Nick Lovaro (Cowabunga records)

Here's an interview with Nick who runs the awesome Cowabunga records label.  I conducted this last year with the intention of it entering War Against Peace issue 3 (which hasn't happened yet). I decided rather than it rotting in my harddrive to publish it. It's a good interview with a good dude. Check out his label at cowabungarecords.com.

Hi Nick, How the hell are you? What have you been up to today? Tell the girls and boys reading this about yourself.

Hey Mark, I am doing quite fine thank you. Long days at a manual labor job keeping me from getting fat leave a man feeling drained when you work for about 11 hours, at least I get a good weekend to rest up and cram as much label stuff into it as possible ie record cover folding, pack orders, answer emails, etc. My name is Nick Lovro aka Nick Sick aka Nicholas Sickolas, The Sickness amongst my numerous nicknames (no pun intended) I 'earned' over time! I would not say it aloud due to the cartoony nature of saying it about oneself but would consider myself a true punk and have been going to shows and into this music for 15 years of my life and see myself doing so until I drop dead or pass away in my sleep.

How did you get into hardcore and what keeps you involved?

I think I got into Hardcore and the dirtier side of punk the way a lot of people my age had during the 90's, through art class. I can recall many interviews with guys in my age bracket in bands who had an older student in art who'd have control of the stereo and play some at the time very 'mind blowing' music that wasn't like what the jocks and lame redneck guys and gals were into. I know as a freshman in high school my perception of punk was Lookout Records, Epitaph and major label stuff of that sort. The only old punk I knew well enough was Bollocks, London Calling and the 1st Specials LP which really wasn't punk. In art there were 2 students who got me introduced to better music- a senior named Kelly who had a Chelsea haircut and wore NOFX shirts who would ask me about bands I never heard of and then a friend of a friend Dan who was only a junior at the time but his role was most important. Shit to either of them I'd go on about something lame like Pantera or Janes Addiction. HA! But Kelly got me into bands that were on FAT since she was telling me about their cheap CD compilations which is where I then got into Good Riddance, who had covered 'Hall of Fame' as a hidden track on their 2nd album which then got me into Government Issue. But most importanly here the guy Dan played me the Ramones, the Damned, Big Black and the Meat Puppets. I enjoy it all now but at the age of 14 I was only into some of it. So Dan loaned me 'Wasted Again' by Black Flag saying that would be a band he think I'd be into and I had recalled reading in a book how Kurt Cobain started a band because of Flag so that alone intrigued my clueless mind. As soon as 'Wasted' played on my beat up discman on the bus ride home my jaw dropped sitting in the way back corner and I played that song over and over and over again to the point the CD was broken from overuse months later. Black Flag has remained my favorite old band to this day and I get a feeling I can't explain when I hear 'Wasted' still, but of course other songs too. What keeps me involved is too lengthy for me to put into words but basically my love of everything that real punk and hardcore stands for. I feel you get it or you don't, anyone can listen to it but do they get why some people have remained dedicated and so diehard to a style of music to where you arrange your life around all aspects to it? I say the number who truly gets it is quite small.

Why did you decide to do a label? What are the best and worse things about running it?

