Despite the success of her label, Thrill Jockey founder Bettina Richards isn’t exactly a wealthy woman. “I peaked at 21 or so in terms of paychecks,” she says. In the late 80s and early 90s she worked as an A and R rep for Atlantic in New York, where she earned enough to save a respectable chunk of the seed money she’d later use to start Thrill Jockey. But if not every endeavor since then has been a moneymaker, well, there are other rewards. Thrill Jockey is not just a respected elder among indie labels—it’s still breaking new ground, expanding and experimenting with its operations and its roster. It’s celebrating its 15th anniversary this year (you’ve probably already caught wind of the huge two-night label showcase at the Logan Square Auditorium this weekend), and the occasion has spurred the usually forward-looking Richards to spend some time considering the past.
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Richards worked for Atlantic before the post-Nirvana pillaging of the indie-rock scene, and her bosses weren’t especially attuned to her sensibilities. “I really was just a music fan, so I kind of stumbled into working at a major label,” she says. “I didn’t have any ambitions about being an A and R person.” She secured record deals with Atlantic or its affiliates for some bands she cared about—Eleventh Dream Day, the Meat Puppets—but she wasn’t high enough on the totem pole to make much of a difference in the label’s approach. “I just didn’t like how I couldn’t follow through on everything because of the way a corporate structure that’s that huge is by nature somewhat inflexible,” she says. “You can’t completely bend the system.”
In short order Thrill Jockey’s roster was nearly as eclectic as the Chicago scene. That diversity remains the label’s calling card, and you can get a feel for it—as well as for the kind of wonderfully ridiculous ideas Richards still embraces—from the Super Epic Thrill Jockey Mega Massive Anniversary Mix, assembled for the label by Trey Told ‘Em, aka Girl Talk guy Greg Gillis and Frank Musarra from Hearts of Darknesses. They’ve broken down big chunks of the label’s catalog into bite-size nuggets and assembled them into a 74-minute continuous mix. One section edits together every Oval track, and two more combine a bunch of snippets from Trans Am and Tortoise, respectively; elsewhere the Sea and Cake’s smooth pop segues into free jazz from Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake and blip merchants Mouse on Mars are pressed into service as a sort of rhythm section for Freakwater. The fact that the mix isn’t completely unlistenable is a testament not only to Gillis and Musarra’s skills—I’m seriously considering upgrading my opinion of Girl Talk—but also to the high standards the label has maintained throughout its history.
For more on music, see our blogs Crickets and Post No Bills at chicagoreader.com.
Fri 12/14, 7 PM, Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie, 773-276-3600 or 866-468-3401, $25, $50 for a two-day pass. A
Sat 12/15, 7 PM, Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie, 773-276-3600 or 866-468-3401, $25, $50 for a two-day pass. A
