The major labels are the well-known names of multi-national corporations such as Universal, Sony/BMG, EMI and Warner.

Since independent labels, or "indies," don’t have to support a large international major company organization, indies can often afford to experiment with a much greater individuality of musical styles and artists than the majors might be able to offer.

Bovina Records in Bovina is certainly a good example of an indie label with a lot of personality.

The label was started in 2002 by Harlo Bray to "validate" his band Pispouré’s first release, "The Oight Album."

[an error occurred while processing this directive]I visited the label’s website, www.bovinarecords.com, and found information about a wide variety of musical activities, all described with very dry humor, which seems to be Harlo’s general style of communication.

When I spoke with Harlo about the creation of his label, for example, he pointed to the "Our Story" button on the website.

"Knowing we knew nothing about the record business, we decided to create a record business," he said. "We dug deep for a title of a new record label and after much thought, we were able to conjure the name, ’Bovina Records.’"

His band Pispouré performs original music in a style listed as "Country-Rock-Alternative-Pop" and "The Oight Album" can be purchased on the website.

The website also contains a link to a website for Russell’s Store in Bovina Center, "the only store in the whole world currently selling Bovina Records releases," he said.

People can buy CDs on the Bovina Records website using Paypal, and Harlo hopes to sell downloads, too.

Harlo lives in Bovina with his wife, Donna, and their daughter, Jodean. He has lived in Bovina for 34 years and besides owning his own record label, Harlo is a licensed professional engineer who owns Bray Engineering.

"I guess we’re the country doctors of engineering," he said. "We work on a variety of commercial, residential and municipal projects. We design things like dams, structures, and water, storm water and wastewater systems. We design quite a few septic systems for new and existing homes. I have world-class employees."

I said, "Tell me how you recorded ’The Oight Album.’ Do you have a recording studio in your home?"

He said, "I recorded ’Oight’ in my attic using a $300 program, Sonic Foundry, some chords and a couple of inexpensive microphones. Then I went to Dryhill Studios, a great recording studio in Oneonta, where Wayne Carrington did a wonderful job of mastering the album."

"Who is in your band?" I asked

Harlo said, "I play guitar and I bark a lot. John Finn is the bass player, Ed Denison is the drummer and Nat Berliner is the lead guitar player."

"How did you get started with the guitar?" I asked.

"Nat Berliner taught me how to play guitar. I got to know Nat before I recorded the album. As a senior in high school, Nat took engineering classes at (The State University College of Technology at) Delhi. My pa teaches engineering at SUNY Delhi so when he introduced Nat and me, he threw in the scouting report on a great summer-hire. It turns out, Nat is a guitar-savant. He gave me his old plastic guitar and taught me some chords. Six months later, having written some tunes, I borrowed a 4-track recorder and recorded 10 songs. I called that tape, ’Ten Songs.’ Then, Nat and I began to work together writing and recording music. I learned a lot about how NOT to record in the following year.

"Nat played most of the lead guitar. Nat is brilliant. He went to (The State University College at) Oneonta when he left Delhi and graduated with a degree in physics. Now he’s a doctoral student at SUNY Albany getting a degree in nanosciences."

"Who wrote the music on ’The Oight Album’?" I asked.

"Drummer Eddie ’Oight’ and I wrote the lyrics, but Eddie started it. One day he handed me a three-ring binder of lyrics he had written. The first thing I did was write ’Oight’ on the binder, and then I read his words, played chords and barked a lot. Voila, rock ’n’ roll."

I asked, "Do you have a written agreement about who wrote the songs?"

Harlo said, "No, we never did that. I once suggested signing written agreements, before I committed to the nearly endless work I predicted, but no one else wanted to sign anything. I had this awful fear we might succeed and suffer the misery that follows almost every lottery winner."

I asked, "How many records have you sold?"

Harlo said, "’The Oight Album’? I don’t know, really. I have never seen actually seen one sell. I run Russell’s Store (quite poorly), and I did hear that at least one CD sold. Generally speaking, I have given a couple hundred of them away to close friends and complete strangers, but no one in between."

I said, "You released your first album in 2002. Does Pispouré have any more albums planned?

Harlo said, "Currently, we are producing Pispouré’s second blockbuster CD, ’The Natsy D.’ I recorded about 18 masterpieces in my attic with the whole band and then I re-worked the tracks. Afterward, we recorded some live songs and added overdubs to a few of the ’18 Drafts’ at Dryhill. Andris Balins is the recording-engineer and has clearly become a co-producer. That album will be released in June."

"’The Natsy D’?" I asked. "Why that album title?"

Harlo smiled and said, "Eddie-Oight started the first three-ring binder; Nat’s licks and arrangements inspired much of the new work on the new album. It’s kind of a play on words."

