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The music industry is flooded. There are too many bands, making too many records, all of which are being released by too many labels. There are fewer leaders and more followers than ever. MP3 is the new Cassette: easily copied and more portable than its predecessor, but with compromised sound quality. CD is the new LP: the kids think those old things are just for suckers and parents. So why would a married couple from a small city, with steady day jobs in the music biz, even consider throwing themselves, and possibly their credit score, into the bottomless pool of promo copies, unreturned phone calls and big manufacturing bills? The answer is a cliché, but it is simply, a love for the music.
Mike and Stephanie Bell both came of age during the alt-rock explosion of the 90's in their little hometown of Dunnville, Ontario. After the onset of the new millennium they were set up into couple-hood by mutual friends and decided to call Hamilton their home. At that point, Mike had just secured a sales rep position at Sonic Unyon Records & Distribution in Hamilton and his band, Chore , was starting to wind down after nearly a decade of trying to 'make it'. Steph had recently graduated from the Graphic Design program at Fanshawe College and also managed to score a full time design position at Sonic Unyon as well as run her freelance design company Emerging Design & Photography on the side. They got married a couple years later, and here we are.
Every now and then, Mike and Steph would half-joke with each other about starting their own record label, but a record label that would be 'different' (go ahead now, roll your eyes). You see, the Bells enjoy live music together on a regular basis; the bills they attend may be heavy and loud, soft and quiet, funky, folky, trippy, whatever. But at a certain point, the couple started to notice a trend in what they enjoyed the most, which shows they came out of with the biggest feeling of joy and fulfillment, or even inspiration. They were the performances that mixed light hearted dementia with DIY theatrics and a unique musicality. Shows that rose above, or stuck out from, the usual display of casually dressed, slightly depressed indie rockers standing in a row, pouring their existential musings and marginally memorable arrangements onto a disenchanted audience… shows that were meant to be purely enjoyed, rather than seriously judged, performances that actually reached out and got into the spectators face and raised the collective eyebrows of the audience, but in a comically warped manner. Some such impression bearing performances that instituted this realization for the couple were executed by folks like Wax Mannequin , Mayor McCa , Dave Clark's Woodshed Orchestra, Friendly Rich and the Lollipop People , and the group that would become Mike and Steph's first signing, Rainbow Meow.
The elusive Rainbow Meow is a trio of singing space kitties who don't really exist, yet magically materialize infrequently to perform on Earth, while warning humans of the impending space kitty invasion. So this would be a sort of 'non-label for a non-band', brilliant! That all sounded nice and low pressure to the already busy Bells! However, establishing a productive relationship with Rainbow Meow proved to be difficult, if not impossible. The Bells refuse to give up on the villainous feline aliens, and still harbor long term aspirations to release the first, and possibly only, Rainbow Meow record.
So "Infinite Heat" was put on the back burner, so to say, until one of their very favorite Hamilton artists approached them with a keen interest in becoming a member of the Infinite Family. Some dinners were shared, some ideas were exchanged, and it was mutually agreed that Infinite Heat would become home to the mighty Wax Mannequin. As it stands, Infinite Heat plans to release a new Wax Mannequin full length, entitled Orchard and Ire, early in the summer of 2007, as Waxy will take to the Canadian road for the majority of the warm season.
Like any label, the Bells are simply here to help their Infinite Family members get the attention that they so desperately deserve. So easy is it, in this overwhelming modern age of Myspace, iPods, and Blogs, for so much fabulous talent to get completely lost in the gigantic shuffle of it all. Infinite Heat wants to bring FUN up into the foreground of the musical underground. They want people to know that if they're attending an Infinite Heat event, or buying an Infinite Heat cd, that they aren't just getting another bunch of okay songs from another bunch of okay bands, yet someone or something that takes it to the next level of attention gripping entertainment. Mayor McCa said it best… ain't nuthin wrong, wid a liddle bidafun.
