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PORTLAND: STOP BY THE SHOP TODAY IF YOU CAN! 

To celebrate our anniversary we'll have free booze on hand, Mississippi staff DJIng, sale price records and cool stock from our personal collections. We recommend you coming by around 1 - 3 PM. You might just run into luminaries Michael Hurley, Sonny Smith and Ural Thomas playing in the park across the street!We'd love to see friendly faces.

MICHAEL HURLEY AND ROMAN NORFLEET REFLECT ON TIME'S MOVEMENT AND MEANING

MICHAEL HURLEY, April 24, 2023

I call at 10am. Michael picks up the phone but asks me to call back in exactly 20 minutes…

Cyrus: I hope I didn't wake you.

Michael Hurley: Oh, no. I got a musical idea and I needed to record it just before I forgot it, but I didn't have anything set up to record in my music room. So I tried the primordial Wollensak reel to reel and that didn't work with modern day mics. And I tried a DAT recorder and couldn't get that to record because I never used it before. And then I went back to my regular thing I record with, which I'd already taken all the cables out, you know, switched them around to try to hook up these other things. And I was hoping all of the time I wouldn't forget what I was trying to remember, because sometimes these new ideas, they escape before I can commit them to memory. So I finally succeeded in getting a recording.

You got it??

MH: Yeah

I was waiting on tenterhooks to see if you captured it. 

MH: Right. I did.

I'm looking forward to hearing it one day. It’s sort of related to our story about time and memory… I’ve been talking to Eric about the 20 year anniversary of the label. 20 years is a long time to be doing this weird, seat of your pants project, and there’s something to be said for that. But I was also in Jerusalem recently to visit Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru. Do you know her work? 

MH: Oh, certainly, yes. She just passed. 

That's right. I was going to talk with her about a new album, and she passed right before I could meet her, which was really sad. But I was also amazed to be part of an Orthodox funeral for someone who was 99 years old, going down in one of the most ancient places on earth. I was talking to some of the monks in the monastery, and they were talking about sort of cosmic time and things happening at the right time. When I got back and we were talking again about a 20 year anniversary for the record label, I was like, what the hell is this? Who cares? 

MH: That's ten minutes compared to the way those guys are thinking.

It’s a flash! So I thought, why don't we talk to some people about their own ideas of time, and the first person I thought of talking to is you, who's had a long career and done a lot of different things in your life. I was wondering what you think about when you hear 20 years.

MH: Oh, two different ways. When I was younger, it sounded like eternity. And now when I look back and realize 20 years was 2003, it seems like it couldn't have been 20 years. And I think, you know, if you do that again, you'll be a dead man.

Do you remember what you were up to in 2003? 

MH: I was moving out to Oregon. I still had stuff in a storage unit in Ohio. And basically what I was doing then was moving in. Now I'm moved in. 

You’re settled.

MH: Yeah, but 20 years? Seems like I can't believe it was twenty years. I know that's a common syndrome with everybody as you get older. I've heard other people say the same thing. 

Do you know when you started to notice time speeding up?

MH: No, I don't know a moment, but I think where it looks most amazing is right now. Looking back 20 years, thinking shit, that was like six years, maybe. 

Time plays a big part in music, whether it's rhythm or how a song evolves over time. Do you pay attention to time when it comes to music?

MH: Well, most people who have played with me would answer to that, "Obviously not." But I've been trying. I don't want to frustrate the people that play along with me. I think it's basically how I was formed with my musical style - soloism. I’m trying. In fact, just this morning I'd come up with a timing to a song that I hadn't quite ever settled on. Every time I'd play, it would be something different. That’s what happens with me. Like maybe the band knows how I do this song, but then suddenly when I do it, I got a different rhythm. It could make the song flop flat, you know. And the bass player will look at the lead guitar player with an understanding unspoken, and we'll get on with the next tune. 