I thought about it and said the name of the album out loud. It began to make more sense after a few moments.

I said, "There is a series of pictures on your website of another Bovina Records artist, Janet Havens Stewart. Tell me about her."

Harlo replied, "Janet is an important reason for building the Bovina Records website. About a year ago, I heard that a local girl’s husband, Mark Schneider, and his friend Paul Bertalin, had recorded Janet in the sanctuary of the Bovina U.P. Church. Having just finished ’The Oight Album,’ I started thinking about formalizing her history and her art in something shrink-wrapped. Then, I heard the recording. I immediately told Janet my crazy idea about CDs and shrink-wrap and barcodes, and ever since she has amazed me with her calm and smarts. We worked on getting the album artwork finished and pressing CDs of the album. Andris Balins mastered it at Dryhill and we mass-produced the world’s greatest recording of Janet Stewart. The album is called ’Janet Havens Stewart — Just a Simple County Girl.’"

I asked, "How many Janet Stewart albums have you sold?" Harlo said, "Maybe in the neighborhood of 300. I’ve got an accounting I’ve shared with her a couple of times."

"Do you have a record deal with Janet?" I asked.

"Yes," Harlo said. "It’s a single-page deal with cows on the letterhead. After I make the money back for pressing the album, we’ll split all the profits. The idea is, of course, to break even, and maybe make enough money in music so we can do more of these albums without going completely broke. Why, that reminds me, loyal Daily Star readers, Janet Havens Stewart’s album is for sale on the Bovina Records website and in Russell’s Store."

I asked, "Is the album getting any airplay?"

"No, not yet. I’ve been holding back so our websites could be perfect first. ’Perfect,’ good luck with that, right? I’m going to have our music on The Daily Star website, soon. That will certainly help get our music out there."

I asked, "Who owns the songs that Janet wrote?"

"Janet," Harlo said.

"Is that in your contract?" I asked.

"I don’t have any idea. I doubt it. I’ll look." Harlo said. "I do recall requiring in the contract that if she wins a Grammy, I get two tickets to the Grammy parties. Sounds like a good deal to me."

"What’s the next step in your business plan?" I asked.

"I want the label to get bigger and better, and make downloads more accessible. We’re going to record artists, make websites for them, and get people to pay to download them. We have begun working with two other bands, The Disciples of Agriculture and The Future Farmers of America. I want to continue making music available, that I like, and, of course, I’d like it to become profitable rather than subsidized (by me)."

I asked, "Are you getting many orders off the website now?"

"No," Harlo said. "No one knows about it. Of course, some might know about it now, huh?"

"What have you accomplished with Bovina Records, and what are your plans?" I asked.

Harlo pointed again to the website, "Since signing Janet Stewart to a lucrative, long-term contract, and picking a title and sketching the Bovina Records logo of a Holstein head with a nick in her ear, we have accomplished little else."

I laughed with him but I wanted to know more about his label, so I asked, "What other successes have you had with Bovina Records recently?"

Harlo smiled and said, "Read on," as he pointed again to the text on my computer screen, "Say, some more accomplishments: we launched this website, paid our taxes on time and have enough wood in the shed to last all winter. This label is clearly on the move; see you at the Grammy’s."

Music Industry Tips

These can be good times for your small indie label. You can record a lot of your songs at home and you’ve found a good professional studio that you like in Oneonta. You don’t have very high overhead so you can make more money on each CD sale than a big label. You don’t have to sell thousands of albums in order to break even.

You have a store that will stock your CDs and you’ve already learned how to sell music online.

You’re interested in updating your website and in making your music downloadable.

You believe in the musical strength of your artists and you’ve decided to take the next steps to make your business grow.

Here are some ideas that may be helpful:

• Make agreements with all your bands and all your artists before you make your recordings. If you have already made recordings, sit down together and talk about who wrote the songs, who owns the songs, who owns the sound recordings you’ve made, and how profits and royalties will be split (if you have profits.) If you don’t have profits, who will pay all the expenses of making recordings?

• NOW is the best time to make these agreements. It will be much more difficult to agree on any of these issues if you wait until after you’ve had some success.

• Visit some music industry classes at SUCO and talk to the teachers about your label. You might even think about registering for some classes. Buy some books on the record business. A good one to start with is "All You Need To Know About the Music Business" by lawyer Don Passman.

• As soon as you have radio airplay, join ASCAP or BMI so you have a chance of being paid royalties if your songs get airplay. Talk to both organizations and then join the one with whom you are most comfortable. They both have offices in New York City and you can learn a lot by visiting their websites.

• If you really want to be in the music business, get ready for some long hours of hard work. After talking with you, I know you’ll find a way to work hard but to have fun, too.

Dr. Janet Nepkie is a member of the music industry faculty at the music department of the State University College at Oneonta.