Better get a wider Christmas stocking, say 12-inches. Eighteen independent record labels will be selling vinyl, CDs, limited-edition items, and other merchandise at the inaugural Toronto Label Market, on the afternoon of Dec. 13.
Organized by We Are Busy Bodies label owner Eric Warner, the music shopper’s paradise will be held at The Garrison (1197 Dundas St. W) from noon to 5 p.m. A ticketed raffle for a music prize pack will be drawn at the end of the day.
“The whole idea is based off of all the Canzine and record fairs that I went to when I was a teenager and in my early 20s,” Warner told Now Toronto. “The hope is it goes well and it becomes annual. But, at the very least, it brings together a nice cross-section of labels.”
Admission is just $5 or free with a donation of canned goods or a brand-new pair of socks. All the money from the door and food/socks will go to the Parkdale Food Bank.
“Every label is paying and that offsets my cost of renting a venue, renting tables, making posters, all that stuff and 100 per cent of the money coming in from the door and food donations and socks, go to charity,” Warner said.
Confirmed for Toronto Label Market are Arts & Crafts, Boiled Records, Cajú Collective, Cooked Raw, Hand Drawn Dracula, Idée fixe, Imaginary North, ishkōdé Records, Local Dish, murderecords, Next Door Records, Outside Music, Paper Bag Records, Royal Mountain, Six Shooter Records, Sonic Unyon, Victory Pool, and We Are Busy Bodies.
While some music fans will be familiar with Arts & Crafts, Broken Social Scene’s label, or Sloan’s murderecords, they might not know that Six Shooter Records is home to such acts as Whitehorse and William Prince or ishkōdé to Aysanabee.
“The goal was to have a mix of newer labels and labels across genres, as opposed to all familiar faces,” Warner said. “The whole idea is to be introduced to new music, new sounds, new community, just as much as if they go because they’re a fan of everything that murderecords has put out, but there’s a chance they don’t know about something that Arts & Crafts or Paper Bag or Six Shooter is putting out.
“There a lot of overlapping collaborators too. Cajú Collective and Local Dish, Brazilian, Latin, and Middle Eastern, as in Iranian, Pakistani, as well as tropical sounds. Imaginary North has incredible ambient releases. Hand Drawn Dracula is very eclectic, and they work closely with Victory Pool. So, I’m looking at this as an introduction just as much as familiarity to some.”
Warner said there are so many more local labels — Sonic Unyon is the only one just outside, in Hamilton, but close enough — but these 18 were the first to confirm.
“I initially just reached out to gauge what the interest level of something like this could be and, fortunately, it was a very positive response,” he said. “It came together quite quickly. I think I booked the venue with [Garrison owner] Shaun Bowring on a Friday afternoon and by Tuesday a good portion of the labels were onboard. The whole idea is around community and trying to have a great time and sell some records in the process.”
There are no food vendors but the Garrison’s front bar will be open (lots of restaurants in the area). Bring a shopping bag and cash. Most will take credit cards, but some might not, said Warner.
It’s also a good way to network if a band is starting out and wants a quick way to learn about some cool local labels or someone wants to get their foot in the door of the music industry.
Warner, who teaches at the School of Creative Industries at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson), said he told his students, “‘This is a great place to go meet people and network and learn more about what’s going on in your city.’ So, I look at this very much as discovery for people of all ages.”
He will have a playlist playing in the background, but he didn’t want to have any bands playing because he wants people to meet and talk to each other, even amongst themselves.
“I’m sure most of the labels know each other, but I feel like I exist in my own little bubble. I do my thing and then I go home. So, not everyone knows each other,” he said.
At his own table, We Are Busy Bodies, he plans to sell some music that’s long been sold out or is about to be released. He won’t be pricing anything above $50 for a double LP and said he will even “underprice.”
“Generally, the whole idea of this is affordability and access to interesting music,” Warner said. “It’s a great opportunity for people to get stocking stuffers or get a new record or some variants they are excited about.”
