Originally published in ‘zine issue #4, 1992
King Fowley kicked off his very own independent label, With Your Teeth Records and Tapes, a while back, and has put out a few recordings of some East Coast bands. I asked him and his partner, Lonnie Bowling, to talk about this super project they are working on.
D.U.: When did you start your label and why?
With Your Teeth: Well, I started it in early ‘90/late ‘89 to put out a couple things I wanted to do. I also was sick and tired of stupid bands getting vinyl and promotion. So I thought I’d put out some bands I liked and wanted to help. Lonnie Bowling joined on summer ‘91 as a co-owner.
Will you ever put out 12” vinyl or CDs?
Well, we’d like to! Money of course prevents a lot of stuff. I know very well that the U.S. market is small for vinyl now, and CDs are expensive at the moment. But who knows? For the future we definitely want to.
What do you have out right now?
Well, we released two 7”es [by] Abominog and Corpus Rottus, which are both sold out. We have also released Abominog’s debut LP, Dark Museum, and the Corpus Rottus Rituals of Silence LP. Cassette only for both at the moment. Look for Morbius debut LP, The Shades Below, Doomstone Possessed Cemeteries EP (now out), an Autopsy/Entombed live split 7”, and also a compilation LP of unreleased new bands. Also look for shirts, videos, and With Your Teeth sponsored shows.
What bands are signed to the label?
Abominog, Corpus Rottus, Doomstone, and Morbius are the only full-fledged bands at the moment. We would like to achieve five or six more bands to handle. And all will stay with us as long as they like, due to the fact we only want bands we want to help and see gain a good amount of success.
What kinds of bands do you want on your label?
Well, promo packs, et cetera, are always welcome. But we mainly keep a watching eye out for bands that stand out, may it be live, musically, personally, and then concentrate on their honesty [and] direction. We are looking for good death metal, grind, doom bands. Please, no rap, thrash, funk, alternative stuff!
What studios do you record at?
We Use Inner Ear exclusively at this time. It’s a professional working studio and we work together financially and musically.
How much will you work with Doug Martin?
[He] did the Morbius demo at his house and it didn’t come out too well. We only can be behind 100 percent quality sounding recordings. At this time, Doug is expanding his studio gradually and learning the tricks of the trade. So the future seems good for his studio.
What kind of distribution do you have?
Well, we deal with independents like Relapse (U.S.), Osmose (France), Putrefaction (Germany), various one-man operations, word of mouth, local record stores, and soon a lot of new sources.
How far are you going to take your label?
We are sinking all our money into it, so I’d say as far as possible! We know we can’t compete with labels like Roadracer, Relapse, Century Media, et cetera, but as long as people know we’re out there with good-priced, quality merchandise, that will be great.
Do you have a catalog people can send away for?
Not at the moment, but by summer ‘92 we should have something together. Just write us with requests, et cetera. We know a lot of distributors who will have more than likely all requests.
What else is there to say?
Thanks for the space, promo, et cetera, Rich! Bands, write, readers, write, everyone, just write us to see what’s up! Expect some great tapes [and] records in ‘92. Stay true! ■