#i have got to write damian meaner

[on-leatheredwings]

,

[spookyprime]

3 (also feel free to just rank the robins)

3. Who’s your third-favorite Robin? Tell us one thing you like or dislike about them.

Lmaoooo okay. Well! A preface is in order because I know people like to take things too seriously and when I say Damian is my least favorite I know someone somewhere is going to get upset so- I do not DISLIKE any of these characters. I find all of them enjoyable in some ways. There's just characters I like more than others. I don't hate your blorbo.

1) Tim is my favorite. He's confident and very sure of himself but has a more mild disposition and opts to play a mediator role when he isn't busy making the most bonkers too much plan you've ever seen. His comics are the most entertaining to me because he usually gets paired with someone who's doing something ridiculous and his personality tends to let people go "Yes and" right up to the point of being too much. Also he likes sports and I get to draw him in hockey jerseys. He's good support for other characters to bounce off of and I like him for that. What I dislike is that because of his more mild disposition he can very easily be written out of narratives or forgotten about.

2) dick for nearly the exact opposite reason. If dick is in a comic he is almost always the star of the show. The story revolves around him. It's dick and friends. He should get to be meaner. I haven't read much of the current nightwing run but my wife keeps up with it and dick is her favorite. She loves him. I have to rank him high for her. What I dislike about dick is that I NEED him to leave those women alone. Stop dating. Stop it.

2.5 not a robin but Cass goes here I think she's great

3) Jason. I like some of Jason's stuff and I dislike a lot of Jason's stuff. He's weird but also somehow I think he's the most normal one of them. I get frustrated because he has a lot of potential in character arcs but he's written so deeply inconsistently that it's difficult to nail down who Jason todd is and what he wants. (Gotham knights video game Jason is everything to me.)

4) steph. As spoiler and Batgirl she's great I love her but also wow holy shit she got some of the worst writing of any of these people. She constantly gets thrown under the bus and shafted. She's not very enjoyable to read because of that and also some deep inconsistencies in writing quality just simply depending on if the writer respects women or not. And that's not her fault but it does impact reading experience.

5) Damian. I simply don't find tsundere characters enjoyable. I don't like this personality type. Again- i don't hate him. I'm glad he's here he's a fun character. But I don't ever find myself actively looking for Damian centric comics. He's a good sidekick character when he gets to play that role. I hate the way some writers will write Talia because of him. I think it puts Talia in a very bad light and i dislike that she spent so long in the comics trying to distance herself from her upbringing only to turn around and basically just through bad writing do the same thing to Damian. I think it's poorly thought out and written by people who don't like her and don't respect her. (And again! I don't hate him! I've drawn more fanart of him than I have of dick and Jason combined!)

[justyourfriendlynhspooderman]

Batfam x Child!Reader - Confused Pt. 2

Guess who’s back after like year

Honestly I didn’t want to come back to it but I decided just to go with it. Hopefully the small amount of people reading this will enjoy it. I hated the first part but here’s the link to it if you haven’t read it yet!

Batfam x childreader! - Confused pt. 1

Just a quick warning, there’s swearing in this one!

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“Knock Knock Knock”

A man, who was definitely a bit older, opened the door. “Ah, Master Dick,” The man started in a thick but posh British accent. “Welcome home.” He bowed a bit and opened the door wider for “master Richard” to walk in. “Thank you Alfred.” 

Dick and Alfred. Got it. 

Y/n made sure to remember their names, not wanting to be rude. “And what do we have here?” Alfred asks with a small smile and his brows raised. “My name is Y/n L/n,” she bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” Alfred looked at Dick with a questionable face. Dick just shrugged with a nervous chuckle. “No need for that Miss L/n, up you go.” She stood up straight and nodded. Alfred turned his attention back on Dick, waiting for an explanation. “I found her looking at the mansion when I came back from patrol and I asked her what she was doing. Apparently, she’s an orphan so I kinda just decided to keep her…..?” The end of his sentence turned into a question instead of a statement. 

Y/n looked at Alfred curiously as he nodded. It was so weird. He definitely had emotion but didn’t really show anything. It was almost completely stoic. She nodded to herself and decided that she liked him.

