Fang Island

Cathy Pellow of Sargent House

Q&A: Sargent House’s Cathy Pellow on redefining the management-label relationship

This content appears in the iPad-exclusive edition of ALARM #39. Download it for free and keep reading!

Named after the historic home where its offices reside, Sargent House isn’t your ordinary music company. It’s a management company but also a record label — and houses a PR company (US/Them Group), a video-production site (Terroreyes TV), and, now, a licensing and music-supervision division (1656 Music).

Situated between Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles, Sargent House is all of these things, and its owner and founder, Cathy Pellow, isn’t your ordinary businessperson either. From her beginnings as a 20-year-old representing fashion photographers in New York, to her role as a film producer and talent-boutique owner, to creating a music-television show and commissioning videos for Island and Atlantic Records, Pellow holds an unusual pedigree for an indie-label head.

Fang Island

Interview: Fang Island on laughter, positivity, and touring Japan

This interview appears in ALARM #40. Subscribe here to get your copy!

Fang Island: MajorFang Island: Major (Sargent House, 7/24/12)

“Seek It Out”

Fang Island: “Seek it Out”

Fang Island is laughing. Fang Island is constantly laughing. Jason Bartell and Chris Georges, the two primary songwriters for the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Rhode Island outfit, are sitting in the Greenpoint bar where they played their first show in New York. They sip Brooklyn Lagers on a muggy evening while wearing nearly identical jean jackets. The duo is discussing whether drummer Marc St. Sauveur would don the “Denim Daddy” attire on stage, ultimately deciding that he would refuse. Bartell and Georges giggle at the thought.

ALARM's 50 Favorite Songs of 2012

ALARM’s 50 (+5) Favorite Songs of 2012

Last month ALARM presented its 50 favorite albums of 2012, an eclectic, rock-heavy selection of discs that were in steady rotation in our downtown-Chicago premises. Now, to give some love to tunes that were left out, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.

ALARM Magazine: Nov/Dec 2012

Free iPad download of ALARM #40 w/ Soundgarden, Refused, Converge

ALARM is back in print, and being the shameless self-promoters that we are, we’d love if you bought a print subscription. But let’s say that you have one of these newfangled “iPads.” Let’s also say that you like free things, particularly those that pertain to awesome music and cultural stuff. In that event, might we direct you to download ALARM #40 (Nov/Dec 2012) for free?

Go here to read about and see what’s inside #40, which includes interviews with and stories on Soundgarden, Refused, Converge, Melvins, Dirty Projectors, Bloc Party, P.O.S, Squarepusher, Fang Island, and more.

Then go to bit.ly/ALARMiPad and click on “view in iTunes” to download that bad boy for $0.00. Mom might not love loud music, but she digs thriftiness. Make mom proud.

Fang Island

Video: Fang Island’s “Sisterly”

Fang Island: MajorFang Island: Major (Sargent House, 7/24/12)

The second of three singles from Fang Island’s Major, “Sisterly” is the first from the anthemic album to get the video treatment. Watch below as the band and backup singers enact an ’80s-style TV performance, only to be manipulated by a mysterious hidden hand (Doctor Claw style).

Fang Island

Review: Fang Island’s Major

Fang Island: MajorFang Island: Major (Sargent House, 7/24/12)

“Seek it Out”

Fang Island: “Seek it Out”

Anthemic rock quintet Fang Island described its self-titled debut as “the sound of everyone high-fiving everyone” — a statement that’s both accurate and destined to lead profiles for the duration on the band’s existence. Its sophomore effort, Major, builds on the theme. The release features more singing than the first album, which relied heavily on riffs, riffs, and more riffs. But the DNA here is similar: free and fun, with enough hooks to hang the audience’s denim jackets.