Story

Recommended If You Like Records is what it is: A NEW TRIP, a skeleton key to rock ’n roll, so get hip to the excitement. You dig, gravedigger? We’re yr new means of communication: signals sent in cut-grooves and 1’s & 0’s. Those with a predisposition towards nicknames prefer to refer to us as RiYL (say: “rile” or, if you’re syllablicly experimental: “real”). We’ll shwang to that, but we consider ourselves a bit more longwinded. The Recommended If You Like revolution-per-minute began in May 2004 with the release of The Morningsides’ debut 7-inch. We’ve been spinning ever since. In early 2005, RiYL Headquarters moved from the sometimes-lovely Poughkeepsie, New York, to the always-busy New York City, New York. Result.

FAQ

Can I send you a “demo”?

Well, for sure. We love hearing new music and welcome this sort of communication, but please send us something tangible; MP3s are nice and all but can get lost easily in the digital shuffle. Be aware: Try as we might, we can’t respond personally to everything we receive and its extremely unlikely that anyone will be “signed" after submitting a demo. We’re still a tiny operation; we don’t really “sign" people, we work with our friends and do our best to get their music heard. That said, we’d like to be your friend too, so even if we can’t put out your record, we can still get to know one another, play some shows together and hold hands in the park. Cool?

Our mailing address is:

RiYL Records
PO Box 2318
Times Square Station
New York, NY 10108

Can I get a copy of “___________” to play on my radio show and/or review for a zine/website/publication?

Will it be put to good use? If so, the likely answer is yes. Radio folks should email radio[at]riylrecords[dot]com and print/web media people should email info[at]riylpromotion[dot]com. Print press requests for The Fugue should be directed towards BlueGhost Publicity. Radio promotion for The Fugue's Mysterious Animals EP and for The Pathways' Boat of Confidence full-length were handled by AAM's Sunday Service. For hi-res photos and other press information for all RiYL acts, visit RiYL Promotion.

Who distributes your records and can I find them in stores?

At this point, we don’t yet have a national distributor (ahem... hello, national distributors!), so sales are done online through the RiYL Records Online Store and at Insound, through boutique distributors like Unpopular Records, Baskerville Hill Records and Stickfigure, at NYC and Seattle area record stores and at shows. If you have a distro that’s interested in carrying our records, get in touch: info[at]riylrecords[dot]com. You can find some of our records at various stores in and around New York City, though quantities at these places are usually limited: Cake Shop and Mondo Kim's in NYC, Sound Fix and (we think?) Rocks In Your Head in Williamsburg and Eat Records in Greenpoint. We're also carried at some Sonic Boom locations in Seattle, WA. If you work at a record store and wanna carry our records, email us: info[at]riylrecords[dot]com.

How can I book a RiYL Records artist to play at my club, college, art space or house?

The easiest way to book a RiYL artist is to email them and ask. They'll probably say "yes". If you want to be less direct, you can book The Fugue through Brooklyn's Free Agency Booking and Chris Maher through New York's Central Booking Agency. For all of the others, simply go direct. (Make it happen!)

Who works at your label?

The following people help out in various ways and to varying degrees. Get to know them:

Chris: Head; resides in Brooklyn, NY; currently ________?
Crrnt jamz: Mississippi John Hurt, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger
Email: chris[at]riylrecords[dot]com
Website: ?

Hannah: Arms; resides in Olympia, WA; currently current.
Crrnt jamz: Sebadoh!
Email: hannah[at]riylrecords[dot]com
Website: Don't need one of those!

Ian: Eyes; resides in Brooklyn, NY; currently working at Housing Works.
Crrnt jamz: Constantines, Chris Watson, Neil Young
Email: ian[dot]crowther[at]gmail[dot]com
Website: iancrowther.com

Yoko: Hands; resides in Brooklyn, NY; currently charming NYC as a Dream Bitch.
Crrnt jamz: Metric, Sufjan Stevens, Sonic Youth ("Washing Machine"!)
Email: yokokikuchi[at]gmail[dot]com
Website: abstractextract.com