train, so is anyone else's tumblr. We post plenty of original updates and news about the bands we work with as well though. Again, "unfollow" is very much a thing if you don't like it.

4.) I've been booking shows since the late 90's. I don't understand the predisposition that I / we don't "get" or "do" DIY. Anyway. With regard to not answering Brian's email(s)... Brian, I am now speaking to you ~directly~ (ALMOST as good as emailing you back, right??? LOL): DUDE. I get like 10-20 of these emails a day. Whaddya fucking want from me — a vacation auto-responder? I was on the road ALL SUMMER (when you emailed me). I didn't have time to sit at a computer and answer every single email. I also had NO IDEA you EVER booked any of our bands — maybe ya shoulda told me? I coulda HYPED it and ~reblogged~ it 4 u! lulz... Way to hold a grudge, dude. Bottom line: I get a large volume of emails LIKE that one... Demo submissions / book my band inquiries. Fucking tons of 'em. I don't owe you fucking anything. Alright? Is that fucking clear? No one does, ever. Get that out of your head. If you go through life getting all bent over people not getting back to you about unsolicited requests your whole life — DIY or professional, or whatever — man, bummer. Sometimes, people just don't get back to you because, ya know, REAL LIFE! and then you start an internet shit talk thread about how they were a prick to you and piss on their character. *shrugs*.

4a.) Brian Chamblee's own words:

"Since there are so many bands in Austin for SXSW we decided to have an Ex-Skramz-Aganza ! Come out and check out the musical styling of some of the best bands to grace this Earth.

Musical Entertainment Provided By:
Touche Amore
The Saddest Landscape
The Reptilian
For Want Of
Adobe Homes
Empire! Empire!
Football, Etc.
Adaje
Innards"

http://www.facebook.com/events/191439537557458/

http://d.pr/i/OZWQ

Pose on, brother.

5.) LOL @ the calculator comment. Yeah, that's how reptilian poser wannabe major labels work, you guys! YA GOT ME!

6.) "signed"? C'monnnnnn. We don't fucking say we "signed" bands. None of this shit is informed. Don't you guys all track the #topshelfrecords tumblr tags?!?! C'MONNNN at least try here!

7.) Ask any of our bands (if you can bring yourself so low as to converse with such vermin) about how we "support" them. Most of them are my BEST friends whom I speak with daily — and you don't think we SUPPORT them in EVERY way that we can? Get the fuck outta here. Again, completely misinformed speculation (bring on the "I heard this from so and so talk...).

8.) I just put out a comp with like 40 bands *not* on our label. It's for free download on the internet and got thousands of downloads. Sorry I'm not doing my best to help my friends bands and the local scene or whatever.

9.) Lose street cred for liking topshelf? C'mon. We're on bitcoins, dude. Keep up.

10.) At the end of the day, agree to disagree. Bummer you guys hate me for, ya know, never ever talking to or meeting you or doing any wrong by you and doing what I want because I love to do it. What's that like? Howabout maybe stop getting bent about how you don't like how I do things and that it's getting attention in a way that you don't agree with and maybe go do your own fucking shit. Do it well enough and you might even get your own internet shit talk thread!

11.) Long Live Wiener Rock. #LLWR

Kindest regards,

-Kevin Duquette

[kyeospeaks]

my response
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Kevin, I appreciate your response to my posts.

1. FOAN. I didn't get my stuff from anywhere. I didn't say that you were making a profit but what I meant by transparency was that I never saw how much much (*money, made a typo here) was raised and donated to Mitch's family. At this point, it's not really important if you provide that information or not to me. I am not interested in your label and I don't follow your blog. I did look up Mitchell Dubey on your blog and found mostly "ads" for the record. Most of those entries seem to be ads. On your personal tumblr I searched "Mitch Dubey" and found 2 prints you made, which seem like ads to me as well. I don't mean to say that your efforts are in vain or that it was tasteless. Please re-read what I said and don't ask questions to questions I didn't ask or put words in my mouth. If you go through my post again, I didn't make any claims about your motivations/goals. I was sharing my outsider's perspective. Thanks for throwing me a clue.

2. I know you work really hard on your label. I said that in my post. I can tell. It's amazing how you were able to quit your job for another one. I commend you. You don't have to apologize to anyone and no one is asking you to. I apologize for making you feel that way. I don't care if you're not concentrating on one specific genre because I never brought that up. You can choose to work with whatever bands you like for whatever reasons. I found these posts by you on your blog concerning your growing family. They have all been posted within the last year.

Welcome Cut Teeth to the Topshelf Family!

We’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Baltimore, MD’s Have Mercy to the Topshelf family.

We are extremely excited to share with everyone the newest addition to the family, Diamond Youth.

Please welcome My Fictions to the Topshelf family!

Welcome Suis La Lune to the family!

Welcome Pswingset to the ~family~!

Welcome Slingshot Dakota to the Topshelf family!