A funny thing no one knows is I actually many years ago wanted to start a label long before I actually did! My friend wanted me to release the Bronson 335/Life Set Struggle split 10'' which Four Tee Gee Records had super delayed putting out, but my friend Sikander who was the singer of LSS ended up declining me to do so right before I had enough money to do it saying the record would come out and to do it behind Tony's back would be a bad idea. And truthfully he was probably quite right esp on the latter part. So fast forward to 2005 when Weekend Nachos had played a show in a basement of a building in downtown Dekalb where most of the band was going to NIU our local university. I've known their singer John for a large number of years and after their set I had asked him to do a record for them and John had stated he'd like to record it 1st then shop it around. A few months later John asked me if I would like to try and run a label with him and after agreeing we started Tooth Decay Records. Enter early 2006, I had been talking with Josh of Reason of Insanity and asked if they had anything they'd be down to releasing and he had a live radio show recorded in 2004 from their east coast jaunt with Rattus and I asked John if we could release it on Tooth Decay. John liked them but wouldn't want to do a record so after hearing 'no', I decided to release it myself on a seperate label. I wanted to call it Go To Hell Records but didn't want people to maybe get the wrong idea from me and went with a more fun name. By the way, although I grew up with and loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, its actually a 50/50 reference to both surfer culture and a line Egon Spengler used in a Ghostbusters cartoon episode! The good part of doing a label is the excitement of putting out a record you truly enjoy, it to me is the ultimate high of satisfaction. There are other perks like seeing good reviews for a release you put out on your dime, the hard work that pays off, seeing your records in other record stores with 'high reccomendation' stickers on the polybags to getting to know bands and even becoming friends of theirs sometimes but of course you got to have the bad along with the good. The bad is sometimes greater and some things that frustrate me are how long it takes nowadays for distribution checks to come in, being branded a 'power violence' or 'thrashcore' record label when that is beyond being believable, bad record reviews where sheepish people will just not buy a record if someone cool in the zine world says 'I don't like it', working with bands filled with spoiled rich kids who think they're truly punk when they're a living joke who take everything for granted and complain about anything that they can with a record, people who steal from my distro boxes, constant email with little time, the loss of money is a big one (never expect to make any kids!) and the amount of stress, mental anguish, sleep loss and worry that goes into the process of hoping a record comes out on time for tour is maybe the biggest one of all.

You release a variety of different stuff-do you have a specific agenda or do you just go for things that you like? Were you already friends with a lot of the bands before you did releases with them?

I am actually releasing more 'specific' things after 2011 is over and putting a more certain focus on what I would put out. I used to enjoy the variety part and still will remain a very broad and different record label in the punk/HC spectrum but the 3rd worst thing I've hated about doing a label is when I get called a 'blank' label. Don't label my label, when you release a fast and also a mid tempo record but for example get called 'thrash' is stupid. I would say as far as thrashcore goes I've put out 2 records that fall under that category at best, so to just toss around 'thrashcore label' is kind of offensive to me. Would you call Stymie a thrash band? No. Would Ladies fall into that category? Of course not! So bottom line to what you asked me, no I have no set agenda what so ever. I release music by bands I love, I have never sought a band out for the sole sake of making money on it and that be the main reason as to why. How labels that consider themself a part of Hardcore or punk that do this are a disgrace. As a sidenote here to my gripe before, I am doing some records for Tenement and trust me that is the polar opposite of thrash!

Which are your favourite releases on the label? I guess mine is the Bloodtype 7” that you put out last year along with the Dark ages 7”. Have any releases been difficult to do or have you have any problems with them?

Favorite releases of mine? Its easier now to have records I would call legit favorites now I suppose seeing I got a fair amount under my belt. If you were to ask if I had 6 faves (5 is too typical a number so I'll go one extra)  in no order I would say they'd be the Insubordinates LP, Weekend Nachos-Punish and Destroy LP which most likely got my label name out there to begin with but I honestly fucking love that record, School Jerks-Control EP, my upcoming Tenement-Blind Wink LP, Cold Shoulder-Patriot EP and then a tie between the Ladies and SLOBS 7'' for the final spot. My pick for the most underrated one to me that's still a favorite is the Rhythm Syndrom EP and if I ever had to say I had an overrated record to where people raved about something I put out when I didn't agree at all with the general consensus would be the Migraine record.  Good picks Mark, Dark Ages still sounds really good today as it did 2 years ago the 1st time I heard it and Bloodtype is a fantastic straight edge band with a stand up HC record. Seems most Europeans really get that band where only a few parts of the USA ever took to them which is a shame really. I have had difficulties with 3 records in all but I had a nightmare situation with a band too. I discussed it enough over time and am beyond over it now but we'll just say that this band takes the cake as the biggest trend jumping band of poseur, commie asshole scum and they complained when they shouldn't have but all blame despite the faults not being my own personally they go to the label none the less. I almost quit doing my label because of this band, but eventually said screw it and sucked it up and moved on. Incase you wondered, the 3 records I lost the most money on would be the Timebombs-Mumbling 10'', Catburglars- You May Be Dumb EP and my 1st 7'' by ROI. All 3 of those sadly were basically pressed and nothing made, money sunk.

