Dangerbird's Wings: Silversun Pickups' Label Bangs Out a Template for a Post–Major Label Landscape

That economy of decision-making prevented Burnstein from entertaining any of the major-label overtures the Pickups received after Carnavas took off thanks to the success on alt-rock radio of the band’s single “Lazy Eye.” In fact, he says, “there were no offers made, because we made it clear that we’re with Dangerbird.”

Castelaz had his own way of dealing with the interest. “When major-label guys would call me and go, ‘So, what are you gonna do with Silversun?’ I’d be like, ‘What do you mean?’” he says. “‘Are you possibly wearing a jester’s cap and have fucking bells on your feet? What the fuck are you talking about?’”

Jennie Warren

Dangerbird Records co-founders Peter Walker (left) and Jeff Castelaz

Silversun Pickups

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More About

• Jeff Castelaz
• Peter Walker
• The Smiths (Band)
• Justin Meldal-Johnsen
• Tony Hoffer

The prospect of shifting to a major has never held any allure for the Pickups, says Aubert, because the concept of artist development — of “sitting still for longer than two fucking seconds,” as the singer puts it — has virtually dried up in the corporate record business. In contrast, he says, Dangerbird “are in it for the long haul. They made it clear from day one that that’s how they run things and that it’ll take us a long time to get dropped.”

“Jeff grew up admiring 4AD and Factory and Mute and all those cool labels,” says Tony Hoffer, an L.A.-based producer (and longtime Dangerbird Management client) who’s made records with Beck, Air and the Kooks, among others. “From them he learned that it’s about building a career and not just, ‘Let’s put out a record!’ Any label needs to sell records, but Peter and Jeff recognize that it may not be the first or second release — it may be the third or the fourth — and that that’s okay.”

Plus, Hoffer adds, “They’re really clever at street marketing, so that by the time that third record comes out, it seems like the band has been around forever. And that kind of stuff can be done without spending a lot of money.”

The label’s latest low-expense artist-development tactic is its resurrection of the old-school A&R guy, and having members of the Dangerbird family who’ve been around the block lend their expertise to the label’s younger acts (in terms of songwriting or producing or making the transition from studio to stage). Hoffer describes working with Eulogies, tightening material for the band’s 2008 EP and its just-released Here Anonymous album, while Meldal-Johnsen has helped out Dappled Cities, the One AM Radio, Darker My Love and Sea Wolf.

“Jeff thought it might be cool for someone to do what people like Lenny Waronker and Ahmet Ertegun did on a small scale,” says Meldal-Johnsen. “I’m kind of a homebody, so I’ve got no predilections toward becoming a talent scout. That’s an outmoded concept in the age of the Internet, anyway; now you meet bands through other bands or through a MySpace link. But Peter and Jeff wanted someone who has time behind studio glass — someone who’s perhaps more credible than a dude with a convertible and a tan — to finesse the roster that exists currently, rather than someone to find new talent. I’m a resource in town, and I think that goes further than the services that labels usually offer these days.”

Needless to say, Hoffer and Meldal-Johnsen aren’t providing their time for free, and the latter admits that the work they’re doing is “not a cost that is required for immediate survival. But we make it cost-effective, and the reasons for doing it are much more in line with Jeff’s long-term vision. It’s a feather in his cap. When people find out about this or about the in-house licensing, they realize that this is unique. These guys are trying to form a low-key juggernaut, and historically, sometimes businesses succeed in tough times by doing things that are counterintuitive.”

The people who don’t cite Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours in reference to Castelaz — and plenty of those who do — talk about his passion, his energy and his commitment to his work. Says Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery, whose solo album Help Wanted came out on Dangerbird last year: “The image I got the first time I met Jeff was sort of as if the entire landscape of L.A. was on fire and he was standing in the middle of it unaware that everything was burning down, saying, ‘I can’t wait to show you some L.A. real estate!’”

When you find out that Castelaz’s 5-year-old son, Pablo, has been in treatment for cancer since May 2008, there’s a temptation to wonder if his zeal regarding Dangerbird is a form of escape from the reality he faces at home. (He’s also an avid cycler given to dawn rides in the Angeles National Forest.) “Oh, God, no,” he says with a laugh, grabbing a bite for lunch in Dangerbird’s artist-friendly conference room. If anything, Castelaz says, he’s determined that Pablo’s condition inform his professional life. Last year, for instance, he put together a compilation for Urban Outfitters’ Give Listen Help series, featuring cuts by Garbage, Rilo Kiley and most of the Dangerbird roster. Proceeds benefited the Pablove Foundation, which Castelaz and his wife, Jo Ann Thrailkill, created to support “the pediatric-cancer community in and around Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,” where Pablo is undergoing treatment.