Music

Barry Taylor visits music publicist Melanie Kaye

by Barry Taylor

In the music industry it’s extremely rare to find a person that no one has a bad thing to say about.  It’s not that there aren’t lots of great people working in music but with all the egos and opinions there’s often personality clashes.  That’s why meeting someone like Melanie Kaye can be compared to meeting a lover of  Eat More chocolate bars.  Sure they’re out there but tough to find.

Unlike the creepy guy who eats chewy dark toffee with nuts, people want to be around Kaye.  She’s one of the best in Canada at what she does and maintains a client list containing some of punk rock’s elite like NOFX, Jello Biaffra and Kevin Lyman.  Her company’s website showcases praise from artists like Tom Gabel and Joey Cape.

Melanie Kaye is a fixture in the Canadian punk rock scene and has found success through the same DIY approach that so many of the bands that she works with embody.

1. You work with bands.  What is it you do?

I guess “publicist “ would sum it up best but I do a lot of things that go beyond that role.  I’ve been asked by a few bands to be their manager but I always shy away from that.  I think it is a tricky relationship (band vs. manager). The only way it truly works (in my opinion) is if you’re operating like the manager is a member of the band.  Otherwise the band ends up resenting the manager, the manger feels like the band has unrealistic expectations and it all goes bad.  With all that said I have told a few of the bands that have asked me to manage them that I’ll “work more closely with them“ but generally the publicist title works just fine.

2. How did you hook up with Fat Wreck?

I use to work with Sudden Death Records (Joey Shithead’s label).  My understanding is that [Joey] showed Fat Mike a big stack of magazines and tear sheets that had a bunch of press I had set up for a DOA tour and said ”if you want to get this much press in Canada for your band and all the bands on your label then you should hire Melanie Kaye.”  So he did.  At first it was on a freelance basis.  Then the Fat Wreck Chords label manager called me and asked if I’d like to work exclusively with them and open and run a Canadian office.  That was in 1999 and I did that until 2009. 10 years is way longer than I thought I would be doing that but it worked out really well.

3. What’s Fat Mike like to work with?

I am not sure if it is the MOT connection (Member Of The Tribe) or if it’s just because we get along really well but it has been really good. He works hard and enjoys having fun and I think we have that in common.  Mike is a “what you see is what you get” kind of guy and I appreciate that.  I also appreciate that he has always paid me on time . To this day, Fat Wreck Chords is a label I am proud to be associated with.  I am genuinely grateful to him, Erin and everyone that worked/works there.

4. Now you’ve started your own business, was that always a goal?

When I opened the Canadian office for Fat Wreck Chords I had my own company and now the transition that has taken place is rather than Fat being my only client they are one of my clients.  It’s been good as I still have the pleasure of working with them but I am now also working with other bands and labels that I love.

5. Do you stick to one genre of music for your work?

I have always leaned towards punk or alternative or whatever you want to call it. When I started out (when I was around 15 or 16 ) I would often book a band without hearing their music (this is before the internet and “the cassette tape is in the mail” sometimes took longer than we had to get the show confirmed) so I would ask the band “what do you sing about?”  I always took that very seriously as I didn’t want to promote anything that I didn’t want to promote. If they were sexist/racist/ homophobes/ etc. I would pass.  It was a pretty straight forward approach and it has never changed.

6. Who are some of your favourite artists that you’ve worked with?

A lot of the bands on Fat come to mind as they are the most current: Me First, NOFX, The Real McKenzies, Strung Out, The Sainte Catherines , Chixdiggit, The Mad Caddies, Against Me! as well Youth Brigade, The Bouncing Souls, The Madcowboys, No Means No, The Hanson Brothers, a bunch of bands on Ipecac, Jello Biafra, Andrew W.K.  to name a few.  There are many I have enjoyed working with and still do. I have been lucky.  Most of the bands I work with I feel a strong loyalty to and consider them friends.

7. Who is your dream artist you’d like to work with in the future?

The Specials, Patti Smith, Amy Winehouse , X, Steve Martin’s band (he is a great banjo player!), the next all girl band that kicks ass!

8. What’s been your biggest ‘rock star’ moment?

One that comes to mind is when I booked The Bad Brains and they came out on stage to a full house.  After 3 songs they stopped playing and H.R. said the “the vibe is not right” and they walked off stage.  I was freaking out and was told that until someone gave them some pot they would not be going back on. I was only 17 and I should have known to have some for them but I was pretty naive. I managed to find them a joint and they went back on and played.

9. You played a big role in getting the Flatliners signed to Fat, how did you find them?

My most excellent assistant at the time Rob Thornton brought in their CD and said “check this out I think you will really like them”.  It sat on my desk for over a week getting more buried under a growing stack of paper and then I cleaned up my desk and found it. I put it on and Rob was right I really dug it. I kept listening to it and then starting sending Mike songs one at a time. He took a while to listen to them but he would keep saying ”send me another one” . Then Paul [Ramirez] dropped off a bunch of songs that they were working on and I mailed the CDR to Mike and he really liked that stuff as well. It took a while (or it felt like it did)  but it was more than worthwhile.  Mike and everyone at the label seem to really love them and the band tell me they are stoked working with Fat so it’s all good. I am really happy it all worked out.

10. What do you have coming up for 2010?

It looks like March will be back in full swing with lots of releases and bands touring.  Some of things coming up sooner than later are: Useless I.D. , A Wilhelm Scream, The Flatliners, Warped Tour, The Madcowboys, The Real McKenzies, Tony Sly, NOFX and the list keeps growing.

11. Anything you’d like to add?

Often I am asked how did I get into this business and I always answer the same way: I started out doing this because it was something that I loved doing and after doing it for over 25 years, I still do.