We'll let Dennis Callaci,who along with his wife Catherine,founded Shrimper Records 25 years ago speak for himself about this amazing home to the finest of the so-called underground scene. The one that lives in the 909 area code,right on top of Los Angeles and Hollywood,but a world apart. I call Dennis The Maestro of Upland and he gave me the name Lizarus,and I don't think I would be doing this ASR LLC project ,if it were not for his faith in the work I do. He has his first solo album out "Bed of Light" and it has been worth the wait.. Along with Shrimper,he is GM of Rhino Records, one of ,or THE, oldest independent record labels in the USA. He is a bit late with releasing his own solo work,because he supports the work of so many others. Wish we had more like him and Catherine
".The only thing more useless than a record label is one of them U2 iPods, stuck in the amber of other fossils of things that served a purpose once. As to how successful they ever really were at whatever their function was supposed to be, is a question that seldom gets asked."
This is from a piece in Impose Magazine, upon the anniversary of Shrimper's birth: http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/shrimper-records-turns-25
I started Shrimper in Upland California as a
tape label 25 years ago because I was in a band that was never going to put out any kind of music otherwise. My brother and I, along with a few friends, had a cable access TV show at the time as well as a zine, and said band. So a record label seemed like just another in a list of organs we would need to create if we were going to continue to write, draw, sing, film, etc. I imagine that in Lawndale the same thing had happened some 12 years prior to this, and that this kind of thing happened all the time all over the world. Shit, there is some incredible Sanskrit skronk that you may have not heard yet.
".The only thing more useless than a record label is one of them U2 iPods, stuck in the amber of other fossils of things that served a purpose once. As to how successful they ever really were at whatever their function was supposed to be, is a question that seldom gets asked."
This is from a piece in Impose Magazine, upon the anniversary of Shrimper's birth: http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/shrimper-records-turns-25
I started Shrimper in Upland California as a
tape label 25 years ago because I was in a band that was never going to put out any kind of music otherwise. My brother and I, along with a few friends, had a cable access TV show at the time as well as a zine, and said band. So a record label seemed like just another in a list of organs we would need to create if we were going to continue to write, draw, sing, film, etc. I imagine that in Lawndale the same thing had happened some 12 years prior to this, and that this kind of thing happened all the time all over the world. Shit, there is some incredible Sanskrit skronk that you may have not heard yet.
Although Dennis Callaci has spent his last quarter century recording and releasing an impressive amount of music — both as a member of legendary Omaha (Liz note here: Southern California) band Refrigerator and as founder of the immortal record label Shrimper — he has, surprisingly, never put out a formal “Dennis Callaci solo album.” Don’t worry, though, because this changes with the release of A Bed of Light next month.
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/shrimpers-dennis-callaci-announces-debut-solo-album-premieres-houdini
Pre-Order here: https://midheaven.com/item/a-bed-of-light-by-callaci-dennis#.V7D5wI4_eu6
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/shrimpers-dennis-callaci-announces-debut-solo-album-premieres-houdini
Pre-Order here: https://midheaven.com/item/a-bed-of-light-by-callaci-dennis#.V7D5wI4_eu6
Celebrating 25 years of Shrimper whose first cassette came out way back then. Features exclusive, brand new recordings by Calexico, The Babies, Simon Joyner, John Davis, Woods, Refrigerator, Franklin Bruno, WCKR SPGT, Liz Gilbert, Dump & Paste. Hand numbered/colored edition. Folded in the Callaci home by some of yer fave Shrimper recording artists. Edition of 300. Proceeds donated to EarthBagNepal for victims of Nepal earthquake. https://midheaven.com/item/shrimper-25th-anniversary-cassette-by-va#.V7EfOY4_eu5