A Grave Family Affair: Graveface Record label celebrates 20th Anniversary with Savannah festival

Musician, promoter, and entrepreneur Ryan Graveface (along with and his wife Chloe) has made a home in Savannah with several creative businesses including his Graveface record store, Terrorvison horror video store, the oddities-filled Graveface Museum, and the recently opened event space, Lodge of Sorrows.

However, the spark that led to Ryan’s weird empire was his independent Graveface Record label, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a massive two-day music festival at Lodge of Sorrows.

Ryan spoke to me over the phone from Chicago where he has been the last six months opening yet another Graveface store. Opening several businesses across the country, as well as running a record label for 20 years, must be a Herculean task for one sleepless, hyper creative individual.

Previous Graveface coverage: Ryan Graveface unveils new Savannah music venue, Lodge of Sorrows, with return of NeverNotGoth

A Night at the (Graveface) Museum: The 2022 Do Savannah New Year's Eve Editorial

Throwing bones to the wind: Graveface Records & Curiosities celebrates 10 years in Savannah

“Everything I do is disturbingly challenging, so yes, but also par for the course,” said Ryan with a laugh. “I cannot believe that I’m still here.”

Ryan came up with idea for a record label when he was living in Salamanca, Spain, 20 years ago, traveling around and playing small bars for a few euros.

“I hauled this cassette 4-track recorder and an acoustic every where I went,” recalled Ryan. “I would go into remote parts of Spain as long as I could find electricity and record. I made a series of EPs which I still haven’t released because they’re terrible, but basically that’s where I hatched the idea to it because right before I left for Spain I watched Fugazi’s ‘Instrument’ which is one of my favorite documentaries of all time. It changed the way I viewed everything I was doing at that point. Watching that doc plus being in Spain, it was over. The idea was hatched. No one was going to put out the music I was recording, so I had to be the one to do it. And then it turned out I didn’t put out a lot of my own music. I never viewed it from the perspective of finding like minded artists, but it happened organically.”

SAV musicians, promoters reflect on 2021: Live music back, new songs and a burgeoning scene

Things changed for Ryan again when he released a split EP between his own project Dreamend, and Monster Movie, the side project of Christian Savill, guitarist for seminal shoegaze band Slowdive. A music critic pointed out similarities between Dreamend’s music and that of a weird band called satanstompingcatepillars. Ryan hunted down the strangely named band and ended up joining forces with its founder.

“Eventually, it became Black Moth Super Rainbow and I joined that band,’ said Ryan. “Between Dreamend and building a Chicago fanbase and me being on tour with Black Moth and Flaming Lips, things just kind of worked themselves out. It went from being a hobby from ‘02 to ‘06 and then I got to tour with the Flaming Lips, and I thought, ‘You know what? I’m just going to quit my two full time jobs and ply the label full time and see what sticks.’ Luckily I haven’t worked for somebody else since ‘07 and it works.”

20 years of independent music

Over the last 20 years, Ryan has grown a roster of unique and artistically like-minded artists. Graveface Records, along with most of his projects, has been more of a labor of love than a successful business venture, but it has sustained itself on sheer stubborn will.

“It’s actually never worked out,” Ryan said of the label’s growth. “I’ve never had a financially successful record. I mean, it’s profited. I’d say about 50% of our releases recoup, but I’ve never had an ‘it’ record. And I’ve turned down a few records in the past that I probably should have released because I new they would be big, but I just didn’t love the music.

More: Once a training ground for local rappers, Basik Lee revives legendary Hip Hop Nite at new space

“In hindsight, the business person in me should have overtaken the creative part of my brain. I passed up two things that would have bought me a house in Savannah, but instead I’m relegated to mostly 500-1000 units. I just do a lot with artists that don’t tour or promote their records.”

Despite a lack of monetary success, Graveface Records has developed a reputation for taking risks on artists, and offering a creative haven for exciting side projects by musicians in much more successful bands.

Take the Brothers Griiin, for example. Matt Duckworth and Nicholas Ley are the drummers of the Flaming Lips, who are currently in the middle of another massive tour. Matt and Nicholas recently released their debut album as the Brothers Griiin, “Joy City,” on Graveface Records.

