From DIY Necessity To Ascendant Presence: Chad Gailey on Creating Carbonized Records

In a candid interview, Chad Gailey—drummer for Necrot and Mortuous, along with being the founder of Carbonized Records—discusses the origins of his DIY venture. Established in 2018 for the release of Mortuous’ debut album, Carbonized Records evolved into a platform for underground acts across a variety of genres. Gailey noted the crucial guidance from Tankcrimes’ Scotty Heath, who assisted with pressing, distribution, and PR, shaping Carbonized’s community-focused identity. Despite the challenges of managing the label while touring with Necrot, Gailey maintains his commitment to authenticity, curating releases for friends’ bands and streamlining fulfillment. The conversation with J. Donovan Malley also explored future projects, including an insane upcoming release from Decrepisy, new Mortuous music, and Gailey’s insights on balancing creative passion with the realities of running a niche label.

J. Donovan Malley (FMP): I'm interested in talking to you first and foremost about your label, Carbonized Records. Not everybody has the gumption to start their own label. I know several of the bands signed with you, such as Noroth and Vile Rites, and they all share very positive feedback about their experience, which speaks volumes about how you manage the label. I would appreciate it if you could share the history of the label, including the motivations that led to its creation and the factors that keep you committed to it despite the inevitable challenges that come with it.

Chad Gailey: The whole point of creating the label was purely out of necessity. We started recording the first Mortuous album, Through Wilderness, around the end of 2016. I had just moved back to San Jose from Alameda. We spent a solid five days there, working on getting all the drums dialed in, recording them, and mixing a bit. We did some bass, but there was a whole year and a half that passed before the album was even finished.

Nobody wanted to schedule enough time to record the album. They decided we could complete everything piece by piece, in three-day blocks. Having to go back and forth constantly is such a hassle for everyone involved. But ultimately, we got it done. It was finished by January 2018, meaning it was mastered and all set.

As we recorded it, perhaps in the middle of 2017, I was talking to friends about their experiences with different labels and whether there were any I should approach for the Mortuous album. They conveyed that while the overall situation is generally positive, certain issues or additional occurrences do arise. After hearing all this, I thought, okay, I haven't really had that experience with labels since the only label I had actually worked with was Tankcrimes, which I collaborated with because Necrot had already done the demo compilation, The Labyrinth, with them in 2016.

Scotty Heath at Tankcrimes has consistently demonstrated legitimacy and integrity. So, I reached out to him to see if he was interested in the Mortuous release. He was very honest and informed me that he had a lot on his plate, and he didn't want to overcommit, which I completely understood. At that point, I decided to start a label myself—to just do it and see what happens. I wanted to control the entire process and ensure that it wasn't sidelined or interfered with in any way.

FMP: That it got the attention you felt it deserved as an album?

Gailey: Exactly. I joined Mortuous in 2014, and before that, I was a fan of the band. I’ve known Colin Tarvin for a while, and I was acquainted with everyone in the band. I had always been a huge fan, and I believed in the band. I really wanted this to be a legitimate release that was done right.

When I spoke to Scotty about starting my own label, his response was fantastic. He said he would help me get this released. He’d connect me with the pressing plant, a distributor, and someone who could handle PR for me. I agreed right away—I was totally ready to work with him that way. From mid-2017 onward, we worked together to get the record finished and submitted. I had to come up with the label; I had to create this project from scratch. Scotty from Tankcrimes was instrumental in making the collaboration with Carbonized Records happen in many ways. It felt like, well, this is actually happening now. We’re going to do this. I’m going to start a label with help from Scotty.

FMP: In what ways did Scotty help with that first release?

Gailey: With that first Mortuous album, it turned into a co-release. Scotty’s idea was to collaborate on its release between Tankcrimes and Carbonized to help me build my label—all at the same time. Throughout the process, I picked his brain about his experience and what he thought made the most sense. He introduced me to Mark Reátegui, his graphic designer, and we worked on it together. Colin and I would go to the Tankcrimes HQ in Oakland to develop the layouts.

We talked on the phone to figure out the game plan for the release, including things like promotion. That's when we got in touch with Liz Ciavarella-Brenner at Earsplit PR. I already knew Liz from all the interviews and promotion for Necrot, along with all the emails and communications. We were already connected that way, and she really helped in that area.

Once all the layouts were completed and everything was set in motion, I reached out to Pirate's Press. From that point forward, after everything was submitted, we began the PR in April. That's also when we announced the label itself—we launched the label and the Mortuous album simultaneously. I believe it was announced in April and released in June. We released two singles to promote it, and then it was essentially up and running at that point.

