Superchunk Bassist and Merge Records Co-Founder, Laura Ballance

MUSIC INDUSTRY SUBDIVISION: Musicians, Record Label —

It was just another Tuesday at the Merge Records office as I established a good rhythm on the computer, editing a few minor hiccups on the label’s website before the newly designed version launched. Typically it’s not too hard to delve into tasks given, especially when you’re indefinitely surrounded by thousands of vinyl records and CDs from so many talented bands and artists.

I was just nearing the end of the editing process when in walks one of those very artists – one whose records are heavily scattered throughout the label’s discography, and justifiably so.

It was Laura Ballance, the bassist for indie-rock band, Superchunk, and co-founder of Merge Records, and I was more than excited to hear she was free to talk with me that day. Along with co-founder and bandmate, Mac McCaughan, Ballance has fostered the success of various musicians, ranging from Grammy Award-winning band, Arcade Fire, to the Durham-based locals, Mount Moriah.

From touring as a musician to starting the label, Ballance provided a unique perspective from her impressive range of experiences for my music industry case study.

Music Druthers: So tell me a little about the beginning of your music career and the start of Merge Records.
Laura Ballance:  “The first few Superchunk records came out on Matador so we were on a different label for our full-length records – well mostly because we weren’t capable of putting out anything but cassettes and 7-inchs. This guy, Gerard Cosloy, was running a really successful record called Homestead and left to start Matador with another guy, Chris Lombardi. We were talking to Gerard at that time and he basically said wait….guess what? I left Homestead, we’re starting a new thing, and we’d love for you to be one of our first bands. We had no idea what it would take to put out full-length records and promote them. With 7-inchs it felt like you could just make them, send them out, and that was all it took. And it really was at that time – there wasn’t so much noise going on.  And then we saw there was so much happening in the community in Chapel Hill and Raleigh – not really Durham yet though. But a band would be around for a while and then they would just break up and be gone. And maybe what needed to happen to give the band a little more life, or legs, or whatever you want to call it, was to have some way for people outside their community to hear them, that being a 7-inch or tape they could buy somewhere else or if they toured through a town. Because really, you could only play in the same town so many times before people don’t care anymore. Basically, [Merge] was to help support the “scene.”

Music Druthers: With these experiences you’ve had being signed to a label as well as starting your own, has the way you feel about music changed since it’s become a career rather than a hobby?
Laura Ballance: “Definitely – it has made things less fun in different ways. Also, I’m older so that’s a part of it, but it’s hard to tell how much of it is what. I used to just go to shows not knowing anything about the bands playing – I would just go and thought, well if it sucks, I’ll drink a beer and talk to my friends. But now, if there bands I don’t know that I might like or not, I just don’t go – I have a kid and I’m tired. I think it’s both though – I think my threshold and tolerance has changed over the years. I guess what I wanted to say about first running Merge…what was fun about it was that I had my fingers in everything. I knew exactly what was going on with everything and I was close with the bands, but as we’ve gotten bigger, we need to hire more people and I don’t get to do as much of the fun stuff anymore. I only get to do the boring stuff – kind of – well, mostly it’s the stuff that relates to accounting and legal decisions and it’s not as much fun as when you’re first starting out. It’s all about the little things – they’re important, all those little things – because there’s a lot of joy in them.”

Music Druthers: Based off the experiences you’ve had, how has the music industry changed since you first started out in 1989?
Laura Ballance: “The cool thing about Adam’s job now versus working at Capital is you can do something where you see an immediate effect. For the industry, in some ways it’s shrinking, as in the amount of money going into the music industry, but there’s more and more people listening to different music than they used to because the ease of access. So in that way it’s growing too, but people haven’t really figured out how to make money off of that and I don’t know if they ever can. And obviously people like Amazon and Spotify and YouTube – they’ve figured out how to monetize to their advantage or they wouldn’t be so big, but getting the money from them to an artist is another problem altogether. And there are negative things too with the technology. It means you’re more likely to have this flash in the pan situation where bands become big really quickly but then they get forgotten too because there’s so much going on. “

“Just historically the amount of change in the past 25 years to now, it’s insane. I don’t remember when CDs started but it’s probably in the 1980′s – but in 1989, vinyl still felt like the main thing and there were CDs and cassettes too. For our first full-length album, we had cassettes, CDs, and vinyl – but the cassettes went the way of the dodo, you know. Anyway, if you wanted to hear new music, you had to hear it on the college radio, at least for independent music, or go to the record store and buy it. And now, anything you’re vaguely curious about you can hear, which is really cool. Back then, people were really worried about home taping and sharing them with their friends – that was a huge deal – which is just laughable at this point. But technology was so different then. We didn’t have cell phones – no one had cell phones but really wealthy people. And touring has changed vastly from that too. If we were touring the country, we had to stop at a pay phone and try to call the club if we got lost. That kind of stuff, it’s totally different.”

