About Us
Our Mission • Backstory • Structure • Recording • Meetings
Our Mission:
1. To provide music of the best student bands and musical acts at the University of Illinois for free to the university community.
2. To give all students involved experience and knowledge in the recording, marketing and promotion of a professionally produced album.
3. To provide an opportunity for talented student musicians to share their art with the university community and to provide an outlet for which to spark a career in the music business.
Backstory:
It was in one of those crazy late night conversations between roommates where Jason Drucker and Joshua Morton gave light to the idea of having a completely student-run record label at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A simple, "Hey, let's start a record label," and it began.
The questions came fast. What's our goal? Who will want to work with us? We need money? What the hell do we call it? With fresh ideas in their heads, Drucker and Morton sat down over coffee with Aaron Rosenthal, the C-U music scene guru, to discuss their vision. Rosenthal was eager to lend his unique talents to the team. Most of the initial questions were addressed, many more questions arose, and it wasn't until the group stepped out onto the corner of Green St. and Wright St. that the light bulb came on and Green St. Records was officially born.
The mission was clear: to create a professional quality album of the best student musicians at U of I and bring the music to the rest of the student body for free, create awareness on campus of great student music and encourage the local music scene to flourish.
The group thought who better to fuel buzz than advertising man Jonathan Rozen. He joined the team in the fall of 2003 and immediately began work to stir up musicians and fans on campus. Twelve ambitious staff members also joined the GSR team and it wasn't long before an elite 12 bands were picked out of the 43 initial submissions that were received. In April, 2004, Green St. Records released its debut album, Emergence, to thousands of U of I students. The result was a powerful collection of diverse music: for the students, by the students; a musical representation of the student body.
Today, over four years later, the label still strives to get the very best student music out to the university community for all to enjoy. The GSR family of execs, staff and bands is a tight-knit group, determined to reach the high quality and professionalism of a major record label. This is Green St. Records.
Structure:
A&R
A&R stands for Artists and Repertoire. These people are out working in the bars, at clubs and house parties picking out new talent wherever they can. They are responsible for bringing the best bands to GSR and making sure that once a band is signed, they are happy, productive and ready for their recording session. They are also responsible for booking GSR shows at the best venues in town.
Marketing
Marketing is responsible for all of the promotional aspects of GSR. They make sure that GSR and GSR bands are visible on campus. They create press kits for each band to show to venues, corporate sponsors, radio stations, and newspapers. Getting corporate support for GSR is a must. This team is out pitching the GSR vision to potential sponsors and partners.
Public Relations
Getting people and the media excited and talking about GSR is one of the keys to success. The publicists at GSR are responsible for getting media coverage for label events and GSR bands, putting together a publicity campaign to create awareness on campus and generating buzz about upcoming releases.
Design/Advertising
They tie it all together. From CD booklet and poster design to press photos and website construction, they create the overall look of GSR. The team works closely with every department to make sure that the goals of the label are being shown in everything they do, from advertisements to witty taglines. These are the idea people.
Recording:
After choosing our roster, we pay to have our bands professionally recorded at Pogo Studio in Champaign, IL. Pogo Studio is owned and operated by producer Mark Rubel. Mr. Rubel has worked with numerous bands including Hum, American Minor, and Red Hot Valentines. This past spring, he was named the Best Producer/Engineer at the 2007 WPGU/Buzz Local Music Awards.
Meetings:
Like what we do? Want to become involved? Green St. Records is always looking for dedicated individuals who are interested in learning more about the music business, helping out the local music scene, or just plain old love music. GSR currently meets every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM on the first floor of Lincoln Hall. Feel free to stop by and check us out or send an email to greenstrecords@gmail.com and ask to join our mailing list.