It's not speed, it's the swing to it. It's complicated, it's like jazz, you know? So I got these devices now because I know that I can't always pull up the right rhythm. I know that a song really works with this cadence. But I also know that I'll forget that. I'll start playing in waltz time or something like that. So in order not to forget it, I devise a little eight bar riff and that reminds me - yes, that's it, do it that way. 

Otherwise you’ll be moving at your own time.

MH: Otherwise I don't know what the hell I'll do. I guess being on stage throws me off in the first place. It’s not normal. It’s abnormal. 

I can imagine. I know you’ve rambled a lot in your life. Is there a relationship between time and movement for you?

MH: Yeah, actually. You can drive the car from New York City up to Vermont, and it would seem to take a year and a half. Maybe it only takes 5 hours or so. You can sail all the way from New York City up the Hudson River to Vermont, and it seems much faster. I've noticed that. 

So maybe it’s about how you move, not how far. Do you ever think of your own legacy, or milestones? 

MH: I don’t see things like that, I guess. Not much on my birthday. Some people, the birthday is really important to them. And not even much on most holidays, except for New Year's because it's such a chronology thing to it. It’s also kind of well placed in the year. The darkness starts, and the stillness. It's time to reflect. It's not time to have a wild New Year's party. It's time to crawl back in your hole and think about things. 

So more seasonal, rather than based on dates and markers like that. 

MH: Yeah, I very much sense the seasons. Spring, fall. I have my favorite month. 

What’s that? 

MH: July. Lots of action, great to be outside. I even love to be in New York City in July. It’s the same as ever, really, but it’s July. Actually all of the seasons are well placed, I think. Incredibly well. Sometimes the equinoxes and so on, things really change right around that week. Something about state lines are often like that, too. When they allotted the land to different parties, someone had the advantage over another person. Here’s the line. You’re over there, I’ll be here. 

I’ve definitely felt that. Do you have anything else to add, about 20 years, 100 years, the seasons? 

MH: Everybody needs to live for at least 100 years, if not 120. And, is Eric going to have a party? 

Michael Hurley’s Sweetkorn comes to vinyl for the first time via Mississippi Records sometime in May, when the next full moon coincides with Cinco De Mayo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman Norfleet, April 24, 2023

Roman Norfleet is a young multi-instrumentalist and bandleader currently based in Portland. Immersed in the traditions of the Baptist church from childhood, he experienced formative encounters with Pharoah Sanders, and spent time as a yogi/devotee in Swamini Turiyasangitanada (Alice Coltrane)’s lineage. Roman brings these experiences into his first record for Mississippi, a stunning collage in the spiritual jazz tradition created in collaboration with the Be Present Art Group and dropping May 25, 2023.

What do you think about your legacy as an artist, or is that something that even comes to mind? 

Roman: Trying to live the present is becoming a lifestyle outside of music. It’s becoming my religion. But legacy and the future does come across the brain here and there. 

One interesting aspect is in thinking about my earthly last name, Norfleet. There's a group called the Norfleet Brothers who may actually be related to my dad’s father. So there’s an aspect of continuing a legacy of Great Black Music. This record will be much different [than the Norfleet Brothers], but still spiritual. And it’s interesting to see that stream of consciousness still flow within the Norfleet framework.

As a band, we really went in with good intentions to leave something behind for all of our families, and for all beings on the earth. It’s for all the musicians involved. It’s for all humans, animate beings, inanimate beings. It’s for the universe. When you read the liner notes, when you get the record, you’ll see what I’m talking about. 

Roman Norfleet & The Be Present Group drop their Mississippi debut on May 25, 2023, with a release party at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland featuring Angel Bat Dawid. Tix here.

Brief Reflections on the 20th Anniversary of Mississippi Records by Eric I.

Hello,

    Today is the bonafide 20th anniversary of Mississippi Records! 

    Twenty years ago today Orion Satushek and I opened the original Mississippi Records shop. That first day exactly twenty years ago, tons of people who ended up figuring prominently in my life all came flooding in at once - folks who became artists on our label, best friends, and collaborators. 