“Also, now people have ‘mainstream.’ Independent culture has become mainstream which is wild, but it kinda makes sense to me because I think people like me – people of my generation that got interested in alternate music and culture – are often the creative, driven people that have now grown to be in big positions today. They have a lot of influence in the media – they work at NPR or at Good Morning America or wherever, and their taste has come with them. So they think to themselves…’there’s no reason not to have Arcade Fire on Good Morning America because they’re good and I’m into it, so we should do it.’ So this group of people who were formerly underground are now in control and have that influence over people.”

Music Druthers: Nowadays when you’re in the office, if you even have a kind of normal daily routine of activities, what does is consist of?
Laura Ballance: “Mostly it’s just me sitting here answering e-mails – I just answer e-mails all day. It’s people asking questions that people that work for us can’t answer – so usually it means it’s a decision someone’s not going to like {laughs}.

Music Druthers: So with your success in music, what would you advise to anyone interested in being a musician or working at labels?
Laura Ballance: “Well it never occurred to me that it would have any longevity or add up to anything – I just did it because I was having fun. I think I would advise anyone to keep that in mind if they’re doing anything in the music business, or the art business even for that matter. You should do it because you like it and not because you hope to be successful, because you only have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting anywhere. Most people don’t actually have the talent, but talent doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get anywhere. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve put out records that I thought were the best in the world, but nobody cared. It’s sort of a weird combination of talent, timing, and luck. I guess my advice to anyone would be do it for fun…take your time and grow slowly, you know?”

Music Druthers: I talked with a lot of people about the role of family and how it can or won’t be affected by industry jobs. Especially as both a musician, a worker for the label, and a mother, what’s your opinion?
Laura Ballance: “I think it’s what you make of it. For me personally, I have found that having a child has make me not want to go out late at shows because she’s getting up at 7am no matter when I go to bed…and I need my sleep! And I also don’t like traveling as much as I used to – I want to be with her. She can’t go anywhere because she has to be at school and have a normal life. Even though she’s a great traveler, I just don’t think you can take kids on tours. She went to Japan with us a few years ago and had a great time and I’m glad she did, but basically, having a kid has made me pull out a bit because she’s more important. Different people go different directions for sure, but I’d say being a musician is one easy way to become an alcoholic if you have the inclination in your genes anyways, so that’s not good.”

Music Druthers: Another thing I’m particularly interested in is how music can be used to incite some sort of positive change in our society. Merge has had a positive influence in Durham, which was clear in the article in SPIN…what inspired you to getting active in the community?
Laura Ballance: “Well, just as human beings, we have interest in other things besides music – we have interests in our community, and in local politics and national politics and people starving in countries…it’s hard not to be touched by these things, you know? I think when you realize you can actually do something help, whether it’s playing a benefit show, or donating money, or trying to cause attention to certain issues – if it’s something you’re interested in – it’s fulfilling. It’s fulfilling and makes the times when I’m sitting here on the computer just thinking “agh,” it makes it all worth it.”

Music Druthers: Along with that perspective, how you believe you can use your role as a leader to make a difference?
Laura Ballance: “It’s hard…it’s really hard. There are so many different things vying for people’s attention now – there are just so many causes. It seems like having an actual experience gets people’s attention for longer than a tweet or an e-mail, you know? But I don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere – it is what it is but how do we change it? I feel like what had a lot of influence for me and what inspired with me regarding our state legislatures problems is going to Moral Mondays and hearing Reverend Barber speak – he’s a really inspirational speaker and others who tell their stores too. It’s also being there with people who feel the same way, but we’re all different, but we all get along, right? I guess you can get a similar feeling in a concert situation – you’re all different and gathered there for the same reason. And people who usually go to a concert with a cause…they’re not really there to hear a bunch of preaching about whatever the cause is. They’ll put up with it for a few minutes, but they came for entertainment and paid for it. It’s really hard to get people motivated to spend time trying to change things that seem difficult to change – I’m still thinking about North Carolina politics. I don’t know, even Moral Mondays have me thinking about racial things. I mean around here, I feel like people are pretty darn segregated for the most part and I just been trying to think about how we change that and wonder…why is it like that? But that has nothing to do with music! (laughs)”

Music Druthers: It’s interesting how artists today don’t really have songs with activist messages anymore like they did in the past and why that change has occurred.
Laura Ballance: “Yeah, that definitely is interesting since in the 60′s and 70′s, there was a lot of political music, and I feel like for the most part, people stay away from that now. But then again, isn’t that song ‘Royals’ – that Lorde song – in the same vein? But yeah, in a different way, not like “If I Had a Hammer,” you know, but I guess some people still might have songs.”

As we wrapped up our conversation, I took in the surroundings of Ballance’s office one last time. Posters of artists from the Merge family that span from almost 25 years of music embellish the walls of many of the employees’  offices, and hers was no exception – just a true testimony to the life she has built around music since she was just a few years older than myself.

When asked to give any last tidbits of advice, Ballance took a brief moment for introspection before finally deciding that she had already said the most important thing.

“Well now…I think already gave my favorite advice,” she said pensively.

“Just love it for what it is and do it for yourself because you need to truly enjoy what you’re doing – it’s your life.”

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