Fire Talk Records

Operational Structure

Fire Talk Records operates with founder Trevor Peterson maintaining direct involvement in artist relationships and release decisions. The label manages operations through a Brooklyn-based office while operating Fire Talk Shop, a physical retail location in Greenpoint offering new and used vinyl with Wednesday-Sunday hours. The business expanded to include Angel Tapes, a Chicago-based subsidiary imprint focusing on emerging artists, and a quarterly record club subscription service offering exclusive releases and variants.

Distribution partnerships center on IDOL for global digital service provider access excluding South Korea, with additional retail relationships through Rough Trade and native Bandcamp storefront. The label maintains manufacturing relationships for vinyl pressing with documented capability to produce color variants and deluxe editions across releases. Revenue streams include direct artist releases, merchandise sales through multiple channels, subscription services, and physical retail operations.

Artist Development Track Record

The label demonstrates consistent artist development through multi-release relationships and career progression support. Dehd released multiple albums culminating in “Flower of Devotion” before advancing to Fat Possum Records, indicating successful artist incubation. Wild Pink received label support during frontman John Ross’s cancer diagnosis, with Ross stating the label engaged in extensive communication about whether to proceed with recording during treatment, demonstrating responsive artist care during personal crisis.

PACKS artist Madeline Link described the relationship as informal and supportive, noting:

“I didn’t sign a single contract while working with them, we just met up in a coffee shop after they asked [my other band Triples] if we wanted to release a tape with them. I also released a PACKS tape with them, and it was like, the dreamiest label experience you could have.”

Deeper entered through personal connections with related projects, describing the label as “leveling up” alongside the band’s development. Multiple artists emphasize creative control retention, with Link stating both labels she works with “have the artist as their number one priority. I still have control over everything I post online, music videos.”

The label’s A&R strategy prioritizes live performance attendance, community relationships, and trial arrangements over formal vetting processes, with documented one-song trial contracts preceding full artist commitments.

Roster and Release Strategy

The label maintains 21 active recording artists with consistent release schedules across indie rock, post-punk, ambient, and experimental genres. Notable releases include Wombo’s “Danger in Fives,” Wild Pink’s “Dulling The Horns,” Cola’s “The Gloss,” and lots of hands’ “into a pretty room.” The roster strategy emphasizes multi-release artist relationships rather than single-project agreements, with artists maintaining active output across multiple years.

Artists receive coverage in independent music publications including Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, Flood Magazine, and Uproxx, with consistent Bandcamp editorial recognition. The label prioritizes physical media production with extensive vinyl variant offerings, limited color pressings, and deluxe packaging options across releases. Release coordination includes music video production support, with consistent video output documented across 2024-2025 releases.

The label operates quarterly release planning with advance pre-order campaigns through Bandcamp and direct store channels. Physical retail expansion through Fire Talk Shop provides additional distribution channel for catalog titles and exclusive in-store releases.

Distribution Infrastructure

IDOL partnership provides global digital distribution access to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and streaming platforms excluding South Korea. The label maintains direct Bandcamp presence serving as primary direct-to-consumer platform for digital and physical sales, with full catalog availability and artist pages for roster members.

Physical distribution operates through Rough Trade retail partnerships and direct Fire Talk Shop inventory. The label produces vinyl, cassette, and CD formats with documented manufacturing relationships enabling color variant production and special edition releases. Platform presence includes verified Apple Music curator status and active Spotify label presence, though specific follower counts for streaming platforms remain undisclosed.

International reach operates through IDOL’s distribution network, with releases available across major territories. The label maintains 16,000 Instagram followers with active social media presence on Facebook and YouTube, though Twitter activity appears minimal.

Customer Service Experience

Direct merchandise fulfillment through Bandcamp and Fire Talk Shop generates documented customer service concerns. Multiple customers report shipping delays extending from weeks to months after order placement. One customer described ordering six records with one-month delay before shipping label generation, followed by package remaining uncollected for additional weeks. Another reported five-month delay with missing items and wrong pressing received.

Email communication response times vary significantly, with customers describing weeks without reply to order inquiries. One case documented two-month refund delay with customer stating promised refund never materialized despite initial label outreach. PayPal chargeback filings appear to resolve payment issues more effectively than direct customer service contact, with immediate refunds documented when escalated through payment processors.

Fulfillment experiences show inconsistency, with some customers reporting two-week delivery while others experience four to six-month total delays from order to receipt. Scratch and dent sales generate mixed feedback, with successful transactions documented alongside delayed shipment complaints. Missing items and incorrect variants appear in multiple customer accounts, particularly for multi-item orders placed during promotional periods.

Response patterns suggest understaffing or deprioritization of customer service operations relative to artist release scheduling. The label maintains contact email for order issues but documented response rates remain low across complaint descriptions.