The No. 1 song on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart for the past two weeks? Why, that's Southern California's The Dirty Heads' "Lay Me Down (featuring Rome of Sublime)." A sign of the apocalypse? Perhaps. But, also, kind of an interesting development: For only the fifth time since the chart was created 21 years ago, it's topped by a song from a release on an independent label.
Here's where it gets really interesting, though: That independent label? Why, that's Dallas' own Executive Music Group, which represents, among others, Dallas trip-hop act Shock of Pleasure.
So, how big a deal is this? Pretty big. Big enough, at least, to the point where Billboard was impressed and decided interviewed label founder and president Jacob Capricciuolo about his label's success. Said Capricciuolo to the industry magazine:
"We, as indie labels, have everything to lose, yet have everything to gain. Indie labels are personally vested, which creates a passion and aggressiveness to succeed above the corporate machine. Definitely not to discredit our hard-working corporate individuals and partners, but most indie labels have a do-or-die mindset. We can also draw from a stable of former major label promoters and create a team right for a specific job. Nothing restricts us from changing our business model any day, hour, minute or second. In everything we do, it's personal."Sounds a bit like a press release quote, but, hey, let's back off a bit and just congratulate the guy on his impressive feat for now. Especially since Rolling Stone also recently dubbed The Dirty Heads as the "Best Reggae Rockers" around. Oh, and you can catch The Dirty Heads tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, so there's that, too.
