| Q: Who or what is behind Wonky Records? |
A: Wonky Records is a one-man operation, and that one man is me, your humble answerer, Shawn Farley. I am known to many friends by my nickname “Yogi.” I formed the label in 1992 to release recordings I was involved in creating. The first Wonky Records album was Oom Fala Skepsis, by Funhouse, released in February of 1992. I was the guitar player/co-songwriter of that band. OFS came out on CD and cassette(!), and occasionally still turns up in garage sales all over this great nation.
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| Q: Why Yogi? Why Wonky? |
A: These are excellent questions, with answers that are frightfully boring. Magic 8-Ball says: ask again later.
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| Q: So is Wonky Records a “real” label? |
A: Wonky Records is admittedly what was referred to in Olden Tymes as a “vanity label”, which generally means that it’s set up to release recordings by one (usually independent) artist. In this case, me. Wonky Records is very “real” in a business sense, as it is set up as a subsidiary to my parent company Wonky Enterprises, Inc., and in that it pays for and creates products for retail sale, and has international distribution via the Internet. But it’s not “real” in the sense that it doesn’t go out looking for artists to “sign” and release albums by, and doesn’t have any operations in place to get our titles placed in “bricks and mortar” stores around the world. It would seem to me that we are in the middle of a great paradigm shift in how recorded music is made and sold (thanks to digital downloading), and that in the future most “labels” will be run by the artists making the product, and not major conglomerates, as has been the case since the recording industry began. But what do I know? I’m just guessing.
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| Q: So you’ve released three albums now on Wonky Records under the name “Yogi”, right? |
A: Yes. The latest, half-pint demigod (2005), is the third and last “Yogi” album. The other two, in release order, are Any Raw Flesh? (2001) and Salve (2003).
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| Q: The last Yogi album? So you’re done making music? |
A: No, I am not done making music. I am done making albums with the word “Yogi” on the cover. There are several reasons for this, the main one being that there are several other artists out there now named “Yogi” releasing material, and it’s just getting confusing. In any event, the first promo EP (Retrograde) by my current band Half Zaftig was just finished and released, and the next Wonky project is a new full-length album of material by that band, which will come out in 2007. Any future solo releases that I do will likely just be under my real name.
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| Q: So do Wonky Records albums sound as good as “real” albums? Am I getting my money’s worth if I take a chance and buy some? |
A: Quality is of paramount importance to me, as the owner/proprietor of Wonky Records. We’re not making recordings by gathering around a boombox and pressing “record”. We’re not just duping CDR copies and writing the titles on with a Sharpie. I use professional studios run by very talented individuals to create the recordings we release. All of the albums have beautiful artwork that has been carefully designed to augment the listening experience, and all of the albums are professionally manufactured and printed to industry standards. In my opinion, the records we’ve done sound as good as, or in many cases, better than major label releases selling bazillions of copies. I can’t guarantee that everyone will like the music, but there are plenty of free samples for you to download from this Web site to make that decision for yourself. There are also many free bonus tracks and oddities now available here for download, and you can expect more of these to appear in the future.
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| Q: So where can I get Wonky Records albums? |
A: Our titles (those in print) are available right here at the Wonky Mart, which also sells T-shirts and other merchandise unavailable elsewhere. Wonky Mart payments are processed via Paypal, a popular provider of Internet payment services. You may also buy the albums with a credit card at the fantastic online store CD Baby, and of course, the ubiquitous Amazon.com. If you are interested in paying for digital downloads of individual songs or whole albums, Any Raw Flesh? and Salve are available on most of the major digital stores, such as iTunes. Search for “Yogi” (and along with my albums, you’ll see one by one of the aforementioned “other Yogis”).
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| Q: Do you feel kind of ridiculous pretending to be someone else asking you questions about your label, when it's really just you addressing yourself? |
A: You have no idea. Are we done yet?
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| Q: Sure! This was fun. Have a nice day! |
| A: Thank you for your concern, and I hope you enjoy the music. I’ll be doing the best I can to keep it coming. |
