A mainstay in Vancouver鈥檚 heavy metal community is back in business.
Former Scrape Records owner J.J. Caithcart announced the launch of his new record label Wednesday afternoon under the moniker 鈥淪crape Records 鈥� The Label.鈥�
The announcement comes on the 20-year anniversary of Caithcart opening up shop at the original Scrape location on Broadway near Ontario Street.
鈥淚t was something I envisioned doing when I was still at that store,鈥� Caithcart told the Courier by phone. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of similar to putting on shows. It鈥檚 something I鈥檝e wanted to do, but wasn鈥檛 able to put the full effort in to while still dealing with the day-to-day operations of the store in order to do it right.鈥� 聽
Caithcart鈥檚 first signee is Zimmers Hole, which includes former members of Strapping Young Lad. Part of the deal includes re-issuing each of the band鈥檚 first three albums and releasing the group鈥檚 upcoming fourth record. The label鈥檚 focus will be on Zimmers Hole to begin with, though Caithcart will look to expand his roster next year.
Caithcart began hinting online at a return of some sort in recent months after his shop closed in April 2016. Scrape was the largest record store devoted specifically to heavy metal in Western Canada. Outside of selling CDs, records, shirts and memorabilia, Caithcart hosted in-store signings and promoted shows across the city since opening in 1997.
His final location near Broadway and Kingsway is now a consignment shop, though Caithcart鈥檚 decision to close had little to do with lagging sales, changing demographics or sky-high rents.
鈥淚 can say without hesitation that when I opened the store, I had no idea that it would work for as long as it did,鈥� Caithcart said. 鈥淏ut I said to myself, 鈥楨ven if this does work, I don鈥檛 want to be just doing this forever.鈥� I wanted to be doing stuff within music forever but I didn鈥檛 want my defining moment to be, 鈥業 had a store and that鈥檚 what I did for 40 or 50 years and called it a day.鈥欌��
Caithcart鈥檚 short-term plans now include finding a distributor for his label, and launching a crowdfunding effort to help with pre-orders and the day-to-day costs of getting his self-financed business off the ground.
The Indiegogo campaign is online at .