You do limited colour stuff on your releases-are you a fellow record collector geek yourself? Do you agree a lot of labels depend on record collectors these days to sell their stuff, for example some labels pressing about 4 different colours of one record knowing that some people will buy them all? I can see the point but putting lots of different colours out kinda dilutes the fun and exclusivity compared to just having one normal release on black and one limited pressing on colour like most labels used to do would you agree?

Yes Mark I do sometimes press colored vinyl in a small number to not have too much, but I do it for sheer fun or if the band requests it. I sort of enjoy the fact I am not a hyped label where guys will strictly buy my records and flip them on eBay a week later for 8 times what the guy paid for it. That to me ruins records and makes it more like stock trading or baseball cards then music and I have friends that do this and it sickens me. I agree, to do numerous versions on color vinyl cheapens the fun factor too which is why Istarted my answer to your question that I do color vinyl only for FUN! Fun being truly key here, I mean if someone really wants color wax from me I tend to have it for a month or 2 after a record is released giving a casual fan a very good chance of getting the record on color vinyl. I would never do 3 versions of a record on color wax,, what a waste and it saddens me people will spend so much money on 3 copies of a record when you can only hope they'd even play 1 of those copies. Also, yes I am definitely a collector nerd and my collection very much proves this theory but its also not like those guys on Bridge Nine who own 3 copies each of something with 6 diff versions either. Those few that have seen my stuff are aware of how extensive my collections of Die Kreuzen, Zero Boys, COC, AOD and many other classic bands are. Its absurd and its not even just records I am talking about!

Which are your most limited releases (apart from the test pressings)?

My most limited releases off the top of my head would be some crazy Chainsaw to the Face variants that I got by total accident such as 1 on Black with a Purplish Red puddle in the middle of the record, 4 on RED and 1 Clear/Green mix. The 2nd press of the School Jerks' 'Decline' EP had 9 copies on clear ORANGE come in I never asked for with 2 transition copies. The best example for this to me would be the Cold Shoulder record which had around 60 copies on a few different kinds of disgusting color vinyl which were 'experiments' on mixing Orange and Black and then the one I get asked about the most because people want it is the Weekend Nachos Punish/Destroy LP transition record which was of 13-16 copies which was a mixture of Red, Purple and Black and it looks like a see through red/brown mix. I'd know it if I saw it. Also some records I hand drew covers, write on dust sleeves, etc. Not meant to be limited but just to be more fun. Records with the smallest pressings would be the Critical Picnic, Deconditioned and ROI 7''es which are kind of limited I guess?

Any advice to anyone thinking of starting up a label? Tips on what to do or not what to do, that sort of thing.

The only advice I can give at the time being is for a person to do a label with all of the right intentions. Don't go into this thinking you're going to be making a lot of money from this because you probably won't. The amount of labels that actually make any amount of profit worth noting is so small, so don't go into it with delusions of grandeur, okay? I don't know if there is really any other standout advice outside of only do a record if you're willing to put 100% into it and be fair and honest to the band/s, never give less than 15% for the initial band pressing either I say. It seems 10% is becoming way more common and that's a scary trend. What not to do is more to say than what to do, so basically if you want to try your hand at putting out a record expect the worst and if something good comes from it consider yourself extremely lucky!

Ok Nick tell us about your local scene-the best and worse things about it.

