Tag: We Be Friends Records

We Be Friends | Tape Label Takeover

January 6th, 2025
As a small music journal, we rely heavily on the work of independent tape labels to discover and share the incredible artists that we have dedicated this site to. Whether through press lists, recommendations, artist connections, social media support or supplying physicals, these homemade labels are the often-unsung heroes of the industry. Today, the ugly hug is highlighting the work of our friends over at We Be Friends Records.

We Be Friends is an immersive and cherished New York-based record label run by Justin Randel. With an emphasis on community, We Be Friends was built upon the simple pleasure that is sharing music and the deep bonds that can follow. Along with his own project called Reaches, Justin has cultivated a collection of expansive and truly unique projects from beloved artists such as The Spookfish, Mega Bog, Dean Cercone, iji, sneeze awful, gosh! and many more.

We got to catch up with Justin over email correspondence to talk about how We Be Friends came to be, DIY videogames and cultivating community through fermentation and music.

Justin Randel

Shea Roney: What sparked the idea to start a tape label? Was there a particular moment of inspiration that made you take the leap? What goals did you have in mind when starting the label?

Justin Randel: Unfortunately, I started this label because at the time a bunch of friends and myself were on labels that weren’t sending us any form of sales reports. I had friends playing Pitchfork and others that were having their record repressed, but nothing, no word from the labels. This was pre-streaming too, so it was obvious something was up and something needed to change. I was pretty stubborn and naive about what a tremendous amount of work running a label is and just how difficult it is to get press attention as a newbie and relative unknown, but in the end I’m glad I did this. Although this was a much harder route, I think it’s important to try and shape a more just existence.

SR: Can you share the story behind the name of the label? We Be Friends has such a welcoming tone to it and that feels to transcend into the community that you have built out of it.

JR: When I started this label, I was at the height of my fermentation fever. I wanted to ferment just about everything which included making sometimes good, sometimes questionable beers and wines. The idea was that every album would come with a bottle of something which was easy to pull off because this was also a time where pretty much all shows happened in a warehouse or basement. The state of Illinois does not allow homebrewers to sell alcohol; however, it does allow a person to give alcohol away to friends. Pretty much everyone is just a short conversation away from being a friend.

Bottling with Sinuba and Dan

SR: Do you have any collaborators that help you run the label, and if so, how does that shape the way you function? You also partner up with many other indie labels to share physical releases.

JR: Ugh I freaking wish I had collaborators. I regret starting this label on my own because it can take so much time, energy and self-assuredness. I’m definitely an optimistic person, but traversing the ever-shifting musical landscape is arduous. It can be difficult to wake up every day and tell yourself, ‘yes, this is a great idea’. As you mentioned, I have partnered with Solid Melts, Chinabot and Orindal in the past. These partnerships came about because at the time, we all just felt that we really wanted people to hear those albums. I like doing joint releases like this especially in the case of Chinabot where the label is in a different continent because it can feel silly at times sending just one record or tape to another part of the world.

Cambodia with Saphy Vong of Chinabot

SR: Who was the first artist you worked with and how did that come to be? How do you find the artists you work with?

JR: The first artist was myself. To this day, anytime I try something new like a new plant or release technique, I try to use my own projects as the tester just in case something goes south. It’s all just friends or friends that I met on tour. Although I do appreciate and listen to every submission, I do think of this less as a label and more as a community archive.

Paris with Opale, Marie Delta and Ensemble Economique

SR: What’s it like bringing an album from concept to reality, especially when making physical media? Are there any parts of the process you particularly love—or find challenging?

