| VOLUME 9 WINTER 2023 A Publication of Local Umbrella Media
Pacific Records Fest / 20 Years of Great Music!
DECEMBER 2023 BY BART MENDOZA © MUSICSCENESD // MUSICSCENESD.COM
20
On January 7 Point Loma-based label, Pacific Records, celebrates its 20th Anniversary with a special live showcase at the Music Box. The multimedia event will feature a mix of videos, guest emcees and live performances from Shane Hall, Skyler Lutes, Manual Scan, The Moonjacks, Kela Sako, Sandollar, Seawall Prophet, Slack Key Ohana, The Spice Pistols, Jonny Tarr, Sean Witkin, izzy delan and The Tourmaliners. Notably the concert has an early run time of 4 – 9 p.m. and is an all-ages event. How does label founder and CEO Brian Witkin feel about the label making it 20 years? “It’s been a journey for sure,” he said good naturedly. “I feel lucky I’ve been able to do what I love for so long and I’ve learned lots of lessons over the last twenty years. I’m proud of where we are as a company, but we still have a long way to go!” Pacific Records has scored numerous successes, ranging from providing the entertainment at the Stella Artois Lounge in Pechanga Arena to scoring #1 Spotify albums for Lindsay Perry, Shane Hall, and Slack Key Ohana, in addition to San Diego Music Awards for the latter, as well as Jonny Tarr and The Tourmaliners. A single released by Rebecca Jade with Jason Mraz, “Bad Wolves,” won the 2021 SDMA for “Song of the Year.” “Anytime one of our artists receives an award it feels great because it validates what we are doing as a brand. It helps with credibility as well,” Witkin said. The label has also been able to place its music on television and in films. “We’ve had a lot of great sync placements over the years with studios like Marvel, Netflix, Fox, and other national cable networks,” Witkin remarked. “Sandollar had an important placement on the Netflix series, Outer Banks, that helped launch them as a band and the Moonjacks were recently placed on Welcome to Flatch.” His favorite Pacific Records screen-related moment to date? “Watching O-Town perform our single “Off” on CBS-TV’s The Late Late Show with James Corden was a standout for me too. The feeling of hearing our music on television never gets old!” Witkin points out that Pacific Records is a group effort. “We have a team that helps in various aspects. Pretty much all of us are also musicians/creators. For example, Patricio Pickslay runs the studio side of our business, while Martin Guigui is based in LA and helps us with our A&R and special projects. Mike Dobrovic is our CFO, he’s on the East Coast. My dad, Joe Witkin, is our tech guy and has helped us set up the sound system inside the Stella Artois Lounge. Drake Williams helps run the venue at the lounge, and also helps run the dayto-day operations. Andrew Scholnick is our publicist and Natasha Gemine is our in-house graphics designer. And a special shoutout to Chris Hobson, who is an engineer/producer I’ve worked with for well over a decade.” Do artists signed to Pacific Records have to be from San Diego? “How we discover artists depends,” Witkin said. “We get a lot of submissions every day. However, we always prefer a referral from an artist we already work with. Also, the bands we work with do not have to be from San Diego. In fact,
LOCAL NEWS | www.LocalUmbrellaMedia.com
many of our artists are from around the country.” Does the label have a preferred format? “Streaming revenue is at the top for us, however, vinyl is making a huge comeback and vinyl is definitely the format I prefer.” Sandollar’s album, Under the Water, took home the 2023 San Diego Music Award for “Best World Music Album, as well as headlining this year’s Ocean Beach Street Fair. “Pacific Records is a huge supporter of the local San Diego music scene and all things San Diego,” noted the bands drummer Henry Ortiz. “Through Brian and Pacific Records we’ve had the opportunity to perform at several quintessential San Diego events like The Farmers Open at Torrey Pines, the Del Mar Racetrack, the VIP lounge at Pechanga Arena, and The Caddyhack Celebrity Golf Tournament where [former Padres pitcher] Trevor Hoffman poured us all a beer and the legendary surfer, Rob Machado, cheered us on. Awesome.” Bassist Sppike Mike Muellenberg of the Spice Pistols concurs. “Pacific Records has the ability to help artists reach a wider range of listeners. That’s really the name of the game as an artist. And
/LocalUmbrellaMedia
@LocalUmbrellaMedia
with Pacific’s success in helping artists find placement in films and movies it opens the door for more possibilities.” Meanwhile, for guitarist Deven Berryhill of The Tourmaliners, past experience counted. “We wanted to be a part of a broader musical team here in San Diego,” he said. “Certain members of our band had already worked on other projects released on Pacific Records and had a good experience. We also liked that many of the artists on Pacific were more beach or ocean-oriented sounds. We thought that our take on instrumental surf music would fit well in their catalog.” Their album, Surfidia, took home the 2023 San Diego Music Award for “Best Rock Album.” Witkin and company are already looking forward to the next twenty years of making music, with 2024 jam packed with new releases. “We’re going to have a busy year! We have multiple albums, singles and videos lined up already from a lot of our artists including The Moonjacks, Seth Loveless, Sandollar, Slack Key ‘Ohana, The Tourmaliners, Kela Sako, Shane Hall, and izzy delan, to start.” For his part Witkin is happy with the label’s positive impact on the community at large and the artists in particular. “Well, I’m proud of what we release as a label,” he said. “Being a musician, I always put the music first. I suppose it’s a feat to still be in existence for so long. The business has changed so much since we started, and we’ve had to do a lot of adapting over the years.” What are his hopes for Pacific Records? “Well, to keep creating and releasing music while growing as a company,” he said. “I can’t think of a more fun way to have spent the past two decades.” https://pacificrecords.com
ADVERTISE | Brad@LocalUmbrella.com
