Sid Wilson is many things to many people. As the DJ and keyboardist with metal giants Slipknot, Wilson was designated the number 0, and he remains a core member. He tours and records as DJ Starscream, or simply as SID. He’s a father and, at the time of writing, fiancé. And now we can add “label head” to that list.
A statement by Wilson on the Vomit Face Records website reads, “Vomit Face Records is about tearing down the walls. This is for the artists who don’t fit in, and never wanted to. It’s rebels in motion that unapologetically stand out. It’s to celebrate imperfection, people making real art out of the mess, in a world that rewards fake. It’s where the sound, hard work, and spirit collide, and no one can tell you how to look or feel. Real art isn’t pretty, it should stir something slightly uncomfortable, and break down those walls to create something new inside of you. It’s a place for the misfits to have a voice, and a place to make their own.”
That tracks. Whether it’s with Slipknot, his solo projects, or anything else he’s been involved with, Wilson has made it his business to amplify the objectively abnormal. To find the joy in despair. To create something artistically beautiful out of chaos. That’s a gift, and it’s one he’s intent on passing on.
“I was working on different albums with different people and, as they were accumulating, people were asking questions like ‘What do you want to do with this?’ Obviously, what you want to do is try and shop it to a label, or have the artist release it independently somehow, or what have you. It just got to the point where we were like, ‘You know, why try and shop it to a major label and end up with a 360 deal or something that’s similar to that, just not as beneficial to the artist in the long run?’”
For the record, a 360 deal is when the label gets a cut of all revenue streams, not only recorded music sales. And for Wilson, that’s just not cool. “You always hear about people wanting to keep their masters and all this stuff, and it seems like a daydream for a lot of artists,” Wilson says. “So we just decided, why not start a label for artists by artists, and be able to own your music. Work hand in hand with each other, so that we’re splitting it evenly, rather than a label taking a lump sum. We want to see the artist get the lion’s share.”
That’s what it’s all about—offering the Vomit Face artists an alternative to the big machine. Wilson and his colleagues help the artists to help themselves. They offer services, sure. But they also teach self-sufficiency and DIY.
“We help with PR and getting the information out there, through different media,” Wilson says. “People know about it. A label would hire out a music studio and then pay the producer a labor fee on top of getting points on the album, and then charge you back for the studio fees, and charge you back for hotel or wherever you’re staying while you’re at the studio. If you’re not local to the studio, it’s just like a whole bunch of fees that get incurred. When we work with our studio, we don’t charge you for the studio time. We don’t charge you for producer labor time. Instead, we’re sharing the album. The producer would get some points on the album, but then you don’t have to pay them this crazy, outrageous fee. It’s more of a partnership.”
Wilson says that there’s a feeling among artists that a lot of what goes on in the studio is a form of wizardry. Vomit Face pulls back the velvet curtain by providing solid education.
“In a sense, you’re getting college time, or an internship, but you know, being a professional working musician,” he says. “You don’t have to feel like a student, you get to feel like a working professional who’s also, at the same time, getting taught these skills. There’s so much more you can do now at home on a computer, there’s so much more you can do yourself.”
The roster, at least at present, is predominantly hip-hop. “There is a couple of hip-hop groups, such as the Mudd Brothers, which consists of two people. And then you have DEAD X HEDZ, which is a hip-hop group and one of the lead members was Seth [Brooks Binzer], or Shifty Shellshock, as most people know, from Crazy Town. He passed away, but this was the last project that he did. It’s the last recordings that he did before he passed away, and it’s with Mike Rebel, Ray Garrison, myself and Tommy Roulette. That’s a group. Mostly, we have solo artists, because I can actually give the individual the time and focus that they deserve in order to get the best product out of them.”
Those solo artists on the roster include Ricardo Grimm, Rome Fortune, Kid Bookie, Mars Black, J57 (who is also VP at Vomit Face), and Lil Bushwick. The latter is the son of Geto Boys rapper Bushwick Bill, who passed away in 2019. Lil Bushwick’s self-titled debut album is out now, and he recently collaborated with Wilson on a Rick and Morty-inspired video for the track “We Gone.” That’s the now, but there’s a lot more to come.
“I’m getting a crazy amount of messages and emails from people, you know, ‘Hey, man, I want to be on your label,’” says Wilson. “So that’s really cool for me, and for everyone involved, that a lot of people are interested and psyched about it and like what we’re doing. We’re just going to try and keep it as true and genuine as possible. I always like to say punk rock, even if it’s not necessarily punk rock music. It’s the spirit of it. It’s kind of like, ‘Fuck everybody, fuck all the big corporations and people that don’t want to pay attention.’ We’re actually doing a lot of really good work. And we’re here to do what we enjoy, not seeking out anybody’s approval, and just have fun with it.”
Who could possibly argue with that?
