[http://www.notnotfun.com] words//shaun oppedisano
Not Not Fun should be the posterchild for DIY labels. They take everything you’ve always daydreamed of doing with your own record label and, well, actually do it. Britt and Amanda Brown have been in many various music projects, all the while maintaining this eclectic “business.” If listening to awesome music, putting together great releases with friends, and managing a well-respected label is your job, then you clearly must be doing something right. NNF sounds like fun to me.
Where and when was Not Not Fun born?
The label was started in Los Angeles in February of 2004 by me and Amanda and our friend Joel (who left the label later that year) and has been running ever since.
Which bands/artists were initially a part of this?
The initial bands on the label were My Sexual Dad (Joel’s band), Jacob Smigel (our friend from Las Vegas we had known forever), Weirdo/Begeirdo (me and Amanda’s band), and Pogi Brown (another band I was in).
What is the current roster?
It varies constantly because there’s thousands of labels and bands are always coming and going and forming and dissolving, but right now we’ve got a semi-steady gang including locals like Sun Araw, Pocahaunted, Magic Lantern, Topaz Rags, and Robedoor to folks around the country/world like Wet Hair, Inca Ore, Eternal Tapestry, Teeth Mountain, Ducktails, Sex Worker, Peaking Lights, Dylan Ettinger, Heavy Winged, Dreamcolour, High Wolf, etc.
What’s a day in the life like at the office?
Totally depends, of course, but some combination of: trips to the pressing plant, email duties, package-making, post office runs, art design, cassette assembly, demo listening, box breaking-down, website revising, fruit-eating. There’s always something to do, it feels like.
Do you have a good relationship will all the artists involved?
Since the beginning it’s been our goal to make every artist/band leave the release experience feeling as satisfied as humanly possible. Since we make music ourselves, I feel like we extra-empathize with all the bummer band
plights like: having a label never stay in contact with you, taking a year-plus to release an album, messing up some aesthetic detail, etc. We try our absolute best to avoid any artist we work with having to feel that way. I like to think the bands that work with us are psyched on the experience.
Do you have any planned upcoming releases?
Always! Sun Araw On Patrol 2xLP, Blank Realm LP+CS, Magic Lantern Platoon LP, Foxy Baby LP, Gnod CS, High Wolf LP. Lots more, always in action.
Do you find that there is any sort of aesthetic trend in the artists on your label?
Sometimes. I think we go through waves. Our tastes are always gradually changing so there’ll be periods when the NNF aesthetic gets a bit more focused and streamlined and then during other phases it’s way more overtly diverse and nebulous.
Do you accept demos?
Since day 1 we’ve accepted demos, and I assume we always will (though it takes us a little longer to listen to them than it used to, just because we get a lot more lately). The address is:
NNF
5109 LOLETA
LA, CA 90041
Cd-Rs and tapes are preferred. And make sure to include an email address please!
What are your goals for the future of Not Not Fun?
Just to keep growing & evolving. I’d love our distribution to possibly expand somewhat, make more art books, be able to pay our bands. There’s no shortage of goals.