JR: Honestly, I find all of it extremely exciting and sometimes a little nerve wracking when a lot of copies of something show up at my door. I think the only challenge I really feel is that while writing press, I do not do that press agent thing of sending the same or nearly the same email five times. I just can’t bring myself to do that. Lately, I’ve also gone back to the old days of sending out physical copies. I am releasing these albums because I want to share albums after all. I keep learning new things with every release! I do try to do ‘better’ every time I release something, and I try to stay open to the way things shift or the possibility that I don’t know what I’m doing at all

Haunted House by Dean Cercone Vinyl

SR: Working with Dan of The Spookfish, chatting on your daily hikes prior to the release of his album Bear in the Snow and the video game of the same name, was said to have broadened your horizon in the world of independent video game creators. You and The Spookfish also just released another soundtrack for a video game called To the Flame. Where has exploring this new community enhanced your perspective on creativity and are you looking to work further with video games in the future?

JR: I think when Dan first told me about DIY videogames, I mostly understood videogames as something a corporation with a big budget creates. I don’t think I necessarily understood it as art, but rather as a product which can feel similar at times. It’s interesting and encouraging to know that a small group of friends or in Bear in the Snow’s case, just a singular person can create a video game or something that has the power to transport you out of presence in a positive way similar to the way music can for many of us. Although I don’t have any current plans to work with a video game, I am open to the idea.

Recording Bear in the Snow with The Spookfish

SR: For those who are looking to start their own tape label, what advice do you have for them?

JR: I think it’s vital to understand that music is not a competition and not to self-limit as you go along. A ‘no’ or the more often received ‘no response’ is not necessarily a ‘no’ a year from now or after you’ve accomplished a bit more.

Along with this series, our friends over at We Be Friends are offering a merch bundle giveaway! The bundle includes To the Flame (2024) by The Spookfish, Church (2024) by Ricki Weidenhof, Another Head (2023) by Alden Penner, Happy Together (2018) by Mega Bog and Pseudodoxia (2013) and I am Alive and Well (2016) by Reaches. Also included will be an ugly hug tote bag and stickers.

To enter the giveaway, follow these easy steps below!
1. Follow both We Be Friends and the ugly hug on Instagram.
2. Tag your music friend.
3. Comment your favorite hiking spot.
The winner will be picked next Monday, January 13th, and will be contacted through Instagram.

All of these releases and more can be found on the We Be Friends bandcamp page in limited quantities.
iji Finds Joy and Community on Automatically | Album Review

September 23rd, 2024

iji (ee-hee) is one of those groups that can be described as “your favorite artist’s favorite artist” (Sasha Colby), and through fifteen years of sophisticated pop tunes and pure indie bliss, they have proven time and time again that making music can and should always be fun. Fronted by Zach Burba, iji returns with their latest record Automatically, the groups first release since their relocation to LA in 2020 and a revitalization of the creative spirit within. Having time to sit and wonder, bubble in the troubles of the pandemic and its shadowy afterglow, Burba took the time to reflect on what is worth saying in a world like this, where stripped back pop tunes and witty musings can be just as effective when radiating moments of essential joy, communal care, existential dread, childhood dreams and souring friendships become harder to define.

On the surface, Automatically revels in organic and articulated instrumentals that feel lighter than past albums by the rather adventurous group, yet at its heart, sing the praises of such charm and character that iji has defined throughout their rich history. With an array of collaborators of indie spearheads and hometown heroes such as Erin Birgy (Mega Bog), Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief), Nicholas Krgovich (Nicholas Krgovich) and many more, Automatically is the communal event that it was always meant to be. “First Lickers of the Rock” simmers on top of electric tinkerings, while songs like “Recycle Symbol” and “Worlding Way” bounce with melodic energy, where 70’s folk-pop renegades would feel seen, and then honored when provisioned in the charming little world that iji so notably crafts. “Confusing Questions” and “Fear of What” are deliberate mysteries, unsettling at times, mark their own territory on the rather wide-ranging and inclusive collection of stylings and sounds.

