Surf and New Turf: A Sportswear Line Is Moving Into the Record Business
Rock bands have been great marketing vehicles for clothes. Now a clothing company is part of a plan to turn the tables.
A new record label is being developed by associates of Costa Mesa-based Hurley International, which since its 1998 founding has been one of the top lines in the surf, skate and snowboard world and highly visible in rock on the bodies of Blink-182 and other bands. The record company is planned as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, with the idea to use the market reach of the Hurley brand and distribution as a launching pad for new acts.
In part, the plan is to go beyond standard record retail outlets and make the new label, which is still unnamed, a presence in stores selling Hurley wear--a universe that last month expanded when the company was acquired by Nike.
“We’re going to use Hurley along with Warner Bros. to reach more kids,” says Jason Tappis, a former Hurley-sponsored professional surfer who will head the label with Mike Piscitelli, a fashion photographer and video director, and Hurley marketing director Paul Gomez.
“We’ll be able to do things like put ads on tags with the clothes and even put interactive CD-ROMs on tags of some clothing so people can hear a sample track or see a short clip of a band. Last year, Hurley shipped $70-million worth clothes. If we can put even just a little ad on some of the clothes, that’s tons of publicity.”
Of course to do that, Hurley has to get bands to promote, something that is still to come. But Warner Bros. Vice President of A&R; Craig Aaronson, who is working on the venture, says that the Hurley team is on the right track.
“I think they’re really going to span genres, from punk to hard-core to hip-hop and rock,” Aaronson says. “They don’t want to pigeonhole themselves. The whole idea is for those guys to run the company on their own and market on their own, and we’re there to help as things grow and can be brought to the major label system. It’s our opportunity to watch things grow at the retail level.”
As an example of the strength of that market, Aaronson mentions the current rising profile of folk-flavored singer Jack Johnson, whose debut album was originally sold primarily in surfwear boutique shops and has now been picked up by Universal Records.
Blink-182 manager Rick DeVoe notes that his band’s association with Hurley has benefited both parties.
“Paul and [company founder] Bob Hurley are very smart and definitely tapped into the whole music scene,” he says.
“It sets them apart from being just a regular surf company,” he continued. “We would go to shows and pull up and see kids wearing Hurley shirts in Detroit, places where there’s no [ocean] beach for hundreds of miles. As far as the record label, they’ll have great distribution, so if they find a band out of San Diego or wherever, they can start sending CDs out with the clothes to retailers and put it on their Web site.”
ODD COUPLE: What would media goofball Adam Sandler and somber musical prophet Dave Matthews have to talk about? Well, the first time they met a few months ago, they found a common interest--hunting small woodland creatures.
“They talked about shooting beavers,” says Bruce Flohr, the RCA vice president of A&R; who works with the Dave Matthews Band. “In a weird way they are the odd couple, but at the same time they’re very similar.”
The similarities paid off. The occasion of the meeting was a private screening of Sandler’s upcoming movie “Mr. Deeds,” a remake of the 1936 Frank Capra comedy “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.” After the screening, Matthews and band agreed to provide a new song for the film. “Where Are You Going” will be the first single from the movie’s soundtrack, which is due in May, with the film scheduled to premiere in June.
What’s more, Matthews and his band took pieces of the song and wrote instrumental passages that will be used as part of the movie’s score. Although DMB songs have been used in films before, this is the first original contribution to a movie soundtrack for the group.
The song will also be featured on the band’s next album, which is being finished for a planned summer release.
RED-HEADED FRIEND: An eclectic lineup is being put together for a TV tribute to Willie Nelson, set to be taped April 14 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and to air May 6 on the A&E; cable channel.
Acts confirmed to perform are Matthews, Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas, Ryan Adams and Brian McKnight, along with country-related artists Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Lee Ann Womack and Vince Gill, all to be backed by Nashville resident Mark Knopfler and his band. Thomas, Womack and McKnight sing with Nelson on his recent album, “The Great Divide.”
SMALL FACES: A new Steve Earle song, “Some Dreams,” will be featured in the movie “The Rookie,” which stars Dennis Quaid in the fact-based tale of a 35-year-old college baseball coach who makes it to the major leagues. The song will be the first single from a soundtrack album, due March 26 from Hollywood Records, as well as a cut on “Sidetracks,” a collection of unreleased or rare Earle recordings due April 9 from E Squared/Artemis Records. “Sidetracks” also includes Earle versions of Nirvana’s “Breed” and Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages,” plus songs he did for the films “The Horse Whisperer,” “Dead Man Walking” and “Steal This Movie.” ...
Having sold out two nights at the small Troubadour their last time in L.A., the White Stripes are moving up to three nights at the 900-capacity El Rey Theatre, May 31 and June 2-3, plus a June 1 date at the Glass House in Pomona. Tickets for the Glass House go on sale Thursday, and for the El Rey on Saturday.... The teaming of J Mascis, Mike Watt and original Stooges members Ron and Scott Asheton will record a live album of Stooges songs in a Saturday appearance at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival at UCLA. Guest singers and other artists playing the festival are expected to sit in.
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Steve Hochman is a regular contributor to Calendar.
