*just think of bands such as Pop Unknown, Brandtson, The White Octave, Last Days of April 
    or The Appleseed Cast... this is just a small selection of great bands who have their home at 
    Deep Elm Records. I can hardly think of another indie rock label with such a record delusion 
    like Deep Elm's... one release after another kicks ass with a certain brand of melodic, tense 
    hardcore,.´ and that's just one of the thousand reasons why the small label from Charlotte 
    has established itself as one of the best indie music labels in the whole world. 

    >>> check out the interview with Deep Elm founder John Szuch 
 

    What did you do before starting Deep Elm? 
 

Prior to starting Deep Elm, I worked in the financial district in New York. I've seen many zines that said I was a stockbroker, but that is not true. To set the record straight, I was an investment banker. I helped business owners, entrepreneurs and companies raise capital through stock and bond offerings to fund expansion, refinance, make acquisitions, etc. I worked eighteen hours a day for my first two years without a single day off. The last six years were not very different. . .they owned my soul.

     I was twenty-eight years old and I was still pulling "all-nighters," where you do not go home
     to sleep -- you work straight through the following day. I woke up one day and felt like I was
    wasting my life... like it was passing by me and I could not feel it or enjoy it. I woke up one day
    and felt like I was wasting my life... like it was passing by me and I could not feel it or enjoy it.
    I was numb to my surroundings, my friends, any sort of emotion, and I hated the person I had
    become. I don't think I "felt" anything for eight years. I wanted to change, to take control of my
    life, to do something meaningful, to help people, to create a life worth living... and the answer
    was Deep Elm. 
 

    Have you ever been in contact with the label-biz before you started Deep Elm records?

    No.  I had no connections whatsoever. 
 

    What's the origin meaning of the name "Deep Elm"?

    Several months before I decided to start Deep Elm, I had visited an area in Dallas, Texas 
    called Deep Ellum. It's not a physical location, but the name of the art area in downtown 
    Dallas. similar to "Soho" in New York. I guess the ring of "Deep Ellum" stuck with me, but 
    I did not  know how to spell it. I first thought it was "Debellum." Anyway, several months pass 
    -- the morning after I made the final decision to start the label, I started drawing on a manila 
    folder and out came a logo with the name Deep Elm. Since then, the logo has been revised 
    twice. There was really no planning. . .it just happened. As far as meaning, to me it describes 
    that feeling you get when you are listening to a favorite record and for just a few minutes you 
    are in another place .. .where all you can feel is the music and yrics and nothing else matters. 
    That feeling I call "deep elm." 
 

    Were there any labels you tried to emulate, in spirit or otherwise?

    I most respect Dischord. Aside from the fact that Dischord is the best example of how to 
    maintain a separation between music and the many pitfalls of its commerce, I respect their 
    principles and ideals - and the fact Dischord was never afraid to set those beliefs into positive 
    action. I see Deep Elm being about kids coming together, meeting, singing and sharing that 
    experience with each other -- and those are the times that you remember forever. It's about 
    this power of music -- and that is really what music is all about. Music inspires. And when I 
    think about our purpose as people, I think inspiration is the most important thing we can 
    give to one another. 
 
 
 

something I believed was meaningful, that     would be much better than being successful     at doing something I found no enjoyment in     whatsoever. Life is full of risks, and     sometimes not taking any risks is the     biggest risk of all.

At what point did you first make a profit from the label? To be honest, we've never made a profit. I started funding the label in mid 1994. We did not release our first record until January 1, 1996. In the first five years, we lost an awful lot of money. There were several times when I decided that we could not make it, that it was costing too much. It was hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel. But somehow, I kept on believing that one day it would turn. And I figured if I lost everything I had doing

   
    What do you look for in signing a band to Deep Elm?

    First and foremost, the music has to move us in a strong way. It's the music that matters the 
    most, and we want to put out great records. Assuming that is the case, we then make sure 
    the band members are people that we like and want to be working with nearly every day. 
    A great live show helps, but if it's not there yet and we feel the potential is there, that's good
    enough. A history of touring helps too, but we understand that some bands may have never 
    had the opportunity or support behind them to tour - that's one of the things Deep Elm can 
    provide for them. We need to know that the band members are dedicated and regard the 
    band as a priority. We want to work with bands that believe Deep Elm is the right home for
    them. We are really not at all interested in bands that see Deep Elm as a "good option" or 
    the "best available option at the time." We generally wait until a band tells us that 
    they want to record for Deep Elm before asking them to join the label. 
 

    Would you also sign non-emo bands if you like the music?

    Of course...we always have.  not all of our bands are "emo," not even half. 
 

