A Conversation with Josh Collum, Collin Brace & Julie Roberts – HuffPost 10.4.13

Mike Ragogna: Hi everyone. Apparently, two of you that I’m on the phone with are in the process of revitalizing Sun Records. And Julie, you’re the focus artist for the re-launch. What’s going on with that?

Josh Collum: Well, I can tell you how we got together and then Collin can jump in as far as where it’s at now and what it looks like as far as the future. My company, Sorted Noise, had been working with Sun for the last three years, basically because of Collin. He’s the VP there and he’s a young guy and he’s really done some good things that he can talk about as far as expanding the brand. We were talking about film and TV and advertising and being in that office every week and listening to that catalog and just going, “Man, there is so much here that’s really somewhat dormant, no one’s really doing anything with the label or the brand so much.” We had always kind of jokingly had this idea of “turning the label back on.” We didn’t know what that meant or what it looked like, but we always kind of joked about it. I think what became clear was it had to be the perfect artist to even begin the conversation. We had known Julie for years now and she came into a place where she was freed up from her label and her management and she was ready to make a record that seemed like a really good fit for what we were doing. So we brought it to John Singleton, the president. We didn’t know what kind of answer we were going to get, but he fell in love with Julie and got behind the project one hundred and ten percent and said, “Let’s go for it. Let’s get back out there.” So from my perspective, that’s how it all came together, Julie is really the star. Collin can probably give a little bit of a different angle on the story.

MR: Collin, where does the history begin with you and Sun Records?

Collin Brace: I started in 2008 as kind of a royalty manager. John Singleton and his brother Shelby Singleton really took me under their wing and sort of mentored me through a re-education of the music industry. I went to Belmont and got a music biz degree, but I had no clue what the music industry was until I got here. They kind of tore down everything I learned and rebuilt it and told me the truth of what it takes to run your own label and record artists and do all that. I’ve been here now for almost five years and about two years ago, I was in a position to really start working on our brand, trying to refresh it, retell the story, and collaborate with the same brands that fit us and were fluid across the board. I worked with Josh and he and I started an internal partnership with repping TV and film catalogs, like Josh said. Josh came in and he immediately had the same idea. We kept looking for the right artist, because you can kind of make an excuse to sign anybody to Sun because we have more per genre and we’re kind of known as the outlaw label, the edgy label, the forever independent label. It was just one of those things where we could pick a band we liked, pick an artist we liked, but we knew we were still waiting on the perfect artist. Julie kind of stepped in, like Josh said. She was available, she had the music, she has the character, she has the personality, she just fit our demographics, she fit our brand, and it just made a lot of sense, musically, from the direction that she was going. It really paid homage to us, it was also another chapter to us, and that’s what turned me on the most to push for Julie. That’s where it started.

MR: Hey Julie, your turn!

Julie Roberts: Hey, how are you?

MR: I’m fine, how are you doing?

JR: I’m good.

MR: Julie, how do you feel about having so much light from the “Sun” shining on you?

JR: [laughs] I love the light, let it keep shining! I actually am so excited. Some of the first meetings I had with Collin and Josh and John Singleton at Sun, I felt like the sun definitely will shine and I feel very fortunate to be a part of an amazing label that is responsible for such amazing music that everybody still knows and still loves. I feel like it’s a perfect home for me as an artist, they understand what I do and they like what I do, they like that my music is unique and I feel like all the music that Sun has ever released is unique and all of the artists are unique. I was hoping that I would find a home like that one day that allowed me to be the artist that I am and the day that John Singleton said, “Welcome to the Sun Records family,” was a day that I’ll never forget because it’s something that I had waited on for many years since leaving Universal. It was definitely worth the wait and definitely worth years of ups and downs and in-betweens. I’m just proud of the music we’ve made and of this record and I hope that I make Collin and John proud as well.

MR: Collin, the identity of Sun is so indelible in music history, so how do you take a rebellious child like Sun and make your evolve into something “new”? Like, how are you envisioning your Sun growing up?

CB: I think we had a lot of help from our artists. As our artists grew up, we grew with them and our story’s so connected to Johnny Cash and Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, that matured and opened a lot of doors for us because we’re so associated with them and we forever plan to be. I think Julie’s story is almost identical to the Sun story. She’s had an amazing career, she’s done so much musically that any artist would be happy to have accomplished. For her, she came to us and said, “I want to be this new Julie.” We heard the music and it said, “Hey, this is where Sun’s going,” and it opened the new generation to Sun, because we have a lot of old listeners and a lot of younger people that are just now starting to discover Johnny Cash and Elvis and we want to keep the beat in the music. Julie said it’s not like anything she’s done before, and I think that maturity mirrors what we’re trying to do.

JC: I think the other thing is if you listen to the record, it is rebellious, it is edgy, it isn’t a mainstream country record, per se. I think it all aligns. It is Sun, it is that rebel in a lot of ways.