   I decided to open the shop only two months before May 2nd, 2003. I was a lost twenty seven years old, living out of a minivan most of the time. Believe it or not, starting a record store seemed like the path of least resistance. I was randomly offered a cheap space, had six hundred records I could sell and $5,000 in the bank. My Grandma offered to sell my deceased Grandpa's stamp collection and give me another $2,000. At the time $7,000 seemed like an insanely large amount of money and I was excited to blow my fortune on a silly project. I never liked having money in the bank.

   By opening day, I had $50 in ones and fives in the register for change and not another dime. I had put every one of my personal records and books in the shop and spent the $7,000 on rent deposits, a business license, some wood for shelves, and records to fill the place. Friends volunteered to build the place up. My punk house roommate Sweet Jimmy T painted some shockingly professional looking window signage that automatically legitimized the business. My other punk house roomate Erin Yanke told me she'd work for free every Monday for a year so I could have a day off (she ended up doing it for five years).

   My business strategy was based on advice my old boss / guru from a record store I worked at in Oakland called Saturn Records offered. When I told him I was debating opening a shop he said -

   "In the Boyscouts, what do they teach you to do if you're lost in the woods and you know there's search parties out who want to find you? Do you wander around looking for a search party or do you find a spot with good visibility and some shade to sit and wait for folks to find you? Just open the store, put two barstools in front of the counter, and you'll find your whole community."

So, I really opened the shop to make friends. My plan was to be open for six months or so and then close the joint and move on to something else. I knew owning a business was not something I was built for and had no interest in "really" doing it. My business partner Orion, who was splitting the 500 square foot space with me and running a repair shop in it, knew the space was too small for him and planned on moving out in six months too. Mississippi Records was supposed to be a short-lived "art experiment".

One month after we opened, Orion was riding his bike when a drunk driver speeding at seventy miles per hour hit and killed him. After this I wanted to shut down the store but the small community that had gathered around it refused to let that happen. I stopped showing up to work, but friends took it upon themselves to open everyday and kept things rolling. After Orion's parents gave me a heavy speech about keeping the store open as a tribute to their son, I came back with a renewed sense of purpose.

Lots happened fast after that. Me and my best friend since a teenager Warren (who now owns Little Axe Records) started the Mississippi label to make some small press records just for our shops and a few friends. At the same time, Alex Yusimov started putting out Post Punk reissues and local artists under the Mississippi Records banner. Callie Danger moved into the shop space (storing her bed roll under a rack during the day) and started putting together psych and country comps for the label. Our neighbor Tim Stollenwork started a mastering studio two blocks away and charged us outlandishly cheap rates to crank records out.  Michael Hurley wandered into the shop and said, "Hey, my friends say you're starting a label and I should be on it."  Fred and Toody Cole miraculously agreed to let me reissue their catalog. Deep heads like Nathan Salsburg from the Alan Lomax Archive and Ian Nagoski from Canary Records called and offered to work with our amateur-hour label. Chris Kirkley started co-releasing amazing records from the Sahel with us. Celebrities like Neil Young, David Byrne, Jason Spaceman, REM and Werner Herzog gave us free press which spiked sales on some truly uncommercial records. Director of The Hollywood Theatre Doug Whyte wandered in and told me I should start curating programming there. Aaron Heurberger started doing repairs and selling turntables in our space...I'm pretty sure without us ever having a discussion about him taking on that role. Raf Speilman started a weirdly successful subscription service for our label

Then, Aaron and I bought a building at 5202 N Albina. Our friend Eloise started a cafe next to us and my best friend Libby started an art gallery in the basement. I started releasing a record per week. When the Mississippi Record label got too big for me to handle, I sold it to Gordon Ashworth and Cyrus Moussavi and they moved it to Chicago. Mississippi promoted a bunch of shows and became friends with many of our favorite artists. The park across the street from the shop turned into a neighborhood show space every summer. Libby closed the art gallery in the basement and Toody Cole opened a thrift store down there, calling it "Junkstore Cowboy". Aaron opened a full on stereo store in the space where we used to distribute the label. Cyrus and Gordon stewarded the label into a bigger and better world.

