14 Mar 2012 11:51
Ace's "Anomaly" gets marbled...
Karl Groeger Jr., President of Brookvale Records & Looney Tunes Records in West Babylon, NY, was kind enough to spare a few minutes to discuss Brookvale's forthcoming release of Ace Frehley's "Anomaly" on silver marbled vinyl.
KissFAQ: Ace did a signing at Looney Tunes back in 2009. Can you tell me how your relationship with Ace has gotten you in the position to do a silver pressing of the album.
Karl: I own Looney Tunes CD store and we opened up in 1971. Throughout the years we've had lots and lots of artists come through and do signings. Hundreds. We've always tried to do any of the members of Kiss because we're all huge fans. So when we got the word that Ace had a new album out, we put in a request to his record label, Rocket Science, and we were honored enough that they said "yes" and amazingly surprised that we got the in-store and were super psyched.
When we did the event we had a really good time and while we were there we got talking to the President of Rocket Science, and we talked about possibly working together in the future. And after that happened, with the success of Ace's solo record, they did a pressing of their own vinyl on black that sold out very very quickly. Since we had also started a record label called Brookvale Records that now specializes in releasing vinyl. We licensed those vinyls from different label partners and we do joint ventures with those labels putting out pieces. And we started about possibly doing an Ace piece. We came up with the idea of doing a silver-marble limited edition and we decided to do 1,000 pieces of it and hand-number every one. We just got the test-pressings in the other day and they look phenomenal. So we're pretty psyched.
KissFAQ: Any involvement of Ace in any of this? Has he commented on the project?
Karl: I don't have any communication with Ace, it's just directly with his record label. Ace is probably pretty busy doing his own stuff to really worry about these things.
KissFAQ: So no hopes of trying to set up a special signing with him at Looney Tunes for him to come in with these?
Karl: We tried to, and we tried really hard to, but unfortunately with his schedule we just weren't able to put it together with the release of the record.
KissFAQ: Now what happened with the colored vinyl? I guess when I think of Ace I would have thought blue. What led you guys to go with silver, which turned into the silver-marble?
Karl: Everything, when we do licensing, we try to stay true to the artist and the vision and we really don't do anything to the record as far as changing it in any other way. What we did was remaster it for vinyl to make it sound pristine on vinyl because vinyl, in my opinion, is the most superior source you can listen to music on. So we did do an amazing job remastering it.
When we looked at the "Anomaly" album cover we tried to think of what we thought would look the coolest. There's a lot of silver in the art. There is blue and green too, of course, bet just shot a couple of ideas around but thought that silver would look the best.
KissFAQ: Any promotions going on with this? Obviously Ace is busy, but is this going to be pure internet.
Karl: Mostly internet, yeah. It is a small release, only a thousand pieces, so they're very very limited. We're taking pre-orders on our Brookvale Records website and then whatever we have leftover we're going to release through our label and distribute to all the stores across the country.
KissFAQ: When is this album expected to be released?
Karl: April 10 is the street date of the record.
KissFAQ: And you've got pre-orders available now through the Brookvale Records website?
Karl: That's correct, brookvalerecords.com. You can pre-order now. We're doing a certain number on pre-orders and then a certain number we're releasing to stores. I think we only have about 100 left for the pre-orders.
KissFAQ: That was going to be my next question. How's it sold since you originally announced it in early February? So you're down to 100 it must be doing pretty well...
Karl: Yes, it's doing fantastic. And like I originally said we had originally discussed doing silver and then when we went and pressed them the manufacturer actually made a mistake and they added so extra colors and dyes in the mold and they came out this silver-marbled color. Our first thought was, "Oh wow, this stinks!" They're going to have to redo them or something because they didn't come out the color that we anticipated. But then when we looked at it we were like, "My God!" These are phenomenal looking. They came out just ten times better than we expected. So you know what, we're keeping these. It's kind of like a mistake that went good.
KissFAQ: Kiss fans will remember a grey marbled vinyl version of the "Revenge" album that came out in the 1990s. So they've seen dull-grey. From your YouTube video the "Anomaly" release looks brighter. So it looks different and quite interesting.
Karl: It came out just absolutely beautiful. Being Looney Tunes records, we have quite a big Kiss selection, and quite a few fans come through the store on a daily basis. And we know our really big Kiss fans in New York, so we invited a couple of them down to come see it and we're like, "What do you think of this?" And they just all freaked. They're all like, "This is just amazing!"
KissFAQ: That's cool. Are the records in printed inner dust sleeves or in just your regular dust jackets inside the gatefold?
Karl: It's a gatefold double-LP.
KissFAQ: Is that gatefold artwork pretty much the same as that which was used on the black vinyl version through Rocket Science? Or were you given latitude to come up with your own basic design?
Karl: We're usually given latitude to do what we want, but I'm of the impression that Ace knows better than I do. So what we do usually, when we repress something or we license somebody, we don't really alter it that much. We really try to stick to the original that's the vision of the artist. They're the artist, they have the vision and we're just helping get that vision out to the fans. It's a little bit different because I think the other one was like a pop-up kind of thing...
