Tony Presley - Keeled Scales Interview
Keeled Scales was co-founded by two friends and musicians in Austin, Texas. They put out their first release in June 2014.
Seth Whaland already had the name in mind and drew the logo. He plays bass in the bands Très Oui and Literature and co-ran Natrix Natrix Records from 2004-2009, which was a cassette and vinyl label that also hosted legendary house shows in Austin (Woods, Deer Tick, and Real Estate, to name a few). He currently owns and runs the Austin moving company MASH Movers, which employs several Austin musicians and artists.
Tony Presley has played music as Real Live Tigers since 2004, playing over a thousand shows in the US, Canada, and the UK. He comes from a background of booking and promoting local shows, booking national tours, press outreach, tour-managing and artist management. He currently manages the label.
(From the site’s “Who We Are” page)
Are you originally from Austin, TX?. What was your childhood like? When did you first begin to fall in love with music? Was this something that was relevant around your household growing up? What is it about the pedal steel that fascinates you the most?
I'm not originally from Texas, but I got here as fast as I could! I was an Army brat. I was born in a US Army hospital in Germany and moved around a lot as a kid. We typically lived in each place for 2-3 years. I lived in El Paso, Texas when I was really young and then moved to central Texas when I was 15. I moved to Austin after high school and have been living here on and off for about 20 years. I first began taking an interest in music when I was around 10. I got a Beach Boys Greatest Hits cassette for Christmas. I also listened to a lot of 80s and 90s country music as a kid and genuinely loved it. I was pretty obsessed with The Simpsons Sing the Blues. Hootie and the Blowfish was the first "rock" band I got into. Music wasn't super-relevant around my house as a kid. I remember going through my parents' small record collection and kind of realizing that the coolest stuff in there was Fleetwood Mac. I got really into Nirvana when I was 13. I remember how devastated my classmates and I all felt the day Kurt Cobain died. The pedal steel is so fascinating to me! I have absolutely no idea how to play it or the music theory behind it. I think pedal steel has the ability to take songs of any genre to this whole other place and emotional landscape. I love watching folks like Bill McCullough, Mat Davidson, Evan Kaspar, and Bob Hoffnar play.
Do you have any siblings? What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years? When and where did you see your first show and when did it dawn on you that you wanted to be involved in music? Do you play any instruments, or participate in any bands yourself?
I have a younger brother. He and I were actually in a faux country band together as kids called Texas Express. Because we moved around a bunch my brother and I were pretty close when we were young. We were perpetually new kids, so it was nice to have a sibling as a friend those first few weeks in a new place. I grew up in that magical time before cellphones. We did a ton of stuff outside, but also played Nintendo and collected baseball cards. I had some really great teachers that were great influences on me. My 6th grade teacher pushed me to work really hard and nurtured my love of baseball. I had a really incredible journalism teacher in high school who helped me out of my shell and gave me the tools to write about things I'm passionate about. I wasn't officially allowed to see any concerts until I turned 18. My parents were pretty strict. But I snuck off to Austin a few times in high school to go to all ages punk, ska, and hardcore shows that my friends wanted to go to at Emo's. Luckily I never get caught. Most of the shows I was going in blind and checking out bands my friends wanted to see. It was a really cool glimpse into the DIY punk scene that was pretty alien to me as a teenager in a small Texas town. My first official show was Sonic Youth at Liberty Lunch in Austin in July of 1999. I remember reading that they'd gotten all their gear stolen in California a few days before, so I wasn't sure if the shows would happen, but they borrowed and rented enough gear to make it happen. They played two nights in a row and I went to both. The next month I saw R.E.M. on their Up tour. I don't know when it dawned on me that I wanted to be involved in music. I started touring in 2004 and kind of threw myself into that for 5-6 years. I was touring 6-9 months a year and booking everything myself. I play a few instruments poorly, mostly guitar, but some bass and drums. My project Real Live Tigers was active for a long time, and is on the back burner these days.
How did you initially meet your label partner Seth Whaland and what led to the decision to start Keeled Scales back in 2014, nearly 10 years ago? When first deciding to start the label, what was the overall vision and approach? Did this simply start with supporting and standing behind artists and bands you loved and admired?
Seth and I met at a DIY show in 2004. I played with a couple folks that he knew from some online messageboards and he and his girlfriend at the time had a tape label. We made plans to meet up a few weeks later so I could buy a tape from him and we became friends. I always like to tell people that I never intended to start a label. Seth asked me if I wanted to start a label with him in late 2013 and I agreed. He already had the name picked out and we went with it. It was definitely an extension of us helping our friends' bands with shows in Austin and championing them as best we could. We were hosting a ton of fun house shows in Austin for folks like Deer Tick, Woods, and Real Estate. We liked the idea of trying to start something that might be able to grow alongside artists.
How did the name come about? You have released some truly wonderful work from artists and groups such as Julia Lucille, Alex Dupree, The Deer, Will Johnson and so many others. What have been some of your personal favorites to work on and why? What inspires you most about artists such as these?
Seth is an amateur herpetologist. He loves snakes and reptiles. He's the kind of person who's actively flipping over dead logs on a hike looking for snakes. I give him a hard time because I'm kind of doomed to having to explain "Keeled Scales" over and over. It's a fun one to try to yell over a loud band at a show. I think it's really hard to pick favorites. There are albums that have exceeded all expectations I may have had, where something is just clicking with listeners and pieces are falling into place, and then there have been records that I'm convinced will do really well and it's a struggle to get folks to write about it, or take notice. I really love working on projects where artists are willing to collaborate with us and we can keep discussing fresh, new ways to promote their music after the album has come out.
What have you learned not only about the business of music and running a label, but yourself during the years? What advice would you give others if they wanted to start a label? What have you guys been up to more recently? What is new in the Keeled Scales universe for the Spring and Summer? Is there anything else you would like to further share with readers?
I've learned so much. There's been a ton of trial and error over the years and I've made so many mistakes. This industry is challenging too. It's constantly changing at a rapid rate, boundaries are hard to enforce, and maintaining mental health and financial stability can be hard. I've learned to be more thorough in my work. I've learned when to say no. I've learned what questions to ask artists before we begin working together to see if it might be a good fit. I've learned how to better align expectations. I'd advise anyone looking to start a label these days to start with one project they're super-passionate about and get as micro as possible with it. Plan out as many details before announcing the record and be prepared to continue to work on it long after you think an "album campaign" might be done. There's always more work you can be doing to promote artists on your label. We released new singles from Why Bonnie and Lunar Vacation earlier this year. Last fall we released new albums from Tenci and Twain, who both have a bunch of touring coming up this year. We announced a new project called Meernaa and released some singles. We have new music from Will Johnson and Rae Fitzgerald coming later this year. Nothing further to share. Thanks so much for asking me to be part of this and for the thoughtful questions.