    Explain day-to-day workings at Deep Elm --take us through your day.

    The first thing we do is update the website and then download e-mail. Excluding 
    correspondence for college and commercial radio (which is handled by Chuck Daley), we 
    get about 500 e-mails each day concerning mail order, touring, publicity, licensing, all kinds of 
    questions. I think it's important to respond to each e-mail, but it's certainly growing more 
    difficult to do so. But if someone takes the time to write to us, we'll write back eventually 
    (assuming it's not spam). We first take care of anything that needs to be done with Japan/Asia,
    then Europe and then North America because of the time difference. It's just Chuck and I at 
    the office in Charlotte, but we are looking to hire another person full-time to help with publicity,
    tour promotion, etc. Chuck handles all college and commercial radio stuff and mail order. 
    I take care of everything else including promotion, marketing, advertising, production, artwork 
    and design, the website, accounting, publicity, etc. We have three people in Chicago that handle
    retail sales... Bryan, Zak and Angie. We also have a lot of distributors that work hard at getting
    our records out there. That said, you can't forget the bands. Touring is work in my book. You 
    have to make a lot of sacrifices to tour. Early afternoon we pack mail order and deal with band
    issues, tour schedules, release schedules, progress of recordings, review zines, talk to 
    distributors and do shipping and receiving. We hit the post office twice a day... they hate it 
    when we show up. There is a really scary guy in the back room that we call "The Yeti." 
    He communicates by grunting. Late afternoon is time for listening to new recordings and 
    demos and updating the website again. We stop picking up the phone around 7pm, 
    at which point I do artwork and design. 
 

    How many people are working for deep elm altogether?

    Me and Chuck in Charlotte, NC and Bryan and Zak in Chicago, IL. 
 
 
 

Were you into punk at all growing up?     My first exposure to punk was Black     Flag. A friend of mine, Holly, was a     fanatic. Back then I was living in     Northampton, Massachusetts, and we      went to go see the Pajama Slave     Dancers all the time. They usually     played at delicatessens and threw cold     cuts and bread at the crowd. But I was      always more of the Pink Floyd type... but      not a stoner. I don't condone drug use...      it's such a waste of anyone's time. I just      liked the complexity of the music. Roger      Waters is a brilliant storyteller and     songwriter. On top of that, they combine it      with an intense visual presentation. I'm     Roger Waters' biggest fan. His last solo     record Amused To Death is my favorite     album of all time.

    What about you... have you ever played in a band?

    No.  but I have decided to start a band. I will be doing the field recordings and someone else
    will be scoring the music.  It's called "If The Stars Had A Sound They Would Sound Like This" 
 

    The Emo Diaries series has helped to establish Deep Elm and many of its bands, yet it gets 
    criticized by some (At The Drive-In's comments in Buddyhead.com, most notably) as being 
    something a marketing scheme. Most of it seems to center on three certain letters. 
    Why the furor over "emo"?

    I'm not about to pull some indier-than-thou attitude and refuse to use the term "emo" like so 
    many do. Or say "we're not emo, we're rock" like so many bands say. Look, you can't deny 
    that there's a scene or style of music that is best described, and most commonly referred to, 
    as"emo." "Emo" can certainly be used to help describe a lot, but certainly not all, of the music
    Deep Elm releases. You could also use "indie rock" or "melodic hardcore" but those 
    descriptions are perhaps even more vague. It's most accurate to say we release "melodic 
    post-hardcore rock." It's just like describing music as punk, ska, hardcore -- all of which have
    different styles within them. People use those terms incessantly, so why some people have such 
    a problem with the "emo" tag I cannot understand. It's insecurity and indie politics if you ask me.
    It's hypocritical to use "punk" and disallow the use of the word "emo." 
 

The main part of our job as a record label is to expose and promote the music of the bands we work with. So if using the term "emo" will help describe a record we are releasing, the style or main influence of a band we work with, then we will use it. It's very difficult to describe a style of music that is so deeply personal, but there is no better term. We think people should focus on listening to music and discovering what it means to them, not what to call it.

    Our compilation series was actually going to be called "The Indie Rock Diaries" but
    Jimmy Eat World was on Crapitol (a major label) and Samiam was again foolishly signing with
    a major label affiliate (who quickly went bust). So that was a problem. I'm sure you're aware
    of all the debate about what's "indie" and what is not.

    It's simple in my book - if a label is "dependent" on a major or a major-affiliated company for 
    anything -- be it funding, distribution ,marketing, anything at all -- they are not independent. 
    I don't really understand all the ruckus. So then I thought of "The Emotional Diaries" but it did 
    not fit correctly on the artwork (it was too long), so I bit the bullet and used "Emo." I knew 
    what I was getting into. 