“Would you like to show her to Master Bruce sir?” Alfred says. Dick sighed and nodded, “I guess I kinda have to.” He mumbled. “It was nice meeting you Miss L/n.” She did another quick bow, “Thank you for your hospitality, Mister Alfred.” She stood up quickly and ran after Dick.

Her tiny legs slowed down as she finally caught up with him. “You’re very fast mister,” she panted. He looked down at her. “How old are you?” he questioned, realizing how small she actually was. “I’m four.” she looked at her hands making sure she was holding up the right amount. Sometimes she screwed up. Her fingers were just so tiny it was hard to bend them correctly. “Yeah,” she smiled excitedly for doing it right the first time. “Four.” He looked at her curiously. “Four? That’s pretty young,” he added. “I guess,” she shrugged. “But I’m turning five next week!” Dick chuckled at her on and off going excitement. “I guess we’ll have to celebrate then huh?” she looked at him. “Really? I’ve never had a birthday party before!” Y/n felt kinda weird. I mean, it was common for her to feel excitement but definitely not this much. “Then it’s gonna have to be huge in that case.” She tried to hold the bounce in her step after he said that.

“Who are you talking to Grayson?” An almost harsh voice said. It was coming from Y/n’s right. She leaned forward to try and see past Dick. A boy who looked around 10-13 was standing in front of an open door which Y/n assumed was his room. 

“How are you Dami. Awwww, I found a quick nickname for youuu~” Dick says in a baby voice and pinches the boy’s cheeks. “Don’t touch me you filthy hag.” He shouts and swats his hands away, but Dick didn’t seem to take any offense to it. “This is Y/n, she’s probably gonna be living with us from now on so treat her like your little sister okay?” Was he babying him? Y/n couldn’t really tell. 

“What do you mean she’s going to be living with us?” The boy’s voice cuts her from her thoughts. “Where the hell did you even get her? Off the streets, I’m assuming.” He talked in almost a proper manner but definitely not a proper tone. “Actually yeah, she’s an orphan like the rest of us,” Dick grabs Y/n’s hand and pulls her gently to his side so Damian can see her better. I mean, she tried her best to stay clean but it was kinda hard when you don’t really have anywhere to live. Damian scoffed, “I’m the only one with actual Wayne blood.” 

Dick patted his head, “Well it was nice running into you little bro but now we gotta leave.” He started walking, still holding the toddler's hand. Y/n waved at the boy even though she was sure he didn’t like her very much. Damian just stared back at her. He would rather die than admit this, but a tiny part of him wanted to pat her head. “Tch, whatever,” he mumbled and walked back into his room. 

Dick was quiet for a moment. “Wait, you live with Bruce Wayne? That’s a bit random,” Y/n says. “Well...Uh, it’s complicated.” He just realized he pretty much told a child his secret identity and probably everyone else's by bringing her inside. Her brows furrowed but tried to hide her confusion. 

There were sudden shouts coming from what seemed to be a kitchen of some sort. “Great, now look what you’ve done!” “I didn’t do anything, this was your fault, Drake!” “Yeah right, you’re just so angsty you just had to push me huh?” “Not my fault you’re so fucking clumsy.” Dick covered Y/n’s ears quickly. “You bumped into me.” “Keep telling yourself that.” The taller one says. “What do you want Dick?” The other one says harshly, now aware of his presence, and was definitely annoyed. His eyes widen when he sees the small girl whose face was being slightly squashed because of Dick’s hands. He removed them after both of them seemed to be more confused than calm. “What the hell is that?” Jason blurts. “It’s a child dumbass.” “I know that shithead, why is she here?” Jason retorts.  “Well right now I’m wishing she wasn’t so she wouldn’t have to listen to you two fight like an old married couple.” He says sassily. “Answer the damn question, Grayson,” Jason growls. “Alright alright, chill. She is here because I brought her here.” “I’m going to murder you.” He sighed, annoyed. Dick rolled his eyes. “She’s an orphan and you know the orphanage kinda broke or something so here she is I guess,” he says, finally giving a complete answer. Not gonna lie, she was honestly kinda scared and probably a little shy. Dick felt his arm being tugged and looked down to see Y/n hiding behind it but her eyes were still peeking out. “Now look what you did, you scared her,” Tim says to Jason. “What do you mean I scared her. We wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for you.” “Oh my god, I’m not gonna even try anymore.” “So now you want to acknowledge what you did.” “I swear to god I am going to pour my burning coffee all over you.” 

