It turns out that Tripping Daisy getting dropped from Island Records was the best thing that ever happened to Good Records Recordings.
It's hard to know, though, if Tim DeLaughter knew that back in 1999, when the brand new indie label was launched and Tripping Daisy was on the cusp of recording its fourth full-length album.
In this edition of This Week In Dallas Music History, former Observer contributor Jessica Parker spoke with DeLaughter about the band's new indie label venture. For him, starting his own label was an obvious choice -- one he slowly began to realize in his dealings with Island Records CEO Davitt Sigerson. Here's an excerpt from the article in which DeLaughter speaks of his light-bulb moment:
"I'd find myself on the phone talking to Davitt, telling him, 'Davitt, if I was running the company..." DeLaughter recounts, his voice raised in mock amazement at the thought of telling a label chief how to run his business. "I'd tell him, 'Do you realize the position you're in? If I had this position, this is what I'd do.' I'd find myself telling the CEO of Island Records this, and then next time, I'd kind of reflect on my conversations with him and go, 'My God, why don't you have your own label?'"Now, 12 years removed from the split with Island, DeLaughter is more excited about Good Records Recordings than ever before. As we've noted several times recently, his label has transitioned to a new singles-release format.
Hit the jump to read the entire article from 1999.