Local indie label Squidhat Records celebrates five-year anniversary

“I’ll put a squid on anything,” Allan Carter says as he steps into the home office that serves as the headquarters of Squidhat Records, which is stuffed with albums, CDs, music gear, a portable Pabst beer tap, and myriad items bearing the label’s bright red cephalopod insignia, from bottled water to guitar picks, Zippo lighters to T-shirts, in addition to the aforementioned trinkets.

The room conveys the chaos of running an independent record label out of one’s home.

“If you ever go into a neat, well-kept record label office, run,” instructs Carter with a grin. “They should all look like this.”

The walls here double as a library of the nearly three dozen releases that Carter’s put out since he founded Squidhat five years ago.

In that time span, Squidhat has compiled an impressive roster of acts, including many of Vegas’ leading punk bands, secured worldwide distribution for its artists and dropped scads of killer records in a city with minimal outlets for putting out quality records.

The label’s had its share of ups and down, most recently when a distributor went bankrupt last year with thousands of Squidhat wares unpaid for, leaving Carter little choice but to buy back a load of Squidhat records and CDs on his own dime.

“There are days when I’d just love to walk away. It’s frustrating sometimes,” he says. “But when the album comes out and we sit in my living room with the test pressing and the band hears themselves on vinyl for the first time, or when I go see a band and hand them the first copies of their record, it makes it all worth it.”

With Squidhat celebrating its fifth anniversary Friday and Saturday with a pair of shows at the Double Down Saloon featuring from a who’s who of the label’s roster, including reunited punks Surrounded by Thieves, The People’s Whiskey, Franks & Deans and others, we caught up with Carter and some Squidhat artists to get the inside story on a few of the label’s more notable releases:

The Gashers, “Law Is Not Order”

This record, along with the Dirty Panties’ “I Am a Robot,” was among Squidhat’s first releases.

“We knew nothing. It was, ‘We’re just going to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.’ The Gashers were the perfect learning experience. We took them all to Portland, we stayed there for a week, we recorded at a studio up there. We didn’t have distribution at the time, so we got the product and started making phone calls to stores. It’s still one of my favorites just because it was a make-or-break album. That album could have broken us, because we spent a ton of money and did everything wrong that we could do and sort of learned as we went. After that, it got easier.” — Carter

The Quitters, “Contributing to Erosion”

An ambitious, game-changing record for The Quitters, this remains one of Squidhat’s very best releases.

“ ‘Contributing to Erosion’ was a difficult nut for us to crack. The Quitters had always fancied ourselves as more than just a punk band, and we wanted to make a record that represented that sentiment; to bust through the monotony of the boom-chick beats and expand our sound. Our goal was to make an experimental record that took the punk attitude we loved and use it as a filter that we could strain different genres through. The tune ‘Pentazoid’ took jazz and prog-rock riffs and gave them that aggressive, menacing feeling that punk and metal tend to deliver. As always, when producing a record, the goal is to make something classic that will hold up and live long after we all crumble to dust. ‘CTE’ had that aura about it the entire recording process.” — Quitters drummer Micah Malcolm

Pet Tigers, “Pet Tigers”

The debut from this New Wave-leaning trio saw Squidhat branching out to sounds beyond punk.

“That was another turning point. I never set out to be a punk label. I just wanted to release music by bands I liked. With the Pet Tigers, I saw them a couple of times and was just blown away by how they were able to make such a big sound with three people at the time — now they’re a two-piece. It was great songwriting; it had that throwback quality to the ’80s. Liz (Minx, singer-keyboardist) is a big personality. You’re captivated when you watch her perform. I said, ‘We need to make this record.’ I wasn’t thinking about genres or what anybody would think. It was a great experience. That album gave me the idea to do the sub-imprint, Squid Pro Quo. We use that now to release things that are sort of outside the norm.” — Carter

Mercy Music, “When I Die I’m Taking You With Me”

This guitar-driven rager is another highlight in the Squidhat catalog.

“ ‘When I Die’ was done rather quickly. We took a really minimalistic approach to it. I had Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’ and Superdrag’s ‘Head Trip in Every Key’ as a reference vibe in my head. There are left and right guitars, and only a couple tracks have a rhythm guitar under the solos. Drums were not sampled, and tracked in less than eight hours. The entire thing was mixed in about a day via the deadline to get vinyl in time. You’re always going to be able to look back and say, ‘I should have done this and that,’ but it’s a straightforward, no BS record that I’m proud of.’ ” — Mercy Music singer-guitarist Brendan Scholz

Sounds of Threat, “Creature of Habit”

After landing numerous veteran bands, this was Squidhat’s first foray into signing a fiery young punk troupe.

“With Sounds of Threat, we went and saw them play, and there was an energy to them, I said, ‘Someday they’re going to record and somebody’s going to try to polish them or change that sound, and I want to make this record because I’ve never seen that kind of enthusiasm.’ They were young, they were hungry and I wanted to try and capture that. When we sat down with them, we said, ‘Look, make your record, and whatever comes out the other side, that’s what we’ll put out.’ We just let make them make their album, and it is, in my opinion, one of the purest Vegas punk albums that’s ever been released. When you listen to it, you’re in the room with them. It’s not ‘Pet Sounds.’ ” — Carter

Frank & Deans, “How Did You All Get In My Room?”

This punk rock tribute to the sounds of the Rat Pack-era and beyond is one of Squidhat’s most popular releases.

“We were at the beginning of our playing nonstop, so we had a very tight regimen going into the studio. The only concern was translating the live show to an album, which set a high pressure level. After three days, we had a record. Quick and easy. We didn’t know how it was going to be received. Being in a tribute band is one thing. Selling said tribute band on wax is a whole different beast (having an album release party with Otis Day didn’t hurt). All in all, we were very happy with the outcome, and still are. What Allan Carter has done for us, and the Las Vegas punk scene, is so selfless, generous and mind-boggling. Squidhat Records is a staple of the punk rock scene, and shamelessly promotes not only their own bands, but all of Las Vegas underground music. So, here’s to another five years.” — Franks & Deans singer-guitarist Arpee Sampson III

Read more from Jason Bracelin at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com and follow @JasonBracelin on Twitter.