“Matt and I started this to make our own record, but we always wanted it to feel like a party with friends, and they were all part of it in one way or another,” said Ley.

“Joy City” is a jubilant dance pop record that features a number of guest appearances including the rest of their Flaming Lips bandmates.

'A magical time': A history of First Friday in Starland and how it shaped Savannah's hip district

“We wanted to force ourselves to make something we wouldn’t normally make,” said Duckworth. “We had to put some rules on ourselves. The songs had to be uptempo, they had to have hooks. They had to feel like something we could play in our DJ set and not kill the energy. It was fun. I’ve never made a record like that where we had rules going in.”

The Brother Griiin recorded much of the album in Savannah with the help of Ryan, as well as a grant from SixTwelve, an artist residency and community center run by Amy Young.

“We were looking for a home for this record,” said Duckworth. “We thought it was an outlier for the type of music his label releases, but we asked him if he was interested and I think he just really liked the songs, so he said yes.”

“At this point we’re attached at the hip, and we’ll keep working with him and asking him for favors.”

“If you’re a musician and in Savannah, you need to know Ryan and Chloe,” said Ley. “You need to come by the store. They’re just the people to meet. Back in the day you would try to find those kinds of people on tour.”

“People like Ryan, if your city has someone like that it just changes the complete fabric of the musical scene,” added Duckworth.

Back with an old friend

One of Ryan’s earliest collaborators and Graveface label mates is Christian Savill of Slowdive and Monster Movie. Ryan plays with, and produces, Savill’s band Monster Movie. The two also have another side project along with Rachel Goswell of Slowdive and Matt Duckworth called Beachy Head.

Savill is making a special trip to Savannah for the 20th Anniversary Festival to play two incredibly rare sets with both Monster Movie and Beachy Head. Chances are this will be the only opportunity to see Beachy Head perform live.

“It will totally be new,” said Savaill. “I don’t normally play shows with these bands. They’re all side projects, so it’s going to be weird.”

Local bands: Synth-based rock band Pink Peugeot stands out with Chew at Lodge of Sorrows

“It could be a bit of a car crash, but let’s see,” Savill added with a laugh.

Outside of his work with the acclaimed Slowdive, who triumphantly came out of a long hiatus a few years ago, Savill has had a fruitful creative relationship with Ryan and Graveface Records.

“It’s been really great because what I like about Ryan and Graveface is he’s just completely trustworthy,” said Savill. “He’s really passionate about it. I wouldn’t say it’s rare, but to have that level of trust where you know that he really would give you his last dollar if you asked him. It’s been lovely and he’s become a really good mate.

“He’s always been really supportive and I really admire that he has all these crazy ideas and then does them. A lot of people have ideas and don’t follow them through, but he actually does. He’ll have some crazy idea and then six months later it’s reality. You don’t meet many people like that.”

Zombies of Death Metal: Italian horror-themed band Fulci terrorize Lodge of Sorrows

“On the first Beachy Head record, I came out to Savannah to work with him and it was just nice to hang out with Ryan, and the fact that we got a record out of it was nice, but if we hadn’t have done it still would have been nice to hang out with Ryan and Chloe and be in Savannah.”

The Graveface Festival will feature a weekend’s worth of music by incredible Graveface bands including Night School, Chris Crisci (of Appleseed Cast), Basically Nancy, Lovelorn, Dreamend, Brother Griiin, The Lipschitz, Bummerville, Kid Dakota, Shouldies, Fawning, and many more.

Purchasers of the weekend pass will also get to see a Friday screening of a documentary about Ryan Graveface directed by Cleo Cullen. It may be the only screening of it ever, so don’t miss the chance to see it.

More: Basically Nancy finally graduate with debut album release at Graveface's Lodge of Sorrows

“There’s a lot of people in the Graveface family that I’ve never met, so it will be nice to meet some other bands and catch up with some people,” said Savill. “Hopefully it will be a celebration of it.”

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah GA events: Graveface Records 20th Anniversary Festival