Plastic Makes It Real
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But once Mills fulfilled his contract with Sugar Free in 2000, he was faced with a more pressing problem–namely, how he would release any songs. His head was still full of tunes and lyrics, but with no one to write checks, he couldn’t get them on tape. Discussions with other labels, including the local imprint Undertow, had reached dead ends. Like most indie rockers, Mills was hardly rolling in dough–he’d eked out a living for the latter part of the 90s by touring, temping, and occasionally performing with better-known musicians like Sally Timms and the Fruit Bats. So he did what any real American would do–he pulled out his credit card.
By the time the album was finished in March, Mills had made a choice that would cost him even more money: he took out a $10,000 bank loan, started Powerless Pop Recorders, and released the record himself. “It didn’t seem like anybody was going to be able to do that much more than I could do on my own,” he says. His experience with Sugar Free and his conversations with owners of other local labels like Overcoat and Undertow had convinced Mills he could pull it off. He estimates that he needs to sell 3,000 copies of the new record to break even. Any money he rakes in after that is pure profit–and there’s no label to split it with. Released in late October, the album has already shipped about 2,000 copies, which, according to Mills, is nearly the number each of his last two albums sold on Sugar Free.
Mills and his band, the City That Works–drummer Gerald Dowd, bassist Ryan Hembrey, and keyboardist Dave Max Crawford–will perform with a six-member brass and string section Saturday, December 7, at the Hideout.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Jim Newberry.
