| Contact Information Website: www.franklincastle.net
Discography
1999 Linus of Hollywood's "Your Favourite Record" CD/LP
2001 Linus of Hollywood's "Let Yourself Be Happy" CD/LP
2001 Margo Guryan's "Take A Picture" CD
2001 Margo Guryan's "25 Demos" CD |
History: Linus,
who runs the label, was previously in a major label
band. After releasing a few records, he decided to start a
smaller imprint, Pop Squad,
with a friend.
"It was a very helpless feeling leaving my fate to 'a big label'," Linus says,
"so my friend Bruce Witkin and I decided to start our own label to put out our
music." After a few releases, Linus decided he wanted to leave Pop
Squad to create his very own label, Franklin Castle. Since then, Linus'
mission has been very simple. As he puts it, "[I] put out music that I
like."
What it's like:
Franklin Castle's biggest release to date has been a reissue of Margo Guryan's
1968 album, "Take A Picture". It charted on CMJ, and
garnered big name press attention from the likes of Entertainment Weekly and The Los Angeles
Times. While Franklin Castle does very well in North America (they're based in
Hollywood), their releases sell best in Japan. As a matter of fact, the label is
preparing an album from a Japanese band, Qypthone
("sounds a bit like Pizzicato Five," Linus mentions).
Some of the bands:
Kim Fox: After having similar major label experiences as Linus, Kim decided
that it was time to release something on a smaller label. As a result, her new pop
album shall be released shortly on the label.
The Mello Cads: David Ponak (of the band) and Linus have been
friends (and drinking buddies, apparently) for a long time. One day, Linus
asked David if he'd like to collaborate in order to put out an album on Franklin
Castle. David jumped at the chance, and the recording sessions followed shortly
after. Look out for The Mello Cads' upcoming release,
Soft As A Rock, shortly.
Linus of Hollywood: Linus of Hollywood is
just Linus
himself. Margo Guryan even let him use some of her own songs on his
albums.
The Future:
As far as material goes, the future is bright for Franklin Castle.
The new Mello Cads album, "Soft As A Rock" is coming out on May
21. Kim Fox's new album is also due out soon, and Japan's Qypthone
will be releasing their new CD, "Modernica in the USA," in summer 2002.
However, inspecting the new releases
is far from the big picture. Linus
puts it quaintly: "[I'm going to] put out music that I
really love, and hopefully showcase some great talent that major labels are sadly
overlooking. And most importantly, [I want to] have fun, and create a family
atmosphere where we can all make music together and help each other grow."
It's only been four years, but Franklin Castle's quickly becoming
a label to look out for. |