Dick sighed and used his other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.  “This one is Jason,” Dick says to Y/n, pointing at the taller one. “This one is-” “A dumbass, this one is a dumbass.” Jason finished for Dick, glaring at the shorter one. “This one is Tim.” He says again, pointing to the shorter one. “I hate you. I have decided to pour the coffee and no one is stopping me.” Tim says. “Try me bitch.” Y/n could tell Dick was losing his patience. “Can you stop with the freaking swear words!” Dick shouts suddenly. “Well sooorry Mr. I can’t hear the word ‘fuck’ or I’ll throw holy water on you.” Tim rolled his eyes at Jason’s response. 

“Well I don’t know if you were paying attention or not, but there’s a small child, who doesn’t look older than 6, in the same room as us right now and I don’t think she should be listening to you cuss out profanities because you think you’re emo or something.” Timothy sassed slightly and Jason grumbled something under his breath. 

“We’re going now but have fun with whatever...this is,” Dick says motioning to the mess. Y/n waved behind Dicks arm, still a bit shy. Dick grabs Y/n’s hand again and walks off. “Oh yeah, you wanna go?” she could hear Jason shout in the distance, probably at something Time had said. 

Dick looked a bit annoyed with what just happened. “Mister Dick,” he looked at her. “What does dumbass mean?” (Listen I know I said she was smart but I don’t care at this point) His eyes widened. “It’s uh-It’s a meaner way of saying stupid butt.” Her brows furrowed. “Why would someone call something like that? It’s not a very good insult.” he shrugged. “Good question however I do not know the answer.” 

Dick opens a door to reveal a pretty normal study/office other than it was gigantic. He looks at Y/n and sighs. “I’m going to have to have to cover your eyes.” She nods and puts her hands over her eyes, turning around in the process. There was a loud but weird noise, almost like gears moving or something. “Alright, come on.” She turns around and removes her hands. Her small e/c orbs widen. There was a big gray elevator thingy in place of where the wide bookshelves should have been. She walked in slowly, being cautious. 

“It’s okay, I promise. It’s actually really cool.” She looked back up at Dick and nodded slowly.

 This family 100 percent confused her. They were weird. Really weird.

 Maybe she should have stayed outside.   

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Sorry it was really short, I still hope you enjoyed it nevertheless. I’m probably going to end it here unless people start wanting a part three. I’ll try to start posting more once I get ideas on what to write. Hope you all have a fabulous dayyyy  

[thattimdrakeguy]

Something that bugs me about a lot of the current comics bad writing is that it makes it so when the people that started off with the current stuff, like abusive Bruce, average kid acting pandering Damian, happy go-luck Dick, and that ultra-pretentious-super-genius Tim that was going on during Rebith and the New 52, and they go back to read some of the older stuff, they read it in a different tone.

Like they try to camouflage what they read in the older stuff with what they know and it’s sort of odd. Like it’s hard to explain, but I notice after some of the newer stuff like Detective Comics Rebirth (when Tim was in it) and New 52 Teen Titans, I’ll see people talk about Robin back in the 90s, and Tim will say something completely obvious but their would be a comment saying “OH THAT’S TIM USING THE GENIUS INTELLECT” but no, he was just saying something really obvious, because he wasn’t a super genius, he was just a naturally inquisitive kid and paid attention to said obvious stuff. Like that’s basically his origin.

Possibly even just Bruce being stern and harsh, but not so much like abusive, Bruce was always kind of a drill Sargent every now and again, but he’ll be a bit meaner than normal in a way that actually fits the character, and they’ll yell “I HATE THAT JACKASS ABUSIVE BATMAN”, not realizing that maybe the next issue Bruce apologizes or at least shows his softer side in an attempt to make it up to them cuz he has regret. Or at least a fitting follow up where the story acknowledges how messed up it was instead of just being like “Oh how sad, Master Bruce, it must’ve hurt you knowing you threw your adopted child across the floor with your fist. Are you okay, Master Bruce?”

