By Darlene Dobkowski
4/30/10
People go through phases throughout their lives, especially when it comes to the music they listen to. These genres of music often come with a lifestyle, which can be seen as experimentations during teenage years. As adults, some people grow out of these phases while others are dedicated to it and even make it a career. Chris Wrenn, owner of Bridge Nine Records in Peabody, did exactly that, and it all started with a visit to the orthodontist and a Motley Crue cassette for good hygiene.
"As I looked for articles about the Crue in metal magazines at the Towne Pharmacy down the street, I was exposed to other stuff like Metallica, Slayer and the thrash bands of the late '80s," Wrenn said. He explained how through those bands, he discovered The Misfits, Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and other bands. Wrenn also discussed that through skateboarding, he was exposed to Minor Threat and Black Flag.
His interest in hardcore continued on to his college years in Vermont when he met two older hardcore kids, who he hung out with often. Wrenn was known as the guy who would also make pins and demo tapes for his friends' bands. His friends suggested he should put out a record and he agreed that releasing a 7-inch record seemed like a good idea.
He started working a split record, which is a record that features two different bands' songs, with the bands Tenfold and Sum of All Fears the summer of 1995 and it came out the following year, making it the first release off of Bridge Nine Records. Although he had some experience with releasing demos, it wasn't such an easy process this time around.
"Things were slow at first," Wrenn said. "I didn't have much money, so I started making stickers and t-shirts to sell, to raise money and put out that first record."
In the beginning stages of Bridge Nine, Wrenn encountered more problems than just money.
"I had no formal business background, so everything was trial and error," Wrenn said, "and asking around for tips and help from people who were further along than I. It's a lot of work and it all needs to be done."
Putting in effort and money into a business is difficult, but it can affect things beyond the business itself.
"The long hours take a toll on your personal life," Wrenn said. "Every dollar that I had could be spent on Bridge Nine and every waking moment could be working, so placing those personal and financial boundaries was always difficult."
Wrenn has taken care of many bands throughout the label's lifetime such as Have Heart, The Hope Conspiracy and Defeater, many which are Massachusetts-based bands. He likes to describe hardcore and the bands he helps as "a blend of punk and metal music played by clean cut-looking kids." Wrenn has a special place in his heart for these bands and the scene, especially because he is from Massachusetts.
"Boston seems to have a lot of out of town college kids and a lot of kids in general," Wrenn said. "It seems to bring new ideas into the city every four years. It's a smaller city than NYC, so it seems more intimate."
When looking for a band to sign to Bridge Nine, he not only looks for talent, but also passion and the enthusiasm to tour.
"There are too many other things going on in the world, other distractions, so I want to find bands that are willing to get out there in front of the kids," Wrenn said.
When Wrenn signs a band, he offers to release their records with a straight-forward contract. He mainly does 50/50 contracts, which means that the profits made from a release is split evenly after the album earns a good amount of money.
Pat Flynn, lead singer of Have Heart, is part of the roster of hardcore bands on the label. When the time came to decide what label to sign, he felt that Bridge Nine could provide them something that others couldn't, especially with the label's reputation.
"We felt that there was something to live up to and that was really going to push us hard," Flynn said.
Flynn and the rest of the band felt that with that push, they could create something they could really be proud of. Not only that, but they wanted to stay true to the do-it-yourself mentality of the hardcore scene.
"We didn't want to go on Bridge Nine and have all these offers come to us," Flynn said. "That was a huge thing, so we want to join this label, but we're gonna work 10 times harder to prove to ourselves that we didn't join this label for a sweet tour in Europe because joining Bridge Nine can do that for you."
Have Heart put their all into everything they did under Bridge Nine's care.
"We toured hard," Flynn said. "We worked hard writing. I worked real hard on those lyrics. I wanted to make sure they were as good as they possibly could be and all the while, we were in school, so Bridge Nine definitely pushed us just because it's been a real hardworking successful label throughout the years."
In the months and years to come, Bridge Nine plans to continue putting their passion and hard work into every band that they sign.
"[Bridge Nine plans] to keep on releasing music with bands that we love and hopefully continue to allow our bands to create music and tour all over the world," Wrenn said.