In The Red Records' Larry Hardy: "I Plan To Do Less, at Least for Right Now. I'm Trying To Get Through What I've Committed To Doing. That Was Enough. I'm Checking off the List." (Part Four)

Larry Hardy is the founder and owner of In the Red Records (ITR). For the past 34 years, ITR has been one of the leading independent labels. ITR’s discography runs the gamut from The Gories to Andre Williams to Redd Kross. Throughout all the turbulence that’s impacted the record industry — from streaming destroying the traditional business model, long vinyl turnaround times, etc. — Hardy and ITR have persevered. Most importantly, the quality of the label’s releases has never wavered. This is the fourth and final segment of our interview with Hardy, covering the years 2000 to the present.

Ryan Leach: I think the best records Lost Sounds cut were their last ones on In the Red. How’d you start working with them?

Larry Hardy: I liked Lost Sounds from the beginning. Their first record was great. The Reatards were amazing and so were The Clears. I didn’t know Alicja (Trout) had been in The Clears. At the time, I didn’t realize that it was the same person. A publicist I knew and would occasionally hire was working for them. She’d mentioned them to me and I told her that I thought they were great. The first time they came to Los Angeles, they opened for the Countdowns and The Dirtbombs. It was also the first time The Dirtbombs had played L.A. I met them that night. I bought records from them and introduced myself to Jay (Reatard). I was working with The Ponys out of Chicago and they were good friends with Lost Sounds. The Ponys’ record did really well right of the gate, so I think that’s why they decided to leave their label and give me a shot.

RL: I saw Lost Sounds in Los Angeles at the Scene Bar. It was right before they imploded in

Europe. It was really impressive.

LH: They were amazing live. I saw them a number of times. When I saw them that first time

in L.A., they were the best band on the bill by far. The other bands I liked and they were friends of mine, but Lost Sounds stole the show.

RL: You’d sent me an advanced copy of Jay’s Blood Visions (2006) record. I thought it was

outstanding. I gave him what I think was his biggest interview up to that point in Thrasher. I had no idea the record would hit like it did.

LH: I had no idea either. Jay also had no clue. It was very unexpected. He was in the Angry

Angles with Alix (Brown). The way he presented it to me — he’d been working on Blood Visions for a while. I had agreed to do it. Once it was finished, he told me not to hire a publicist. "I just want this record out; I have no intention of being a solo performer." I was going to do the Angry Angles record. We’d get promo for that album. Angry Angles would tour and play songs from both albums. I had no idea a Jay Reatard solo record would have the impact that it did. I realized it was awesome, but I still didn’t see that coming.

RL: I interviewed Jay over the phone and met him once. They were very different experiences. When I talked with him over the phone, he was very lucid and clearly erudite. He talked about Wire and how he admired the trajectory they took on their first three albums. His ideas were advanced and evolved for someone so young.

LH: He was a really intelligent guy. He had that other side to him, usually involving

substances. Without them, he was lucid and smart. Jay knew a lot about recording. He taught me a bunch of things.

RL: He did a lot of mastering.

LH: He was doing mastering. He told me not to make my CDs too loud. That was news to

me. That’s what we shot for in the 1990s. We’d listen to Crypt Records’ CDs and they seemed to be way louder than all the rest. He told me that’s how you lose all the dynamic range. He taught me about digital clipping. It’s digital distortion and it’s not the good kind of distortion. It sounds awful.

RL: People are still brick walling. I remember Paul Cutler got on your case about The

Consumers’ All My Friend Are Dead CD reissue from 2002.

LH: That’s right. I mastered it really hot. “We want this record to sound really loud.” Paul

told me that’s not how you should do it. He was correct.

RL: Working with Sparks on Hello Young Lovers (2006) was a real high point for the label.

LH: That is the top moment.

RL: You’d seen them on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert back in the 1970s.

LH: I got into Sparks when I was 12 years old. I didn’t get to see them live until the 1980s. I

was a massive fan and that’s another record I didn’t see coming.

RL: People might find this quaint or even laughable, but Myspace was great for music.

LH: It was my favorite social media site. I wish Facebook hadn’t replaced it. You could post

music up. It was great for labels. If the band gave me permission, I’d post a track from an

upcoming album. “Here’s what the new Wounded Lion is going to sound like.” We had tons of

followers back then. It was a great way to get the word out.

