Just Don’t Call It Kid-Core
What were you doing your sophomore year in high school? Whatever it was, Julian Bennett-Holmes has got you beat. He’s the cofounder of Beautiful Records, which puts out rising stars (and sixth graders) Care Bears on Fire. Bennett-Holmes, along with partner Lucian Buscemi, records seven other underage artists, as well as two bands Julian is in himself. He caught up with The Eye to talk about his label, growing up in Park Slope, and why he won’t record bands with over-involved parents. —Sara Davis
Do you actively seek press? Clearly, you’ve got a commitment to school. Is it hard to know how much to push for the company?
We push pretty hard. Neither of us is too concerned with academics or getting into a great college.
Do you think that you want to go to college at all?
I’ll probably go to college. But if Beautiful Records gets big, and I can make a living on it, I see no reason to go to college because this is, like, our end goal.
You’re not interested in pursuing anything else as a career?
No, I mean the music business has a lot of places to be. And Beautiful Records is definitely a bigger moneymaker for us than playing shows.
It’s kind of a big question, but do you have any thoughts as to the weird fate of the music industry? The way that the big companies are kind of fumbling a little bit ... is that for the same reason that Beautiful Records is able to do pretty well?
I hope they crumble! It’s not right to have just two huge record labels. That’s a recipe for exploiting artists. If anyone says they think that’s good for artists, I think they’re lying.
Is there something that ties together anybody who’s 12 or 13 who has the drive to make music?
I think there’s a connection like kids going, “Wow, I can do that, too.” I think that’s cool ’cause bands are inspired by each other. Something that I think is disturbing is when it’s their parents behind it. I wouldn’t say a band like Care Bears on Fire, but a lot of times, it’s completely their parents.
You think the parents are living vicariously through the kids?
Yeah. Maybe they were in bands when they were in their 20s, and maybe their band didn’t do so well. So then they tell their kids, “Here’s how to play the song, and here’s the song you should play, and this is what you should say—here are your lyrics.” There’s a band ... maybe I shouldn’t say their name, but their parents are always standing right there when they play, and the kids look dead bored at their shows! It doesn’t seem like a fun thing for them. It’s OK for parents to be supportive, but it’s different when it’s like, here’s your music and here are your lyrics. I wouldn’t record a band like that.
So when you’re recording a band, are there adults there?
When Care Bears on Fire recorded, the guitarist’s mom was there, but they were like 10 and 11 at the time. I mean, that makes sense to me.
Do your parents come to every show?
Not every show, but most. They’re very supportive.
So as a high school student having a band, have you ever come into contact with the opposite end of the stereotypical spectrum, like a jock or something? Have you ever felt persecuted for being interested in what you’re into or… having long hair?
I’ve never felt persecuted… Like, I’ve had like, “Oh, you should go to our show.” “No, you guys suck!” But nothing serious.
Where does the name Beautiful Records come from?
Well, we were just like, well, what are some names, and we were thinking like Palm Tree Records, Ginger Records ... you know, things that sound nice. We just had a list, and we typed them all into Google, and every single one had a record label already existing except Beautiful Records.
Where do you record?
In the other cofounder’s basement.
So you’ve lived in Park Slope your whole life?
Yup.
Is your family a music family?
My dad was in high school bands, my mom was no more musical than… I guess she played oboe or bassoon in the high school orchestra. My sister plays piano casually—somewhat casually. Overall pretty musical, though I wouldn’t say it’s like the Partridge family.
Did you grow up listening to certain records in the house?
My dad was really into classic rock like Jefferson Airplane, psychedelic stuff like that. I still like those bands, but I don’t listen to that as much any more.
Was there a specific record that you were really into? Obviously, most kids take whatever’s coming in through MTV...
I’m glad to have been spared MTV. I don’t have cable TV, and also I don’t have a radio in the house, so I don’t really know what the big music is right now.
The cable must have been a conscious decision on your parents’ part.
Yeah.
They didn’t want you in front of the TV? Or did you just end up watching PBS all day?
I watched PBS a little. I guess I started to get away from classic rock was when I was in seventh grade, with my first band, which covered a lot of Rage Against the Machine.
So is there a philosophy to Beautiful Records, like “people below a certain age?”
No, that’s just how it’s turned out. We just like to have any music on the label that we ourselves like to listen to.
Can you think of any reason why there are suddenly so many underage bands?
I think there have always been bands of this age. They just haven’t been recognized. But definitely since that article in the New York Times that called us “kid-core,” which, by the way, please never use “kid-core.”
You don’t like “kid-core”?
No.
Is that a fear that you’re gonna be labeled?
I just don’t think that defines the sound of the music. It just seems, like, factually incorrect to me to have a genre about your age. Like Care Bears on Fire and Fiasco [another Beautiful Records band] sound completely, 100 percent different. It’s kind of, like, a hip thing to put “core” on the end of the genre, but…
It seems redundant.
It’s completely redundant. “Core” just means extreme of what it is, and we’re not extremely kids. We’re kind of kids, but we’re not 3-year-olds! I could see calling it “kid-core” if we were 3-year-olds.