 .....and this is the short version of our story for sure. Like most interesting things, Mississippi Records is way too complex to sum up easily. There are too many people to thank and too many stories to tell. Gotta choose our battles. 

    Most of all - I'd like to take this space to thank all the people who have put in thousands of hours of free labor for Mississippi Records. Over the past twenty years tons of folks have volunteered time to stuff records in sleeves, carry heavy boxes, watch the counter, take care of plants, help with accounting, give legal and business advice, make art, paint walls, record people, drive visiting musicians around, haul equipment and build things. Without all this free labor Mississippi Records would not be here. I dare say that the "Love Over Gold" motto above the door has held its ground.

   I'd also like to thank all the customers who have bought our labels weird records (over one and a half million units sold!), tapes (over 150,000 units sold!), frequented the record shop (who knows how many records sold!), and attended events. It's an amazing privilege to have a community so willing to take in so much real deal underground art. 

   And - I'd like to thank the ghost of Orion Satushek for haunting me into doing what turned out to be my life's work. 

Here's a playlist of songs from Mississippi releases…

   What happens next is anyone's guess! 

       Anarchy is the only way to be and it's all worth doing. 

         All love,

           Eric Isaacson (Mississippi Records founder!) 

EMAHOY TSEGE MARIAM GEBRU
12 December 1923 - 26 March 2023

This month is a big one for events! We hope you can join us for the following

MAY 3rd through MAY 5th

The last three days of the Mississippi Records Film Festival at The Hollywood Theater! 

  One of the best things you can do with your life is go to the movies three nights in a row. The immersion allows reality to shift. It helps you look at your life's narrative arch in a new way. Going to the movies three nights in a row is like taking a meditation retreat.   

  These movies will get you where you need to be! We're showing -

Don't Think I've Forgotten ( a great doc about Cambodian rock n' roll)

Bird On A Wire (A great doc about Leonard Cohen as modern day messiah)

Repo Man (Fun punk movie with endless meaningful soliloquies)

The Secret Life Of Plants (Psychedelic doc about plant life on earth and space)

   AND  - before each film we'll be showing the short art movie - Dog Gone It, directed by Midori Hirose, filmed, edited and animated by Jeff Rowles and Shelby Menzel, and starring Roman Norfleet along with fifteen poorly behaved neighborhood dogs. The movie shows how we predict Mississippi Records will end. You'll want to watch it three nights in a row to gather its full meaning.

https://hollywoodtheatre.org/programs/series/mississippi-records-music-film-series/

    All the way from Burkina Faso to Portland's Lollipop Shoppe! Rock and roll high life of the highest order! Tickets are still available, so act soon! 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/baba-commandant-the-mandingo-band-tickets-577606395277

   A night of Great Black Music played by local legends Roman Norfleet And Be Present Art Group as well as, all the way from Chicago, Angel Bat Dawid. Spiritual music! A must see! Ancient to the future!

https://hollywoodtheatre.org/tickets/21358/

 Four nights of wildness at our favorite Portland show venue. There will be sedentary activities like slideshow / lectures and authors reading their works as well as party times like Karaoke and sets by the Grand Style Orchestra and Dragging An Ox Through Water. Check out our events page for specifics here -

https://www.mississippirecords.net/calendar-2023

To celebrate our anniversary we'll have free booze on hand, Mississippi staff DJIng, maybe a special musician or two pop in to play some tunes, sale price records and I brought in a bunch of cool stock from my personal collection to sell. We'd love to see friendly faces.

We recommend you coming by around 1 - 3 PM. You might just run into luminaries Michael Hurley, Sonny Smith and Ural Thomas playing in the park across the street!