RL: It was wonderful for overseas labels or people living in smaller towns. I remember talking with Andrew Tolley in Auckland, New Zealand, about this back when he did Perpetrator Records. People discovered bands from different countries in a new way. I want to say a lot of those groups from Canada during the 2000s — Deadly Snakes, Demon’s Claws, The King Khan & BBQ Show — benefited from Myspace. 

LH: Definitely. There’s this label, Captured Tracks. 

RL: Yeah, Mike Sniper. 

LH: Right. They started at the tail end of the Myspace era and I know they discovered a lot of artists that way. It was a great resource. 

RL: Do you remember seeing the Deadly Snakes in L.A.?

LH: Oh, yeah. I was there the first time they played L.A. It was the night I talked with them about releasing their next record. 

RL: I remember seeing them at the Silverlake Lounge and there were a dozen people there. I thought they were one of the best bands from that era. 

LH: They always had bad luck with shows in L.A. They sold records, people liked them. I was at that Silverlake Lounge show too. By that point, they were on my label. They played The Echo too. It was on a Monday after a big garage-rock festival that had taken place over the weekend. No one who liked them was likely going to be there after spending three days at a festival. It was the most empty I’d ever seen The Echo. They were playing in support of their album Ode to Joy (2003). 

RL: At the time, I thought that was one of the best albums you’d done. 

LH: It’s a great album. When I first saw them, Greg Cartwright was in the band. That’s how I got involved. He hit me up and told me that they were looking to record a new record and were interested in it being on In the Red. I saw them and signed up to do it. 

RL: You had an impressive run of records in the mid-2000s. Reigning Sound cut Too Much Guitar (2004) too. Most of those bands would come through town and play the Scene Bar in Glendale. I was DJing there regularly for two or three years. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was a great period. 

LH: When the Scene Bar started happening, it was really strange. It was close to my house. “This is now the club and all my bands are playing here.” It also coincided with the period when I first started dating my wife. We would meet up there. 

RL: Let’s talk about the late 2000s. This was a couple years before I started releasing records. When I began my label in 2011, sales were stronger than they are now (in 2025). There was also hope that downloads would absorb vinyl losses. Then streaming hit. What was this period like for you?

LH: I’m still going through it. I remember the Vivian Girls were on my label (in the late 2000s), getting so much hype, and they just weren’t selling records like a band like that used to. Then I was hearing things like, “Well, they sold close to 10,000 units. That’s the new 25,000.” That’s not a good thing to hear. I knew then that streaming was taking over and it doesn’t pay shit. Even if I had a band that was doing well hype wise, that didn’t mean it would transfer over to sales. I’m noticing it a lot now. Today, I’m pressing smaller numbers because I don’t want to be stuck with stuff. 

RL: Do you think pressing records will be unsustainable in the long term? 

LH: No, I think there will always be some sort of niche market. But it’ll shrink. I don’t see the younger generation keeping it alive. And some of the older people like CDs. They think it’s still backwards to own something on vinyl. CDs take up less space. 

RL: CDs are great for compilations. I think CDs are a good format, especially for certain releases.  

LH: For box sets, definitely. 7”s are hard to move now. 

RL: I pretty much only release 7”s. 

LH: It’s tough. The band is going to sell them at their shows, I’m going to sell them on my website, but my distributor doesn’t do well with them anymore. The reason for that is stores don’t really take them now

RL: That’s exactly right.  

LH: I can press 500 copies of a Kid Congo Powers 7” and he could sell all of them at his shows. But that doesn’t do me any good. It’s a weird situation.

RL: I recently spoke with Eric Friedl about 7”s being in decline. He pressed the first Reatards 7” when nobody knew who Jay was. He gave a kid from Memphis a shot and the 7” was the perfect format for it. That’s really going to kneecap new music. 7”s are great for new bands. It’s a very feasible way for a group to push their two strongest tracks to get the ball rolling. That’s why I release 7”s. I refuse to give up on them. If there is a gravy train left, it’s archival releases.

LH: 7"s are my favorite format. 

RL: You’d mentioned Kid Congo Powers earlier. Kid had made some tentative steps to front a group before. I’m thinking of the Fur Bible EP (1985) and he had done some vocals with Lydia Lunch on a Die Haut record (Head On, 1992) that were amazing. “Parts Unknown” is the song. It’s been great to see him assert himself over the past decade with Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds. 