Or I also notice when someones new to comics, they will not understand what people are talking about when someone says “Tim and Jason ... really don’t like each other that much” and they get confused because they read the New 52 stuff where Lobdell and Tynion just forced them together because it’s what they personally wanted even when it conflicted stuff.

While meanwhile almost every interaction before that has Tim and Jason legitimately not liking each other that much. Like Tim after he got attacked by Jason genuinely didn’t trust him.

But now because in the New 52 Tim’s like “oh I forgive you” it creates a weird fandom disconnect that I’ve noticed, because a chunk of the fandom will believe Tim and Jason love each like brothers, while the other side will be saying they hate each other because they genuinely had enough intense dislike of each other that an apology from Tim doesn’t seem possible cuz it was Tim that did most of the intense disliking when they were actually there together, I mean Jason had a heckuva lotta hating too, but from both of them, it was not good.

It’s why bad writing really bugs me, the disconnect makes the fandom messy and cause weird arguments every now and again that are simply caused by people reading different things that shouldn’t be that different, but because the writers don’t really care it feels totally different from other things.

Like I don’t blame the people that read it so much, because it’s not practical to read every comic ever, but this stuff wouldn’t have happened if the writers cared more.

It’s the sort of stuff that causes me to be annoyed at some of the bad writing I see, because it sort of, cuts the fandom off from being fully enjoyable. Too much disconnect.

[fanaticalthings]

Ok, yes I agree with you that Bruce and Jason definitely dont have the best relationship, however a large reason to why their relationship has been so rocky in the comics is because writers make Bruce an abusive father which is completely OOC for him.

Also your point on how Bruce became colder and meaner because Jason died, sure that's partially correct, but I feel like that's just a poor excuse considering that Tim Drake was written in to help fix that issue. (ofc the grief of losing his son wasn't gonna disappear entirely, but Tim coming in was supposed to help alleviate some of that pain). So implying that Bruce just remained a stone cold asshole even after taking in Tim feels like his story and introduction as robin were kinda redundant.

And Bruce becoming an abusive father after his son died? Just doesn't seem like a good character arc at all. Just shitty writing in general. You're gonna tell me that the man who loved, grieved and closed himself off after his son died is just gonna do a complete 180° and start beating the shit out of said son after he gets resurrected? Bruce is always willing to give second chances to Villains who have done much worse than Jason, so why does he always dish out the worst punishments to him?

And yes, Jason did have his angry moments in the comics towards his death, but so did the other Robins?? (Also I kind of justify Jason's anger, it didn't just burst out of nowhere. This child witnessed an SA victim kill herself and then had to watch as no punishment came to the assaulter. Bro I'd be angry too.) Dick arguably had many more moments of anger and violence during his time as robin, same goes for Tim and Damian. But for some reason everyone just labels Jason as the token angry child?? Even in death, he saved the person who sold him out to his killer. I've read multiple of Jason's pre-crisis and post-crisis comics, and his moments of anger or teenage angst pale largely in comparison to his happy moments. And one of the main reasons Jason's time as robin was so wholesome and happy was because Bruce was such a good father and mentor to him. It always just feels like victim blaming when people are all like "Yea he got himself killed cuz he didn't listen and was too angry to think straight." like no?? It feels like people are just watering down these characters to the barest, and most boring traits.

And for your last comment, I'm not expecting Bruce to look at Jason's mess and be all happy go lucky and cleaning it up for him. I'm just saying that this man comes in and the first thing he does is insult Jason's character, essentially calling him a whiny child, and that he'll talk to him later when he's done crying. Bruce here is shown to have zero respect for Jason. His words imply he wants Jason to be more mature, but he still proceeds to treat him like he's a nuisance and not someone who is struggling and in pain. People are always saying Jason never listens to Bruce, but after seeing the way Bruce talks to Jason? Hell, I wouldn't listen to him either. If this were written well, Bruce would've lectured Jason respectfully, and trusted him to be able to clean up his own mess, and maybe offer help if Jason needed it.

