About Me
It all started one hot summer afternoon circa 1993 in the city of Westchester (LA)! Brien R. Heinz, a young English major at Loyola Marymount University, was dj'ing at KXLU, the college's regionally, respected radio station, when he envisioned a record label of his own; run for the sole purpose of exposing others to the great and untold stories of bands and music in California. Not like the overly-proper concept in your mind of the entrepreneur of college rock, Brien wanted to bring forth something completely creative and new which presupposed that YOU and I would both be willing to tear apart our notions of what is "good music" and what is "good music that sells." He started Smilex Records that summer and, on a A/R "vacation" with me, he found his first delicacy to serve in the seemingly typical form of a little band called "HUGH!" He told the band he would put out their single on 7" vinyl, put up ALL the money for it, expect NOTHING in return, and give them as many advance copies of their single that they wanted! No record labels do this anymore, if they ever did! The single was released on GREEN LIMITED EDITION vinyl and it was and still is a gem for all to have and see for the grand price of $2.00! This was the way the label began and has been run since! You might say to yourself, "Gee, that's a sure fire way to go bankrupt;" and in all honesty, it is! But, that was the beauty of his intentions...pure, creative, and as selfish as Benjamin Franklin pouring over a crazy invention for the world!The story continues as Brien decided to move to a neighboring city called "Inglewood" once he graduated from Loyola! Yes, the same one called to mind from bad hip-hop videos and citylore! At his new pad, Brien continued to run Smilex Records, garner some pretty good press, and befriend an unlikely collaborator living next door. The story goes that a little girl named Nikki Graveline, age 11, lived next to Brien, age 24. She noticed Brien and developed a small crush on him. She wrote a couple of "love" notes (rather "crush" notes) to Brien and put them in his mailbox. Upon discovering them and their unlikely author, Brien confronted Nikki and explained that their "love" could never work because of the age difference, but, instead, he refocused her affections towards his love of music and started a band in the garage with her! It was all a sort of joke you would laugh over in the middle of a fantastically strange dream! Realistically, she had more talent on the drums than anyone I have ever known at that age! She played the drums, he played the guitar, and they both sang! Together and with the help of session bassist, Alan Coy, they recorded a record at Robert Hammer's studio and were signed in a month by a smaller indie record label from San Francisco called Piece of Mind! Alan played as Jackass' bassist for a short time and then I replaced Alan as he had other engagements; including his own band. There's alot more to the story, but, Brien's band, Jackass, with me added onto to the bass guitar when I was 19, went on to rehearse, record, tour, get great reviews and unwanted major lablel attention, and release records for the following 9 years. Brien had alot of help from the likes of such generous hearts and talented people like Marco Paul, Leilani Farinas, Elise Pearson, Brian Miller (The Snow Queen, Deathbomb Arc Records), Matt Kimberling, Rebecca Velasquez, Eric Nordquist, Fawn Gehweiler, and many others!Sadly, the label came to a halt and Brien R. Heinz passed away, tragically! Much more could've been realized, but, the fact is, Brien brought us a georgous gem of raw talent and good music genes to the table and my life has been rendered significantly historical and rich ever since!SMILEX Records (a name emanating from the deathly "poison" which, Batman's nemisis, the JOKER, used in face creams, lotions, and make-up to kill people with) will continue to put out the best of California's unheard and unappreciated music all in the name of greatness and for Brien R. Heinz! Thank you, Brien~!-Brandon R. Heinz (Smilex Records, Jackass, The Snow Queen, The Pretty Vicious, Dyspeptic Ghost...and brother!)