LH: A friend recently reminded me of something. My friend was living in Hollywood; this was back when I lived in Orange County and just starting up the label. We were walking up Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles. Kid Congo came walking up the street towards us and we passed him. In terms of rock royalty, Kid was as high up as one could go. He was in my favorite era of The Cramps. Kid was a founding member of The Gun Club and then later on returned to the group. I told my friend, “It’d be a real dream of mine to cut a record with him.” At the time, he was doing Congo Norvell. They were loungey, I liked them, but I wanted to cut a rock record with him. Anyway, that dream came true. 

RL: I’ve interviewed Kid Congo multiple times over the past twenty years. He’s consistently pleasant and always champions Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Often people try to obscure their debts or influences. It struck me that he was the kind of friend you’d want to help carry on your legacy. He’s a wonderful person. 

LH: Kid’s an absolute sweetheart. I wish everyone were that easy to work with. 

RL: Excluding you, the two people I think of when it comes to leaving a mark on In the Red are Jimmy Hole and Denée Segall. Denee worked at In the Red for a while. 

LH: She’s the best. I just saw her recently. Ty (Segall) had moved to Los Angeles. We started talking about working together, releasing some records. At the time, I was looking to hire someone. In the Red had never had a full-time employee. This would’ve been around 2010. Ty said that his girlfriend needed a job. Denée had worked in record stores. I didn’t know what to think about it. So, my wife and I had dinner with both of them and Denée was very pleasant. I gave her a shot. It didn’t take long to realize I’d scored. She’s amazing. Denée can do everything. She took over running the website, doing artwork as well as handling mail order. She never dropped the ball and was super reliable. Denée designed our ads. This was stuff that Jimmy Hole had done previously for me. Denée had a hand in the design and look of the label during the time she worked here. She was at In the Red for over ten years.

RL: How’d you get involved with Henry Rollins at 2.13.61? 

LH: Henry just asked. He liked the idea that In the Red was being run out of a house. Dischord was a business that was run out of a house, although it’s a bigger company now. He also liked In the Red and felt that I wouldn’t screw him over. We’re friends and I like what he does with 2.13.61.

RL: I remember you telling me about going over to his house and the archive he had. Henry had all that Raymond Pettibon artwork and rare Damned stuff. 

LH: He’s a professional archivist. Henry told me that he made music but never had that much fun doing it. He said he was a fan. He collects what he loves. I could totally relate to him because that’s all I’ve ever been too. I’m just a music fan. We collect a lot of the same stuff. I was so impressed by what he had collected. The first time I went to his house he said something like, “I’ve never seen somebody so in awe of this material.” 

RL: Your recent Saints box set was a major coup. 

LH: My friend manages The Saints. He’s known about my label for years. He could’ve gone with any label, but he wanted it on In the Red. He thought I could bring some new ears to the band. I don’t know if I did or not. However, I have encountered some younger musicians who said to me, “Yeah, I don’t really know The Saints.” “Okay, you need to.” (I’m) Stranded is one of my favorite records of all time. It was a huge privilege. 

RL: What are your future plans for In the Red? 

LH: I plan to do less, at least for right now. I’m trying to get through what I’ve committed to doing. That was enough. I’m checking off the list. I have some archival releases in mind. That’s more my speed now. Any old punk or ‘60s records that haven’t been reissued. In the Red is an old label now. I need to reissue some of my older albums. The records we talked about like Andre Williams’ Silky (1998) and Tav Falco's Panther Phobia (2000) have been out of print for years. 

RL: Agreed. Some of your LPs from the late 1990s and early 2000s go for good money. You’re at a point now where you can probably just reissue parts of your catalog. 

LH: I don’t find as many new bands as I used to. Even when I do, it’s hard to break them. You can’t get press for a rock ‘n’ roll group like you once could. You and I have discussed this numerous times. There’s no Terminal Boredom left to hype these bands from the underground. Tossing a record out by an unknown band is very difficult now. That wasn’t always the case. 

RL: Let’s close this on a positive note. Chip Kinman’s The Great Confrontation was one of the best records of 2022. I don’t know how many people feel the same way, but it’s a wonderful analog synth double LP. I will forever champion it. 

LH: I’ve had people hit me up telling me they love the record too. A few knew nothing about my label. 

RL: That’s a good thing. 

LH: I agree. We’re doing another Chip Kinman record this year. But it’s going to be a different LP. It’ll have songs with lyrics. The Great Confrontation was recorded during the pandemic when Chip was teaching himself how to work old synthesizers. 

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