Batman's whole charm is that he's a compassionate person. On multiple occasions he'll help his own rogues if it means they'll turn a new leaf. Jason is nowhere near as bad as his rogues, and yes while their morals don't align, it shouldn't really make much of a difference, since Bruce has multiple friends that kill as well (His fricking cousin kills too and shes still considered family). If Bruce were written properly, he would've helped Jason in a way that doesn't result in Jason feeling worthless and like he constantly has to prove himself.

It feels like the writers did no research. I'm not saying I want it to be exactly the same slice of life, everyone is happy, universe like WFA, I'm just saying they should at least give these characters the writing they deserve that shows that they aren't just the same, static, boring characterizations that we've been getting in comics for the past 20 years.

Lil rant about the Outlaws webtoons here:

I was really hoping the webtoon would do robin!Jason justice but nope. They just went the stereotypical "Jason was the edgy, angry and violent robin" route, and I fucking hate it.

Slight spoiler for the next unreleased ep:

First thing Bruce does is call Jason a petulant child after the Outlaws cause a mess in a city, and he doesn't even ask for an explanation for what happened.

While the JL plan to fix their mistake, Jason offers to do watchtower duties in their place and Bruce tells him he'll give him 1 month not to kill or steal and to basically do what the JL do. Which is fine and all, seems fair..

but the issue is what he says after, that "If you fail, you and your team will be treated as true outlaws. No more money, no more Waynetech, no more weapons."

and THEN he adds on that they'll "spend the rest of their lives running, or in Arkham" which, personally this will always rub me the wrong way, that Bruce is totally fine throwing his son and his friends into the place where he would throw people like the Joker in.

and on top of all that, Bruce tells Jason "Let's continue this when you're done crying." Jason was wearing his helmet but it was revealed he actually was crying, and I just hate how cold-hearted Bruce is written because it's so fucking overused.

I hate this relationship dynamic between these two because it's just so OOC of Bruce to treat his kid this way, and calling him a "petulant toddler playing with toys in the mud, angry at the world that is begging to wash the stench off" is just so demeaning?? He says all this after knowing all the shit that's happened to Jason??

I can't read modern comics with this characterization of Bruce because all the older comics had Bruce as this compassionate and patient father, which we basically never see again in today's comics.

You're supposed to tell me that these are the same character? 80s comic Bruce would probably rather die than treat his son like every other sociopathic killer in Arkham. He would also probably feel like shit for making his son cry as well.

Same goes for Jason, where writers portray him as this murderous robin that doesn't think before he acts. Literally none of this is true. Jason was probably the most well behaved out of all the Robins. If you read his 80s comics, you'll see him even stop Bruce from killing people, and even spares the person who killed his bio father.

Jason being the happy, sweet, child is what makes his story so tragic. He came back different and broken, and I hate how writers just disregard that altogether just to have some cheap tension/drama between Bruce and him.

I just don't think I'll be continuing this series even though it's free. DC writers need to get their shit together.

[boredout305]

Gerard Cosloy Interview, Part One

Since the early 1980s, Gerard Cosloy has run or co-owned some of the most important US-based independent record labels—notably, Homestead and Matador. Homestead and Matador’s rosters are legendary, and Cosloy’s spoken at length with Damian Abraham about the early days in two excellent podcasts (here and here). The following interview doesn’t focus on the long-defunct Homestead or the very-much-alive Matador. Instead, it revolves around Cosloy’s 12XU imprint—a label running on a much smaller budget, but nevertheless putting out some incredible releases. Like the label’s contemporaries—In the Red, Goner and Goodbye Boozy—12XU’s catholic tastes continue to impress, from David Kilgour solo records to double album collections by the Gary Wrong Group. 12XU’s commitment to vibrant, underground music is exemplary; its model should be duplicated by as many people as possible.

Interview by Ryan Leach

http://12xu.bigcartel.com/

Ryan: 2001 was an inauspicious year to start 12XU. The days of a band like the Raincoats getting releases on Geffen Records appeared to be over. Meanwhile, the record industry was trying to figure out its future business model after the rise of the internet and filesharing.