MR: I think that country music, every once in a while, reinvents itself because it’s gotten too pop or whatever. Unfortunately, I believe it does itself a disservice when it reinvents itself predictably, like pushing artists with big hats that are faux-traditional. It seems like it would benefit the label and the artists more if they developed the true “country” nature of the performers, what it means to them and their music, not just cater to the stereotype.

JC: Absolutely. People are hungry for what this record is going to give them. There’s a hunger for real sounds. There’s a hunger out there and we feel like we’re on the front end of it.

CB: Michael, you said it perfectly when you said the word “faux.” I feel like a lot of country music right now is very faux, it’s very fake, very polished pop that has never been fun. I keep using the word “authentic,” but I feel like Julie’s music is very authentic to what was, even as far back as the fifties and today, and I think that’s what’s really cool about it. It’s real and it is edgy, it pushes the limits. People see that and they’re attracted to that.

MR: Colin, it seems that you’re charged with exploiting the catalog in a way that’s beyond Johnny Cash and everyone that’s typically associated with Sun. Now, you have artists like Ed Bruce who did have a country career as well, and he may be more famous than the other artists on your roster who are a bit more obscure. Do some of those more obscure artists also get some more light of day in 2014? Might that be an interesting angle for Sun to go?

CB: Yeah, it’s funny you bring that up, because that’s exactly where Josh and I started about three years ago. We got a hold of the catalog, I didn’t really dive into it to that point in working here. I asked out engineer in the studio, “Hey, can you give me a hard drive with all of the music that we have?” He was like, “Are you sure?” He gives me this hard drive and I open it up and it’s got about eight thousand masters on it. That is a lot of music, and a lot of it is music that’s never been released. A lot of it’s music that only the artist and the producer have heard and it’s never been touched in thirty or forty years.

JC: And most of it’s amazing.

CB: Most of it’s unbelievable and we can’t recreate that, we can’t take it and try to go back and make a forties blues song today.

JC: Yeah, I think the fun thing for us was to take that music to film and TV. You look at Breaking Bad and I’d say seventy percent of the music on that show are unknown Sun Records artists that they licensed. That’s a big thing for the brand. It’s one more way to turn the label back on and bring it new life.

MR: Let’s look at that for a second, the Breaking Bad association. Has that shown a light on the Sun Records brand?

CB: Absolutely, and it’s not just Breaking Bad, it’s tons of other shows. But the ability to go in to music supervisors and show them authentic catalogs and neat catalogs and say, “Hey, this is available and not only is it available, it’s really easy for you to clear and obtain the license for your show,” has almost completely brought those songs in our catalog a whole new life. Songs that haven’t had any activity in thirty years, songs that haven’t made a dime in their whole life are now getting a promotion or people are searching them and looking for them and going, “Hey, what is this? Where is this from?” For Josh and I, that has been a blast. It’s been extremely fun to find our favorite artists in eight thousand songs and say, “Hey, let’s put this on this show,” or “Let’s pitch it to this person.” Julie even cut a song that’s sort of in that mentality. It had a little bit more popularity than songs that are completely unknown. Julie, you should fill Michael in on that.

JR: The song is called, “He Made A Woman Out Of Me,” and it was in the Sun catalog. I asked Collin early on if I could put a song from Sun on this record. He gave me that same hard drive with all of their songs. I started listening to it and all of them are great, but I’m very specific on which songs make my album if I don’t write them so it was really hard, because all of the songs are great. But as I was going through them, I got an email from John Singleton at Sun that said, “I know you’re going through the catalog, but I want you to listen to this song that’s in our catalog. I feel like this is you.” I listened to it and I was like, “Hey, I know I’m in the right place because he is right on. This is so me.” I love it. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the record, we’ve been playing it out on the road some. It’s just fun and John believes in me. He knows what he signed because he knew I’d love the song and he believed that I could do the song.

MR: Where do you see Sun Records going in what’s called “country” music right now?

CB: That’s definitely a difficult question because like you said earlier, there are parts of country music that will just never fit what Sun is and that’s why Sun was created, because even when it was created, it was created because there was a lot of music out there that wasn’t getting played or recorded. I think Sam Phillips knew what he was doing when he started it. I think the future in country right now is Julie Roberts. We’re creating the rest of her story and we’re focused on her and the music. I think it’s interesting because you can see everything from the outside and what it looks like, but once you get the taste of what she’s done and how it’s paid homage to the past but it’s also put a spin on our future. It just kind of all comes together even more clearly. You know how we said we work together as a team well? The music is the center of all of that. Without the music, this wouldn’t have happened the way it did. I think that’s a big tribute to Josh and his team and how they’re producing it, and Julie doing a great job picking the right songs. I’m not going to take any credit for that part. But I think the music is really the center, and of we melded it all to be something really cool and special.

