Peel Back the Label is a monthly column devoted to our favorite labels around town. From small production to heavy hitters in the biz, no label is too big or small for Allston Pudding to celebrate.
Welcome to the first edition of Peel Back the Label! Chances are you’ve come here out of two reasons:
- You’re bored as hell and want to absorb some light reading.
- You have an interest in local music, and want to get to know what goes on behind the scenes of the shows you frequent. You want to know what kind of work goes into the records you’ve grown so attached to. You want to meet the cast of characters contributing to what’s been deemed “a city at the heart of America’s DIY renaissance.” A renaissance it is.
Whatever your reason for coming, we commend you as we move on to celebrate labels working diligently to support the our growing scene. Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between, meet Midnight Werewolf.
Mission: “To provide you with what we believe to be the best upcoming local artists in the city. We range all over in genres from grunge/punk/doom/math and never narrowing it down. Keeping it real to our DIY roots we offer a unique range of homemade covers for our limited runs of tapes and can even provide artwork.”
Releases: Arvid Noe, Big Mess, Chandos (formerly Chandeliers), Cough Cough, Flat Swamp, Fórn, Kal Marks, Lady Bones, Sneeze, Trach
History: Derek Desharnais and Chris Morrison met in high school. As Desharnais put it, “[Chris] hit my old band up on Myspace, randomly asking us to play his mom’s basement in Westford, MA. He’s a couple years younger than me and you know in high school that’s 10 years, so we thought it was funny. We decided to play the show anyway and we pretty much hung out ever since. I would say the year was sometime around ‘04-’05.”
Morrison’s account was similar, noting memories of his New England upbringing. “We would always just hang out and drive around and go to shows. We both lived in small towns and had nothing to do but play music and hang out with friends, so we did that.”
The label started with Desharnais—at his mom’s house, no less. With a background playing in bands, this label found footing in 2004 as Desharnais looked for an outlet to release his own work alongside that of close friends. At its start, Desharnais used Midnight Werewolf as a vehicle to throw shows and release small runs of CDs and zines with the help of John Mccarthy. Chris Morrison came onboard roughly five years later, and to help with funding and the general disarray that comes with putting out a record. Since 2012 the two has been steadily releasing vinyl with the aim of treating Midnight Werewolf as—what they shruggingly call—a “business.”
Desharnais has called Boston home for about 7 years. He currently plays guitar in Sneeze, a band who’s grunge-revivalist Wilt could just as easily come out in 1993 as it did last June. His experience with local music also includes a former Wadzilla Mansion residency, a popular house venue known at a time when the BPD’s grip on underground shows was far less strict than the Facebook trolls who grieve us today. “We were throwing amazing shows,” Desharnais said. “Mostly screamo and punk bands like Comadre, Trainwreck, Trap Them, Giant, Tides, Ramming Speed, and Suis La Lune.”
Like Desharnais, Morrison was quick to recall the venue’s impact on local music. “When [Derek] moved to Wadzilla I used to come into the and crash there, that place was the best show house with the best people ever. Hands down some of the best shows I have ever seen.” Morrison moved back from Colorado and Boston a few times after high school, but the rocky mountain high didn’t stick. “Colorado’s one of those places that’s great to visit, but shitty to live in.” He’s been in Boston permanently for the past 4 or 5 years.
The bands proudest release? Kal Marks’ 2013 whopper of a gem, Life Is Murder. “I love Carl and the music he writes,” said Desharnais. “It features wonderful artwork by Chris. Vinyl sounds wonderful and it gave me an opportunity to work with great people and other great labels as well.” As Midnight Werewolf’s resident artist, Morrison was quick to agree. “Life is Murder was a really fun record to put out. We also did an edition of the Fórn release, The Departure of Consciousness, which came with a metal case, koozie and coyote tooth. They took forever to make, but looked awesome at the end.”
As a senior at a tiny Boston college at the time of its release, the album hit my ears as it did my mental state, cooling the impending doom of post grad anxiety through a raucous mix of grungy guitars, shimmering percussion, and Carl Shane’s whimsically disgruntled voice. “We’ll stick around this town till we get out of here,” a line from the albums brooding title track, was as comforting as it was infuriating to ideas of real-world dread. Life Is Murder stands as a marker of pinpointed uneasiness, and a certain introspectiveness that you can relate to no matter your place in life—which may be why it’s Derek Desharnais and Christopher Morrison’s favorite, too.
Morrison continues to run Hungry Ghost Press, a DIY press devoted to music, art and zines. The HGP online store features prints, apparel, and one perfect “Anxious Thoughts” notebook—among other custom goods.
What they’re listening to: Desharnais hasn’t been listening to much other than podcasts, but he did recently fell in love with the new Dirty Dishes album. Morrison’s go-to of late has been Wolves’ 2002 Art.Culture.Work—naming the album is his default jam while working on album art.
Label Goals: Desharnais named Sacred Bones a beacon of business inspiration. When it comes to branding, Desharnais was quick to show some label love. “I like the record label more than most of the bands on there,” he says. “I love just the layouts and designs they put on their records.”
Their goals are pretty commendable. Not going broke and killing each other, being the first record label on Mars, and putting Epitaph Records out of business. Why? They stopped making Punk-O-Rama CDs in 2005.
There you have it, folks. The boys of Midnight Werewolf. Check out their site to get acquainted with their work and hell, maybe even buy a release or two. A few bucks their way helps keep the community going—and this label’s work pressing records, watching COPS reruns and giving us something to talk about.