Virgil from Suburban Home Records wanted to let everyone know that after their much-publicized financial troubles earlier this year, the label is officially out of debt.
There are not words suitable to express how thankful we are that the independent music community took it upon itself to support us in our time of need. As many of you know, we suffered a staggering blow to our way of life when we were hit by some of the biggest returns we had ever seen. These returns meant that we would not expect a payment from our biggest distributor for some time and we really didnât know what to do or where to turn.
I can easily say that this was one of the most difficult times in my life. I was so stressed out that I was unable to sleep and when I could sleep, I would wake up from a nightmare unable to go back to sleep. I also experienced what I later found out to be sleep paralysis. If you have not experienced this, consider yourself very lucky.
With no other options, I sent out an email to the people on our email list as well as a number of webzines. The email explained our dire situation and the fear that without help, there would not be a future for Suburban Home. What happened as a result of our email exceeded any and all expectations we could have ever imagined. People from all over the world ordered records from our website, webzines all over posted our email, and so many kind people forwarded our message to their friends. There is no way to measure this, but we are certain that over 100,000 people saw our email which is truly inspiring.
The orders helped keep us going while we were without a major portion of our income and although we had some very scary moments, we are out of our hole. We have received payments from our biggest distributor and are currently distributing some very exciting releases that will ensure a steady flow of income in the future months. With the help of independent music fans, we survived one of the most difficult experiences of our history.
Running an independent label is more difficult now than ever before. Although we got through this difficult situation, we still need the support from independent music fans to keep releasing new music. If you are curious about any of our releases on Suburban Home or distributed through us, we encourage you to purchase them through our site or by asking one of your local retailers to carry them. Many Mom and Pop record stores are closing down at an alarming rate while many others are struggling to survive. Before you spend that next dollar at Walmart or some other major conglomerate, please consider spending your money at an independent shop. You might have to spend a dollar or more at an indie shop, but that is a small price to pay to keep these shops flourishing. We also encourage you to explore fine independent music from all of the labels putting out quality music: Jade Tree, Asian Man, Law of Inertia, Lookout, Better Looking Records, Trustkill, Status Recordings, Ferret Music, Side One Dummy, Negative Progression, Hopeless Records, Triple Crown, No Idea Records, Fat Wreck Chords, Fidelity Records, Grey Flight, Sinister Label, LLR, Ohev, Doghouse, Cowboy Vs Sailor, Fastmusic, Initial, Polyvinyl, Fueled By Ramen, Abacus, Soda Jerk, Fearless, Kung Fu, Militia Group, Deep Elm, Thick, Substandard, Springman, Thorp, Eulogy, Adeline, BYO Records, State of Grace, GSL, Relapse, Barsuk, Nitro, Go Kart, A-F Records, Alternative Tentacles, Wynona Records, Rise, Revelation, Equal Vision, Deathwish, Lobster Records, Goodfellow, Blackout, Not Bad Records, Bridge 9, TKO, Epitaph, and all the rest (that we apologize for not having the space to mention by name today).
If there is one thing that I have learned throughout my almost 9 years running Suburban Home, it is that weâre all in this together. As much as I get very discouraged about the current state of the music industry, my faith in independent music and indie music fans has been restored. If the old adage is true, "What doesnâtâ kill you, makes you stronger," then you can expect bigger and better things from Suburban Home in the future.
For those of you that have helped us through all of this, your support means more to us than any words could ever explain.
Thanks - Your Friends Through Music, Virgil Dickerson & Suburban Home