Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert McCarthy.
Robert, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Five By Two Records is a not-for-profit music recording, management and promotions label for all-ages artists. I started this a few years ago when my children, all musicians and all in a band together, were interested in playing shows and interested in recording their own music, but had nowhere to turn. Most venues were strictly 21+, and DIY recordings were just starting to take hold, so I felt that, if anything was going to happen for them, I would have to somehow do it myself. It started with lots of research and phone calls and email exchanges with venues asking for some opportunities for younger bands to play; there were many rejections, and quite a few unanswered emails. Along the way I met others who were, in some capacity, doing similar things for young artists (like Jackie from Next Generation Concerts and Diane from TCAN’s Rock off Main Street), which gave me hope. But even these shows were often relegated to Sunday afternoons and billed as “kids and families” shows, and I wanted to be able to create opportunities for younger artists to perform on real nights, with artists of all ages, in front of audiences of all ages.
Eventually I convinced one or two venues to take a chance on me and open the doors for all-ages shows; especially helpful was Chris from The Raven in Worcester, who is a wealth of knowledge on all things related to shows, bookings, touring bands, security, etc. He really jumpstarted the effort and allowed me to run a monthly program called “Rawk The Raven” on Sunday evenings at his venue.
Since that time two years ago, we’ve grown to include four regular venues for all-ages shows, and I feel like the concept of all-ages is starting to take hold with places like The Bungalow in Manchester NH and Alchemy in Providence RI who, by default, host all-ages shows regularly and only when warranted restrict access by age.
We now regularly book four or more all-ages shows every month, and cover almost every genre of music and provide access to these opportunities with more than 150 local bands of all ages, along with a host of touring bands who come through the area on a regular basis. In the span of April and May alone, we will host more than thirteen events for artists, including our biggest shows ever in the post-rock genre hosting the touring band Au Revoir for two shows in Manchester NH and Lowell MA. Each of these will have local, all-ages bands opening the shows, which I am really proud of.
As for the recording and band management side of the house, we have three bands under direct management of the label: Circus Trees, Pillbook, and Company One, and we’ve helped digitally release eight recordings over the past year for these and other bands. This month will see the first joint release of a single from Circus Trees with the label A Diamond Heart Productions, and next month we will go international with a joint release of Pillbook’s EP ‘Boy Band” on vinyl in Germany with a local label.
We also support a local radio program called The 4k Notch, running on WUML UMASS-Lowell’s radio station. It plays all underground, mostly local music, and features guest performers from local bands of all ages.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but to be honest, I thought I would encounter more challenges than I’ve seen (or maybe I just care to forget the struggles). There are A LOT of nice, genuine, friendly, intelligent people in the local scene who do want to help; sure there are those jaded, unhappy, miserable folks who just don’t care, but when my kids and I sit back and reflect on the past two years, we smile and laugh remembering all the good people we’ve met – venue owners, bands and artists, parents, friends, sound technicians – so many people who, when they see what we are trying to do, genuinely want to help, or at the very least not get in our way.
The biggest struggles, of course, have been opening the doors to the venues. Some venues throw up roadblock after roadblock, charging more money than is reasonable simply because you have young people in the door. Most fall back on the old “legal issue” cliché, but in reality they simply don’t want to be bothered with all-ages shows and so they point to their lawyers and say “it’s not me, it’s them”.
The other struggle is keeping everyone happy – artists want to play certain dates, touring bands come through mid-week looking for a show, venues have to make money, bands would love a couple of dollars in their pockets for gas money, technicians need to be paid, etc – it can be trying sometimes to balance it all. I have to step away from the keyboard sometimes when I want to rant “HEY, I AM DOING THIS FOR YOU, AND I GIVE AWAY MY TIME AND MONEY TO DO IT!”, but I know that’s not going to do any good, and I know some of them don’t mean it or simply don’t understand what it takes to book shows, record songs, release songs, etc. I certainly had no idea how much was involved.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Five By Two Records – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
#AllAgesOrNothing
That hashtag means a lot to me; and I stole it. I stole it from a touring band from Wisconsin called RigTime, this super-heavy hardcore band who are just the kindest and sweetest people off-stage. They took on that moniker some time ago when they recognized how important it was to give people of all ages the outlet of music, the opportunity to see live bands, the environment to thrash and dance and let out their aggression; wherever they tour, wherever they play, it’s at an all-ages venue…or they don’t play.
That hit me hard, the first time I saw them play live; the commitment, the dedication, the principled stance; I was all in for that and it summed up everything I was doing up to that point.
So that is our specialty – hosting all-ages events in real rock venues, with real sound systems, and real audiences; I take pride in bringing together the best of the adults with the best of the youth in the best of the environments. I don’t do coffee shops or restaurants, I don’t book afternoon shows, and I don’t put on showcases or band battles or any of that stuff. I give bands, of any age, the opportunity to play a real show – sound, lights, crazy people in the audience, experienced bands waiting in the wings, the whole works – and I think people really dig it.
On the recording side, I connect bands with superior technicians for recording, mixing and mastering, I negotiate pricing, I create release schedules, and mentor artists on costs, on merchandising, on marketing, on how to protect their music, how to book shows, and all of the things most bands take years to learn through trial and error. I try to jumpstart that process so that the artists can focus on their art, and so that they don’t get taken advantage of early in their careers and become jaded and unhappy.
#FiveByTwoIsFamily
The other hashtag thing I am super-proud of is the fact that we are a family – my wife and my five children run this organization, and each has their role: sound tech, light tech, videography, merch, equipment, promotions, etc, everyone is involved in the company as more than just artists. And the family has expanded significantly over time to include other bands and artists that we just love getting together with and sharing wonderful times enjoying awesome music. Someone else also started this hashtag, and I quickly adopted it because it means so much to me to be able to include this wider group of artists in my outstretched arms; I want to help everyone succeed, and everyone is family to me.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My biggest hope is that I establish the brand as a trusted entity for artists in the local scene to look to as providing quality services to them, that venues can look to as putting on amazing shows, that touring bands can look to when they want to put their trust into someone local to create events for them, and that venues and technicians and engineers can look to as a sign of quality and integrity. I hope the label grows to include more artists in the recording arena, and that one (or all) of the bands hits it big enough to sign with a competitive and prosperous for-profit label that can provide them with the necessary support for global recognition.
Through it all, I want the entity to remain not-for-profit, but I hope that eventually some money will come in to fuel some steady paying jobs for people working as artists and as technicians for the label.
I think the industry is changing significantly, and I want Five By Two Records to be nimble enough to take advantage of those changes, like streaming technology and DIY touring and promotions, and I want to be able to continue helping those young bands achieve their dreams of playing big stages.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 5082156747
- Email: fivebytworecords@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fivebytworecords/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fivebytworecords/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/FivebytwoR
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/groups/youthbandcircleMA/
Image Credit:
Samuel Bendix Photography
Groovestar Studios
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