    As far as what At The Drive-In said, that's a very typical response from a band that we did 
    not select for The Emo Diaries. As soon as we decline, they dis us and the series. It's 
    humorous. We even have some "before and after" e-mails that I've thought of posting on our 
    website.  The amusing thing is that ATDI came to us asking to participate. We never came to 
    them, and I have never been interested in signing them. Their submission was just horrible. 
    They are completely untruthful in their explanation as to when/why they submitted a song for 
    Emo Diaries. Their submission was not sent in for the first compilation in the series like they 
    said. . .I selected those bands myself, and we were not accepting submissions. ATDI submitted
    for the third chapter in the series, so they knew damn well the name of the series and what it 
    was all about. But if it's convenient for them to think otherwise, I hope they sleep better. I see 
    all the hype now around them and think "what the hell are people thinking?" They accuse 
    me of marketing? They're the ones using afros and stage antics to market themselves. ATDI's 
    day in the sun will all pass soon enough. I'm not trying to win friends here, just calling it like I 
    see it. Flattery makes friends, and the truth makes enemies. 

    Think for a minute about what Deep Elm is doing with The Emo Diaries. It's an open submission
    compilation - any band from anywhere in the world can send in a song. If we like it, you're in. 
    Simple as that. It doesn't matter who you know, who you're friends with, how big or small the 
    band is, etc...it's all about the music - and only the music. We heard Race Car Riot's 'The Last 
    in 4000' and fell hard for the song. We wanted to help them...and other bands that wrote great 
    music, deserved attention and were touring their hearts out. But our roster was full and we 
    can't possibly sign every band we think is great. So the question became "What can we do as 
    a label to work with and help bands that are not signed to Deep Elm? How can we help these
    bands? What can we do?" That's when the idea for an open submission compilation series was
    born. I mean, if you wanted to put out a compilation, you'd want to fill it with all the better 
    known, bigger name indie/punk/emo bands of which you could easily move tons of copies and
    at least break even, right? Sure...everyone does that. Deep Elm doesn't. We'd rather release a 
    compilation of awesome, but unknown bands that no one has ever heard of. That is doing 
    something for the scene and helping bands that really need the help. And to my knowledge, no 
    other label has an open submission compilation. Again, we're here to help and support the 
    music we think rocks. 

    If you have an issue with using the term "emo" be sure NOT to use the terms "punk" or "ska" 
    or "electronic" or "hardcore" or "metal" either. It's the same EXACT thing. If you're in one of 
    those closet emo bands that I always see quoted saying "we're not emo, we're rock" - the fact 
    that you say that means one thing and one thing only - YOU'RE EMO! Now, don't get all emo
    about it...face the music. If you're a zine that disses on this three letter word, then don't mention 
    it in half of your reviews. Try listening to the music and describing it...that would be a welcome 
    change. And to those select writers that try to exempt themselves by putting quotes around the 
    word like hey are not really using it (like Aaron Burgess of that killer, cutting edge magazine 
    Alternative Mess)...grow up. So emo, so what. 
 

    What necessitated your move to Charlotte, NC from musical hotbed like New York City? 
    Is there anything you miss?
 

I miss my friends, all the rock venues and everything being available/open nearly 24 hours a day. That was a big adjustment. But after living in NYC for 10 years, I became sickened by it. It really is a rat race. You should only live there if you absolutely must. . .or it will eat you alive. For three and a half years, I worked out of an apartment that received no natural sunlight. I had to stick my head out the window and look up to determine the weather. I got tired of feeling trapped and locked in. I had to go. Since we sell records throughout the world and our bands live all over the states (plus two bands in Sweden), we can really be located anywhere in the US. I visited Charlotte, and felt comfortable here.

    I'm also a big fan of NASCAR, and all the teams are located in the Charlotte area... Race City
    USA, they call it. Charlotte is a great place. . .friendly people, clear blue skies, nice weather, 
    very clean, etc. I mean, if you say hello to a stranger in New York, they look at you like you're
    insane. And an hour goes by in a minute. In Charlotte, you feel guilty not saying hello when you
    walk by a stranger. And an hour lasts an hour. I am very happy here. I should've moved here
    five years ago. 
 

    What do you think about commercial bands/labels or commerce in general?

    Music should be made to be heard, to help, to comfort, to inspire....not for the purpose of 
    making money. The goal of profit clouds the essence of what music is about. The commercial 
    music business reeks of exploitation... it's sickening when you really understand what goes 
    on behind the scenes. 

    www.deepelm.com

   .frankie