It was incredible, and people were genuinely excited about it. Everyone was very supportive, which was wonderful because, you know, people don't have to care. They could easily just say, “Oh, that's cool.” The feedback was outstanding, and the Mortuous album was fantastic. People truly loved it. Everything went exceptionally well regarding the launch. It helped elevate Mortuous to a level it had been striving for since they solidified their lineup in 2010.

FMP: After that, it was some touring, right?.

Gailey: Yeah. We went on a West Coast tour and did some one-off shows. We were invited to perform at festivals both nationally and internationally. It was a great start.

FMP: How the fuck did that feel? I mean, you were really taking a risk in a lot of ways, and when it pays off, that must be such a high and, to some extent, a kind of relief.

Gailey: It was all those things. You invest so much time, effort, money, and responsibility into doing this. If it flops, it's like, well, I don't know if I want to keep doing that. But it didn't. Instead, it just gave this impression of needing a continuation. I had no expectation of continuing it. I just wanted to create the label so I could release that one album.

FMP: After that initial release, did you start to get hit up by different bands asking if you would release their stuff?

Gailey: Yeah. People just started hitting me up. A couple of months later, Mortuous went back to the studio to record a split with Scolex. That was the second release. We did a split seven-inch because Scolex was playing Killtown Death Fest – the first version of Killtown Death Fest since it stopped for five years five years before in 2014. Scolex and Necrot were also playing.

The plan was to release a seven-inch for Scolex, providing them with new music to sell in Copenhagen. Mortuous was included in that release, contributing the track "Desiccated," while Scolex provided "Black Pyramid Ritual."

I did a third release that year, which was Deadpressure, a grindcore, power violence, hardcore punk band from San Jose, my hometown. I had known both Cris Rodriguez and Seneca Norberg for quite some time. Plus, Colin from Mortuous was playing bass in their band. All three releases that came out first on the label were truly a family and friends set of releases.

FMP: And pragmatic. It sounds very purpose-driven and embodies a DIY spirit. You want to ensure Mortuous gets the attention it deserves. You want to make sure Scolex has something to sell in Copenhagen. You want to support your community and your friends. There appears to be a significant, intention-driven element to the process.

Gailey: Yeah, totally. With the Deadpressure release, another label was already handling it. They had pressed the records but didn't press the jackets. The jackets were the only thing holding back the release. I was like, yeah, “I'll do it.”

So, yeah, it's like you said. It's very purposefully curated at that point. It was always stuff I thought needed to happen. These bands are too good; they deserve the attention they should get. That’s what it's all about. It was insane how quickly it all came together. After Killtown Death Fest, I was on a European tour with Necrot – we had a whole four or five-week run planned in Europe around that fest. It was our first tour in Europe, so there were a lot of exciting things happening with Necrot playing several shows in new places.

I was releasing all these records and playing shows with Mortuous and Necrot at a hundred miles an hour. The first Mortuous release, Through Wilderness, sold really well in the first six months. The Scolex/Mortuous split sold out almost instantly. The Deadpressure record did pretty well, but after they played their record release show, they broke up. The copies still moved, but if a band isn't performing live, they can't sell as much. Still, I didn't care about that because this record is sick.

I wouldn't release something if I didn't like it or wasn't fully supporting it. To produce a record at that time cost around $5,000 – maybe a little less depending on who you worked with. However, because I was using a specific pressing plant and a particular broker, that was the price. Therefore, I don't have the funds to put out every release that comes my way. People would ask if I could release their album, and I often had to say that I liked a project but didn’t necessarily have the capital to back it.

FMP: How difficult are those conversations to have? You must be contacted all the time by people you know and appreciate. But there are logistical and budgetary constraints, as you mentioned. How do you handle that? That's got to be really tough.

Gailey: It can be tough. Sometimes, I can't even respond to everyone. Usually, if I can't get back to them, I just have to keep moving. People reach out to me all the time, and I'll be on tour for five weeks. I can't check my email every day while on the road. There isn’t enough time to manage touring and handling all the correspondence for the label. So, I'm constantly behind on my emails and messages, and everyone understands that.

FMP: What's the biggest challenge so far running the label?

Gailey: Wearing many hats, I went on tour last year with Necrot for three separate six-week tours: two in the US and one in Europe. Managing emails, shipping everything, acting as the customer service representative, posting on social media, organizing production, collaborating on graphic design projects with Mark Reátegui, my graphic designer, and handling everything else – it’s crazy to try to juggle it all. It can be really challenging to wear all the hats, try to manage everything, and be as professional as possible. That's extremely tough. Last year was incredibly busy for both the label and me musically. It was insane.