Gerard: Absolutely. There was that sort of weird, golden age where everybody was living off the various permutations of Kurt Cobain leftovers. I guess you can make the argument that Matador was living off of a lot of the leftovers from that period too. The goal with 12XU wasn’t necessarily to establish a new business that would be a “competitive label” or another version of Matador or Homestead. It was meant to be a smaller, leaner and meaner thing from the word go. As much as I like to say Matador had nothing to do with the formation of 12XU, it did have a little bit to do with label’s formation. There were a number of projects I was keen to work on that for a variety of reasons were not going to work out on Matador. My partners (at Matador) were either not interested musically or they didn’t think these acts had potential. There were also conflicts of interests—some of 12XU’s early artists were former Matador recording artists or in one prominent case somebody I was married to. The big impetus for me to start 12XU was a singer-songwriter from Montana, then Seattle and now currently based in Vancouver—a guy named Joel Phelps. He’s probably best known to a lot of people as the former singer and guitarist for Silkworm. But Joel has made a lot more records on his own since leaving the band. Ironically, he left Silkworm right when they signed to Matador. I think the guy is an amazing writer, an incredible musician and an interesting character. I very much wanted to work with him. Although Joel had a number of small labels in the US handling his records, he had no European distribution or representation. Helping him out with that felt like it would be a fun thing to do. Spoon, who I think are rather well known to a lot of people by this point, were between labels at the time. They had been dropped by Elektra Records.

Ryan: Were they still getting extricated from Elektra when you released Girls Can Tell (2001) in Europe?    

Gerard: They were completely off Elektra. They were very much free agents. Spoon made a third album that I thought was really amazing. There were a lot of weird feelings surrounding the end of their tenure on Matador, both on the band’s side and on the label’s side. They were about to do a deal with Merge in the US. Merge is a fantastic and very well-run label. But at that point they did not have any particular setup for Europe. So I said, “Okay, I’ll do it. Let’s work together again and I’ll handle Europe.” The next two artists that followed, again, had their own family connections. I had been following Chris Brokaw since he was an undergrad at Oberlin University playing in a quartet called Pay the Man. Chris is probably best known as the guitarist and songwriter for the band Come who Matador had worked with for a long time. My ex-wife Sally Crewe, who’s originally from Leeds, England, and then moved all around before living in Austin, she had made a lot of recordings on her own and then cut some stuff with Spoon that was pretty hot. For a variety of reasons that material wasn’t going to come out on another record label so it became another fun thing to embrace. After that I did a record with Speaking Canaries. That’s with Damon Che, formerly of Don Caballero. There’s another vague connection there. Speaking Canaries had previously been on Scat Records. Scat had a distribution deal with Matador for a while. The early days of 12XU, the years 2001 to 2002, there were a lot of connections to Matador’s history and my own history going back quite a ways.  

Ryan: I knew you were living in England in the early 2000s, handling work for Matador. But I didn’t realize your ex-wife was British.

Gerard: Yeah, she is British. But we met in New York.

Ryan: In the early days of 12XU you were still releasing CDs. This was back when labels were putting out vinyl records on small runs, if at all. Those Spoon LPs have sold for good money.

Gerard: There were certainly some records that I did vinyl and CD on. However, there were a number that I released on CD only. That’s very different from now. These days, I very rarely do CDs. I’m not sure that I will again. Merge did repress Girls Can Tell on vinyl. That album was well received. The two Spoon records 12XU released are still the label’s best sellers.

Ryan: In 2004, you left England and moved to Austin, Texas. What prompted you to move there?

Gerard: I had moved to Austin for a number of reasons. I had already lived in New York for a long time. I really liked Austin a lot as a visitor. There was a lot going on here musically. I liked the shows here; I liked buying records here. It’s a cheaper place to live than New York or Los Angeles. Austin has a great proximity to the rest of the country. I liked that you were a few hours away from the rest of the cities in Texas and only a two-hour flight from Chicago. Living in the center of the country had a lot of appeal to me. Like a lot of other people who came here for music festivals and trade fairs, I really liked the place. I ended up spending so much time here I just thought, “Why don’t I move here?” Instead of visiting once a month or creating excuses to visit, I just decided to stay.  

