Brian Slagel - Founder and Owner of Metal Blade Records

The Brian Slagel history shows that you have turned a love for metal into one of the most influential metal labels in the world. What steps did you take to get where you are now?

Well it has been a long trip. I did have to learn a lot about business for sure to be able to do this. Still to this day I love the music and that is the biggest reason why we are still here. Getting really good people around you also is a big help.

We have a great staff around the world and the bands, managers, agents and lawyers we work with are great as well. Lots of ups and downs, but I always wanted to make this work. Certainly the fans have been the biggest reason we have been doing this for so long. Without them Metal Blade would not exist. It took a lot of years and a lot of learning as well. Being able to adapt to different situations has helped also.

You have been involved with some of the most well known metal acts in the world including Metallica, Slayer, RATT, Armored Saint and Motley Crüe to name but a few. For a lot of people this would be a dream come true. What do you see as the most rewarding aspects of your work?

Just being involved with great music is really great. I have been very lucky to have worked with so many great people. Seeing a band that I saw in the very early stages achieve success is a really great thing to see. That and having the fans like what we do are the most rewarding things. Also being able to see bands have long careers and be comfortable is amazing.

How much time and effort has it taken to get you from the trading bootleg tape days to setting up Metal Blade?

In the initial days I never intended to have a record company. I was just doing the tape trading as you mention. That lead to starting my fanzine, The New Heavy Metal Revue, and working at a local record store. When Metal Massacre came out it was about 8 months after I started working at the store. I did start tape trading when I was 17 and the album came when I was 20. So I guess it was 3 years before it all
happened.

A lot of people would be quite pessimistic and think that they can never do what you have done. Were there many times when you thought it was all too much? If so how did you get through it?

Oh yeah many times!! I just loved the music so much that I could not give up. Early on there were so many struggles it was not easy. I did not have any money and no expierence at all. But I learned and just wanted to keep going for the love of the music.

Knowing what you know now about the music industry, would there be anything that you would have done differently in starting up Metal Blade Records?

Certainly with experience you know much more. Things worked out well in the end, so I do not know if I would change much. I think early on I trusted some people I should not have. So I would have been more cautious on the business front early on, knowing how it all works now.

What advice would you give to someone who would like to follow in your footsteps?

As long as you do it for the love of the music, you can make it happen. Also it is a business so you really need to know how to run a buisness. The 2 biggest things you need are a true love of metal and learn as much about running a business as you can.

How do you see the worldwide metal scene as it stands now at the beginning of 2009?

I think it is in great shape. There are so many great bands out there. Also I feel a new wave of bands again coming up. With so many places to check out new bands that is really helping fuel everything. Right now it all feels really good all over the world!