A look back, and forward, at Madlantis Records

Many of the heaviest, sludgiest and loudest local bands Mid-Michigan has produced have one common thread: Ryan “RK” Andrews. Over the years, Andrews has fronted numerous Lansing-area bands like Red Teeth, Dr. Device, BerT and No Skull—to only name a few. Last year, his latest project, Giant Lungs, unveiled one of his most polished, yet still experimental, records to date.

Up next are releases from his newer bands, like Fall into your Grave (alt country), Ghost in the Mind (heavy prog rock) and Bloom or Die (a family band). A bulk of Andrews’ discography has been issued on his own indie label, Madlantis Records — a DIY imprint he’s operated for the last 17 years. Andrews chatted with City Pulse about his label and an unending stream of bands and side projects. Here’s what he had to say.

It’s been a bizarre year or so to say the least. Being a musician, how has it been?

Ryan Andrews: I miss playing live and seeing all my friends in the Lansing music scene. In the past, I’ve felt like we had a really tight scene, people usually helping each other out and really supporting each other artistically and in many other ways. Once this Covid shit is behind us, I’m really looking forward to seeing those friends and their bands as well as playing music for those same friends. I look forward to a time when we can all connect and have a drink and laugh. I miss stories from the homies about music and touring, I miss peoples’ weird personalities. We had it really good here. Any time I was on tour I was surprised that many places do not have such a tight and supportive scene as we do here in Lansing.

So, how did you spend 2020?

2020 was a doozy. I’m really fortunate to have a nice home and a great family, so I just laid low. Working and spending time with my wife and son was how I spent most of my time. Watching movies, ordering food and staying at home. In 2020, we were just finishing up the No Skull full length and then everything happened. But that No Skull album, plus other some other releases, were all released digitally on Bandcamp and most streaming services.

You’ve always been a very DIY person. How have you been recording these days?

Recently, I’ve been recording at home on a Tascam 24 track and taking it to Troubadour Recordings and having (producer) Corey DeRushia edit and mix it for me. It’s very cost and time effective to do it this way for me. I have a basement studio set up where I can track at my leisure, taking all the time, and food, I need (laughs). Once I get good takes, I just take the files to Troubadour and we make them pretty.

This year, I hear you’re working on some solo stuff, as well?

I’m working on a few experimental pieces of music I’ll probably release as RK Andrews, but I’m also just finalizing the first release of my band with my wife and son, Bloom or Die. I just got the mixes done, it’s just two songs. Now I’m looking at doing a short run lathe cut 7-inch and I’ll have it online soon. My wife Pam is an amazing artist and the cover art is one of her paintings. That should be out in the next month or two. The idea is that it’ll be the first in the line of a few really short run lathe 7-inches for projects I’m a part of.

Looking way back, what was the first Madlantis Records release?

Madlantis was started in 2004 with the release of the first Red Teeth album “Fastest Loser.” I was going to call it Zardoz Records at first. I was super into the lost city of Atlantis and the sunken continent of Mu. I guess “Madlantis” combined the two.

I started the label because I didn’t want to release our album and have it look wrong. Cover art for bands I liked had extensive liner notes, lyrics and record label logos. I thought of Madlantis as a fake label, like we were going to trick booking guys into thinking we were on a real label. On “Fastest Loser,” we printed off covers for jewel CD cases but had to meticulously cut each one to fit the case. We didn’t know how to do anything back then. Then, around 2006, I partnered up with Phil Clark and he helped me release the Red Teeth album “Live at the Aztec Room.” We’ve worked together on Madlantis Records releases ever since. Phil does most of the cover layouts and internet-related things. He’s my Tech Department!

Follow at facebook.com/MadlantisRecords.