LONG GONE JOHN

Sympathy For The Record Industry came storming out of Long Beach in 1988, and now after some six hundred releases, are still the finest purveyors of trashy, garage, rock and roll. Basically if you ain’t got a Sympathy release in your gutter, then the gutter ain’t worth the mud flowing down it.
John Schooley from The Hard Feelings described Symapthy this way - "Well, we knew going in that we wouldn’t get a lotta promotion or tour support being on Sympathy. Long Gone just puts out the record, gives ya a few copies, and the rest is up to you. The best thing is that Sympathy is well distributed, so people can find your record if they want to. It’s up to the bands to really sell themselves. It’s worth it because Sympathy is about the only real rock ‘n’ roll label left out there, all my favourite contemporary bands are on Sympathy: Deadly Snakes, Lazy Cowgirls, White Stripes, etc."
Enough said really... I first caught up with Long Gone John in November 2000, when The White Stripes were destroying Melbourne by flaming storm, over the course of a week. We spoke about records, The Chubbies, Eric Oblivian and rather than annoy with his time, decided to conduct this interview later, via email..over Christmas 2000.

You gotta great roster of girl groups and singers - does this stem from a love for 60’s girl groups? - Is this something you grew up listening to? - Darlene Love and The Shangri Las?

hmmm, well I grew up listening to what was on the radio...my earliest favourite was The Beach Boys, they surfaced when I was in about the 6th grade and growing up in Southern California they were featured pretty prominently on the radio...I was in boarding school and the school was close to Huntington Beach so the kids were all surfers ‘cept for a few token beatniks so when they’d let me I’d hang out with them and I became aware of folk music...I like all sorts of music, but I guess I always had a special fondness for girl singers and girl groups....When I started the label, I just focused on girl stuff a bit more, because I thought most of the indie labels weren’t giving them much attention....I’m really proud of all the girl stuff I’ve done and I have lots of new stuff that’s been released since the "girls" collection like Tuuli, Me First, Kirby Grips, Vyvyan, The Peeps, The Short Fuses, The Come Ons etc and I’ve lots of new ones in differing stages of completion, one of which is a new project with Kim (Muffs) and Lisa (Buck) that I’m very excited about....

‘Lounggunna’ is Rumanian for Long Gone - Do you remember much about being kidnapped by the gypsies?

Seeing as I was only around 1 year old when they snatched me I don’t remember anything about it.....When I was a bit older though I remember each time I was in trouble my parents would say "We wish the gypsies had never brought you back" and they’d threaten to call the gypsies to come and take me away again...sometimes I wished the gypsies would’ve come for me too....

I have lots of cool stuff comin’ out...for January I have new albums by Holly Golightly and Supernova...There is also a new White Stripes 7"....For February I have albums by Jeff Evans (68 Comeback) and Andy G (Devil Dogs) and The Roller Kings...I’ll also have a 4 track 7" by Les Sexareenos which is a prelude to an upcoming full length... March I have Mr. Airplane Man which is 2 girls from Boston who have a Crampish/Bluesy sound - also full lengths soon by The Detroit Cobras, Bantam Rooster and some new bands - The Crackpipes, The Excessories and Rizzo...

I think there are a lot less really cool bands around than there used to be, but there will always be a few great bands with the demon rock n’ roll creating a racket in their souls, there will always be someone twisted and possessed just enough to breathe exciting new life into an unstoppable beast...I don’t know about digital as opposed to analogue, it’s music to me...I don’t automatically hate CD"s, I think there are obvious pros and cons...I like the convenience of CD’s - the longer time limit they allow and the seeming longevity of the product...hmmm.....

The first record was The Lazy Cowgirls - How did it come about? - it was a favour for the band wasn’t it?

I heard you got a house with a 1000 cats and secret passageways behind fireplaces - Is it true or just bullshit?

Well, it sounds like a bit of an exaggeration...I do have some secret passages and I currently have 9 cats : shiver, gogh, hiro, digit, sabbath, drella, dickens, trilby and bronte...9 seems enough, but I never know when another will come knocking on my door needing sanctuary....

It seems you have done a philanthropic service to rockers - You’ve given bands an opportunity where other labels would ignore them?

hmmm, I’ve been pretty lucky to align myself with some really cool bands early in their careers like Rocket From The Crypt, The Muffs and most recently The white Stripes....I’d be nothing without the bands, but without me they’d still be bands.....Pretty prolific, huh? - I’m gonna be generous which I have been known to be on rare occasions and I’m gonna say we help each other and it’s equal parts give and take, but given the opportunity - I’ll take more than I give, that’s the kinda guy I am....