Well, where I spend most of my HC time in Chicago, I do not live there yet and techincally I live in Dekalb so I'll give a run down on both. Dekalb was where the infamous 90's HC band Charles Bronson had their start and there was a small scene during their time here but it wasn't too substantial either I'd say at the same time since it was basically those guys and their small circle of friends. Actually my 1st HC show was seeing Asshole Parade in Dekalb in 1997 and I absolutely hated that style of HC then. I would come around a few years later but I guess I wasn't ready for the extreme and ultra fast nature to that Gainesville band. The scene has had ups and downs since then, mainly bands while some guys were still at NIU would sprout up such as Plan Of Attack, Food Fight, Attention Span, Weekend Nachos, Inverted and others. Some made a small name for themself, some existed to no acclaim or some just were a band during a semester of school. The scene now in Dekalb is more grindcore and death metal oriented and not really my thing so I can't really say even who some of the bands are outside of Gonzo Violence but some of those guys come out to hardcore shows in the big city, some of the band Harpoon also hail from here but they're not hardcore at all but fall under the umbrella of underground punk I guess. The best local band hands down would be Sick/Tired who has an LP out on To Live a Lie and they have a slew of new records also coming out shortly, if people care about the 'members of' thing they contain guys from MK Ultra and Weekend Nachos. There's also Stations Creation which is really sloppy B9 style HC who may or may not be a band anymore,, one of those bands you know are into HC like its a phase in life. Although I live here, I wouldn't count my band Birth Deformities as a Dekalb band since 1 guy lives in Elgin, 1 in Chicago and 1 in Aurora so we're fairly spread out! Chicago is the USA's 3rd largest city and although our scene gets hardly the respect and credit it deserves, I could care less because I am fine with people being stupid and ignoring us over the overhyped coast cities. I think we take some pride in the less attention factor a lot too. Chicago has had a lot of good bands exist in the last 10 years- Punch In The Face, the Repos, Chronic Seizure to the recent times of more variety in the Catburglars (broken up now), Harms Way, Weekend Nachos, Ropes, Manipulation, Poison Planet, Narrow Mind, etc and then Culo, Cold Shoulder, Duress, RN, Scabs, Pukeoid,  Rat Patrol and Guinea Kid who came or come from the varying outer IL/IN suburbs of Chicago. I am missing a lot but its meant to be a brief list. The scene here changes with the times as all scenes do, but the scene now is young which is nice seeing we basically were just mid 20's guys for the longest time alongside 30 something's but now its a nice blend of all that plus a lot of kids. If only the kids bought records and didn't just download stuff I'd have nothing to complain about! Only 2 bad things to note outside of my annoyances of people is the general late starting time for shows and sheer lack of solid venues right now,,, because everything else is just great!

Finally, thanks for the interview and thanks for giving us a bunch of cool releases (may it long continue), any last words before signing off.?

Thanks for doing the interview Mark, I hope I didn't get too long winded, damn the fact I ramble in too much detail! My last words to this should be funny, short and sweet but I am getting tired so I am going to end this by saying 5 statements. 1.The later Ramones records are just as good as the 1st 3 records, I think the world is nuts. 2. I honestly prefer 'How We Rock' over 'Kids Will Have Their Say', yup! 3. This always bothered me then and still does now but so called mysterious hardcore bands couldn't even sound like Black Flag's 'My War' even if those dorks blatantly tried to rip it off because they're mainly straight edge guys that don't get it (no offense to those who claim edge, this is just a theory of mine). 4.Raw Nerve does not sound like VOID, so quit saying they do and 5.People need to quit acting like pussies and listen to other music. Hardcore rules but come on, what's wrong with solid real 80's metal, 70's hard rock and 80's alt rock? And fuck the Chicago cops who arrested me July 1st pulling me over for no reason threatening me to get out of my car and putting me in the hole $2300. Those should have been my last words!