Ryan: Between 2004 and 2011, 12XU was on hold. Throughout that time, the record industry was in a constant state of flux. What was that period like?

Gerard: It’s hard to sum that up quickly, because a lot of what happened during that period seemed like a blur. There were seismic changes in the way music was bought and sold and in the ways people discovered music. We’re still adjusting to those changes now. I don’t think those changes were necessarily good. I mean, if we had to we could talk about the pluses, but for the most part—especially for people making music on the margins—I don’t think the changes were positive. There were certainly big shifts with what was and wasn’t in vogue. Of course, that aspect of music is always changing.

Ryan: I can’t help but notice that journalism, especially print journalism, was in freefall collapse during that period.

Gerard: Yeah. But ironically what replaced print media—the journalism that was coming out in 2007 and 2008—I’d take that in a heartbeat over what we have now. The stuff I used to complain about—“This Pitchfork reviewer is really annoying”—I’d welcome some of those reviewers back with open arms. Compared to what’s going on now, that was a lot better. Now we’re in this one-hundred-forty character, TMZ, here’s-a-link-to-the-SoundCloud, cut-and-paste style of journalism. Obviously, you can find long-form writing and analysis. People are writing about cool stuff. But you have to look further than you ever did before for it. To say that that stuff is out of step with rest of journalism and the rest of pop culture—that’s always been the case. But the dichotomy is pretty severe right now.

Ryan: It’s not uncommon for record reviews to be simple rewrites of a PR company’s one-sheet. At this point, PR outfits seem to act as gatekeepers for a lot of what gets covered.

Gerard: That was a real shift. Obviously, PR has always existed and there were people willing to buy whatever a company’s line was. That’s not a new phenomenon. But what is new—even with what’s left of your so-called alternative media—is that there’s no skepticism anymore about the process. It’s expected that you cooperate with the PR people. I always had this fantasy that if you were publishing a really good music magazine, that you’d want your autonomy from the record business. You’d cooperate with them to an extent for access, but you wouldn’t let that change the tone of your criticism. You wouldn’t simply exist to regurgitate what they fed you. The other thing is that there doesn’t seem to be any skepticism about that fact that it’s a closed shop. Not everyone has access to PR. They might not have the money or the right connections. That has nothing to do with how good your band is. That has nothing to do with whether or not you’re making mind-blowing music.

Ryan: A couple of friends have started their own labels and pumped a disproportionate amount of their funds into PR campaigns. It got them a few more reviews, but it waserard: f to theirmount of their fundsse. ouping these expenses. d their own labels, and pumped a couple grand into in PR for th impossible for them to recoup their expenses. Most didn’t make it to their third or fourth release.

Gerard: Different things work for different projects. For instance, I can’t sit here and tell you that Matador doesn’t use PR. We have a highly paid, inhouse director of PR. Occasionally, we have used outside companies when we were overworked. So, I can’t say to you that I don’t see any value in it at all.

Ryan: I’ve viewed them as a necessary evil once you get to a certain level.  

Gerard: Perhaps. But PR has to be working in concert with other things. In other words, one magazine feature or prominent good review in a vacuum, without stuff happening around it in retail, radio, social media and the streaming world; the band being on tour at the time—that review might only help you sell a few records. You might not sell a single record off a good review. Having the foundation in place and having a band identity, as well as momentum, is much more important than brining in a PR person. Maybe bring a PR person in then. I don’t know. I’m just saying, often people think having a PR person is the answer. Either they’re getting ahead of themselves or it’s an inefficient use of funds.

Ryan: That’s right. And it’s often the case.

Gerard: If you’re looking at working with a PR company, I think a good question to ask them would be, “How many projects have you turned down?” If the answer is none, that might tell you a lot about them.

Ryan: You had that horrendous housefire back in 2009.

Gerard: Right.

Ryan: I recall asking you if you had any old issues of Conflict and you mentioned that you’d lost everything.  

Gerard: Everything was lost. I got out of there with a pair of pants. I had one guitar at someone else’s house and a guitar at a rehearsal space in North Austin. My car survived the fire. That was about it. It was horrible. It was very nice to be alive. It was great that no other people or cats or dogs were injured in the fire. I had safety nets. I had a job and a salary; family and friends to stay with and insurance. It was an awful experience, but people have gone through way worse.

