Redeye Label of the Month Q&A

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This Issue: Luke Reilly from PNKSLM Recordings

Is there a genre that you would consider to be the label’s “signature style,” or is it a mix?

I wouldn’t say we focus on any genre as such, but we like to think everyone we work with has that sort of special “edge” or whatever. We turn down a lot of bands that are probably a much safer bet financially, but if they don’t get us excited, then there’s no fun in it. I’d class everything we do as “Rock & Roll” in some form, but that branches out into weirdo pop, psychedelic rap, garage punk, acoustic ballads, whatever really, so long as it has some heart.

How would you describe your overall ambitions and goals as a label from when you first started compared to now?

How did you personally get started in the music industry?

My mum has always been a musician, so my childhood summers were basically being dragged to folk festivals with her, so I guess I didn’t have much choice. But the first big “business” move was when I was 16, me and my best friend started promoting shows in our hometown (Leicester), purely so we could get into shows before we turned 18. We ended up putting on early shows for the likes of Arctic Monkeys and The Cribs… Funnily enough doing that was what got me accepted into University, after my grades sucked. Did a 3 year degree in “Music Management & Studio Production”, which set me up for this life of fortune and success.

When and where did the label begin?

The year was 2013. I accidentally ended up moving from London to Stockholm, and was working as an A&R assistant at a Universal imprint. We got a demo from this band Sudakistan, who clearly weren’t a good fit for a major label, but I loved it. I’d been thinking about starting a little side project label, just a few 7”s here and there, so figured they would be a good first band for that. That went great, sold out entirely in a couple of days, Pitchfork was all over it… I thought “damn this is easy.” So then I did a few more, then a few albums... and then it just sort of took over my life. Johan came in as co-owner to sort out all my fucking mess in 2016, which was when it started to look more like an actual business and not some sort of international tax scam. Around that time we thankfully managed to trick Redeye into distributing us. Then in 2021 we hired Axel, who came in to sort both of our fucking messes, as a sort of label manager. Someone we pay to shout at us and remind us of what we’re forgetting to do on a daily basis.

What is the meaning behind the name for the label?

As the label was just supposed to be a side project, I didn’t really think enough about it. I couldn’t really think of a label name, so I just took the name of my club-night I was running in London (Punk Slime), thinking it wouldn’t matter much. By the time I realized that it was a pretty shite name it was too late. The whole “PNKSLM” thing really confuses radio DJs as well, we’ve been called all kinds of things, Pink Slim, Punk Slam etc. It’s got to the point though now where even if we could change it, I’d be too stubborn to.

How has the label changed since it started?

We spend a shitload more money, get a lot more stressed out, and Pitchfork now don’t give a fuck about us. But we’re a million times more organized than we used to be. And we now finally understand the need for solid lead times.

Describe the general makeup of your team at the label.

At the core it’s just me, Johan and Axel, so we kind of all do a million different things. But we definitely have certain specific skill sets that work together well - Johan’s great with the business/numbers side of things, Axel is great at keeping stuff organized, and I’m really great at shouting at people on the phone.

What has been the biggest challenge for you and the label during the Pandemic?

We’ve always naturally leaned towards working with brand new artists, and I guess sort of one of our specialties was introducing them into the world to some degree. But we learned very fast and hard that without any live shows being possible, that task became practically impossible.

Is the label tied to a specific geographical area? How is this reflected in your releases?

We’ve got artists all over the world now. We obviously end up working with a lot of Swedish artists, often things work better the tighter the relationship can be between us and the artist, which of course is easier if they are at least in the same time zone. But with my English background, we’ve got a fair amount of UK based artists as well. Quite a few from Birmingham UK actually - that’s where I used to hang out and play shows myself as a teenager. Those bands I used to play with, we now release on the label which is pretty awesome. Black Mekon in particular have a lot to blame for my life choices over the years, so it’s cool to work with them and still be releasing their records all this time later.

