Up until recently, Escape Goat Records was run by Cam Finlayson and Neil Haverty. Now it boasts a team of five people, holding meetings at coffee shops along Bloor and College and continually expanding. Escape Goat is plotting a massive four-day music series, with the last event happening at Wavelength. Ryan McLaren talked to Finlayson about the label, the bands, and teenagers.

Why did you start Escape Goat? What's the story behind its creation? I started Escape Goat back in November of 2001. It was my goal to set up a label run by a group of like-minded individuals. Now that we have Kevin (Parnell), Amy (Leigh), and Mike (Carman) working with us, I'm extremely happy with the make-up of the label. From day one, the philosophy of the label has always been focused on the music. I feel strongly that a label's identity, and obviously its livelihood, comes from the artists. I'd have to say that a large inspiration for the label's creation came from the influence of Toronto's varying music scene over the years. In my youth, I remember there being this sincerity and open-mindedness in the music scene, which really intrigued me. Also, venues and bands acknowledged and accommodated the all-ages audience. This was the heyday when Lee's Palace and the Rivoli would do an all-ages show in the afternoon and have the same line-up for the licensed crowd in the evening. It gave indie labels like Squirtgun and Teenage USA/Skull Geek the ability to get their music out to a wider audience. Around 1999/2000, I remember this feeling that Toronto was going to explode musically. Some of it was still youthful optimism, but with evenings like Wavelength, there was an interest and open-mindedness that I hadn't seen in years. I'd hazard to guess that this influence also led to the creation of many of the other Toronto independent labels.

Do you feel like the kids are missing out on the new indie rush? All-ages shows are anything but common, even though teens spend the most money out of any age group on music. We'd really like to put on some all-ages shows in the future. With the new smoking by-law in Toronto, we'll see if it has a positive effect on policies toward all-ages shows. As a label, we've talked about it quite a bit. It will be interesting to see what stance Toronto venues take on the issue. Time will tell. I've always found it amazing that people at a licensed show have no problem spending an absurd amount of cash on booze, yet still cringe at a show that costs over five dollars.

How did these artists come to be on this label? How did this '” can we call it a family? '” come together? For the most part, the artists who appeared on our compilation, In the film they made us a little more articulate, were all approached by me. As for our other releases and upcoming ones, we (as a collective) talk about the material and approach the artists. As the roster grows, I'd be very happy if the label becomes more of a family '” similar to Dependent Music. I have a great deal of respect for that label and the people involved.

Tell us about the event you're organizing with Wavelength in August. It will be the last evening of a four-day music event we're organizing, entitled With Friends Like These: A Celebration of the Pros & Cons of Community [see page 5 for listings]. Escape Goat did a two-day party last summer, which coincided with the release of our compilation. We're quite fond of organizing summer events '” I hope that this will continue to be a yearly event.

What else do you guys have on deck? We plan to videotape most of the Weights & Measures mini-tour. It should prove to be interesting, watching the destruction of Weights & Measures. Who knows what we'll do with the footage? I've been slowly compiling video footage of local artists '“ maybe one day we'll throw it all together and release a DVD... One goal that I'd love to accomplish is doing split releases with other labels. As I mentioned before, I'm quite fond of Dependent Music, and it would be wonderful to get some of our music out to their scene and vice-versa.

Do you ever find it daunting, running a label and organizing these events? Yes, absolutely. In my opinion, the hardest thing to deal with when running a label is money. All of the label's profit, if any, goes into the next release or another aspect of the label. (But) with all sincerity, there's nothing better than the excitement of being part of a project that you truly believe in.