Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Vinyl in the pink

Western Settings' Will Castro talks about his La Escalera Records and the good news for vinyl sellers

Castro (right): “Small labels like mine [La Escalera] have to wait for [vinyl manufacturers] to press the latest Miley Cyrus on pink vinyl.”
Castro (right): “Small labels like mine [La Escalera] have to wait for [vinyl manufacturers] to press the latest Miley Cyrus on pink vinyl.”

Will Castro lives and dies by the pressing plants that make the vinyl releases for his local label La Escalera Records. Demand for vinyl keeps increasing. But turnaround time is getting worse. Castro says it can take up to four months for small labels like La Escalera to get its records; it used to take eight weeks.

Video:

"Wonderful Multiple Episodes"

...off of Western Settings' album <em>Old Pain</em>

...off of Western Settings' album Old Pain

But Castro and other small labels got some good news last week when the New York Times reported that America’s largest vinyl manufacturer, United Record Pressing, would be expanding its Nashville production facility to the size of “two football fields,” thereby doubling its capacity to turn out 7- and 12-inch records. United produces 30 to 40 percent of U.S. vinyl discs and most of La Escalera’s releases.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“It keeps getting harder and harder for small labels like mine to get their records back on time,” says Castro about La Escalera, which has put out 36 releases over six years. “Now that the big labels are getting interested in vinyl again, they really clog up the pipes. Small labels like mine who get, like, 500 at a time have to wait for them to press the latest Miley Cyrus on pink vinyl.”

Along with Justin Pearson’s experimental Three-One-G Records, La Escalera has become one of San Diego’s most prolific rock diskeries, following the path set by Cargo Records, which thrived in the ’80s and ’90s by focusing on local standouts such as Drive Like Jehu, Fishwife, Olivelawn, and Rocket From the Crypt.

Castro’s own band, Western Settings, has released three EPs and one full-length record on La Escalera, joining other local labelmates such as A Scribe Amidst the Lions, the Marsupials, and Caskitt. Castro says he plans on six releases in 2017, including artists the Black Dots from Denver and Gentlemen Prefer Blood from L.A.

Because Castro says “he heard horror stories” about boxes of records from small labels “sitting around in warehouses,” he says he avoids independent distributors and follows a very simple distribution model, relying mostly on online orders and a handful of indie record shops (including Red Brontosaurus, locally).

Band contracts are equally simple: the band presents him with a mastered product, La Escalera pays for the pressing of the discs, the band keeps a set amount for itself (say, 20 percent of the run), and La Escalera sells the rest. “Once I pay off my investment, I sell the rest to the band at my cost.... We do everything on a handshake basis.”

Place

Pour House

1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside

Castro says he hopes his own Western Settings and other La Escalera artists eventually get picked up by larger labels, such as L.A.’s Epitaph or San Francisco’s Fat Wreck Chords. “That’s what happened to Success from Seattle who moved on to [Chicago label] Red Scare Industries,” Castro says.

Castro says his bro deal helped bring Oakland’s Civil War Rust, Sacramento’s Bastards of Young, and San Antonio’s Signalman to La Escalera. “They came to me,” says Castro.

Western Settings appears January 21 at the Pour House in Oceanside with Buckfast Superbee.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Castro (right): “Small labels like mine [La Escalera] have to wait for [vinyl manufacturers] to press the latest Miley Cyrus on pink vinyl.”
Castro (right): “Small labels like mine [La Escalera] have to wait for [vinyl manufacturers] to press the latest Miley Cyrus on pink vinyl.”

Will Castro lives and dies by the pressing plants that make the vinyl releases for his local label La Escalera Records. Demand for vinyl keeps increasing. But turnaround time is getting worse. Castro says it can take up to four months for small labels like La Escalera to get its records; it used to take eight weeks.

Video:

"Wonderful Multiple Episodes"

...off of Western Settings' album <em>Old Pain</em>

...off of Western Settings' album Old Pain

But Castro and other small labels got some good news last week when the New York Times reported that America’s largest vinyl manufacturer, United Record Pressing, would be expanding its Nashville production facility to the size of “two football fields,” thereby doubling its capacity to turn out 7- and 12-inch records. United produces 30 to 40 percent of U.S. vinyl discs and most of La Escalera’s releases.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“It keeps getting harder and harder for small labels like mine to get their records back on time,” says Castro about La Escalera, which has put out 36 releases over six years. “Now that the big labels are getting interested in vinyl again, they really clog up the pipes. Small labels like mine who get, like, 500 at a time have to wait for them to press the latest Miley Cyrus on pink vinyl.”

Along with Justin Pearson’s experimental Three-One-G Records, La Escalera has become one of San Diego’s most prolific rock diskeries, following the path set by Cargo Records, which thrived in the ’80s and ’90s by focusing on local standouts such as Drive Like Jehu, Fishwife, Olivelawn, and Rocket From the Crypt.

Castro’s own band, Western Settings, has released three EPs and one full-length record on La Escalera, joining other local labelmates such as A Scribe Amidst the Lions, the Marsupials, and Caskitt. Castro says he plans on six releases in 2017, including artists the Black Dots from Denver and Gentlemen Prefer Blood from L.A.

Because Castro says “he heard horror stories” about boxes of records from small labels “sitting around in warehouses,” he says he avoids independent distributors and follows a very simple distribution model, relying mostly on online orders and a handful of indie record shops (including Red Brontosaurus, locally).

Band contracts are equally simple: the band presents him with a mastered product, La Escalera pays for the pressing of the discs, the band keeps a set amount for itself (say, 20 percent of the run), and La Escalera sells the rest. “Once I pay off my investment, I sell the rest to the band at my cost.... We do everything on a handshake basis.”

Place

Pour House

1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside

Castro says he hopes his own Western Settings and other La Escalera artists eventually get picked up by larger labels, such as L.A.’s Epitaph or San Francisco’s Fat Wreck Chords. “That’s what happened to Success from Seattle who moved on to [Chicago label] Red Scare Industries,” Castro says.

Castro says his bro deal helped bring Oakland’s Civil War Rust, Sacramento’s Bastards of Young, and San Antonio’s Signalman to La Escalera. “They came to me,” says Castro.

Western Settings appears January 21 at the Pour House in Oceanside with Buckfast Superbee.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Celebrate Holi, Borrego Springs Music Festival

Events March 23-March 27, 2024
Next Article

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.