About Greasy Pop

From the legendary sounds of Exploding White Mice to Batteries Not Included, Adelaide’s own Greasy Pop Records has spent 25 years promoting the best and loudest in South Australian live music.

In SA music circles Greasy Pop has become an icon in itself; a small but feisty label concerned primarily with quality and developing intimate working relationships with the artists it represents – as well as expert strategies for getting them where they want to be. A diehard passion for live local music is what drove Greasy’s founder Doug Thomas – and this philosophy lives on in current owners Pete Hartman-Kearns and Monique Laver.

1980 saw the birth of Greasy Pop. Doug Thomas played in legendary Adelaide bands The Spikes and The Dagos, two of the first bands to be signed to Greasy. When you’re in a band and you need representation, what better way than to start your own record company?

Since its inception, Greasy Pop has represented around 50 bands, many of which have legendary status within SA’s – and Australia’s – live music ranks.

Right from the start Greasy built a reputation for attracting bands with distinct sounds and cult followings, at the cutting-edge of the music industry. Twenty five years on, nothing has changed.

A lot of Greasy bands have come from SA, giving the label the entrenched SA vibe that it has, but as Pete says: “We’ve never really had to look elsewhere – Adelaide has always produced such quality stuff.”

Prominent bands represented by Greasy over the years have been Exploding White Mice, Where’s The Pope, Batteries Not Included, The Lizard Train, Mad Turks from Istanbul (now Icecream Hands), The Iron Sheiks, The Screaming Believers, Devil’s Cabaret, The Undecided, Aunty Raylene, Morning Glory and The Garden Path, to name but a few.

Pete Hartman-Kearns took over from Doug as a solo owner in 1991 and in 2003 was joined at the helm by Monique Laver. Both have extensive backgrounds in the industry, Monique as a Marketing Manager for Sony BMG, and Pete as a former band member himself – he played guitar in Batteries Not Included, and was also in bands Rhubarb and Contrapunctus.

Together, this duo’s firsthand experience of the industry makes them a formidable team in steering bands to where they want to go.

Despite Greasy’s reputation through the 80’s and 90’s as a thrash/indie label, Pete says they are open to all musical styles and encourage diversity. From hardcore metal to folk/pagan to acoustic singer/songwriter to punk, pop, rock and everything in between – it’s all welcome at Greasy. Currently under Greasy’s wing are dynamic Adelaide bands Tidal, Bedhed, Pumpernickel and the eccentric Pottymouth.

Greasy has MGM distribution throughout Australia and has carved a name for itself worldwide, particularly through Europe. Bedhed is currently enjoying big followings in Germany and Sweden.

Known for its ability to gain national and international recognition for bands, Greasy Pop has always had a solid focus on building successful touring for its artists. In a label as small as Greasy, money has never been the driving factor – building names and reputations has been.

Such is Greasy Pop’s passion for SA bands, it has an exciting new arm called Distorto Pop – in which young SA bands are offered a music deal like no other.

In a totally unique initiative, Distorto Pop gives fledgling SA bands a real chance to make money right from the outset.

Every three months Distorto Pop will offer 10 bands a bargain $1500 package that includes a 4 to 5 track EP recorded at Big Sound Studios and professionally mastered, mixed and packaged - with 200 CDs to sell and 50 for promotional distribution.

This gives bands the opportunity to start immediately making some money through selling EPs at gigs. And Greasy Pop takes care of distribution and assists with the album launch too. If successful, bands may then be signed.

Says Pete: “It’s an honest approach that will ensure young bands don’t get ripped off. But it’s also to help showcase the incredible talent coming out of SA – this will help promote South Australian music like nothing else.”

But then, that’s always been the ethos of Greasy Pop – helping put South Australian bands in people’s faces.