Spotlight.

First off thank him for doing what he does with Retroactive, probably a 1/3 of the new albums I have purchased in the last 5 years have been from his label. I love what he is doing, and I know he probably isn't making any money from it.

Thank you so much to each and every person who supports our various labels - Retroactive, Born Twice, and Bombworks Records!!! Every CD or download that someone purchases is a partner in ministry with us. God bless you!!! We love releasing music that draws people closer to Jesus.

You are the owner of Retroactive Records.
Please tell us how it started, how you came to Retroactive Records.

I had been doing a mail order Christian music business in the mid nineties. I realized there was a lot of great music no longer in print. No one was really doing reissues, so I sold the business I was doing and started a label to do reissues - Madgalene Records (Charizma "Rock the World" was our first release!). By 2002 we broke from a terrible distribution deal and changed the label name to Retroactive Records. Our first two releases were Titanic "Screaming in Silence" and X-sinner "Cracked".

Retroactive Records is a label that's specialised in releasing of CDs/tapes of older bands.
How does Retroactive select bands and albums to re-release?

This is a great question, but not an easy answer. The first thing we try to do is gauge demand for the release. We also ask some key questions. How many fans does the band have? What is the band doing to promote themselves and the release? How good is the album? How willing is the band to work with us? Is the band following through on things like sending contracts back and providing things necessary to the release? All of these factor into a release. But actual demand for the release has risen to the top of the list for us. We have put out too many releases that were awesome, but only a few hundred people wanted to buy it, and that left us with 500-700 CDs left! Poor sales puts any label at risk, so we have tried to learn from past mistakes.

There are many bands who released their music on tapes.
Is Retroactive interested in those bands?
For example Watchmen, Apostle, Armada, Armor, Emerald, Oracle, Holy Saint.
Indeed - we have tried and tried and tried to get fans a Watchmen reissue, but can't get a response from the band. We have talked about Armada reissues - I love that "Frontline" release! We released Oracle and Emerald on one CD years ago and I am not sure the demand is there for more reissues of those albums. I would definitely consider reissuing Holy Saint. If someone knows how to contact certain bands, that always helps us. We are always open to suggestions and love hearing what people want to see reissued.

You are busy with music ever day.
I would like to know what your favorite bands are.
Alice Cooper is my favorite artist. I love his music. I love Grave Robber, Vengeance Rising, Rex Carroll Band/Whitecross, Antestor, Saviour Machine, Daniel Amos, Deliverance, Bride, As I Lay Dying, Impending Doom, Messiah, and so many more! If I have releases the album on my label, I love the band and I love the release!

Sometimes we hear about a new artist getting picked up by Retroactive and a year or more goes by without a release (for example Biogenesis, and Incarnate). Why does that happen, is a there a "backlog" of stuff to be released?
It really depends on the specific release. Sometimes we are waiting on the band to do certain things before the release can come out. In addition, there are only so many releases we can put out in a year and the strongest releases tend to get the priority.

Why was Incarnate shelved?
With strong releases like Rex Carroll Band, Messiah, Vision, King James, Sweet Comfort Band, Holy Blood, Guardian, Jacobs Dream, etc over the last year and a half it was tough to find a good time to release it. We could see how tough it would be to get the Incarnate CD into the release schedule and so we discussed this challenge with Thomas (Incarnate) and tried to come up with a solution. Incarnate is a great band and I would highly recommend fans of good crunchy power/thrash check out Incarnate. You can buy their CD direct from the band website.

How do you decide which old releases are worthy of being reissued and which ones to pass on?
Demand for the reissue, quality of the music, legal rights to the music, financial stability of the label, personal time and energy.

Are there any NEW projects (not redone past projects) with Bill Menchen in the works?
Bill does have a new Final Axe album already recorded with Robert Sweet on drums. We are trying to find the right singer to provide vocals. I think we have found the right guy, but things are not official yet.

Boarders need a new album! (although that's not really a question!!!)
Can you tell us if Boarders is working on a sophomore CD?
They are working on a new album. It's more in the progressive metal vein. I love Egi's vocals on the Retroactive release "The World Hates Me"!

How do you get the legal rights to reissue a CD?
What's the process?
If the band has the legal rights to the album, we work directly with the band. Sometimes we license albums direct from the record label that owns the rights. It all depends on the release. It takes a lot of time. A lot of phone calls and e-mails. And, in many cases things don't work out. Most people have no idea how many times I have spend hours and hours and hours trying to secure licensing deals from significant big name labels that have the rights to classic Christian releases - only to have it go nowhere.

This is the interview with Matthew Hunt from retroactive Records.
Thank you matthew for taking the time to answer all our questions.

To be continued next month.

Cool interview, and a nice answer about Bill Menchen projects.

Very cool interview (good job too).