We Are Triumphant are nothing short of devoted to providing the best that the underground has to offer. Whether it’s northwestern nihilistic, hate-filled hardcore or southern, stellar groove, there is a little something for everyone to be found in We Are Triumphant’s line-up. Greg Long (label owner/founder) was nice enough to answer some questions for us.
I just wanted to first start off by saying thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedule and answer some questions for us.
No Problem! It’s a pleasure to speak with anyone that is passionate about music and foremost is involved with it at its very nature. Supporting it. So thank you!
So, what made you want to start a record label and how hard was getting it all up and running?
Frustration mainly, I’ve been working with bands for a long time. When you work with bands you feel so strongly about and don’t see the attention they deserve you want to do something about it. For me that something was starting a label. I decided that the bands I worked with deserved to be heard and I was going to be the person to help people hear it. We Are Triumphant has always been about finding music that we feel should be treated as a gift and exposed. I love to bring that music to the surface.
Where does the name We Are Triumphant come from?
When I was 15 I started a punk myspace based label called Catastrophe Records. After awhile I realized do I really want to promote a name that depicts things are not going to go so well. With identity and image being everything for a brand I stepped away from it and did a little growing up. It would be several years later before I gave a label another shot and this time I knew I should go for something uplifting and positive.
When starting this, did you ever expect it to get to the point it is today?
Absolutely and there is still so much we plan on doing and so many goals we’d like to achieve. I’ve been really blessed by some of the progress we have made in such a short time but I am still as hungry as ever.
Do you usually find it hard to decide on a band you want to sign?
More than ever, every time we sign a band the next one has to bring something new to the table. When you have so many great different sounding artists on your roster it’s hard to bring on a new band unless you feel they can hold their own. As we get involved with so many great releases everyone has to have its own kick that makes it worth it.
What are your favorite unsigned bands out there right now?
Car Bomb, Liferuiner, Landscapes, The Cinema, The Last 10 Seconds of Life, Barrier, Aegaeon there is tons of them out there!
Has there ever come a time where you’ve wanted to sign a band and then wait on it and then they get picked up by someone else?
Not yet!
Have you ever rejected a band only to have them release a record on a rival label and become huge? If so, which band or bands?
Nope.
What are some big releases coming in the next few months for We Are Triumphant?
We are about drop full lengths from Silence and Narrow Hearts. The Treebeard full length is also being worked on as well as Dismiss The Serpents. Ender & Defender are finishing up EP’s. All and all their is a lot of awesome music brewing in our camp!
Do you have any quality control procedures on any of your releases? An example: do you listen to a CD and think “it’s not up to par” and release it anyways with out question?
Luckily all of our artists do nothing but please us with each release we are able to do with them.
If you could change anything about the music community what would it be and why?
It would be awesome to see more people talking about the bands they loved as opposed to the ones they can do without.
Do you have any advice to the readers out there that might want to start a label?
Do it! Your only going to help the artists you get involved in right? Might as well give it a shot. Even if you sell 10 records or 10,000 at least your putting something out there! Buckle down though if you want to do it as a career and get a comfortable computer chair.
Well that is pretty much it for my interview, thank you for taking the time to answer the questions. Is there anything else you would like to say?
No problem, thank you for having me!
