Celebrating a decade of independence
When he's not running his Ipswich-based label, Kimchee Records, or hosting the WMBR -FM (88.1) show "Lost & Found," Bob Dubrow is busying himself with other tasks: like shopping for a pet ferret three days before Christmas.
When we reach him to chat about Kimchee's 10th anniversary as an independent label, and the pair of star-studded shows lined up to celebrate the accomplishment, Dubrow has already stashed the surprise at his sister's. His kids had been hoping for a pet lizard, he explains, but he's clearly topped their modest Santa Claus wish.
The impulse to exceed expectations should come as little surprise to those who know Dubrow only through Kimchee's eclectic roster of artists, which, at one time or another, has included some of New England's finest, most distinctive musicians: Thalia Zedek, the Willard Grant Conspiracy, Paula Kelley, Cordelia's Dad, Karate's Geoff Farina.
"I think we've stayed true to our original vision, which was putting music out whether we thought it had commercial potential or not," says Dubrow over the phone from his Ipswich home. "We're not a trendy label -- we're as far from trendy as can be." But when he's revisited some of the imprint's older titles 10 years later, Dubrow says, "everything still sounds good to my ears. I'm proud of the catalog as a whole."
Singer-songwriter Paula Kelley , who in 2003 released a marvelously ambitious album of plushly arranged orchestral pop on Kimchee titled "The Trouble With Success or How You Fit Into the World," says Dubrow was never a fan of her late-'90s Boston jangle-pop band, Boy Wonder. But when she played him the new stuff she was working on, he jumped at the chance to put it out.
"It meant a lot to me that he liked it," Kelley recalls in a phone call from Los Angeles, where she now lives and records. "He's one of those people who will tell it like it is without being a [jerk] about it, which is a rare quality." And yet, she says, Dubrow never crowds or interferes with an artist's work -- also a rare quality. "There are labels where the person running it will get in an artist's hair about the sound, but Bob trusts the bands to do what they do. He supports you."
Tim Eriksen , singer-guitarist for the idiosyncratic folk-punk outfit Cordelia's Dad, echoes Kelley's comments.
"We've been on a million labels over the years, but I like Kimchee's vibe and attitude, and their taste," Eriksen says over the phone from Amherst during a rehearsal break. "We've known Bob and Andy [Hong, the label's in-house engineer] for a long time, and they're just normal guys who like music. It's really that simple. When we were thinking, 'Let's put out a rock record. Who do we want to do it with?' we called Bob."
Dubrow founded Kimchee -- named after the spicy Korean vegetable dish -- with Hong in 1996, financing the label's first title with $9,000 in profits from a liquor store Dubrow once owned in Beverly. That release was called "Pipeline!," a massive 40-artist, 40-track, two -CD set culled from nearly a decade's worth of broadcasts from WMBR's "Pipeline!" radio show (which Dubrow hosted and Hong engineered). A decade of ups and downs and more than 30 releases later -- including a whopping 12 titles in 2002 -- Dubrow sounds like he can't quite believe he or the label has made it this far. It hasn't been easy.
"When you're working with new bands, everyone wants the world," Dubrow says. "We tried to cover everything, and we'd often end up with bands that didn't tour, didn't hold up their end, and figured it was all going to be done for them. And it doesn't work that way. So we've lost a lot of money along the way."
Dubrow laughs when asked how much (no, he won't get into specific dollar amounts, he says) but says most of Kimchee's releases average 500 to 1,000 copies in sales, not nearly enough to recoup the $7,000 to $10,000 the label spent per title, at one point, on production and promotion costs. So far, Kimchee's best-selling title has been the Willard Grant Conspiracy's critically acclaimed CD "Regard the End." And that album sold only 3,000 copies. Even with Hong's financial support over the past decade -- a pair of architectural and consulting firms he co-owns have helped keep Kimchee afloat during the lean years -- "it's a struggle," says Dubrow.
"Whenever there's a [CD] release happening, there's always great excitement, and that's why you hope to keep putting out releases -- you want the buzz to continue," says Dubrow. "My main goal right now is to celebrate the last 10 years. I can't comment with any kind of accuracy on what's going to happen next, or what our next move will be."
He wonders about Kimchee's future in this age of iTunes, MySpace, and other music delivery options that threaten to render record labels obsolete. (Although, in addition to its own website, Kimchee has links to several online stores where listeners can purchase music from its catalog.)
"Do bands even need record labels now? I don't know," muses Dubrow. He and Hong have considered switching to an all-digital download format at some point, or perhaps recasting Kimchee as a reissue label specializing in rereleasing seminal, albeit long out of print, albums by Boston artists of the '70s and '80s.
But Dubrow is sure of one thing, at least. "I have no intention," he says, "of calling it quits quite yet."
BITS & PIECES. Tonight Addison Groove Project headlines Harpers Ferry the first of two nights (also tomorrow). Babaloo is at the Paradise Lounge. Tomorrow The Brett Rosenberg Problem is at the Middle East Upstairs. Sunday New Year's Eve celebrations around the city: Three Day Threshold is at 