KissFAQ: The original was on a shiny mylar-like cover. This is just high-gloss?
Karl: Yes.
KissFAQ: Any plans or hopes to do anything with Kiss? They have a new album on the horizon and of course they had "Sonic Boom" out on their own album a few years ago. Any hopes to do anything in that realm?
Karl: We have already tried to put inquiries in and we would be honored to be able to do something with them and maybe one day we can.
KissFAQ: Excellent, one last Kiss related question. Give me and album and song that means a lot to you guys at Looney Tunes Records?
Karl: I think my favorite Kiss album of all time definitely has to be "Love Gun." I don't think I have a favorite song... "Christine Sixteen" and "Shock Me" are amazing. I'd just say that whole album is probably my favorite album.
KissFAQ: It's a good choice, its classic Kiss era and you can't go wrong with that.
Karl: You really can't go wrong. But personally, that was the one I grew up with listening to everyday. If I could ever do a Kiss vinyl or picture disk that would be my choice.
KissFAQ: Now that Kiss isn't as tied to the major labels I'd love to see them do something for Record Day.
Karl: Yeah, the Record Store day.
KissFAQ: Even an EP or something cool in that realm. They've done a lot of other stuff that they could mix and match that they own with something interesting to honor Record Store Day That'd be fun to see.
Karl: Record Store Day has been so amazing lately. We have over 311 releases coming out that day.
KissFAQ: On record store day itself?
Karl: Yep. Record Store Day is April 21 this year.
KissFAQ: That's impressive.
Karl: Yeah, it's astronomical. We've been putting the orders together for the past couple of weeks.
KissFAQ: Are there any forthcoming releases for Brookvale that you'd like to mention?
Karl: Sure, last year we did 311 and Dream Theatre and this year we have 11 releases scheduled. In the next couple of weeks we'll be releasing a list of those titles.
KissFAQ: We'll keep an eye out for those announcements. Any final words?
Karl: We're just really truly honored to be partnering with Rocket Science on this release. To just have our label in smallest form associated with anything Ace wise is just really a dream for us. We're just quite honored to be putting out this release.
KissFAQ: That's great. Congratulations on getting that out into vinyl. Those of us who still appreciate the depth and warmth of vinyl, and still have turn-tables, and any reason to get something else with "Ace Frehley" written on it is going to be cool!
The KissFAQ would like to thank Karl for taking the time to talk to us about the forthcoming "Anomaly" silver-marble vinyl release. Pre-orders are still available via Brookvale Records at the following link:
http://brookvalerecords.com/2012/02/07/ace-frehley-anomaly-2lp-silver-vinyl-lp/
KissFAQ: Ace did a signing at Looney Tunes back in 2009. Can you tell me how your relationship with Ace has gotten you in the position to do a silver pressing of the album.
Karl: I own Looney Tunes CD store and we opened up in 1971. Throughout the years we've had lots and lots of artists come through and do signings. Hundreds. We've always tried to do any of the members of Kiss because we're all huge fans. So when we got the word that Ace had a new album out, we put in a request to his record label, Rocket Science, and we were honored enough that they said "yes" and amazingly surprised that we got the in-store and were super psyched.
When we did the event we had a really good time and while we were there we got talking to the President of Rocket Science, and we talked about possibly working together in the future. And after that happened, with the success of Ace's solo record, they did a pressing of their own vinyl on black that sold out very very quickly. Since we had also started a record label called Brookvale Records that now specializes in releasing vinyl. We licensed those vinyls from different label partners and we do joint ventures with those labels putting out pieces. And we started about possibly doing an Ace piece. We came up with the idea of doing a silver-marble limited edition and we decided to do 1,000 pieces of it and hand-number every one. We just got the test-pressings in the other day and they look phenomenal. So we're pretty psyched.
KissFAQ: Any involvement of Ace in any of this? Has he commented on the project?
Karl: I don't have any communication with Ace, it's just directly with his record label. Ace is probably pretty busy doing his own stuff to really worry about these things.
KissFAQ: So no hopes of trying to set up a special signing with him at Looney Tunes for him to come in with these?
Karl: We tried to, and we tried really hard to, but unfortunately with his schedule we just weren't able to put it together with the release of the record.
KissFAQ: Now what happened with the colored vinyl? I guess when I think of Ace I would have thought blue. What led you guys to go with silver, which turned into the silver-marble?
Karl: Everything, when we do licensing, we try to stay true to the artist and the vision and we really don't do anything to the record as far as changing it in any other way. What we did was remaster it for vinyl to make it sound pristine on vinyl because vinyl, in my opinion, is the most superior source you can listen to music on. So we did do an amazing job remastering it.
When we looked at the "Anomaly" album cover we tried to think of what we thought would look the coolest. There's a lot of silver in the art. There is blue and green too, of course, bet just shot a couple of ideas around but thought that silver would look the best.
KissFAQ: Any promotions going on with this? Obviously Ace is busy, but is this going to be pure internet.
