My husband, Neil and I have loved live music forever. We used to hold Parlour Gigs in our backyard where we’d pay to get a talented local or international artist out and get all our friends to buy tickets. We’d get together 30 or 40 people, listen to live music, encourage more live music and support an artist and everyone loved it. We had people like Steve Poltz from Nashville and the amazing local duo Hat Fitz and Cara. We are also both long-time fans of Woodford Folk Festival – I guess we both believe in the power of music to make the world better. But all of that, was a sideline. We both had corporate jobs and a growing family. We were doing the things you were supposed to do. Neil is an architect by trade but was working in the construction industry and hated it. He hated it in a way that was making him utterly miserable. 

One Sunday morning over coffee, he read out an article to me about how there was massive demand for vinyl and a great undersupply. For those that don’t know, the history of vinyl goes something like this: When C.Ds became mainstream in the 80s (starting with Dire Straits Brothers in Arms) most people believed that the vinyl industry was dead and indeed it went into a deep decline. Many vinyl plants closed down and many of the pressing machines were thrown away. By the mid-1990s the C.D was king and was going to stay that way forever. Except then things changed again. MP3’ s arrived and then streaming took over which helped artists find fans but didn’t provide an income, so they turned to touring and merch and of course the best possible merch is vinyl. At the same time fans wanted ways to connect with artists – to support them and learn their stories. And there’s the warmth and tangibility of vinyl in a largely digital world. There is something real and intimate about putting on a record, listening to a side and then flipping it over and listening to the other side. That Sunday morning, Neil read me a story about a new pressing plant somewhere in the States that had just started up. They had no experience because, lets face it, no one has experience anymore in setting up a pressing plant. Everyone who did has either moved on or retired. I think I said something like “how cool would it be to own a vinyl plant” and went back to reading the paper. But a couple of weeks later, Neil came to me with the beginnings of a business plan and said he thought there was something in it. Within a few months we’d sold our house and ordered our beautiful Allegra II press. I loved my job at the time, managing a team, producing high volume SEO content for major travel companies like Expedia, so the plan was for me do the sensible thing and stay there to keep the wolf from the door. But very quickly it became clear that there was a really important role setting up the systems and logistics of the business. It was huge and meant working 16-hour days for weeks. We couldn’t pay someone to do that because, let’s face it, who would do it anyway, so we bit the bullet and I left my job and joined Suitcase full time. Best decision I ever made. 

Well, right after our record press, the very best business decision we made was to rent a commercial coffee machine. So. First coffee. We start early – usually around 6.

 Making vinyl is a process. It requires the input of a series of craftspeople, and everyone needs to care about quality every step of the way. When someone orders a record with us, they give us their audio files and all their artwork. The digital files are sent to Masterdisk in Update New York who cut our lacquers. The lacquers are then sent to California to have the stampers cut. Those stampers are then shipped to us to put in our press to make records. At the same time, we take the artwork and organise our record labels to be pressed in Europe and the covers and any inserts pressed here in Australia. So, every single job has many moving parts, and my job is to manage it all and make sure everything is back in the factory in time to hit our deadlines. We’ve just hired a fantastic production assistant called Camryn Mortimer who is going to take a lot of that work away from me which is going to be amazing.  On top of working with media to get the word out about Suitcase Records, I also spend a lot of time working with artists and labels, understanding their needs and helping them make sure they get the records they want, I also work with media to get word out about Suitcase.

 Looking ahead, I’m hoping to build our website up into a community space where people can work together to find each other and collaborate on projects. Then there is the glamourous stuff like ordering vinyl and cleaning the machine because in such a small business we are all doing everything.

With pleasure! This is a great passion of mine. As I have touched on, I believe that music and musicians are important to a vibrant society. For a lot of reasons, it is almost impossible to make money from streaming platforms and so vinyl is a great way for artists to connect with fans and make an income. While we are delighted to work with the big labels, we are also intentionally holding space for smaller and emerging artists so they can access locally produced vinyl. Our minimum run is 100 and we are happy to take the time to ensure artists get what they need. I also want to make sure we support Australian women in the industry which is why I love what you guys do. We are small and independent and that means we are always open to new and innovative ideas. For example, we’ve had people approach us with the idea of 2 bands going halves in an album – one on side A and one on Side B. Awesome!

