INTERVIEW: STEEV RICCARDO PART II (FINAL)
No Idols: Giant released two of the more infamous departure records for American Hardcore, Field Day by Dag Nasty and Uniform Choice’s Staring Into The Sun.
Steev Riccardo: One thing that blows my mind is how popular the Field Day record has gotten as years go by. I can’t tell you how many labels have gotten in touch with me asking to reissue that record. The problem with reissuing that album is Barry Tenenbaum from Dutch East India disappeared off the face of the earth. He screwed over a lot of people and I wouldn't have got involved if I knew that would happen. I know Verbal Assault rereleased Trial without permission, but for some reason, everyone is hesitant to do that with Field Day. That was a huge selling album for Gaint and they probably don't wanna get sued. I've been in conversations with lawyers and labels. Doug Carrion and I have been on calls with a lot of them. I don't own the masters to these albums. I didn’t own Giant. It was owned by Dutch East India. Any of the stuff that's been reissued, I've had absolutely nothing to do with any of it and that's the truth. But that record is so popular now that the band Field Day is touring.
Other than Trial, there’s the Insted Proud Youth double LP that has Bonds of Friendship on it, but those are the only two Giant releases I can think of that have been reissued.
It’s because no one knows where Barry is and it’s unfortunate. I ended up quitting Giant after two years when I realized it was only going to go far. Barry wasn't a very good communicator and I was concerned about people getting paid. I’m sure those bands feel like they are owed a lot of money. So, when Metal Blade called and offered me a job, I took it. Barry didn't even try to stop me. The only band that hung around was Government Issue, everyone else was released from their deals. Then the Giant name got bought by someone at Warner Brothers and Barry made about $75,000 for the name alone.
So Giant did well money-wise for Dutch East?
Oh yeah! The Dag Nasty All Ages Show single sold 10,000 and I was shocked. The Field Day album sold 30,000, but I don’t know what happened after that.
How did you personally feel about Field Day?
First off, before I signed Dag Nasty, I called Ian MacKaye because I didn’t want to step on his toes due to having a lot of respect for him. He gave me his full blessing and that’s when I got the deal together. I gave them a really good deal. I got them $14,000 and that was the budget for a single and an album. When I went out to California to meet up with Brian and Doug and sign them, Brian put on a Smiths record and said, “This is what I want our record to sound like.” Years later, Doug clarified what Brian meant was he wanted his guitar to sound like The Smiths, not the record. Anyway, they told me they were going to record the All Ages Show single for $4,000 with this guy Graylan King. I thought that was an awful lot of money for three songs, but they said they could record the album with the $10,000 that would be leftover. Then I got “You’re Mine” and my head was spinning. When I interviewed Doug on my podcast a while back, he said I didn’t call them back for a week and they were concerned. I was concerned too! But then they sent “All Ages Show” and “Staring At The Rude Boys” and I thought, “OK, they gave me one song that sounds like Bon Jovi, but they sent me two good punk songs too”. People think Field Day is a real departure, but there are songs like “Things That Make No Sense” and “Dear Mrs. Touma” that are kinda post-punk. But Dag Nasty did me some solids. They did these Giant showcase shows that they didn’t have to come to New York and do. The show was Dag Nasty, Verbal Assault, and Government Issue and it sold out. Field Day made it on the CMJ Top 20. Sure, some fanzines ripped the record apart, but I’m proud of it. The only thing I didn’t like about Field Day was the cover. When I got it, I was like “This...this...this isn’t a good cover!”
What are your thoughts on Uniform Choice’s Staring Into The Sun album?
I’ll go on record and say I didn’t love that record, but I was in no position to tell them to re-record it. I remember when I first heard the song “Region of Ice”, I didn’t know what to make of it. By then, Pat Dubar had already changed his mind about being in a Straight Edge Hardcore band. In 1988, Hardcore was changing. This wasn’t 1981. People were moving into post-hardcore by then. I always believed in giving bands the freedom to do what they wanted to do. Major label A&R guys want to control every aspect of the band and their record and that wasn’t me. Maybe that’s why Geffen, Arista, and RCA turned me down when I went there for job interviews! I’m not a big fan of what the internet did to music, but I’m happy bands have more control over everything they do. Any band who wants to make the record they want to make has the choice now without some major label telling them no. When I began working at A&M I was shocked how many records were made by artists that were shelved. You spent $300,0000 on a record and it's not coming out? I had always heard about that kind of stuff, but never knew it happened until I became a part of the problem and began working for a major label! But the Uniform Choice records sold well. I hate to look at everything from that perspective, but if the records don’t sell, you don’t have a record label anymore.
Anything else you’d like to add?
My closing statement is to say I'm very proud of what we accomplished at Giant in a short amount of time. I'm sorry for anything that happened after I left but it was out of my control. Out of all the jobs I’ve had at record labels, I’m the proudest of Giant. More people want to talk to me about Giant than anything I ever did.