10 Questions with ... Kristopher Gillespie

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

• 1989-1990 -- KJHK/University of Kansas
• 1991-1993 -- CBS/Sony College Rep
• 1994-2000 -- Matador Records
• Radio Promotions -- Project Manager/International A&R
• 2001-2002 -- Warp Records
• 2003-present -- Domino Recording Co. Ltd

1. What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?

Well, I discovered KJHK, the University of Kansas' college radio station, upon moving to Lawrence in the eighth grade and that was an incredible musical resource to have. Up to that point, I'd say KY-102 in Kansas City helped shape my listening habits a fair bit. Hearing "fringe" songs like "Train In Vain," "Games Without Frontiers" and "Once In A Lifetime" always excited me as a kid, so I was pre-disposed to being left of center from the beginning.

2. How did you become interested in the record business?

CMJ Marathon '89 trip my freshman year of college was the revelatory moment... my ascension through the ranks at KJHK coincided with a profound disillusionment with academia and CMJ '89 was the nail in the coffin. It was like "you all get to do what I've spent thousands upon thousands of dollars throughout my young life to be a part of AND YOU GET PAID TO DO IT?"

3. What do you like best about your job? Least?

It sounds like a cliché, but getting to hear something new and creatively exciting still gives me goose bumps. Every time I feel like things are starting to get a little staid, something comes along to remind me how important music is to me and how the creative possibilities are infinite. I'm also incredibly grateful for the group of artists and people I get to work with on a daily basis and that goes for all the labels I've worked for. They've never ceased to surprise me on a near daily basis with their creativity and passion.

The worst part? Well, I think it's pretty safe to say that the continuing erosion of the business is a source of stress and sadness. I know a lot of people equally as passionate as many of us who don't get to earn a living doing this anymore.

4. What do you want people to know about Domino Records?

This is probably the hardest of the 10 questions... to be honest; we've always been a bit self-conscious, more focused on putting our artists to the fore and less about creating a cult of personality around the label. We've never really had a sound or movement that has defined the label and we cherish the eclecticism that I think has become a part of the label's identity.

5. What may surprise people the most about the label?

We still don't know the true identities of the members of Clinic to this day. Okay, that's not true.

6. What has been the biggest change running an independent label since first joining Domino?

Boy, what hasn't changed? Every aspect of this business has been transformed by technology in a radical fashion and everyone felt the brunt of it. While not every change has been entirely good or bad, they've all been fairly dynamic. What has happened has come to pass and we all must adjust in our own ways to carry on.

7. How do you increase exposure of your artists outside of traditional radio promotion?

I don't think there's one easy answer... we are constantly tailoring our promotional and marketing efforts to present the artists in the manner which they (and we as a label) feel appropriate to try and reach an appreciative audience. Sometimes those directives contradict one another and, when they do, we'll always err on the side of the artist to a fault.

8. What would surprise people most about you?

I was a pretty damn good baseball player in my day until I hyper extended my pitching/throwing arm.

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ____________?

A good laugh...

10. What career path would you be following had it not been for this industry?

Well, I would imagine it probably would have probably veterinary school for me.

What are your hobbies?

I continue to make music for my own enjoyment in what little spare time I have... I gave away all my musical equipment with the birth of my first child and spent five years not doing anything of that nature. But when I was given a hand-me-down copy of Logic 7 by a friend, I was just blown away by the evolution of digital recording. You really do have full-on state-of-the-art recording studio living in your laptop.

Last non-industry job?

Reception work while still at university.

First record ever purchased?

It was three 45s at the same time from a Ben Franklin's in Brookfield, Missouri: "Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot, "I Shot The Sheriff" from Eric Clapton and "Rock 'n' Roll All Nite" from KISS.

First concert?

By choice ... The Police/UB40 at Kemper Arena, November 29th, 1983. Not by choice... Three Dog Night @ Worlds of Fun, Kansas City I was about three years old at the time and they had just begun their rapid decline.

Favorite band of all-time?

I really don't have an answer to that question as I have so many "favorite" bands with a certain amount of ebb and flow in their appreciation through the ages. I will say that The Smiths "The Queen Is Dead" will be my favorite album of all-time most likely until the end of time and space. I've come to love many better albums than that one but none will be as important to me as that album was at that time of my life. At that juncture, music became the central focus in my life after the aforementioned arm injury and I'll always have a profound connection to that album. After that, instead of wanting to be George Brett, I wanted to be Johnny Marr.