“I want to take it all back / Every line ever spoken”, opens the album with “Onomatopoeia”, a song that blooms from the stem of a folk groove, choreographed to Burba’s melodic intuitions and clever vocal harmonies that would trigger anyone’s own participation in the comradery. It may come down to the phonetics that feel the most fitting, “Only one expression remains / the onomatopoeia” becomes an expletive, a simplification of all the shit around us that feels impossible to describe. And to his credit, Burba’s often textured and far out lyrical comprehension grasps this need of purposeful communication. “Walk a little more around the block to see the Deadhead sticker on a Tesla truck,” he sings, highlighting the moral and political hypocrisy in late stage capitalism. “Holy Spirit, tie my show,” sets “Dominus Vobiscum” into a whistling whimsy – “around and over, under, up and through” as religion becomes normalized in selfish ways more and more.

Intuition meets introspection as Burba rears an ending to the journey of Automatically. “Professional Anything” floats to its own lighthearted pace, as expectations are broken and passion and creativity come out on top. “She Sees” weighs heavy as it lumbers through a sparse soundscape. Featuring Adrianne Lenker on backing harmonies, she hits a steady and ghostly bongo like a heartbeat, as Barbus and co. come to the finish line. Reaching this collective release that has been kept inside for too long, Automatically doesn’t revel in the disastrous and estranged for long – even when heavy moments arise, Burba feels the most comfort in letting it breath, making for a rejoiceful moment of creativity and community to fill in the grand scheme of it all.

You can listen to Automatically on all platforms now as well as purchase a vinyl via We Be Friends Records.

Written by Shea Roney
The Spookfish Shares Soundtrack for New Rebel Jester Studio Game, To The Flame | Tape Preview

September 2nd, 2024

Running through the Catskills, cultivating in the heart of Maine and now resting in New Paltz, New York, the sonic tinkerings and lethargic dreamscapes of The Spookfish have been sprouting across the Eastern United States for some time now. Brought to life by Dan Goldberg, The Spookfish is a cherished project, one that revels in the heart of natural beauty and the experience of an ethereal being – each collection of work representing its own journey inside a textured sonic world. Last week, The Spookfish released “To The Flame”, a new tape via We Be Friends Records and the encompassing soundtrack for the new Rebel Jester Studios platform video game, To The Flame.

Within the dark depths of a weepy cavern, To The Flame follows the journey of a moth, whose main objective is to reach the light at the end of the tunnel; “a brutal pilgrimage to meet god”. The concept was inspired when game creator Ezra Szanton went to watch local dungeon synth artists Deep Gnomes and Covered Bridges with Goldberg at a cozy barn in Maine. The collaboration between Szanton, Rebel Jester artist Fergus Ferguson and Goldberg was a very hands-on experience as Szanton shared in a statement;

“Dan’s sound is perfect for this game. He combines dark ambient synths with personal instrumentals in a way that’s melancholy and spooky but also hopeful. To The Flame takes place across 4 areas, each with their own mood. Usually our artist, Fergus Ferguson, would create the art for an area first and then Dan would create music inspired by that art but sometimes it worked the other way around with Dan making music first and Fergus creating art that matched. Oftentimes I would get attached to early drafts of the songs. We decided to keep many of the early drafts in the game as variations, so when you go into an area you have a random chance of hearing essentially a demo track instead of the “final” song. This kind of variation helps keep the player interested even if they’re not making physical progress in the game (which is common because the game is quite difficult). Dan’s music really elevated To The Flame. I remember after putting the music for the main menu into the game, I just sat there for 20 minutes listening to it and thinking “we’re making a real game!!”

The soundtrack becomes a new world in and of itself; meandering through tight and damp crevices, yet manages to feel hauntingly spacious; primitive in nature, yet ghostly in its deliverance. Most of the album was recorded on a cliff over looking the ocean in Maine and was finished in a snowy shack down in New Paltz. Whether through the methodic atmosphere and scratchy recordings of “Not Alone”, the ominous and ethereal presence of “Voice in the Cavern” or the toying pacing and intonations of “Heavenly Light”, the soundtrack creeps along its own decayed and treacherous path to join you as you make your way to that singular light at the end of the tunnel.

You can download To The Flame HERE

To The Flame Soundtrack by The Spookfish are now available through We Be Friends Records.