My Pal God Records


history \| bands \| catalogue \| photos \| videos \| mailing lists \| contact \| links

Revisionist history, September 2000:

My Pal God records started in 1993 out of my parents' house in Princeton NJ, when several years of

working in college radio and an equal number of years watching friends put out records on their own built into an urge to try and do what they were doing. What began as a plan to put out a four band single using some left over bar-mitzvah money turned into the debut 45 from Providence, RI's Purple Ivy Shadows. I dove in headfirst when I probably should have taken more time to learn about what I was getting myself into, but that lesson was learned on the fly.

Balancing time between Princeton, New Jersey [home] and Evanston, Illinois [school], meant a great deal of forwarded mail from my parents as a small handful of people started to take notice. The Purple Ivy Shadows single sold well enough and returned enough money to pay for a second single. I decided to approach a band from Portland, OR called Oswald 5-o, whom I had seen at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey one night. To my surprise, they agreed to do a single with me, and things were off and running...

After Oswald 5-o, several records followed [Galaxy, Drag King, Chumley, Vix Krater...] that were paid for by the bands but released and distributed by My Pal God. I think in hindsight this was a bad move: it is hard enough to sell records you are working on that you have paid for, let alone when other people's money is at stake. There were many smaller obstacles as time progressed, from lost packages to missing checks to poor distribution to sudden band break-ups to planned records getting listed in catalogues but never happening [Lois/Totfinder single, Boys Life 10", Brainiac/Pitchblende single...], but My Pal God pushed on. A bunch of lessons about economics, accounting and how to lose friendships were learned along the way.

In 1995, on the heels of marginally well received singles from Totfinder and Hurl, My Pal God attempted to transform itself from "hobby" to something a bit more legitimate. Additional records from Dis-, Hurl and Silkworm certainly helped matters. The mailing address and "warehouse" were moved [officially] to Chicago, Illinois in January of 1997. With a minimal amount of fanfare and some logistical confusion, My Pal God started off again.

In September 2000, after many debates and a great deal of uncertainty, My Pal God moved back to its original home of central New Jersey. Nothing should change about My Pal God except for the mailing address. It was a hard decision to make, but I feel it is the right one. There are some exciting new releases on the way, and as always we have some surprises up various sleeves.

I hope you'll stay in touch.

Jon Solomon
Princeton, New Jersey