Time flies when you’re trying to build a strong-but-humble grassroots empire. It’s been a whole two years since a dedicated group of local independent artists joined forces in the post-Torontopian afterglow to produce Friends in Bellwoods. Back in the winter of 2007, a predominantly flannel-clad cabal (made up of musicians ranging from Ohbijou to Sebastien Grainger) launched that double-disc compilation in a triumphant sold-out show at the Tranzac; since then, FIB has gone on to raise over $11,000 for the Daily Bread Food Bank, and another volume is in the works for mid-2009.
While that accomplishment is laudable in itself, the release of FIB also marked an even more significant event. That night in January ’07 stands as the symbolic birth of Out Of This Spark, the DIY label-cum-collective established by ex-Guelphite, community radio veteran and impresario Stuart Duncan. Since unleashing the feel-good fuzzy beast that was Friends In Bellwoods, OOTS has been behind solid and lovely releases from local artists with integrity, such as Forest City Lovers and The D’Urbervilles.
Duncan was already putting on shows in Toronto when he founded the label, which was a further attempt on his part to recreate the close-knit, supportive community he missed when he left the college town for the Big Smoke.
“You can only stay in Guelph for so long and have it be beneficial and not irritating,” he jokes. His founding principle for Out Of This Spark was to create something that would be the “antithesis of what was already out there.
“I’m friends with people who’ve had experiences of putting out records themselves or being part of small collectives or even being wooed by record labels, so I’ve heard about a lot of the problematic aspects of models that already existed,” he explains. “Even indie labels don’t always offer great deals for bands.
“I started looking at labels that I respected and that had existed for a long time, like Constellation, Dischord and Blocks Blocks Blocks. The way they put out music is different — it felt like it was based on more meaningful forms of success and more meaningful forms of art.”
Duncan’s vision is practical — he’s determined to limit the actual product being released by OOTS so as to maximize their modest resources. He insists his artists take more than an equal share of all profits in the hopes that they’ll channel those funds into producing more art and eschews a beefed-up promo budget in favour of word-of-mouth exposure, citing the addition of a Forest City Lovers song to a radio playlist in California as a major coup. “It was pretty mindboggling! That track gets about 150 downloads a month on iTunes. It’s been amazing to see the impact this label can have outside of its immediate geographic region.”
Though Duncan’s devotion is palpable, he seems to keep under the radar, only emerging to tout OOTS’s achievements when he thinks it’ll help the label’s artists. He claims he spends most of his time poring over sales spreadsheets; the real payoff comes through shows like that first Friends In Bellwoods event, or this Saturday’s big birthday bash at the Tranzac with Forest City Lovers, The D’Urbervilles, Timber Timbre and Jenny Omnichord. Admission is $8 with a non-perishable food item, $10 without.
“Those shows are when I really get to see how the label interacts with the public,” he says, happily.
Duncan insists that 2009 will be a “big watershed.” In addition to that second Friends In Bellwoods comp, he’s looking forward to the release of Timber Timbre’s new collection of haunted, creaky roots-pop, and says “both Forest City Lovers and The D’Urbervilles are talking about new albums.
“Out Of This Spark is still a work in progress for me.”