I learned some lessons, and I've recently changed much of the day-to-day operations by having fulfillment centers handle them. I just teamed up with Merchtable, which is based in Kansas. They have worked with Tankcrimes for over a decade and sold thousands of Necrot records and thousands of Mortuous records. I knew from firsthand experience that they're completely legitimate, so I moved all my U.S. operations to Merchtable last month.

For instance, when I launched the new Decrepisy album, it was also released through a Merchtable store. Now, people have much better prices for everything I'm putting out. This makes it significantly more attainable compared to just one person – me – having to manage what I can, when I can.

Like just as Carbonized, I don't have access to DHL and FedEx international rates like larger labels do. I don't have better rates through USPS either. There are so many benefits that come as your label grows, but not when you’re first starting out. I have tons of people asking why things are so expensive. Why are shipping rates so high? Different businesses have varying costs and expectations. Carbonized Records isn’t on the same level yet as some of these other labels. It's mainly because other labels have been doing this for much longer. And if they've been around, they should have those benefits. They put in the hard work.

We all do this because we believe in it – there's a passion driving it. However, people sometimes don't grasp that. There’s this Amazon mindset focused on immediate gratification and a process devoid of difficulties or challenges. That's not how the world operates. When you try to explain something like international shipping to someone who doesn't deal with it, it’s impossible. People ask, why does it cost $30 to send an LP to Austria when I can get it there for only seven euros? It's like, dude, do you realize what goes into shipping something across an ocean? It’s just crazy.

When you're a one-man operation, you're trying to do it all by yourself. You're getting support from your family and friends, but it's your efforts, stress, and money on the line. It feels like you can only do so much. Opening fulfillment centers like Merchtable makes my life a lot easier. I no longer need to store anything that comes in from now on. Dealing with storage issues was overwhelming. Now, I have a dedicated customer service team, a comprehensive dashboard to monitor sales, and a representative who stays on top of everything and updates me on operations daily. It's been fantastic. I would say that the hardest part was juggling everything. However, I'm starting to get a bit of a break now.

FMP: It sounds like you made a really smart move.

Gailey: Yeah. A long time coming. I should have done it sooner.

FMP: Give me a few things you're excited about coming up in the future.

Gailey: The next release announced by the label is Decrepisy’s second record, Deific Mourning. It's fantastic. Their first album was excellent. With their second album – the new one – they have really elevated their game. It's an exciting collage of various types of extreme metal, but much more than that. They explore other genres like goth and industrial.

I'm super pumped about it. The instruments sound great, and the musicianship is insane. They really killed it during their performances. With the backstory—when people discover it—it will truly provide a different understanding of why there was such a gap between each album.

I’m also excited about the next release, Shrinkwrap Killers. It's Part 2 of Feed the Clones. We're about to submit everything and get it lined up for PR and all that. There’s also a lot more I'm really excited about, but it has to stay under wraps for now.

FMP: What about outside of the label? What do you have on tap with Necrot and Mortuous?

Gailey: As for Necrot, we're going on this amazing tour with Cavalera and Dead Heat. We've been communicating and corresponding with Max for probably seven years now, sending him merch and albums, just being fans and inspired by him. Receiving an offer to join Max and Igor was such an honor for us.

In many ways, it's a full circle moment because Sepultura has influenced us significantly, especially Schizophrenia, which is one of the albums Max is highlighting on this tour. That album was pivotal for us while we were writing the early demos for Necrot. Max and Igor heavily influenced both Luca and me during those early songs, and Sonny, who joined the band later, is also a big fan of Sepultura. It's exciting to be on tour with them, performing all these shows, and getting to meet them. Actually, I had never met them until this tour.

They're all really cool, super nice, and incredibly friendly. It's been amazing so far. We also have Milwaukee Metal Fest this year, which will be awesome. We have Candelabrum Fest in Mexico, and that's going to be sick. Plus, we've got a European tour in the works around Graveland Festival, which we just announced. It's in the Netherlands, and that's going to be awesome. We've been communicating with Ronnie, the organizer of that, for years, and we finally made it happen.

The last thing I’m really looking forward to is that Mortuous is writing a new album. For now, Stormkeep remains lurking in the shadows.

FMP: Right on. That makes sense with everything going on right now with Blood Incantation.

Gailey: Yeah, everyone has a lot going on in that band. I mean, Blood Incantation had an incredible year last year. Holy crap. And Wayfarer, too. I really like Wayfarer.

FMP: Yeah, I loved American Gothic and A Romance with Violence was fucking incredible.

Gailey: It's a great album. I love both of those releases. Yeah, they're great.

FMP: Alright, listen, I'm going to let you go because time is finite, and you need to make use of it.

Gailey: It was great hanging and talking with you, dude. 

You can check out Carbonized Records’ Bandcamp page for a complete list of artists and releases.