Record studio offers free Internet tracks

One local recording company is shirking music distribution traditions and creating its own.

Russian Recording, a local recording studio owned and operated by Mike Bridavsky, recently released its second compilation album, “We Just Call it Roulette: Volume 2.”

The album comprises 13 tracks from 13 different artists who have recorded in the past several years at the studio.  

What makes “Roulette: Volume 2” stand out from the crowd, besides its limited edition handmade album cover, is the fact that Russian Recording is offering all the mp3 tracks for free download for a limited time.

“We’re doing it because there are a lot of people who are not from Bloomington who want to get it and might not be able to otherwise,” said Karl Hofstetter, director of promotions for the compilation and drummer for Lafcadio, one of the bands featured.

Several of the bands that have songs included on the compilation hail from places far from Bloomington. They include Child Bite, a band from Detroit, and Valina, an Austrian band.  

Having the chance to listen to the mp3s might encourage those who can come to buy a physical copy, Hofstetter said. The album art was designed by Shawn Knight, lead singer and guitarist of Child Bite.  

“People who buy it really want the whole package,” Bridavsky said.

Picking a musician featured on the compilation to create the art for the album is becoming a tradition for Russian Recording’s compilations. For both CDs, the first track on the album is an exclusive track from the band that the album artist is in.  

Knight said he tried to combine elements of Russian and American imagery when creating the album art, primarily an eye-popping red, white and blue with a prominent pistol barrel to represent roulette.  

“I wanted to play into his heritage with the Russian and American elements,” Knight said.

The studio owner Bridavsky is a first-generation Russian-American whose family is from Russia, he said.   

Knight said the swirling lines on the album cover allude to the complicated designs on currency to discourage counterfeiting.

“The currency thing was an interesting thing to learn about, and a lot of people (who see the album art) pick up on it,” Knight said.

Having both his band’s music and his art featured in the album was an honor, Knight said.

“I’m always really excited about someone who can make a living out of what they really want to be doing,” he said, “And it was a fun project. I’m normally doing jewel packs, so it was cool to have a different format with the die cuts and magnets.”

“We Just Call it Roulette: Volume 2” is dedicated to the memories of Lon Paul Ellrich and Evan Farrell, who were extensively involved in the Indianapolis and Bloomington music scenes, respectively.  

The physical compilation, which costs $6, can be purchased from Russian Recording online or in person, and it is also available at Landlocked Music and TD’s CDs and LPs.  

The mp3s will be available for free download for about a month longer, Hofstetter said.  

Releasing the mp3s can only benefit the studio and artists in the long run, said Dan Fahrner, formerly the drummer for Everthus the Deadbeats, an Indiana-based band featured on the compilation.  

“The industry is to the point where being highly publicized is the only way for them to get attention,” he said. “It can be risky, though, because people get used to everything being free.”