Ryan: What was the impetus to start 12XU again in 2011?

Gerard: I had wound the label down around 2006 or so. The numbers were pretty poor and a lot the bands had moved on to other things. Running a UK/European-based label from Austin clearly wasn’t going to work. I did a comp on Matador called Casual Victim Pile in 2010. It was all Austin bands. It was not meant to be a comp that said, “This is the Austin scene.” It was a very biased selection. It was me saying, “Here’s a particular generation of bands, playing a particular type of music. I like them and I hope you do too.” It was a very affordable introduction to a lot of groups. That was all it was meant to be. I know the record was not very well received. Fans of the bands on the comp liked it a little bit. A few of the groups joked around about it: “Hey, we’ve got a record on Matador!” The album did not get good reviews. It did not sell very well. It created a little bit of acrimony from some local bands who did not get on it.

Ryan: That’s sort of like The Decline of Western Civilization. A few bands were filmed for it that didn’t make the cut. They weren’t happy about it.  

Gerard: Yeah. There were these sort of pop, career-orientated bands—the 101X and KUTX groups—who were wondering, “Why do these shitty local bands get to be on a Matador comp? We have a PR person and a manager. Why weren’t we on the comp?” Honestly, it didn’t really concern me much. Although Casual Victim Pile was not well received, I decided fairly quickly to do another volume (Casual Victim Pile II, 2011). By the time the first record had come out another ten of fifteen really great Austin bands had formed. Some of them did not have a way of getting their music out. Half the bands from the first comp had already broken up and formed new groups. OBN III’s and A Giant Dog had started up. James Arthur had moved back to Austin. All of this stuff was going on—The Zoltars had gotten going. It’s like, “Oh, shit! I’d better do another one.” I think the second volume was better than the first one.

           I couldn’t in good conscience involve Matador a second time. The first one was such a commercial bomb. It wasn’t a massive drain on company resources, but it wasn’t fair to make everyone there stop what they were doing to put effort behind a record that was very much one person’s folly. 12XU’s infrastructure still existed. I had the same PO Box; the website was still up. “Why not just start it up all over again?” As much as I bristle at Matador always being dragged into the conversation, I can’t deny that there’s a connection there. Casual Victim Pile II rebooted 12XU. And then it’s like, “Cruddy is the best band in town. They’re so great, night after night. They should have an album out and, hey, 12XU already exists.” After the Cruddy record (Negative World), people started asking me, “Hey, can we do a record?” There was no grand plan back in 2011 to turn 12XU into an eight-or-nine-record-per-year operation. It just kind of happened that way.

Ryan: There was a carry over as well from the earlier incarnation of the label. You were still doing records with Chris Brokaw.

Gerard: Right.

Ryan: One of the real gems from that period was the David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights’ Left By Soft (2011).

Gerard: Matador had a history with David. I’ve known the guys in The Clean for years. I was working with The Clean (Compilation, 1988) back in the Homestead years. There are a lot of tangled webs that go way back. Take Bim (Lamont Thomas). I’ve worked with Bim in one capacity or another since the Bassholes.

Ryan: You released Don Howland’s last record (Life is a Nightmare, 2015). That’s a connection going back to the Gibson Bros.  

Gerard: Back to the mid-‘80s.

Ryan: Don had left Great Plains before they joined Homestead, correct?

Gerard: Great Plains signed to Homestead right after he left the band. All of my initial dealings with Don were very negative. He was writing for (Tim Anstaett’s) The Offense. Honestly, I can’t even remember what caused the acrimony. Perhaps I started a fight with Don which would’ve been a really stupid move on my part. But in those days, I tended to pick fights with everyone. Often it wasn’t even meant to be hostile. It was about having fun. Not everyone felt the same way about it. I understand that now. When you have a familiarity with someone they can read between the lines, understand the difference between an insult and kidding around. If it’s someone living miles away it can get taken the wrong way. Certainly, communicating in the letters columns of old fanzines wasn’t the greatest way to initiate conversations.