About Me
Fiasco Records was founded at my desk at Relativity Records in Torrance, Ca in June of 1991. Earlier in the year, I had visited Chicago, seeing among others my old college friend Doug Demers and his roomate Neil Rosario. They had just formed Dolomite and were talking me into putting out a 7"single... They were inspired living above the band Tar. At the time, they had met with Steve Albini and were trying to find a way to put out a single. Hating my job, and boss- I decided I could use something else in my life to do besides fetch coffee and a breakfast burrito for my boss at the roach coach.The first 7" was a success in that I learned alot about distribution, got some that were actually capable of sending real checks, and got alot of airplay for my band.(INSERT LIFE LESSON HERE)That summer my friends band was releasing a very RocknRoll record on Atlantic and I wanted to help promote them, so I invited the V.P. of Album Network to their gig. He asked me out on a date long before the gig and I went. Stupidly, I went out to dinner meeting him at his condo in the Valley. He was dressed in Shorts and a t-shirt--- I was in nice top, skirt and tights, thinking we were going to a nice place. We went to a cheap thai restaurant and then he suggested we go to RENT A MOVIE. I went along with the idea and ended up in his bedroom -Because it was the ONLY TV W/VCR!!! BIG MISTAKE LADIES... Date Rape is not pretty, especially when you cannot press charges or you will never work in the same industry as the powerful person that did that to you.... (but karma came back to bite him in the ass when he hit on me at Robyn Hitchcock show and he left w/broken ribs).When Monday came, I quit my awful job on the spot, as I didn't want to be taking that guys calls for my boss and I never looked back. Ironically, I did eventually have to take that guys calls again later in life but after the Karma ass kicking it was not as difficult to do so... So, back in the spring I had started contacting other bands, and by summer I had several lined up to do records. One being Kendra Smith. How we connected-- my friend Sid Griffin (The Long Ryders, Coal Porters) who I worked with at Rhino Record Store. He called Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate) and got her address. I wrote a letter explaining my belief in her voice and that she needed to share it with her fans. She called me on the phone from her off the grid life in NoCal to say she would be visiting in Dec. for the holidays. We decided to meet, and from there the Guild of Temporal Adventurers was starting to hatch. For all I know that was in the works in some way for awhile or maybe just came to be, but when she played it for me, it was one of the best christmas presents I ever got... We released it in 1992-? and with the generous help of various Major Label employees in Radio Promotion, it got great airplay and was very popular that year, earning it a place in the year end Village Voice Paz and Jop Poll... We originally negotiated with 4AD but we couldn't come to terms for that first record, so later on we were able to get Kendra contract there. Unfortunately, Fiasco was not included in that deal.During Kendra's record, I had gotten a job at a record distributor in South Central. I worked there for over a year, enduring being the only female in the warehouse and referred to as Dunce and Trim by one of the owners. The company was so cheap they even made us work til the end of the day during the L.A. Riots. Eventually, I didn't fit their boys club and was let go. I spent every second I was entitled to collecting my unemployment checks promoting my records and disenchanted w/L.A. post-riots travelling around looking for a new place to live. The second FIASCO release was a tie- Congo Norvell and Dolomite, at the same time to take advantage of momentum and postage... I signed Congo Norvell based on seeing them at bassist Rob Ritter's (Cramps, Gun Club, Thelonius Monster, Tex and the Horseheads) wake at the Roxy. They were very dramatic and had great musicians- Kid Congo Powers (Gun Club, The Birthday Party, Bad Seeds and Cramps), Jim Sclavunous (Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch), Kristian Hoffman (The Mumps). and again Dolomite and Albini at the helm, just around the time he did Nirvana's InUtero. Both were well received critically, but sales weren't there. Neil was mad about the art work and later they left and went onto Thrill Jockey, where they are still recording in another incarnation- National Trust. In between seeing the Blasters and some other band at the Blue Saloon in L.A., I met Javier Estrella. He was an excellent dancer and happend to be the Drummer in The Hyperions, an L.A. rockabilly band. He invited me to a gig at the Palamino and when I saw their uniquely dark version of rockabilly, I put out their first record "Dark Time". Just before I left my job at the record dist., I had been turned onto another artist named Karl Hendricks. My friend Mike Lavella was from Pittsburgh and knew of him. Karl had put a few records out on his own but needed more distribution. We put out "Misery and Women" in Summer of 1993. With some great promo help from Dan Mackta and Vickie at Autotonic, it made it to the CMJ charts and warm reviews. Playing at the NMS seminar in New York with another soon to be label mate- Paul K and the Weathermen.I signed a band called The Bleeding Hearts (with Bob Stinson of The Replacements), put them in the studio but he died and the band broke up. It was never released on cd. At that time, I moved to Minneapolis to enjoy four years of great friends, and a much lower profile in the music business- Well- Except for: A) the restraining order (that made the trade papers) from Peter Davis (booking agent and Your Flesh magazine Pub.)who claimed I was "Stalking Him". The real reason for it was that someone keyed his car after I tried to talk to him at The Uptown about being rude for no reason when I came to a bbq at his house where a band was staying half at his apt. and half at my house. Trying to do so in public was a huge mistake because there were alot of people that saw us argue and there were plenty of people that despised him there. and B) When I tried to garner support to do a benefit show as a memorial to Bob Stinson and give proceeds to his son who has health issues. This was apparently embarrassing to Tommy and he threw a huge fit and called my home on several occassions accusing me of trying to steal the money that would be made. So no money no memorial.I grew tired of being out of the loop of the music biz. Fiasco released another record, a 10" Paul K and The Weathermen. It was vinyl only and was very small release that got overlooked for as good as it was. The Karl Hendricks Trio came to MPLS and recorded with Brian Paulson(Superchunk). The album, "Gesture fo Kindness" was released. Just as it came out, Karl had a shotgun wedding and couldn't go on tour due to a new baby. The album was well received by critics but not getting as much radio play. Around this time, I was in talks with two major labels to do somekind of distirbution deal and a production deal on a project- both fell apart, and I got tired of freezing and moved back to California to try to get back in the game...by then I had given up on putting out music, all the bands were moving on and I tried to find my place in the music business. I worked in various jobs but never was given a chance to do anything permanent or have anything other than administrative jobs. Eventually the internet took over and we all had to find other jobs anyway. So Now I am a Realtor and Fiasco is a story to tell the kids or here on Myspace...
