SECRETLY CANADIAN REVEALS ITSELF

Chatting over an assortment of silverware in the dish room of the Collins cafeteria early in 1996, Bloomington residents Jonathan Cargill and Chris Swanson hatched an idea that has grown into reality: the Secretly Canadian record label, which currently has signed 26 artists.\n"We wanted to do it. It sounded like fun, and at least for me, it had always been a dream to run my own label," says Cargill, noting the common musical tastes he and Swanson share.\nSecretly Canadian is run here in Bloomington by Cargill, Swanson and Ben Swanson, Chris' brother, who moved down from Fargo, N.D., bringing with him the sound of June Panic, which became the label's first band. The label, along with distribution offices and CD manufacturing facilities, is housed in a modest building and warehouse on W. 2nd St. Secretly Canadian also houses and distributes the records of over a dozen other labels.\nThe label's name, despite seemingly obvious political underpinnings, sprang from a conversation about Carly Simon. "Although," remarks Cargill, "with the current political climate, being 'secretly' Canadian might not be so bad." He adds that many people think the name refers to the fact that CDs are produced more cheaply in Canada.\nWhatever the meaning of the name, the label has grown steadily throughout its roughly eight years of existence. Cargill says getting started "was very difficult. We had no idea what the hell we were doing."\nStill, the friends all knew of artists they wanted to work with — it was simply a matter of producing and promoting the records. "We scraped up enough money to manufacture the records," Cargill explains. Along with June Panic, the label, through Chris, got into contact with Songs: Ohia, whose first release they all admired. These two groups recorded Secretly Canadian's first two releases.\n"This is when things started to take off," says Cargill.\nA large part of the workload at Secretly Canadian involves organizing the various bands and their schedules. "Not all bands are active — we've got to keep on top of what they're doing," Cargill continues. "We've got bands from all over the world."\nWhen signing a new band, Cargill says word-of-mouth is one of the most important factors. "We have artists out on the road, and they're exposed to a lot. We've only signed one band from a demo." He adds that Secretly Canadian now receives about 20 demos a week, a "fair amount," which serves as a testament to their success.\nOnce they come into contact with a band and decide to sign it, Cargill and his colleagues make decisions about how to promote that band's release(s). "Some bands know exactly what they want — they actually can say they want to sell 'this many' records. Others don't care. In fact, the bands that get the most publicity are the ones that care the least," he says. "Our job is to work together with them to ensure that they can do it. Bands always have goals. We do what we can to help them achieve their goals."\nAccording to Cargill, brainstorming promotional strategies for the various groups is one of the fun parts of the job, allowing him to exercise some creativity. "It's individual," he says. "It just depends on the style of music."\nIn an industry that often focuses on making as much money as possible by producing music to appeal to as many people as possible, Secretly Canadian tries to cater more to the needs and wants of the band members. "It's totally not what we're about," Cargill says. "For better or for worse, the bands have complete control."\nCargill describes the "legitimate partnership" shared by the label and the bands, referring to it as a relationship in which both sides feel free to voice their opinions. "We can tell them what we think., and if they don't like what we're saying, they can say no," he says. Instead of producing a package that will sell records, the label concentrates on putting out the best efforts of the artists. "If a band makes an incredible record, it doesn't matter," Cargill adds.\nChris Barth, who along with Jason Groth, Mark Rice and Aaron Deer, forms the Impossible Shapes, is one of the artists signed with Secretly Canadian. He says the Impossible Shapes had released other albums with their former label out of Indianapolis, but switched to Secretly Canadian for convenience, since it is located here in Bloomington, and also because "they could offer more in terms of distribution and press."\n"I've got friends who work there, and I like the other bands too, especially the local guys," Barth says. He adds that he is "definitely" glad the Impossible Shapes made the decision to switch labels. The members, who were friends in high school, came to IU, where they became "more of a rock band." Barth describes their sound as "'60s-'70s psychedelic."\nThe Impossible Shapes made the switch roughly a year and a half ago. "Everything has gone really smoothly," Barth adds.\nFor Cargill, the priority is seeing that those things go smoothly. Much of his day is spent juggling the various materials and schedules that come along with each band. "We have bands on tour and bands with CDs (being sent) out to radio stations and writers," he says. "I'm in charge of publicity and promotions. I probably get about 200 e-mails a day, so I'm pretty good at it now. About 40 percent of e-mails require me to act on them, so I spend the first half of the day just doing that."\nWith so much to keep track of and so much business mixed in with the music, some might find it easy to lose sight of the dream, but Cargill likes his work. "It's fun sometimes. I love working with artists," he says, noting a recent triumph with Okkervil River, whose newest video was just accepted by MTV's "Subterranean." These "minor victories" make the job fun for Cargill.\n"The business part isn't fun, it's a necessity — we try to keep it separate," he adds. "I'm dealing with talented people, though. Nice people, too. It's kind of cool to talk to people who are friendly and respectable." \nFor more information, visit, www.secretlycanadian.com.