Boulder Daily Camera (article link)
June 8, 2001

Seth Goldberger builds a record company for jam-band scene
By Greg Glasgow

In jazz and punk it's a common thing: A record label selects bands with similar sounds and aesthetics, and if the label does its job well, listeners develop an affinity for the label as well as the bands. Jazz fans expect certain things from Blue Note; punk fans expect certain things from Dischord.

Boulder's Seth Goldberger hopes jam band fans will develop similar feelings about his 2-year-old label, Lauan Records, which specializes in post-Grateful Dead improv bands, groove jazz outfits and funk and soul groups with college appeal.

"It's music I've always loved and always been into," says Goldberger, 25, who operates Lauan from an office near 20th and Spruce streets. "My business partner (David Landsberger) and I were both tapers for years before this - we both grew up in New York City, where Blues Traveler, the Spin Doctors, the Authority and all the original jam bands were from. That's where the scene really started to grow. We wanted to do something for the community we thought would benefit everyone, bands and fans."

Goldberger got the idea for Lauan (the name comes from a type of wood he used in his technical theater days) when he was a student at Rhode Island's Brown University.

"I went to shows all the time, and I went to a couple of shows where the bands didn't have CDs," he says. "I was at this one show and I got really fed up with the fact that they didn't have a CD. It wasn't their fault, but the band was awesome. I went up to them afterwards and said, 'How come you guys don't have a CD?' And they said, 'We don't have the money, the resources or anything else like that.' And I said, 'I tell you what, I'm going to put something together.'"

Lauan's first release was the Three Sets compilation, which combined 25 minutes of live music from three different bands on one disc. The concept, Goldberger says, was cross-pollination: If a fan bought Vol. 1 to hear Vinyl, she would also be exposed to Day by the River and Jiggle the Handle.

In 1999, Goldberger moved the label to Boulder, which he says is a natural headquarters for a jam-band imprint.

"The Boulder region is to me, besides New York City, the strongest jam-band music scene in the country," he says, noting the proliferation of clubs here and the area's central location between the two coasts. "It's become a real center point for almost every band wanting to make it."

Lauan's next projects included a full-length MP3 disc from Georgia quintet Day by the River, a second Three Sets volume and a live record from San Diego-based jam'n'soul band Wise Monkey Orchestra. With Goldberger's publicity and distribution know-how (Lauan records are available nationally at outlets like Tower Records, and online at CDNow and Amazon), the band saw the sales of They Live rise rapidly above the sales of its previous, independently released efforts.

"We just liked Seth's energy and the fact that he gave us the freedom to put out what we wanted, artistically and musically, which was important to us. He didn't ask us to make too many changes," says WMO keyboard player Sean Hart, who performs with the band Saturday at Trilogy Lounge.

Goldberger has been busy lately, readying a full-length live album - recorded mostly at Trilogy and the Fox - from Austin jam band Larry as well as a third Three Sets volume. Other upcoming projects include the rerelease of two older WMO albums and a record from Northwestern funk band Porterhouse. Goldberger also is talking to two Boulder bands about signing with Lauan - he just can't say which ones. After just two years, Lauan may be on the way to beginning its legacy as the jam band label of both quality and quantity.

"The ultimate goal is to build a brand name behind Lauan, and to be able to guarantee any band coming to us an audience," Goldberger says. "It's something the punk labels did in the '80s: Dischord, DeSoto, SST - they were taking these bands and marketing to the punk scene. They said, 'Listen, we're doing this ourselves, and whatever we put out is going to be top-of-the-line punk.' That's what we want to do for the jam-band scene."

For more information about Lauan Records, check out www.lauan.com.

By Greg Glasgow Camera Staff Writer