JR: I just want to say I feel like my purpose with this record and what I hope to do is get it out there to people. I’m just so proud of it and I feel like that’s evolution. Get it into the hands of “music” lovers rather than “country” music lovers. I approached the record as writing music that meant a lot to me. I’ve lived through a few things and I’m stronger personally from my last record. I think my writing reflects that.

MR: Julie, I’m going to be delicate about this question, but you said the material on this album came from personal experience?

JR: Right.

MR: Was it also affected by your health challenges?

JR: I didn’t write a song specifically about that. There is a song on there called “Arms Of Jesus” and I really do feel like I’m in the arms of Jesus. MS is a part of me, it doesn’t define me. That song to me, it says, “Don’t cry for me. I am fine.” I’m taking care of myself and I’m doing what I love. Worry about me if I’m not doing what I love because that’s when something’s wrong. But I’m doing great and the music, lyrically is honest with that. There’s a song about my mom called “Old Habit.” Everything that I wrote, nine out of the fourteen, are very honest and true to me.

MR: Beautiful. Hey everyone, I have a traditional question. What advice do you have for new artists?

JR: For new artists, I think, it’s to be really strong in who you are artistically. Love who you are as an artist creatively. I’ve been down the road where I try to make music because someone else has asked me to, and this record, I made because I loved every song on it. I think that I’ve had more pleasure making this record than any that I’ve done because it’s about me. I think any advice to any new artist is know who you are and stay true to who you are. Write the songs or find the songs that mean something to you. I think it’s my purpose to help other people with music. Music did that for me; growing up, it was my savior, and if you’re honest, you’ll hopefully save other people through your music. That’s my advice, just to be who you are. And keep working. Nothing is easy. You’re going to have days where you’re like, “What am I doing?” But it’s so worth it when you step out on that stage and you see people react to you and sing your songs back to you. Just keep going. That’s what I say. And keep the faith. Faith for me is very important. And it’s a business, so you do need to learn the business side too. But just be who you are and everything will fall into place.

CB: If I was to give anyone advice, the number one thing I would say is to get an awesome manager. That would be my number one piece of advice.

JC: That would be my advice, too.

MR: [laughs] Of course it would be Josh’s advice!

JC: I actually get that question a lot. Playing on what Julie just said, I used to tell artists all the time to be different, especially now when there’s so much clutter out there and you have to find a way to separate. Now I’m really meaning that, it’s got to be authentically different. You can’t just be different to be different; it’s got to be you or else it’s fake and it doesn’t work. I don’t know if that can be learned. I think that’s just it. Another thing I tell them is whatever you spend the most hours doing is what you are. So if you say you’re an artist but you work in a warehouse nine hours a day, unfortunately, you’re a warehouse worker, not an artist. Sometimes that means sacrifices, but again, it’s not easy. It’s a job and you’ve got to commit to it to make it work. Those are the two things I typically tell artists. One of them usually makes them angry.

MR: [laughs] Where do you see Sun Records in like five years?

JC: That’s a great question. I probably have a different answer than Collin because I’m more of a “wish” and he might be more of a “reality.” I would love to see Julie being more the flagship, the leader of the pack, saying, “Hey, this is the new sound and the leader of the family,” and I would love to see new artists become a part of that family. I would love to see the brand… I don’t want to say “revitalize” because it doesn’t need that. It’s already in so many peoples’ minds. I’d just love to see it more active and out there and extended in more ways, and of course I’d love to be a part of that.

CB: You definitely will be. Sun in five years? I think there will be more t-shirts and more merchandising, but that is just kind of a given. I hope to be doing a lot more music with Julie and I would really, really, really love to see one of our albums on the Grammys. And I’d love to have new artists. Julie is the only artist right now, so I would love to see her music and her album on the Grammys. That would be a cornerstone for me.

MR: Julie, how do you see your future with Sun?

JR: I see it the exact same way they see it, with lots more records on Sun. This is what I do; this is what I wake up wanting to do–make music and play music. I want to be playing Sun Records all over the country and performing in theaters so that people can really hear the work that I’m playing. They know how much my music means to me and how much it means to me to be on Sun and that Sun lets me make this music. I have always wanted to be on the Grammys. That is a huge goal of mine. I’d love to win a Grammy for Sun, I’d love to win a Grammy for my mom because she’s been my backbone since I was a little girl and told me that I could sing and that I needed to keep singing even when I didn’t know I could. I definitely want to be touring all over the country and taking this music and making more records for Sun. I even want to eventually make a gospel record for Sun. That’s what I grew up on, and again, that’s my faith and that’s what’s kept me going through the times where a lot of people might quit. I want to get out there and I want to be everywhere playing this music.

MR: Thank you much, I appreciate it. Good luck, everyone, with everything you’re doing.

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne