Chad Cunningham
The Creation of a Benevolent Fortress
Bullfrog Records
Chad Cunningham is a man of purpose and honor. He grew up in
an artistic family and music became the food of love, a second language for a
young boy who idolized his rock & roll father. It isn’t any wonder that Chad followed in his
father’s footsteps. They were inseparable – father and son. Chad learned plenty
from his father, not just about beautiful sounds or syncopated rhythms but
creating a life worth living and walking a straight line with integrity. The
pursuit of excellence is as natural for Cunningham as taking a deep belly
breath fresh air and exhaling with a smile. Impossible expectations became a
love without an ending. Bullfrog Records was born…
Chad, what led to
your interest in music?
My interest in music…hmm - my dad played drums behind Sonny
and Cher back in the day. He was always in a band, and I grew up with music. He
played in Battle of the Bands, he was in the Delrays and the Fall-Outs way back
in the day. He played against Ted Nugent, played with Bob Seger and all those
guys, and I always kind of grew up with music in the house. My dad playing in
the bands, so I guess that’s where it comes up from.
I heard about your
father, and I think you take after him. What did you learn from your dad?
What did I learn from my dad? I’ve just always been around
it. I guess I don’t know how to answer. He’s just always influenced us, you
know, with music. My dad’s my best friend and we hang out together, so yeah I
guess everything we do is kind of together.
When did you form
Bullfrog Records?
Bullfrog Records would have formed in 1997. There was a band
called Lucid Young. Really how it kind of all started was I recorded a record
from a band, Question Mark and the Mysterians. There was a record label that
hired me to record it called Collectible Records, and we did Question Mark and
the Mysterians album which is still in stores today. It has 96 tears on it, of
course, and other popular songs because their song recording rights were up and
so they needed it re-recorded, so we re-recorded it. When I got done with that,
Bobby Balderama wanted to do a solo blues project, and so that’s kind of how
the label started. Then another band called Lucid Jones and a band called the
Haskells which Andy Reed was a part of. Then the label really faded, I want to
say in 2000 when everybody was downloading music illegally.
We couldn’t find a good way to sell records and do stuff, I
kind of walked away from it just a little bit and got back into just promoting
shows and doing the live shows in the Tri-City area. Then probably two years
ago, Bobby Balderama came to me and said, “You’ve got to sign this band.” I
said, “I’m done signing bands.” He said, “Well, I just want you to listen to
it.” Out of respect to him, I listened to it and again, it was the band “Finding
Clyde.” Later that week one of their
songs “Thoughts of You” came up on my IPod. I said, “Wow, that’s a great song,”
and I couldn’t figure out what artist it was from, and so we looked, and sure
enough, it was Finding Clyde. I called Bobby and said, “I want to talk with
those guys.” He got us together, and I’ve been working with them now for two
years, so that’s kind of the long and short of Bullfrog, I guess.
Finding Clyde is really
hittin’ it big. They’re really living the life. How was the process of breaking
them out into a more national scene?
Yeah, that was a royal pain in the butt. It’s a very hard
process. It’s endless miles, calls, and travel and going to see everybody, and
make them aware, and you know, just a lotta, lotta, lotta work. But it’s been good;
I mean the Active Rock has embraced them. They went to 39 on the single called,
“Let Me Be.” Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue
picked them as the pick of the week and said their song was better than Gus
Mac, and there’s a little rivalry, which is fun. Now they’re getting ready to
release their next song. Their album went out to college radio three weeks ago,
and they’ve got 57 stations already spinning it after two and a half weeks.
Their next song, “Get Higher,” which is the next single, gets released the end
of this month. I’m really excited for those guys. You don’t just call the radio station and they
start playing your record.
Does your knowledge
of music help you pick the right artists for you, for Bullfrog Records?
Well, again, is there a process to picking that? I don’t
know. You know this guy’s a producer, that guy’s a musician. You know the next
person could be a school teacher. I think that everybody has ears and you know
what you like and you know what you don’t like. I guess kind of how I pick
things is my own personal taste and what I think. It’s just something I think
other people would like and we should work on getting it out to more people.
