Interview with Chad Pearson, co-owner of Militia Group. Militia Group is (at the time of this interview) a punk rock label. Read more for the full interview.

INTERVIEW WITH CHAD PEARSON (CO-OWNER OF THE MILITIA GROUP)

Interview by Carlo Gironi | carlo@staff.truepunk.com.
Hi Chad! First of all, how are you doing in this 2004?

2004 is great! Lots going on, I’m getting married and business is good.

Let’s start speaking of The Militia Group: when did you start the label? I know some guy at TMB worked at Vagrant before? Can you sum up a story of your label?

I started The Militia Group back in 98 when I moved down to California. It was initially a booking agency ­ booking bands like Slick Shoes, Dogwood,
Craig¹s Brother, Undecided, Huntington¹s, and much much more. I always had a dream to start a label ­ but never had the money. Well I went to hang up the militia hat and just quit it all together. About that same time, I got a call from a guy named Rory Felton, a guy from Kansas City, who I used to book shows with and he asked me what I was doing with militia and if I ever wanted to start militia as a label. I said of course ­ I just have no money. He said he could get loans and we talked for about another 4 months and all of a sudden we did it. We signed 4 bands right off the bat, got a distribution deal with Revelation Records. It was all amazing. I have always respected revelation and to get the opportunity to work with them and have them support a label like us was awesome. With our first release ­ we sold way more then we expected. It was amazing and still is a dream come true. The guy from Vagrant that you talk about is my old friend James Cho who rules the new school and every company he goes to ­ the label goes up. So when Rory and I first started ­ we always joked that it would be amazing to have James cho a part of the label. Well vagrant fired him and he talked him into working for us and we eventually became partners in the whole militia realm. Overall ­ its still one amazing dream ­ just don’t pinch me to wake up.

A lot of your releases saw some young band involved, that you signed when they were no one, and then these bands went away to some other bigger labels. I am speaking of Rufio and Noise Ratchet. How did you react when they left your label? Are you still in good touch with them?

When we first started the label ­ we wanted to help our friends out to get to the next level ­ whatever that was. Now that has changed and we hope that we can build success with the bands. With rufio ­ Rory was in college and I was working at the gap and we had no office. They started getting attention and pretty much, to make a long story short ­ we let them go and they signed to Nitro Records. With Noise Ratchet ­ they were done with their contract and they went off to American Records. We are still friends with the band ­ but since we don¹t talk to them on a daily basis anymore ­the friendship isn’t the strongest as it has been when they were on the label. I wish them all the success and am so happy that I was part of them achieving their dreams.

The success of TMG is said to be linked to your first release, that was Rufio’s debut record. How many copies did it sell and did it help the label to go on producing other bands? In the end, did the success of Rufio help your label?

Of course! It rules so much to have been able to release that Rufio record. I’m so proud of it. It¹s the first thing we put out and the reaction to it
was and still is phenomenal. We still sell around 500-700 copies a week and have shipped over 70,000 in the US. That is AMAZING. We thought we would sell 2000 ever. And to have that of course helps going after other bands, because they see what we can do and what we are capable of.

I notice that now you sign only young bands that almost nobody knows: why ?What are some of the rules or principles with which you sign a band? What does a band have got to have to be chosen by TMG?

Well, we really like these bands. We love to help these people achieve their dreams and we are so into them ­ that we want other people to hear
them. It takes about 8 months for us to sign a band, cause we want to know what we are getting into when we do. We need to be friends with them, we need to see their work ethic, and we need to see if we can work together. For us to pay attention to a band is not a set of specific things ­ its just boils down to bands we love. I honestly LOVE every record we have put out. Now I see things changing a little bit though ­ people have seen our success in developing bands, and now that attracts better known bands. We just signed the band Brandtson ­ which has been one of my favourite bands EVER. That amazing ­ they could have gone to any label ­ but chose us. I’m so privileged to put out the best Brandtson record they have ever done. Wait till you hear this thing.

Do you receive a lot of demos by bands? How do you discover new bands? Do you look on the internet, listen to cd’s you get or have you got any other way to get on new bands?

We receive a ton of demos, about 2-10 a day. We listen to each one of them at least for 5 seconds. We discover new bands from a couple of ways ­either from demos we get in the mail, bands telling us some band that rules that played with them last night, friends, shows, word of mouth is the best advertising for unsigned bands.

Is there any famous band that you would like to work with?
I would love to put out the next POLICE record ­ but that will never happen. Maybe a Foo Fighters cd. That would rule too.

I know there is a kind of TMG sub label called SideCho: why and where are the differences between TMG and SideCho?

TMG and sidecho are different companies. Sidecho is James Cho label that we help him with. Its all family but separate labels.

Is there any famous band that you would like to work with? What is the record that you are most proud of?
>Dude, all of them ­ I know that’s a cop out but seriously ­ I was looking at all the records we have put out and just amazed that we have put out 20
records and we are still going strong ­ I could never imagine that
Is there any famous band that you would like to work with?
How many people work constantly at TMG ? and where are your offices?

There are 8 people who get paid from militia ­ we have another 7-8 loyal interns who rule the new school. Our offices are in Anaheim, CA.

You play an active role in the indie music scene of the USA: how do you judgeand see the underground/indie scene of your Country?

The indie scene will always thrive. People love discovering something before anyone else does.

Are there any record labels ( also of other music genres ) that you admire or that you took as inspiration when you first started TMG? And what aboutthe record labels of today: is there any one you are in good relationships with?

Hopeless records for sure. I love Louis. He has gone through so much personally and to see him not get him down and to follow his dreams is a
huge encouragement to me. When we first started the label, Louis called up and said, “welcome to the music industry” he said if we ever needed help, to call him, he helped us out so much. From giving us advice, to getting us our first CMJ showcase to paying for drinks on a cruise. Louis rules, he a man that will always have my respect.

What are your plans for 2004: what do we have to expect from TMG ? What new bands and record are your going to release?

Lots of good records coming out from us that I am looking forward to:Brandtson, The beautiful mistake, The lyndsay diaries, Reeve Oliver, Blueprint Car Crash, Denison Witmer, Copeland and more secrets I cant tell you yet.

Any final comments?No. Just tell Jon that the Mavericks suck ass. The Rockets rule. Note from Jon (jon@staff.truepunk.com): Here’s a little tidbit about Chad, he truthfully likes Matchbox 20. The Mavs don’t suck.