Victory Records is Up for the Challenge

By Ken Payne
feedback@buzznews.net

Victory's Mike Jukabow (left) and Andrew Seraphin are very
passionate about the bands they represent (photo by Ken Payne)

Scars of Tomorrow, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and Aiden are just three of the thirty-five plus bands that Chicago based label Victory Records represent. However, just getting signed to a label, independent or major, does not, by any means, insure a band’s success. There’s plenty of work needed on the label’s end, and even more when it comes to independent labels like Victory who don’t have the same resources as competitive major labels. Promotion, advertising and exposure are imperative to a band making it or not, and Victory, like every other label in the world, know that having the right people to push your bands is the first, and most important step. For Victory those people are Andrew Seraphin and Mike Jakubow. And, not to sound like the fate of all Victory bands lie on their shoulders, but a good part of it does.

Andrew and Mike, both passionate about the bands they represent, scour the country nonstop for radio shows to play Victory’s bands including Satellite and Internet stations, sometimes making the easy score and sometimes getting the door slammed on their faces. But as Mike explained to me later, it’s like the girl you ask out fifteen times before she says yes. Passion and persistence make up the simple, but effective, formula these two promoters live or die by.

I caught up with Andrew and Mike while they were doing their thing at Chicago’s Fearless Radio.

Buzz – Are you told specific bands to promote or are you constantly pushing everyone on the Victory label?

Andrew – We really take care of every band, every band that’s on our label. So if we have a release coming out next week we’ll promote them for a week, and if we have another the following week, then we push that band. We also think of what bands will do well with commercial and what bands will do well with college and we just kind of go with it.

Buzz – What helps you determine which band gets promoted where?

Mike – Think of a snowball that gains momentum from their early stages - a band that has no sales history or touring or anything – starts at the ground floor and that’s where all the die hard fans build from and it goes from there. Commercial radio is a different story. It’s like after you’re established and the label wants to invest a lot more money into it, it’s a whole different level of the game. Commercial radio is a lot more selective and a lot less bands make their airwaves. Major label actually own most of the field of commercial radio. You hear bands like fucking Hinder all over the place, yet we have a band like Black Maria, which is similar, but we don’t have the type of income to promote or advertise. The game’s a little more skewed and that’s why we’re more selective with what goes to commercial radio.

Buzz – Is it entirely political then?

Mike – It’s very political. It’s an unfair advantage to be an independent label and have to fight against major labels. It’s always been that way. Not to say that I don’t enjoy the fight. I love going in there and stating my case.

Buzz – Do you feel you have more of a passion for the bands you work with than perhaps the relationships between major labels and bands, which can be pretty sterile?

Mike – We are more personable and much more passionate about the bands we work with. We kind of take it as if it’s our own flesh. It’s that important to us, more so, I would say than someone who is just doing their job, getting their 90k a year, their promotional budget and fulfilling the commitments.

Buzz – Satellite radio has probably helped your cause.

Mike – I made friends with Satellite radio the moment they came into existence. I was already in their doors. You could see the current and the trend. You knew that Satellite was going to be a big thing. I was already in New York and Washington D.C. bringing bands to play live in their studios.

Buzz - Do you guys work hand in hand with A&R reps?

Andrew – The promo staff at Victory is the A&R staff. If Mike or I were really to get into a band, we can bring them in and have a showcase and see what the majority thinks of them. That’s how it gets done. That’s another thing about an independent label that’s a little bit different; we don’t have the money to throw out to an A&R department to go find bands. Our boss hires people who are young – who know what they are talking about, knows what could be big. People like Mike now metal, I know hardcore and punk, so he hires us because we know what’s going on. It’s more effective for him to hire people like that.

Buzz - What do you look for in a band that you would consider bringing to Victory?

Mike – I think it’s about having your ear to the ground and knowing that some sort of scene is going to pop up.

Andrew – And a live presence has a lot to do with it because there’re a lot of bands that we’re not really impressed with. There was this band called Emmure that we watched play live and everyone was completely blown away and we knew we had to sign them immediately. Now they’re gaining huge popularity on myspace and on the Internet and we’re about to promote them to radio. It’s about finding bands that can tour a lot and blow people away when they do tour.

Buzz – How much emphasis is put on band followings? In other words there could be a sensational band with 12 people in the crowd, or a very average band with 200 people watching them.

Andrew – A crowd usually means how good their work ethic is, how much effort they put in getting their name out by themselves…

Mike – If you have a home-based crowd and you’re drawing 1,000 kids a night – that’s a big potential sign. If you have 15 people one night and 100 the next – that’s inconsistency. If you’re getting 1,000 people out to a club to see your band, that can probably spread out somewhere else. You can’t sell out the big clubs like Metro and Double Door over and over again without someone noticing – Kill Hannah, Ministry, Chevelle...