That’s kind of really what I go by, not the fact that maybe’s it’s the best
musicianship or the best guitar player or the best drummer. I don’t think
that’s always what wins. I think it’s probably the chemistry of the band and how
they gel together - what do the songs sound like? What are their writing
skills? That kind of stuff, and “is the song catchy, is it something that
people are going to want to sing, the meaning of the song, and all that type of
stuff. I think that’s more important than, “Wow, that guy really knows scales
on a guitar.”
That’s what I do too.
You’ve been in the game a while now. What’s different for you now?
You know, that’s a great question because what’s different
for me now is the fact that I can get distribution. The hard thing about having
a record label like 10 to 15 years ago was that you needed the record to be in
Harmony House and FIE, Meijer’s, Target, and you don’t any more. You need to
have it on-line, on Amazon and ITunes, Spotify, you know on all the digital
things, and that’s easy for me to do.
With the record label that we have, I’m able to get all the
distribution, and that’s the only part we were missing because we can do the
promotions ourself, we can do the touring ourself. It was just a matter of we
couldn’t do distribution. It really makes for our label to be on an equal
playing field to the majors. You know, there’s nothing that a major has over us
except for a lot more people that they have to answer to and a lot more red
tape to go through, which we don’t have. If we decide we want to do something,
we do it. We don’t have to run it through 20 vice-presidents and a president.
A lot has been made of, and you’ve heard this
before, and I’ve heard it for years. I’ve heard it since the ‘70s really, the
death of rock and roll. Much has been made of the death of rock and roll, at
least the most popular genre. Do you see rock music becoming secondary, a
secondary genre like blues is now and jazz?
I see it becoming secondary with the media, I see it
becoming secondary with Billboard, and I see it becoming secondary with
articles from the media, but are you telling me when you look at a band like the
Foo Fighters who were the only real band to play at the Grammys. The rest is
all pre-produced garbage. You got Katy Perry out there with a bunch of dancers
lip-syncing, and if anybody thinks that’s real, they’re just getting faked out.
So what are you buying into? I don’t understand why the public continues to let
it go on and buys their records and stuff when it’s all just fake garbage. There
is still a huge, to me, audience for real live rock and roll. I mean when you
go to these shows, they’re packed. You can’t take a band like the Foo Fighters
and deny it. They’re selling out huge arenas all around the country. There’s a
thirst for this, but for some reason, Top 40 radio is hesitant to play local
artists.
What’s your take on
the new digital sounds created in the studio
So, I mean it’s a matter of, you go in the studio, and
they’re not playin’ with live musicians all the time and they’re just producing
a record, and coming out with electronic drums or vocal correcting software.
It’s not real. Back in the day you had to play, and it had to be real and
authentic. I think there’s still an audience out there who really respects
that. I think most people do. Again, it just gets me upset to see all of this
what I call fake stuff. Everybody lip syncs and they put on a show. You know,
if you want to go to a show, go to a show, but if you want to see a band play,
you should see a band play. The whole thing about that is they can do what the
record does live without all this help and play into a CD. I just don’t
understand it.
I was thinking about
Greg Shaw. He had Bomp! Records, and I got to know him a little bit, years ago
because he passed away, but Greg produced the Flamin’ Groovies and Nick Lowe. I talked to him in the ‘90s, he felt that rock
and roll was not the most popular genre anymore but there’ll always be fans that
love rock and roll and it will continue to flourish in small pockets across the
country. Do you see that from your perch?
We see that. When we went out to Spokane, Washington and
played…it so ld out and most people are there to rock. I mean they love it,
Flint, Michigan loves it, and Madison, Wisconsin loves it. There’s definitely
still those places. I mean, Kevin at the Machine Shop down in Flint. What an
awesome place and what an awesome venue and what an awesome concept. If we
could get that thing franchised throughout the rest of the country, I think it
would work. I mean, he’s just got a great, great thing going down there. You
can’t tell me that Flint, Michigan’s not ready to see a live band rock and
offering, you know, some produced dancers to the stage.