Yes! There is a big demand in the industry for this and we want to do everything we can to meet it. We’ve teamed up with indie band Lime Cordiale to produce their new album Enough of the Sweet Talk using a bio-vinyl compound that reduces the Co2 output of vinyl record compound by 92.5% compared to the standard available compound on the market. Lime Cordiale were formed in 2009 by brothers Oli and Louis Leimbach and have since become fan favourites in Triple J’s Hottest 100. They’re also major festival drawcards. The band have long been dedicated to sustainability and are actively seeking solutions to reduce their carbon footprint, especially in relation to touring. Amongst the many things they have done to reduce their footprint, the band have made merch out of Op Shop Wear and also created a carbon neutral beer called Largo. And with the launch of their latest album, they are working with us to pioneer a new carbon compound to reduce the impact of producing PVC. Of course, sound quality is an important consideration, and here at Suitcase we’ve done a lot of internal testing to ensure the records look as beautiful as ever with no reduction in audio quality.

I have had the great privilege of working with some fantastic local artists. Here are some of my favourites: 

Full Flower Moon Band: We have just finished pressing for them and these guys are going places. So talented and so cool.

Girl and Girl: These guys will always have a special place in our hearts, as they were our first ever pressing. It was only a month or so ago, but they have just been in touch to say their first pressing has already sold out and can we press some more.

Then there is Desmond Cheese who we are pressing for this week. Be sure to check them out!

 And … I’m going to sneak in a fourth. We have also just pressed for the Vampires, and I can’t seem to take their music off the office turntable, I love it.

So, here’s what I’ve learned about start-ups. We can go from the highest high to the lowest low in the space of moments. One minute, we receive a message like we got last week from one of the major labels that they loved a test pressing we did and think the quality is exceptional. That was a huge shot in the arm. It lasted for all of 20 minutes until we took a delivery of record stampers which had been opened and damaged by customs, meaning we had to get them recut and reshipped. But in terms of life highs and life lows. My greatest career achievement was building a happy healthy team of 15 people from scratch – all working remotely and all working towards the highest possible quality work. These guys are guns and we all managed to figure out a really good balance of life and work. My lowest low? Early in my career I worked as comms manager at a now defunct Credit union. There was a general manager who was old school in a way that I hope doesn’t exist anymore. His Assistant Manager had been with him for maybe 20 years and during all that time,  I guess, had accepted his sexism and belittling as normal (which I suppose it kinda was.) The problem was she was so miserable and full of hate that all she knew as to pass the misery downward and that meant to me. She’d tell lies and throw me under any bus she could find if she thought it might make her look better. It was a rough and tumble corporate life, one that I had convinced myself was normal. What I later came to realise was that not only was I dealing with some seriously sloppy and subpar management, but also a generous amount of what we’ve all come to know as internalised misogynistic behaviour. I unfortunately didn’t realise how unethical all of this was until I eventually left. I hope and think that girls now identify that kind of behaviour earlier and don’t accept that kind of shit. There is a place for hard work and sucking it up for sure. But that wasn’t it and I wish I had known the difference back then.,

The worst decision is no decision. We have made so many mistakes along the road but honestly it is the only way we could have done it. If we’d sat around looking for the perfect answer, we ‘d still be drinking coffee on our old front deck with absolutely nothing changed. Make a decision. Live with it. Correct it and then keep moving. Be honest. Say sorry if you must and then fix it. 

I am and have always been terrible at taking advice so honestly, even if I had a time machine, it wouldn’t help. But I reckon I’d say to stop comparing your inside to everyone else’s outside. No one is as together as they look – they are just pretending they are. Do everyone a favour and lower your guard. If you go first, others will feel safe enough to follow.

We have an enormous rescue dog who asks for only 2 things in the world in return for eternal love, which is to sleep on the couch while we are watching tv and take a walk every day. So, she and I go for a walk almost every day, and we wander all over the place with no agenda. I don’t take my phone and I always come back happier than when I left.

Ha! When I had a real job, I was very particular with dividing my work and life up and was pretty sure I was excellent at it. Now that we own Suitcase Records, there is no such thing as a division. It is all we do. All the time… Recently, now that things are getting a bit more predictable, we have brought some great people in to help out.  As a result, we have attempted a rule where we don’t talk about work until after we’ve had our first coffee. That’s kinda working but honestly, we need to get it under control. I know work life balance is important and trust me, I would have been the first one to lecture someone else in my own life on the subject. But, what I’ve come to realise is that it’s a whole other world when it’s your own thing.

A long, long bath. And then if that doesn’t help get into my pyjamas even if the sun hasn’t made it to the horizon yet. Neither of those things are available at the factory though so….coffee

Joelene by Dolly Parton. I cannot sing it at all, but if I have to butcher any song, that one is my favourites.