Stomp Records’ 16th Anniversary!

Matt Collyer praises Montrealers's ‘joie de vivre’

By: Dave Jaffer
Feb 28, 2011 - 11:33
See all articles by Dave J. »

As sixteens go, this one is particularly sweet: Stomp Records, the little ska label that could—and, moreover, the one that did—is stripping down to its birthday suit and preparing to get its drivers’ license.

If you’re in shock, get in line. Planet Smashers vocalist/guitarist Matt Collyer, Stomp’s head honcho, still can’t believe it’s gone on this long.

“Stomp was originally a bluff, no joke,” Collyer explains. “Members of the Smashers and Kingpins thought it'd be a good idea to make people think something was ‘happening’ in the city so I suggested creating a dummy label since I was already releasing The All-Skanadian Club compilation. Kingpins’ first three-song EP was released on Stomp as was the Smashers' first full length.

“We had a five-day business plan: ‘Just make it to Friday.’”

By my count, then, Stomp has celebrated around 832 Fridays in their time.

That’s almost as many as Justin Bieber.

Speaking of Biebs, Stomp’s Mike Magee—Stomp’s resident “label d-bag”—had this to say about what the next 16 years of Stomp may look like:

“Our taste in music will probably change as we [age],” he jokes. “Maybe we'll get into psychedelic funk grime or Euro breakbeat goth-rock. Then again our tastes haven't really changed too much in the last 16 years so I doubt we're gonna grow up at all in the next 16. Hopefully we'll get a shot at doing a Justin Bieber record when he finally decides to put out that ska-punk record we've all been waiting for…”

Hilarity aside, one can’t help respect Stomp for what they’ve accomplished, and, more importantly, when they’ve done so. Despite rumours of ska’s demise, Stomp Records kept on truckin’. Collyer suggests that Montreal, as a city, helped immensely in that regard.

“If a Montrealer has $20 left [they] will go out for drinks rather than stay home and eat KD or watch a movie,” he says. “Call it ‘joie de vivre’ or just stupidity but it's probably the biggest reason why Stomp has done well here.”

Later on, Collyer—in his trademark, humble style—backs away from the suggestion that he and his have helped sustain the entire ska/punk scene in Montreal, despite the obvious truth of the matter.

“I'd like to believe that Stomp's existence has little effect on the scene in terms of creativity,” he says. “I don't think bands are writing ska or psychobilly cause they think that we'll be interested in working with them. Of course having a home for these types of music, be it punk, ska, rockabilly or psychobilly doesn't hurt. We [just] work hard at getting the public to listen to the music we release. We believe [it] should be heard.”

Amen to that.

Stomp Records’16th Anniversary Party features The Planet Smashers, The Resignators and The Dreadnoughts @ Club Soda on March 4th.