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PSAB: How did you decide on the name Total Deathcore for the company? Was it as random or did it “just click” in your head?
All the answers here are given by Nikolas, Co-Owner of Total Deathcore.
PSAB: How did you decide on the name Total Deathcore for the company? Was it as random or did it “just click” in your head?
Nikolas: Man, the name of TD is a bit before my time. But it
has crazy brand recognition tied to it at this point, so it’s definitely
here for a while haha.
PSAB: When did you get into promoting? Also, what sparked the idea to create Total Deathcore?
Nikolas: Total Deathcore used to be an illegal
download/leak blog back in like 2008-2009. Around that time, Mike got on
board, and decided to take it legit. I guess promoting kind of filled
the gap that was left when we decided to no longer release pirated
stuff. It was a weird transition, but thankfully people have been really
receptive to the idea that a blog/promo page can get away with just
promoting music, and not offering it illegally.
As far as the
idea to create TD, that was just the style back in the day! Everyone had
a blog and we were all doing the same things haha. It was just a fun
way for some dumb kids to promote and share the music they liked. It’s a
lot easier with Facebook now, but back in the MySpace days, you needed
the blogs to stay current on new releases and bands
PSAB: A year or two ago, you had the idea of Total
Deathfest. Is that idea still in the works or was that just something
that isn’t possible in reality?
Nikolas: That was a bit of a pipe dream, haha. It was premature, but we definitely haven’t ruled it out in the future!
PSAB: You promote, release CDs, have reviews, sponsor tours, release samplers, etc. What do you have planned next? Can we expect the first Total Deathcore vinyl release in 2014?
Nikolas: We are actively planning for the future over here at TD, haha. Eventually we’d like to turn into “TD Records” or something along that line. We’d like to get more involved in tours and getting stuff recorded. It’s a dream to totally vertically integrate TD, and take cares of bands though every step of the process. We are in talks with studios, so maybe expect a TD recorded band in the future!
I think physical media is really important. As far as vinyl, wax has always been a passion of mine, but it’s just so freaking expensive to get done. It’s really only cost effective if we can sell more than 400 LPs, and most of the bands we work with wouldn't be able to support that kind of volume. We’re definitely working on getting Infant Annihilator on vinyl though!
PSAB: You and Mike are the co-owners of Total Deathcore. Are you two the original owners/creators or have there been others in the past?
Nikolas: Not at all, haha. Mike has been around for awhile, replacing the founder of TD when he went AWOL. I’m kind of a recent addition (I jumped on board in early 2011). I started as a writer, and kind of worked my way up the ranks haha.
There have been others in the past, but I feel like we have a really solid lineup right now. The staff is small and intimate, and the turnover rate is a lot lower than it has been in the past. We'll see how far we can take it with Mike and I haha.
PSAB: What has been your favorite band to work with thus far? Also, what has been your favorite release through Total Deathcore?
Nikolas: I think it goes without saying that Infant Annihilator has been my favorite release so far. It was just the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. It was a new concept, and everyone was really great about working with us to make this happen. We made IA a ton of money, and everyone involved got a ton of exposure. It was a perfect release haha. It remains to this day the most successful release that we’ve done. Plus I’ve made to really good friends out of it (Aaron and Eddie) and we still talk semi-frequently about tons of stuff (music and non-music related stuff). But, every release that we have done has been great. We only release bands that we are passionate about, so whenever we get to work with bands we love and are able to create something, its just really awesome.
As far as my favorite band to work with, that would have to be Dysphoria. hands down haha. They are just the nicest guys and you can tell they really care about the music. I’ve never met a group of more appreciative and down to earth people. They get honestly excited about selling 1 CD and are always striving to connect more with their overseas fans. If every band was Dysphoria the scene would be so fucking great haha.
PSAB: Do you have any shout outs to give to the fans of Total Deathcore, and the readers out there?
Nikolas: Naturally, I’d like to thank PSAB (You, Micah) for everything you do for the scene. You bust your ass man, and it’s great doing stuff with you. All of the other promo pages too. Every band we’ve worked with gets a huge shoutout for taking a chance on us haha. Especially bands like The Dysphoria and Infant Annihilator.
I’d really just like to give a big shoutout to everyone who has bought a CD, and supported local music. It really means a lot to the bands, and it means a lot to me and all of TD. Buy music, stay brutal! Thanks for having me Micah.
Nikolas: That was a bit of a pipe dream, haha. It was premature, but we definitely haven’t ruled it out in the future!
PSAB: You promote, release CDs, have reviews, sponsor tours, release samplers, etc. What do you have planned next? Can we expect the first Total Deathcore vinyl release in 2014?
Nikolas: We are actively planning for the future over here at TD, haha. Eventually we’d like to turn into “TD Records” or something along that line. We’d like to get more involved in tours and getting stuff recorded. It’s a dream to totally vertically integrate TD, and take cares of bands though every step of the process. We are in talks with studios, so maybe expect a TD recorded band in the future!
I think physical media is really important. As far as vinyl, wax has always been a passion of mine, but it’s just so freaking expensive to get done. It’s really only cost effective if we can sell more than 400 LPs, and most of the bands we work with wouldn't be able to support that kind of volume. We’re definitely working on getting Infant Annihilator on vinyl though!
PSAB: You and Mike are the co-owners of Total Deathcore. Are you two the original owners/creators or have there been others in the past?
Nikolas: Not at all, haha. Mike has been around for awhile, replacing the founder of TD when he went AWOL. I’m kind of a recent addition (I jumped on board in early 2011). I started as a writer, and kind of worked my way up the ranks haha.
There have been others in the past, but I feel like we have a really solid lineup right now. The staff is small and intimate, and the turnover rate is a lot lower than it has been in the past. We'll see how far we can take it with Mike and I haha.
PSAB: What has been your favorite band to work with thus far? Also, what has been your favorite release through Total Deathcore?
Nikolas: I think it goes without saying that Infant Annihilator has been my favorite release so far. It was just the most exciting thing I’ve ever done. It was a new concept, and everyone was really great about working with us to make this happen. We made IA a ton of money, and everyone involved got a ton of exposure. It was a perfect release haha. It remains to this day the most successful release that we’ve done. Plus I’ve made to really good friends out of it (Aaron and Eddie) and we still talk semi-frequently about tons of stuff (music and non-music related stuff). But, every release that we have done has been great. We only release bands that we are passionate about, so whenever we get to work with bands we love and are able to create something, its just really awesome.
As far as my favorite band to work with, that would have to be Dysphoria. hands down haha. They are just the nicest guys and you can tell they really care about the music. I’ve never met a group of more appreciative and down to earth people. They get honestly excited about selling 1 CD and are always striving to connect more with their overseas fans. If every band was Dysphoria the scene would be so fucking great haha.
PSAB: Do you have any shout outs to give to the fans of Total Deathcore, and the readers out there?
Nikolas: Naturally, I’d like to thank PSAB (You, Micah) for everything you do for the scene. You bust your ass man, and it’s great doing stuff with you. All of the other promo pages too. Every band we’ve worked with gets a huge shoutout for taking a chance on us haha. Especially bands like The Dysphoria and Infant Annihilator.
I’d really just like to give a big shoutout to everyone who has bought a CD, and supported local music. It really means a lot to the bands, and it means a lot to me and all of TD. Buy music, stay brutal! Thanks for having me Micah.
An extra thank you to Nikolas of Total Deathcore for allowing me to interview him!
Nice interview. TD and PSaB fo lyf yo. Both have helped me to discover a lot of my favorite music.
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