The name Mike Gitter is one that is familiar to most industry folks who work on the heavier side of music. Previously an A&R man with Century Media, Roadrunner, Razor & Tie, and Atlantic Records, Gitter has been responsible for the signing of Ice-T’s Body Count, Killswitch Engage, Orbit Culture, and Bad Religion over the years. Metal, punk, hardcore, and everything in-between—Gitter has made a habit of discovering gems while simultaneously breathing new life into the careers of celebrated veterans. As such, his reputation is stellar.
It made sense, then, that when hard rock label Frontiers decided to launch a heavier imprint called BLKIIBLK, Gitter would be the man they’d want heading up their A&R department. They already had Megadeth (who recently scored a number one album), Biohazard, and The 69 Eyes on the roster, and Gitter is well placed to drive the label forward.
“I received a call from a guy named Jeff Stevenson, who is Frontiers’ General Manager,” Gitter says. “At the time I was at Century Media. I had just signed Lorna Shore, and a band called Orbit Culture, and I had actually just resigned my contract. So in the ensuing two years, they did start a label called BLKIIBLK. They signed Megadeth, they signed Biohazard. I thought that the campaigns for both were both fantastic. In the case of Megadeth, you have a band that is the masters of what they do. I think there were a lot of pluses going into it. It was A level from start to finish. When I walked in, the cement was poured in, the steel girders were in place, and I think that it was an incredible foundation.”
Serafino Perugino founded Frontiers Music (named after the Journey album Frontiers) in 1998, and the label’s first release was a double live by British melodic rockers Ten. That set the tone for what was to come; Journey would join the Frontiers gang at one point, as would classic rockers, prog rockers, and hair metallers such as Survivor, Yes, Toto, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot, Hardline, Boston, and Winger.
“I think that [Perugino] made the decision to take the company to the next chapter,” Gitter says. “You’ve got to consider the resolve of a company from Naples, Italy, that has been as successful as Frontiers has been. Significant chart numbers throughout the world. The label’s grown to have had success across three different labels now.”
That’s correct; as well as the flagship Frontiers and this heavier-edged BLKIBLK, there’s also the FLG imprint that has more alternative-leaning bands on the roster, including Skunk Anansie.
“It’s a neat look,” Gitter says. “I think it’s a very interesting time on the label landscape, as different labels have different relationships with their parent companies and distributors. I think that there’s a real moment for forward thinking.”
Gitter has hit the ground running with BLKIIBLK, quickly signing Cleveland band Nunslaughter, hardcore icons Cro-Mags, and thrash titans Forbidden.
“Nunslaughter—that was a record I was handed several months before, and it didn’t make sense for where I was at the time,” he says. “But goddamn, if there was a sweet spot between Slayer’s Seasons in the Abyss and the Misfits’ Earth AD. Like, foundational and grimy as hell. It’s one of those great, metal as fuck, grimy, metallic punk records.”
From there, Gitter set out to assemble the label profile that he wanted.
“Forbidden were always one of the younger and more creative of all the Bay Area bands,” he says. “Craig Locicero, the guitar player and founding dude; came back with a very strong lineup and immediately put out a couple of songs that were amongst the strongest stuff the band’s ever come up with in its history. It didn’t hurt that my old friend Chris Kontos [Machine Head, Testament, etc.] was also in the lineup. They’re currently working on the record now.”
Another signing overseen by Gitter is that of Portland gothic metal troupe Unto Others. “Gabe Franco has always been a great songwriter,” he says. “They’re millimeters away from a real breakthrough. The songs have always been great. The vibe has always been dark and brooding, somewhere between Iron Maiden, Type O Negative, and The Mission.”
The Cro-Mags were signed over the holiday break. “I’ve known Harley Flanagan since 1986,” Gitter says. “I believe I met him when he was playing drums for Murphy’s Law at a YMCA basement. A Void, Agnostic Front, Murphy’s Law show in Boston. I’ve always been a fan, seeing the journey of his and Cro-Mags in general. Harley Flanagan is the connective tissue for the American underground. I mean, his story starts in the shadow of Warhol, the Factory, and the Velvet Underground. It continued through the late ‘70s and New York punk with the Stimulators. His participation in the birth of hardcore. His shadow looms over all of it.”
Put those bands together, and you have a pretty rounded idea of what BLKIIBLK is and will be. “I think the vision and the goal is for it to really encompass what metal, what extreme music, what the hardest of hard rock means now,” Gitter says. “That can be everything from career artists like Megadeth, who are still making some of their best music, to something dark and grimy and underground like Nunslaughter. To bands who you wouldn’t traditionally think of as metal. Darker, more electronic based.”
Ultimately, Gitter feels fortunate to be involved with a label that has an expansive vision. “I think it’s an amazing challenge,” he says. “Through a lot of hard work and through a very dedicated team of people, I think we’re already making a difference. A hell of a lot faster than I expected.”
With names like Thrown Into Exile, Sick N’ Beautiful, and Firewind now signed to the label, exciting times are ahead.
Visit blkiiblk.com.
