Even if you aren’t directly familiar with Brooklyn-based record label Exploding in Sound, chances are that you know at least a few of its bands. Over the past 4 years, the label has built an impressive roster of local rock talent, including Palehound, Pile, Krill and Speedy Ortiz. It’s no coincidence that the full roster reads more like a list of recommendations from a friend with great taste— that’s exactly how it started.

Founded as a Boston-based music blog by then-Northeastern student Dan Goldin in 2008, Exploding in Sound moved to New York and became a label in 2011, developing a talent for scooping up house show heroes and putting them on bigger stages. Since then, the label’s accomplishments have unfolded in a way that mirrors many of its bands’ approaches to songwriting: unconventional and sometimes risky, but brilliant in execution. Amid the commotion of the “Thank You For Being a Friend” weekend and on the brink of a big season for new releases, we chatted with Goldin about how far EIS has come, the strains of surviving as an “artist-first” operation and what he really thinks about all those Pavement comparisons.

Allston Pudding: Over the past 4 years you’ve gone from a small local label to a launchpad for bands that are now receiving national attention and critical acclaim. What has that transition been like for you?

Dan Goldin: I find that as things get better and better, it gets crazier and crazier and there’s more work to be done. It’s not like “oh yeah as soon as they get this attention things will become more relaxed.” It’s very much the opposite. It’s amazing. I’m just happy that the word is getting out.

AP: Do any moments stand out as turning points?

DG: It’s not necessarily the turning point in the label or anything, but I felt really good after the second birthday party of the label. We did a CMJ showcase at Silent Barn [in Brooklyn] that started in the middle of the day. It was an all-day showcase, and it sold out before the first band even went on. And it was just like, to me, “oh, people do care!” Just little things, little affirmations here and there that keep it going.

AP: It seems like Exploding in Sound has struck the balance between maintaining DIY credibility and establishing itself as a rock label among a wider audience. How do you keep that balance?

DG: We just keep everything really humble and genuine for that. A lot of the bands that we sign, they’re just bands that want to be making music and nothing more than that. None of them have these expectations of blowing up and becoming huge. I think that plays a big part in us keeping things casual and reaching out without big budgets, or any budgets really.

AP: In the past you’ve described Exploding in Sound as “an artist-first label almost to a fault,” and mentioned that your priorities lie beyond producing hits to make money. That being considered, what does success mean in EIS terms?

DG: That’s still true. It’s a success to me if everything a band does is better than the last thing. Not even in terms of music, but is this tour better than the last tour they did? Is this album better received than the last album? And it’s always progressing— that’s success. What that scale of success is doesn’t necessarily matter as long as it’s always getting better.

AP: You’ve also described EIS as not just a label, but as a kind of community. What is your process for discovering and signing artists that fit that community?

DG: It’s kind of just a natural thing. Almost every band on the label I found through either someone on the label, like friendships between existing bands already, or bands that have played shows with other bands on the label that you see around all the time. You get that vibe that not only are they a band making great music, but they’re also happy to be on the label because it’s already very interconnected and everyone’s a fan of everyone else. Anyone can be an insider, it’s just a matter of having that relationship.

AP: Do you ever take outsiders into consideration?

DG: Yeah, kinda. Dave [Spak], the other guy that works for the label, listens to them. I don’t generally unless it’s someone I know personally. One of the other things is that I would never sign a band that I’ve never seen live. You’ve got to know that a band is good live. That’s what makes a great band, how they perform a show. Random submissions are typically not the way to go.

AP: So would you say that ‘must give a great live performance’ is part of the EIS aesthetic?

DG: Absolutely. At the end of the day you can make a great record, but if you can’t perform those songs live then it loses its appeal, in a way. We like our bands to tour as much as they can so people can see them in a live setting. That’s always easier said than done because it’s not easy for bands with no money to tour all the time, but you kind of see that the bands that do tour harder do better.

AP: On a different note, it seems like critics really can’t stop comparing EIS bands to Pavement. What are your thoughts on that?

DG: Some of them are influenced by them, some of them definitely aren’t. It’s very easy for critics to go “Oh, this has guitars, and it’s kind of weird but still catchy… Pavement!” But yeah, I don’t know. I mean, they’re a great band, sure, I’ll take it. And they could be comparing them to Dave Matthews Band…

AP: It seems like EIS often gets name-dropped in association with that style of guitar rock’s return to popularity. Is that sound a conscious decision?

DG: Oh, definitely not. On my behalf it’s no return, because I never stopped listening to loud guitar rock. It just happened be that it got trendy as we were doing our thing. When it’s no longer trendy we’re still going to be doing it. I’m happy to say that it will always be that way.

AP:So if you had to sum up the EIS sound in a couple sentences, how would you do that?

DG: I’ve been trying to make it so that it can’t be summed up in a couple sentences. I think it’s kind of weird that people generalize the sound of the label into one or two things when there’s twenty-something bands on the label. Yes, they all play guitars, but Pile and Leapling couldn’t sound less alike. At the end of the day, I think they’re just all really great songwriters to the point where, yes, some of them are making very loud, aggressive music and some of them are making more pretty, ethereal things, but if you stripped them all down— played acoustic, even— the songs would still all hold. And that’s a testament to the songwriter.