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

Pee Records began life as a d.i.y mail order and distro originating from the cut ‘n paste zine I was printing. The mail order was modeled on a legendary South Aussie d.i.y mail order called Spiral Objective which I was a regular customer of years prior when I hosted an alternative/punk radio show on community fm. I wanted to provide the same service for independent melodic punk and hardcore bands from both here in Australia and overseas who I’d met through the fanzine and who’d asked me for help in getting their records out and in local record stores etc. It wasn’t long before I was asked by a Melbourne punk hardcore band called Away From Now if I’d be interested in helping to release their “Sic Semper Tyrannis” EP. I knew nothing about running a record label or really what was involved but I was a fan of the music and wanted to help the band get more people to hear it so I dove head first into it and learnt on the go.

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

There’s been many! From the great sense of satisfaction I get dealing with some of the best humans on the planet that all make up the bands on my label, to the feeling of pride and joy I get when a new release arrives back from the plant and I get to see, hold and listen to it in physical form for the first time. There is a highlight in the making that I can’t really talk about in detail just yet, but it involves one of our bands moving onto a bigger label next year which I’m extremely proud and excited about as it will hopefully take them to new levels and expose their awesome punk tunes to even more listeners. Pee Records was always only meant to be a starting point for bands, a chance to get their music released and heard so that they could hopefully move onto bigger labels with more coverage. I’m excited like a proud father that this looks close to finally happening for one of our bands.

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

Digital streaming is a great thing. It’s helped expose our bands and label to punks worldwide, so the internet has definitely helped the label’s growth over the years no question. And sure, the internet is also a double-edged sword for labels and artists, but at the end of the day the pros outweigh the cons. If you’re referring to those who want to steal your bands music, then you can’t let that get to you as they’ll always exist. We spend a lot of time and money producing the records we release and believe the artwork and packaging is an important part of why our bands’ fans buy physical copies of the recordings in the first place, that’s why we put a lot of thought into the artwork, paper stocks used and things like different vinyl colours and configurations. We also like to load up our customers orders with free shit as a thank you for their order and support. We have an awesome army of regular customers and supporters who I couldn’t be more grateful to as without them we wouldn’t be doing what we do.

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

I’m going to skip that one coz I couldn’t think of anything I could write that wouldn’t get someone in trouble haha

● What inspired the name you have given your label ?

Well that kinda just happened because my zine was called PEE Zine, which was always just a ‘tongue in cheek’ piss take name. I never thought when I began that the zine would be around for over a decade and go on to print 49 issues, or the label become what it has and release almost 100 titles to date… otherwise I would have put a lot more thought into the name I chose! Haha

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

We’ve got a 7” EP in the works that we’ll be announcing early in the new year, along with a split release with a bunch of awesome punk bands and labels from all 4 corners of the globe… but I can’t really tell you about either just yet, so I guess I haven’t really answered your question sorry haha. We’ll reveal all early 2019

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

Oh wow, there’s been a few Pee Records bands that have called it quits after an EP or two before releasing that debut full length album… there’s even been second albums that were being worked on that never made it into production that I’d love to have had the chance to release. I wouldn’t like to single out any one particular band but I would like to see third albums come from DRIVEN FEAR, HIGHTIME and LOCAL RESIDENT FAILURE

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