What was it like
working with Chuck Alkazian? It sounds like he’s a friend of yours, and he’s a
pretty big-name producer, isn’t he?
Yeah, I mean Chuck’s done a bunch of stuff. Saving Abel, Ted
Nugent, shoot I’m drawing a blank, but I know a bunch more. He’s done Trust
Company. He’s done a bunch of stuff down there. I’ve known Chuck for, I don’t
know, 10 or 15 years. He’s been a great guy. He’s come a long way. He’s really
got his sound figured out and his studio figured out, and he’s easy to work
with, he’s creative. I think he helps the process instead of hurting it. I think
he gets the most out of every band that he can.
Tension Head recently signed with your record
label, is hard rock metal genre new to you?
Yeah, I’ve never worked with anything quite as hard as
Tension Head is. You know, I like it. The energy that they bring is
unbelievable. The only heck of it is, it’s a little harder to find a way to get
it out. I’m working on that right now. How do we get this out to the public
because it’s not as easily played on the airwaves, although I think the rock
stations are going to love the song. It’s got a great hook which is not really
common in metal type of music.
I was told that you
helped write it. What did you contribute?
You know just trying to get a little more of the structure
to it. Really Tension Head had most of it done when I got it. I just put a
little structure in it. We put a bridge in there, just kind of the way it flows
a little bit. Yeah, maybe put a little bit of salt and pepper in it, but they
made the dinner.
Do you see yourself
branching out further now, like to different forms of music, whether it’s jazz
or…
You know, ultimately I’m open to hear anything, but really
my focus will be on these two bands. I’m not looking to expand our roster as of
yet. You know it’s not a huge staff. It’s me and a couple of interns, and it
just doesn’t pay to get too spread out where we can’t service the people we
need to. At this point I’m happy with Finding Clyde and Tension Head and not
really looking to expand the roster.
By all accounts you
are a very busy and dedicated to your artists. What kind of energy that takes
and how do you recharge?
Well, like music to me is like what I would do for a hobby,
so somebody that would work a regular job has a hobby of going fishing or
something. Music is my hobby, so what I have downtown, that’s what I want to
do. You know, that’s all I think about
Well thanks, Chad is
there anything that I didn’t ask, anything that you want to say that I didn’t
prompt?
Well, I think that’s it. Really, Bo, the bottom line is that
I’m pretty humble. I don’t like to focus on me. I like the fact that you’re
asking me questions. I’m not looking to slap myself on the back by any means.
All I really want, a dream of mine would be for a band to have a number one
record. You know, I’m going to do everything I can to help somebody do it. I
couldn’t do it with my own band. I think I I’m better as a promoter, a label,
and a guy behind the scenes kind of help. If I can help make somebody’s dream
come true, that would make my dream come true.
You know, Chad, you’re
way too humble because you’re known to be the major player in the scene.
I’ve just been very blessed and had a lot of stuff happen
right. I mean, the shows that we’ve done in the tri-cities, the live shows have
just worked real well, you know, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Poison, Ted Nugent, and all
the stuff we’ve brought in, and those have all worked well. We’ve had some good
luck with the band. Like with the playing cards, we’ve cut a lot of lucky
breaks. The guys have toured the whole country and just keep getting bigger and
bigger, and you know I’d just love to get to the next level…I was looking into
the guy from Cold Play who was getting interviewed. They asked him if he ever
thought about quitting. He said, “Every day.” They said, “Why would you think
that?” He said, “Because I question my music and question this.” The guy said,
“But you’re selling millions of records. Why would you question it?” I think
you’re never happy with the level you’re at. I think you always want to try to
get to the next rung, and if you’re not, maybe you’re dead. So for us,
everything’s been really good, but in my opinion when I look at what I’ve done,
it’s not enough, and I want to do more…
.
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