What/who inspired you into setting up a record label ?

Actually Epitaph and Fat Wreck has motivated me for doing a label on high school age but

You know….

As the time goes by as I started to listen to some great bands like Lemuria, Joyce Manor, Spraynard, Queers, Bomb The Music Industry, etc, so Asian Man Records has inspired me ethically and politically up to this time.

What’s been your highlights as a label to date ?

Saturday Night Karaoke!

Yes they are good friends and a band that has broke the leg!

Signed up for 3 different labels on three different continents and now everyone on the scene loves them.

And Colour Me Wednesday.

Their music is really really good and has been working really hard to spread the message of their music and struggling for what they believe about gender and equality.

Really hope that they can go further into a further step in the future.

How have you managed to keep a record label running in an age of easy access digital streaming ?

Good question. Actually this has been a thought for me along this time. For any DIY band, I think the label is still needed cuz you know the label itself ,that I believe , still being a good facility to distribute their music globally. And financially the label is still a good resource for DIY or smaller band because they still need ‘real money’ from selling albums/EPs/Singles and its different thing comparing to any services like spotify which doesn’t work really much for any smaller or unknown band that doesn’t have a high rotation play, as I discovered the truth from any friends here.

Though, as well, we know now that bandcamp now provides the same thing as the label does but you can’t just work alone to make your music being recognized by other people, on the other parts of the world, you need a buzzer and distributor for it and that’s what the label could provide of, in my opinion.

Any funny stories you can tell the readers about your label, or the bands you have put out ?

Well…

It’s not funny but a bit weird. You know when I put out Ghost Mice’s full length ‘All We Got Is Each Other’, Chris Clavin tell me to send no royalties for the records. It is way weird for such a legendary folk punk band like Ghost Mice and also this totally ensure me about how great their ethic and ideology is.

No wonder some said that Clavin is a god of DIY (Regardless about the molesting issue).

And one more, I sent a submission release for Nerd Gets The Girl while ago and they replied me to produce their stuffs as many copies as I can and they ask nothing for it. I tried to reply the message about the royalties matter but they don’t reply me up to this second. This is weird and feeling amazed at the same time knowing one of a great obscure mutant pop band like Nerd Gets The Girl ask nothing for it!

What inspired the name you have given your label ?

Nothing inspired actually… I like being dull and making a joke so there goes the label’s name taken from my front name to it. I used to take my passport photo as the logo and everyone were like ‘Fuck you man! You should get any better logo than this shit!’

Any rad releases you have planned you can tell us about ?

I’m going to put out the first EP of Boys! Yay! One of the raddest babes fronted pop punx band ever! In case you havent known yet, its a band fronted by Megan on guitar and vocals, Maura Weaver of Mixtapes/Ogikubo Station filled up for the guitar and Rachel Fieldman of Lipstick Homicide/Wolfpack 83 filled up the bass.

If you love Unlovables or Jossie and The Pussycats, this one is rad shit you should listen to!

If you could put out a record from any band still going/or split up, who would it be?

Nerd Gets The Girl as I mentioned above haha…

Oh! If got a lot of money to spend on… I would probably would like to put out first and second full length of the legendary Discount haha! But that seems impossible to me I guess.

Go check out Rizkan records bandcamp page below…

RizKan Records (Band Camp Radness)