WITCHCRAFT INTERNATIONAL

WITCHCRAFT INTERNATIONAL/FELIX SCHUTZE

Please tell us something bout your background?

Name: Felix Schütze

Age: 53 years old

Status: married

Place of residence: Frankfurt am Main/Germany

Job: Label co-owner, Dj and party organiser and full-time editor

How you became interested in rockin'music and its way of life?

I've always liked old things. It wasn't just music, it was the whole style. Old clothes, furniture, books, the first rockabillies I met at school around 1984. I also found the psycho- and neo-rockabillies even WITCHCRAFT more exciting for a while. Anyway from the middle of 1986 there was no turning back!

Before you a really started own label you sold live tapes...how that started?

Witchcraft had actually been around since 1988, because that was the name of my tape label. It started with a few live bootleg-recordings (Cramps, Meteors, Guana Batz) that I had bought in London at Camden Town Market. My program at that time consisted of a few dozen live recordings and demo tapes mainly of neo-rockabilly and psychobilly bands. I sold copies of them or traded them for other recordings, so the program got bigger and bigger.

Do you remember Christoph Ebner who did that same thing on eighties? I ordered from there something anyway back then..

Unfortunately, no. Back then, without the internet, it was always very random. I had swap partners in Bremen, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Nuremberg as far as I remember.

Bout 25 years ago you were ready to start own label. How all that happened. Where did you get the idea for name of label from?

Around 1990, I got to know two record dealers who got me into collecting records and that you could also find long out-of-print records at fairs. I also worked for them in the record shop "Get Happy Records!" here in Frankfurt and they also had a small label. That inspired me and that's how the idea of founding a record label myself came about. It was no question to continue the name "Witchcraft", which was already established through the tape label. I simply liked the name "Witchcraft". It had something magical about it and somehow it also fitted in quite well with what we were trying to do with the record label. By the way, it was not inspired by the songs of the same name by Elvis, Frank Sinatra or the Ricochets!

The first project was supposed to be a long player with the Brewsters (if anyone remembers them). The record never came out on vinyl. But one good thing came out of it, I got a good connection to the founding members of Smokestack Lightnin' in the matter of the Brewsters, with whom we would later release many more great records. And I also got to work more closely with my future label co-owner Big M (Markus Zettl) from Nuremberg. Big M was a great guy and very active in RocknRoll. He was well connected to all the Swedish bands. That's how Witchcraft Records was born in 1995 with the release of the Hi-Winders EP.

Did you start alone that business?

As I said, Big M was my first business partner from 1995 until he slowly withdrew from the label and devoted himself to other things. Fortunately, I didn't have to convince my buddy Oli Vegas from Switzerland how cool the life as a record mogul is. Since the year 2000, we run the label together and because of the Germany-Switzerland connection we operate as Witchcraft International. 

What kind of releases you wanted offer to customers?

We want to release stuff on vinyl by bands from the broad field of rockin' music that might otherwise never have been released. That wasn't a given, especially in the 1990s, when the CD market was growing more and more and today in times of digital downloads. For the bands, it has the advantage that their releases on Witchcraft were a profitable addition to their merchandise. The only requirement for a release is that the music suits 100% our taste. Of course, we must also see a chance that the recordings will sell. But we wouldn't release anything if we only see a chance that it would sell but the product wouldn’t fit with our taste. Oli and I make the decision together and I have to say that our tastes match almost 100%, which makes it easy.

Your first release and how you decided start just align with that one?

That was the Hi Winders EP. The Hi Winders were one of the hottest bands at the time. There were only a few who could play RocknRoll that hard and wild, and at the same time sound so authentic, as if the recordings came straight from the late 50s or early 60s. In Germany they were then still more of an insider tip and their first release outside of Sweden gave us the chance to promote the band and our label at same time. To succeed the record had to be ready in time for the Hemsby Weekender in May 1995, where the Hi Winders were one of the main acts and we could distribute the record to the dealers and fans right away. As a result of the somewhat hasty start something went wrong with the printing of the cover. Therefore, it looks a little blurry. On the other hand we didn't want to wait a day longer with the release. If we had more experience, we would have claimed the cover and had it reprinted – but it sold out before we got to think too much about it.

How you picking up bands for your label?

I would say that all our deals are more or less accidental. We don't have an A&R department, but we have very open eyes and ears. You watch concerts and make new acquaintances, you get into conversation, a friend introduces you to new recordings and so on. Also my Dj-activity helps a bit with it as well as all the good contacts we have. Of course, when you have the opportunity to publish something, you are also a little bit sensitized, if one or the other would not be interesting to come out as a witchcraft record.

How you see differences between early days of Witchcraft Int. and nowadays. How business has changed?

