Today we’d like to introduce you to Cory LaRose.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
At an early age I had always had a deep connection to music. I remember early days of my grandfather playing me the guitar, and falling asleep to it. I recall my first records, the first album I bought and my first concert with vivid details and the emotions I felt while experiencing it. We didn’t grow up with much money, so a lot of my music was gotten from mixtapes, borrowing and copying tapes (and CDs when it became a thing), so being able to purchase an album for the first time was a big deal for me, and being able to see that very band as my first concert was lead my down a road of wanting to see and experience more of that.
As a teenager I was involved in multiple different music scenes, from punk and metal, to hip hop and eventually on to electronic music and a little of everything in between along the way. From being in the moshpits to b-boy circles, and then all night at raves dancing till the sun comes up, it was a very party centric lifestyle. I dabbled in music production at the time, learned how to DJ, but a lifestyle of partying and the alcohol and drugs involved had caught up to me, and were becoming a major obstacle and problem in my life.
I spent the next 10ish years away from the music scene, away from clubs, bars and anything that may have tempted me on my road to recovery and sobriety. It was also during this time I became diagnosed with a rare condition that required immediate surgery and attention with a real possibility of not making it. There was quite a bit of self reflection leading up to the surgery, bouts of depression, confusion and at times regret. There were so much I still wanted to do, so much I still wanted to experience.
Thankfully the surgery went well, and everything I had reflected on and told myself that I wanted to accomplish was still fresh in my mind. As if something was telling me “Well, now’s your chance”; I immediately got back into music production, following guides online, and learning all the new tools since the last time I dabbled with music. There was a lot to learn, but was dedicated to it every day. It was around this time COVID happened and the world shut down, while there were lots of things terrible during this time, it did give me the opportunity to invest more time into learning and networking online.
Once I felt confident in my music, I spent countless hours sending demos, getting feedback, submitting to labels and just trying to get my music out there for people. It took a lot of time and hard work, but eventually started getting label placements, as well as opportunities to do remixes and be featured on compilations. This is also where I first started encountering some of the more negative aspects of the music industry.
Fast forward a few years, where I’ve released much more music, established myself as a DJ, and can happily say have fans across the globe that appreciate my art. And that’s where the beginnings of Under Ocean Records emerge. After years of dealing with labels that treat many of their artists as numbers, I wanted to create a space that is artist focused, owned and operated. The sad reality is that there is a lot of talent out there that don’t get the attention or platforms to showcase their work due to a focus on social media and content. I wanted to create a label/community that looks to push these artists and give them a place to learn and grow. We try to make resources available for all our artists, be it help with artwork, writing biographies and putting together press kits and technical riders for shows. We want to give the tools to our artists that help them grow.
At Under Ocean we focus on mostly artists in the local community or have met in person or through online communications, as we want to ensure all our artists are on the same page, and not using AI tools in their works. It’s been quite the learning curve growing the label, but am very happy with the growth, and most of all the artists, where we stay in touch, and even hang out on Discord from time to time to just talk music and chill.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It most definitely has not been a smooth road, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. One of our early struggles that almost put the label down was losing our first distributor over issues on copyrighted music. We used to have open submissions for our compilations, but kept getting flagged with copyrights and non-authorised samples. It eventually lead to the termination of our account with them (3 strikes). It was a struggle finding a suitable distributor that aligned with our values and ethos and was readily affordable. We decided to release strictly through Bandcamp and Soundcloud for a while, but have since picked up a new distributor and releasing on all platforms once again.
From the point, the decision was made to only release with artists we have talked with before hand or know personally for the time being.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
While I am mostly known for bass heavy electronic music, I dabble in a lot of the creative arts from illustration and digital art, to video and jewellery making. Growing up in poverty, you find a lot of creative solutions to things, and learn to do a lot of things on your own out of necessity. Most of the artwork for Under Ocean Records is done by myself, as well as the video promos, and creative direction/site designs. Outside of my music am quite proud of providing artwork for a lot of the local community, be it logo designs, flyers or even menus for food vendors. Am quite adaptable and always thirsty to learn something new and apply it, so will always appreciate others that are putting in work to create something.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson for me has been that it isn’t race. We all have different ideas of success and what that looks like, some people may get to that point earlier than others and that’s ok. It’s better to collaborate than to compete.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://underoceanrecords.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/underoceanrecords
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/underoceanrecords
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/underoceanrecords
- Other: https://underoceanrecords.bandcamp.com/