Karl: Mostly internet, yeah. It is a small release, only a thousand pieces, so they're very very limited. We're taking pre-orders on our Brookvale Records website and then whatever we have leftover we're going to release through our label and distribute to all the stores across the country.
KissFAQ: When is this album expected to be released?
Karl: April 10 is the street date of the record.
KissFAQ: And you've got pre-orders available now through the Brookvale Records website?
Karl: That's correct, brookvalerecords.com. You can pre-order now. We're doing a certain number on pre-orders and then a certain number we're releasing to stores. I think we only have about 100 left for the pre-orders.
KissFAQ: That was going to be my next question. How's it sold since you originally announced it in early February? So you're down to 100 it must be doing pretty well...
Karl: Yes, it's doing fantastic. And like I originally said we had originally discussed doing silver and then when we went and pressed them the manufacturer actually made a mistake and they added so extra colors and dyes in the mold and they came out this silver-marbled color. Our first thought was, "Oh wow, this stinks!" They're going to have to redo them or something because they didn't come out the color that we anticipated. But then when we looked at it we were like, "My God!" These are phenomenal looking. They came out just ten times better than we expected. So you know what, we're keeping these. It's kind of like a mistake that went good.
KissFAQ: Kiss fans will remember a grey marbled vinyl version of the "Revenge" album that came out in the 1990s. So they've seen dull-grey. From your YouTube video the "Anomaly" release looks brighter. So it looks different and quite interesting.
Karl: It came out just absolutely beautiful. Being Looney Tunes records, we have quite a big Kiss selection, and quite a few fans come through the store on a daily basis. And we know our really big Kiss fans in New York, so we invited a couple of them down to come see it and we're like, "What do you think of this?" And they just all freaked. They're all like, "This is just amazing!"
KissFAQ: That's cool. Are the records in printed inner dust sleeves or in just your regular dust jackets inside the gatefold?
Karl: It's a gatefold double-LP.
KissFAQ: Is that gatefold artwork pretty much the same as that which was used on the black vinyl version through Rocket Science? Or were you given latitude to come up with your own basic design?
Karl: We're usually given latitude to do what we want, but I'm of the impression that Ace knows better than I do. So what we do usually, when we repress something or we license somebody, we don't really alter it that much. We really try to stick to the original that's the vision of the artist. They're the artist, they have the vision and we're just helping get that vision out to the fans. It's a little bit different because I think the other one was like a pop-up kind of thing...
KissFAQ: The original was on a shiny mylar-like cover. This is just high-gloss?
Karl: Yes.
KissFAQ: Any plans or hopes to do anything with Kiss? They have a new album on the horizon and of course they had "Sonic Boom" out on their own album a few years ago. Any hopes to do anything in that realm?
Karl: We have already tried to put inquiries in and we would be honored to be able to do something with them and maybe one day we can.
KissFAQ: Excellent, one last Kiss related question. Give me and album and song that means a lot to you guys at Looney Tunes Records?
Karl: I think my favorite Kiss album of all time definitely has to be "Love Gun." I don't think I have a favorite song... "Christine Sixteen" and "Shock Me" are amazing. I'd just say that whole album is probably my favorite album.
KissFAQ: It's a good choice, its classic Kiss era and you can't go wrong with that.
Karl: You really can't go wrong. But personally, that was the one I grew up with listening to everyday. If I could ever do a Kiss vinyl or picture disk that would be my choice.
KissFAQ: Now that Kiss isn't as tied to the major labels I'd love to see them do something for Record Day.
Karl: Yeah, the Record Store day.
KissFAQ: Even an EP or something cool in that realm. They've done a lot of other stuff that they could mix and match that they own with something interesting to honor Record Store Day That'd be fun to see.
Karl: Record Store Day has been so amazing lately. We have over 311 releases coming out that day.
KissFAQ: On record store day itself?
Karl: Yep. Record Store Day is April 21 this year.
KissFAQ: That's impressive.
Karl: Yeah, it's astronomical. We've been putting the orders together for the past couple of weeks.
KissFAQ: Are there any forthcoming releases for Brookvale that you'd like to mention?
Karl: Sure, last year we did 311 and Dream Theatre and this year we have 11 releases scheduled. In the next couple of weeks we'll be releasing a list of those titles.
KissFAQ: We'll keep an eye out for those announcements. Any final words?
Karl: We're just really truly honored to be partnering with Rocket Science on this release. To just have our label in smallest form associated with anything Ace wise is just really a dream for us. We're just quite honored to be putting out this release.
KissFAQ: That's great. Congratulations on getting that out into vinyl. Those of us who still appreciate the depth and warmth of vinyl, and still have turn-tables, and any reason to get something else with "Ace Frehley" written on it is going to be cool!
The KissFAQ would like to thank Karl for taking the time to talk to us about the forthcoming "Anomaly" silver-marble vinyl release. Pre-orders are still available via Brookvale Records at the following link:
http://brookvalerecords.com/2012/02/07/ace-frehley-anomaly-2lp-silver-vinyl-lp/