In 1995 the vinyl-record was actually pretty exotic, everything was set to CD. But the Rockin’ Scene was vibrant and vinyl sales were pretty good, we could sell 1.000 copies of the singles, which we produced. Mostly they were sold via a handful of mail orders and over concerts. Those were our main sales channels. And that hasn't changed until today. Because, to be honest, we were too lazy to send each record separately. The internet had not yet been invented, so many letters and faxes were written. Payment often came in the form of cash in envelopes - Paypal didn't exist yet either.  

Today the CDs are the real dinosaurs, but due to all the downloading it doesn’t feel like “the revival of the vinyl record”, except that many more people are fishing in the same pond. The vinyl releases have become inflationary and what we don't sell in the first two weeks is usually on our shelves for a long time. Somehow, we are cursed to release something good and new to create an impulse for selling the backstock. Selling out 1,000 copies today is quite a lot, 500 copies are more realistic with most bands. 

On worldwide thoughts bout to where rockin scene is going on future and its condition right now?

Covid 19 is, of course, a major drawback for the entire music scene. We don’t know how long it will take until we can celebrate at concerts and Rockin’ weekenders again as we used to. As long as the virus is rampant, live music is only possible to a limited extent, if at all. Therefore, we have also become cautious about releases. Without concerts and record hops it is 10 times harder to promote new records. But we are convinced that better times will come again and we are preparing for that.

Were there big suprises on doing this kind of business?

It was very often surprisingly easy to work together with musicians that we really like and sometimes never dared to dream of to release their recordings. May I mention our top 3?

Jim Carlisles 5 x 10 – This is not our bestseller but to have the chance to release a 45 by this guy who introduced the Rockabilly scene to Rockin’ blues back in 1978 is something special. Also Ian Bowerman (Dollar Bill) and Paul Ansell play on those magic recordings.

JD McPherson – Northside Girl – This is maybe the most popular record on our label by maybe one of the most popular bands on the scene.

The Planet Rockers – The Return – This is the first record that the original Planet Rockers line-up released after 15 years of stage abstinence. And it was by far the most elaborate production, which was recorded at the Sam Phillips Studios in Memphis/TN.

Apart from that we enjoy every one of our releases, we love them all! And maybe I like especially the ones that don't sell so well, because the world hasn't yet grasped the genius of the recording.

Best selling Witchcraft Int release?

JD McPherson – Northside Girl, The Planet Rockers – The Return, The Bellfuries – Just Plain & Lonesome, Smokestack Lightnin and Marcel Bontempi.

Future plans?

Due to Covid 19 we are very careful with new ventures. Also the Brexit is a burden for business with the UK which has been a major market for our records. But we are still talking with bands and listening to demos. We are quite far advanced with Jake La Botz a rockin’ blues and gospel singer from the USA, who is planning a second single on our label. Stay tuned, it's worth it.

Anything else you would like add for this interview...campfire stories..etc..you name it?

So I think the making of North Side Girl is a nice campfire story: We had known Jimmy Sutton, JD McPherson's now former bass player and producer, for some time. At that time we didn't know anything about his new project and he gave a guest performance in Frankfurt with the Del Morrocos. After the concert we sat in my record room and listened to some music. Suddenly he took out this recording and played it for me. I was struck by lightning. I think Oli felt the same way when he heard the track. When Jimmy Sutton offered us the chance to choose two tracks from the forthcoming LP for a single release, we knew what the A-side would be. The thing happened so quickly that we hadn't even really learned the band name yet. On my test pressing I had handwritten "Jimmy McPherson".

It's hard for me to say whether we helped the band become more popular. They most probably would have made it with those great recordings anyway. But it has definitely done our reputation a lot of good. For us, the biggest success is of course when a record is sold out and we have room for something new. Of course, it's also very nice when you hear one or the other Witchcraft number loudly at a record hop (preferably with a full dance floor) or it's blaring out of some car in a festival car park.

Famous last words?

Stay true to the music, even if parties and concerts are so much harder to realize than before! And support the musicians and promoters whenever you can, they need your support more than ever!

Bonus one : if we talking bout Finland so then what coming to your mind at first?

I love Finland and the people there, to which I have a lot of good memories. My first Finland experience came in 1996 when my buddy Stephan and I drove from Sweden with William Svensson (Eddy & the Flatheads) and Steve Whitton (Surfin' Gorillas) to Aitoo for the Big Beat Weekender. That was one of the craziest festivals I’ve ever been to, three days of partying in the middle of nature and all the moonshine the Midsummer night. Then our very good friends and hosts in Helsinki Timo Kurunsaari and Nora Novak, who we really should visit much more often. And last but not least, of course, our loyal distribution partners in Finland Pete Hakonen (Goofin' Records) and Mako Hakki Hakala (Jungle Records).