I would say that announcing a new member of your family might be a catch-phrase at this point. Putting out records for many different bands really is a great way to form relationships and very rewarding, yes. I don't dislike or think any of the bands who work with you are terrible and hopefully you don't have an issue with that. I haven't bought any records from you and hadn't planned to but I appreciate the advice. I didn't make a 16 page thread on a forum. I posted about 3 times. Anyway, good job on all your hard work.

3. Tumblr is hype? You're the first I've heard it from because I thought Tumblr was a blog but perhaps you've figured out that it's not being appropriately used if it's for sharing information but to you, it's supposed to be a social networking mail-order catalog. When I used Tumblr, I never subscribed to hentai porn or Ryan Gosling memes. I used it to share information and to find information (many independent publishing projects that would've happened pre/early Internet are now blogs instead). It's cool that you think your involvement and presence is introducing young people to music but that point of view is probably an island with a population of 1. Who are you? You are Kevin Duquette. A web designer / developer. You co-run Topshelf Records. You have a back-and-forth love / hate relationship with sleep (and lack thereof). It's great that you post original updates. Creativity is a good thing. Not every Tumblr I read was a "reblog train" (there are many great blogs on the subject of history and other in-depth subjects). I can't unfollow you because I haven't followed you, Kevin. It's very disappointing to hear that you believe Tumblr blog is only used for selling. You do a great job though.

4. I didn't comment on your DIY broadsword and is mostly addressed to Brian. I can't speak for him.

5. I'm glad that you laughed at the Calculator comment because it was intended as a joke. Trust me, it really was. I'm happy we can laugh about it together.

6. I went to your info page on your website and found about 10 formspring questions about signing bands and there was never a note on your part that you don't sign bands. Here is one :

Q : what type of bands do you generally sign/look for?
A: Sonically, there isn't really any limitations that we've set in place... while we certainly each have our own palettes that we're partial to, we're really trying to maintain a generally pretty eclectic roster. Otherwise, we're really looking for friendly, hard-working, original bands / artists willing to tour.

So, you do sign bands? Why do you not make a distinction between simply having a relationship with bands and "signing" them? That comment also relates to what I said about your Business acting like a major label. Well, if it is a Business, then hopefully you'll get to reach that major label plateu someday in the future. It's really not my business to know your Business. I don't care to and haven't made any judgements. I don't track #topshelfrecords.

7. I don't think anyone in any of "your bands" are vermin. It's great that you speak to your best friends often otherwise it would just be another struggle for you. Again, please re-read what I posted on the board. I didn't say you didn't SUPPORT "your bands" in EVERY way that you can, no. You won't dismiss me, no. Out of all the creative, original posts that I've found on your blog concerning "your bands", I've yet to read something about their local scene and the other bands they play with. It may not be important for you but I think sharing that context is extremely important in supporting the DIY scene as a whole and not just "your bands".

8. Good job. Hey, don't be sorry because you're doing the best you can to help "your family". It's a dog eat dog world, huh.

9. I didn't say anything about "cred" so perhaps this isn't appropriately addressed to me.

10. I don't hate you or your label. I don't even dislike either. You have not wronged me and I hope my criticisms have not wronged you. I don't know what it's like because I don't hate you/Topshelf. Do what you want and I will do the same. Kevin, you shouldn't allow my brief criticisms to assume so much about me and the things that I said about your label. For the last time, re-read my posts and realize that I was sharing my impression of your label and not making concrete claims about it.

I do do my own fucking shit, thank you for the advice. If you were to scrutinize my position in punk, you may not consider my projects done "well enough" by your standards but I am very happy with the many people I've met and befriended through DIY punk and that is more of a return for me than reblogs can buy. I welcome criticisms of my projects, as well as myself as a person, because I am interested in self-improvement if I see that it's appropriate and/or needed. I hope I do get my own internet shit talk thread one day.

11. I can't comment on this since I didn't make any remark about weiner rock.

now my own points

12. In the future, please email me at KYEOSPEAKS(at)gmail(dot)com and not my band.

13. Thank you for allowing me to post your email on your behalf. I'll be doing that and sharing my response to you as well.

Love and respect,
- Mark Chen
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i realize i am wearing my CMHWAK shirt now. i don't mean to take sides but i actually really like the fit of this shirt. i may be wearing it often.

[thebigmin]

lmao

[brianutatx]

So Kevin sent both Mark (kyeospeaks) and myself that email, I may decide to respond to this email both publicly and privately or perhaps one of the two. I get like 20 pissed off emails from record label owners like this daily, so I obviously can't respond to all of them. I'm brianutatx an important member of cmhwak and DIY punx extraordinaire I can only afford so much time for emails like this.

[thebigmin]

I'm brianutatx an important member of cmhwak and DIY punx extraordinaire I can only afford so much time for emails like this.

[CitizenOfUlysses]

.

[kyeospeaks]

So Kevin sent both Mark (kyeospeaks) and myself that email, I may decide to respond to this email both publicly and privately or perhaps one of the two. I get like 20 pissed off emails from record label owners like this daily, so I obviously can't respond to all of them. I'm brianutatx an important member of cmhwak and DIY punx extraordinaire I can only afford so much time for emails like this.

We are lucky.