Spacek’s label of the year: Traffic Street Records

Sam North‘s record label, Traffic Street Records went from being completely unknown to me at the year’s start to my favorite by the end. North had sent me a few records to play on my radio show, and I liked them so much, I ended up taking advantage of a deal he offered back in May, wherein you could get six 7″s, a 10″, a t-shirt, patches, stickers, and buttons for $35, postage paid.

His Dangerous Intersections series of four-way splits are rapidly becoming the best way to get acquainted with the hot up-and-comers of the power-pop-punk underground, and when I met him at the Jackpot this summer (as he toured with Rational Anthem, he was amazingly friendly and nice. All of this along with attending law school, I might add.

Because of the stellar breadth of material his label has released this year, I felt Traffic Street bore showcasing beyond a short mention in the course of yet another year-ender list. North was cool enough to answer some questions via e-mail.

Best thing to happen to Traffic Street this year?

Unwelcome Guests pretty much booked their Spring tour by hitting up all of the other bands with records out on Traffic Street. Getting calls from them in Phoenix when they played with Rumspringer, in Indiana when they played with Like Bats — that kind of thing is really cool. Meeting kids from Japan and Europe (at shows in Baltimore and Gainesville) who love the label and the bands we put out — same deal. To see the ways that the label has connected people both across the country and across the world is great. I’m totally emboldened by any positive feedback though. Whenever I hear from (or about) someone who genuinely loves a record we’ve put out -that’s a pretty incredible feeling.

Worst thing to happen to Traffic Street this year?

We’ve had a few releases that I was really excited about that seem to keep getting pushed back and delayed for whatever reason so that’s always a bummer. The worst specific incident though was a shipment with about $400 worth of records arriving as an empty box at its destination in Japan. Postal insurance is a joke so I had to pay that out of pocket and when you’re already operating in the red, stuff like that is just salt in the wound.

MP3: Rumspringer, “Spring Breakdown”

The interview continues after the jump.