To be honest I think the ambitions are still pretty much the same as they always were. Basically to each artist as “big” as that artist can get. It’s probably a sign of some degree of narcissism, but I’ve always been terrible at accepting that something is out of reach from us. Like why can’t we get our bands on that big festival, or that TV show, in that magazine, or that tour, whatever it is. Of course it doesn’t always work out, but we’ve definitely always been punching way above our weight when it comes to what we achieve, especially for such a small company on such small budgets. If we take a band on as a label, we’ve got that responsibility to push them to the maximum of our ability. What’s the wildest marketing promotion you’ve ever worked on for any release?

Maybe not the wildest idea, but one that sort of backfired a bit. So when ShitKid retired from music in 2020, she left us with several releases to still put out. She literally left town, had her name changed, and became a nurse. Totally disappeared. So when we released her final album, she was already long gone, but we needed something to help market the release, so I thought it was a good idea to make a load of “Missing” posters with her face on and get them plastered around Stockholm. It turned out a lot of her friends genuinely didn’t know what she was up to, or where she had gone, so we started getting a lot of very worried phone calls. I guess people were talking about it at least!

If you had the budget, what would be your dream “outside-the-box” or “crossover” marketing campaign?

I strongly believe we need to make some bribes, to get me into the writing room for the final episode of HBO’s hit show Succession. Episode synopsis as follows:

The Roy siblings are stunned when Waystar Royco’s imminent takeover is suddenly thrown into chaos, as a surprise last minute high bidder is dramatically revealed - eccentric music industry mogul, Tor Hansen (Redeye co-founder). In a futile effort to ease tension between the two companies at this pivotal point, Kendall Roy is flown out to Stockholm to meet the hip young company PNKSLM Recordings, to get a grasp on the sort of people they will now be forced to work with. Kendall’s emotions start to rock as he boards the plane, specifically as he’s taking the same flight route his father recently had. Relationships fail almost instantly after Kendall meets PNKSLM founder Luke Reilly (played by Keanu Reeves), as the two industry giants clash personalities on every level. They both go to top local restaurant “The Crazy Horse” for dinner with the previously expected buyer of Waystar Royco, the Swedish tech entrepreneur Lucas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). Whilst Kendall visits the bathroom, Reilly and Matsson make plans to kill him, following poorly received comments he made about Brexit “being kinda cool, if you think about it”. Reilly & Matsson lace his meatballs with rat poison taken from the restaurant floor. Kendall returns, and starts to eat the meatballs. The song “Done With The Day” by PNKSLM artist 7ebra starts playing. In one final twist, whilst consuming his final köttbular - Kendall opens up to Reilly & Matsson - and apologizes for all his wrongdoings, and admits it was a poor decision “based on my own insecurities and my fundamental need to be accepted” to wear the 50,000 dollar leather jacket to a meeting with a record label. Reilly & Matsson look regretfully at each other, but know it’s too late. The episode and series wrap up with a shot of Tor Hansen reclining in his chair with a cigar, in the new Waystar Redeyeco office. The song “No Regrets” by PNKSLM artist She/Beast begins playing. Cut to Roman and Shiv slowly packing their boxes at the office, tears in their eyes - finally realizing, albeit too late, that despite all their differences - Kendall truly was their one last chance to keep the family legacy alive.

How would you describe the average fan of the label?

A person of an immaculate, distinguished taste.

What in your opinion has been the biggest change in the music industry from when you first started compared to now?

Definitely streaming. But not because of sales. I’m unfortunately not old enough to know what it was like to sell a million CD’s at 99% profit margins. But more the music discovery side of things. When I started doing this, it was relatively easy to create a genuine buzz/hype around new bands by getting coverage on music blogs, and the bigger music sites. But as playlists started taking over as the way people discover new music online, all those sites have died off. Which I think is a big shame to be honest. If you had to start a new sub-label, what would it be called and what kind of music would it be geared towards?

I still really want to do “Pop Slime” and just release really tacky but happy 90’s style pop music. But Johan won’t let me. One day…

They say our sun will explode in about 5 billion years or so- how would you like the label to be remembered?

The label that ruined the finale of HBO’s hit show, Succession.