Carrie: Well to tell the truth the story of B&G is a bit of a love story. Back in 1999 Bradd and I met at a local punk rock show where his band was playing, I was there in support of a friends band. We saw each other and noticed the Horror flair each of us had to our style. It was love at first sight (or first bite!) though it took us about 4 months to call it official. When the two of us combined forces we realized that there was a lack of "Horror" representation, in the Punk rock scene. This was before there was much of a horror punk record label presence on the scene, we started with a small website and zero dollars to fund our dreams. Over the years we spread our name, and with the release of the Blood and Guts Records Comp #1 which was a 400 CD pressing with CD-R's we met many bands that we currently work with today and bands that are no longer around but were monumental in the formation of the Horror Punk scene. The main goal of the label is to get the bands the representation they deserve, we may be a small label (no major label) but we are doing this 100% for the horror. We love our bands and each band on our label we treat as family members. We are the Blood and Guts Family.

Why start up a Horror Punk label as opposed to a straight up Metal label?

Carrie: Horror Punk and Horror Movies were and are still our main passions, it seemed only natural to start a label to promote the small movement that had begun and we loved. We actually have with in the last year started up a Metal label called Aphotic Records, there you can find the music that we love that doesn't necessarily fall into the Horror genre. We started that label up due in large part to Mattias of Casket Casey's project TME. He was in the process of hunting for a label for TME (perfect thrash metal from hell) while we were in Sweden visiting with him. We loved the music and wanted to help so with his help came up with the name and now we currently have another band called FaithXtractor with Marquis and Ash Thomas from The Vladimirs and Estuary, and also a badass female fronted metal band from Sweden called 6th Awakening on Aphotic as well.

Who if anybody was the biggest influence behind starting up the label?

Carrie: Bradd and I were brainstorming one day about how to promote his band, and others of the same genre. We knew many people from our quaint little island that we live on had started up labels and were doing pretty well with it, we decided that we should do it one October night and Blood and Guts was born.

In your humble opinion what sets your bands apart from others that you've passed over, outside of the fact that you prefer their respective music?

Carrie: Usually the bands we sign send us a demo that knocks our socks off. For example, T-Virus contacted us and sent us a five song demo entitled "Need to Feed." We were shocked that they weren't already snatched up by some evil faceless corporate label. Before the second song of the demo was finished we both were in complete agreement that we need them on our label ASAP. We e-mailed them with the offer and graciously accepted. Then there was Casket Casey that had no demo whatsoever, only the credentials of being members of the bands that they listed, one of them, which by the grace of the gods had happened to be our favorite band ever, Vintersorg. We knew they were professional and talented to no end. We get a lot of submissions from bands that have no horror interest at all, and bands that have no demo, bands that are Misfits clones (or just straight up cover bands), bands that haven't found their strong points etc…

What exacty do you look for in a band when it comes to signing new blood? What makes them unique and not just the same old, same old?

Bradd: There are a lot of different factors involved. It is very important to us to be working with professional, talented, creative, motivated and dedicated people. If people approach us with a rock-star attitude, they are cutting their own throats. We don't want to, and don't work with people we can't relate to on a very personal level. The point isn't to be the "baddest-ass," we are looking for people who can offer authentic and creative horror that will touch people the way authentic and creative music has touched us. It is very key that we can "feel" their vision, and that they can feel or creatively add on to our vision of what horror sounds, looks and feels like. There are also legality issues involved, for example, if you are a Misfits cover band, we pretty much wont even look your way, not because we don't dig what your up to, but because we would be bound and gagged with red-tape issues involving rights of usage, royalties etc. Besides, we are here to create, not revel and wallow in what has already been.

Who was your first official signing and how did you go about signing them being that you were a brand new label?

Carrie: For many years we tried to work with The Vladimirs at the time of the first B&G comp they were with Reanimator Records, but Reanimator was no longer printing new albums. We decided to do a "Best of" album with them when we got the funds, they were in no hurry. Years went by and I remember I was in college and taking a major test. I got home and Bradd left me a note, "Awesome news!" He arrived home from work and told me that a band named Casket Casey had emailed us and that they were members of our all time favorite metal act Vintersorg, and also other bands we were just getting into like Otyg (Do yourself a favor and listen to them!). I nearly died, I was so excited we checked out the music on their site and we were hooked. Cia's vocals are absolutely beautiful, and Mattias' guitar work is always amazing. We told them that although we had no releases besides the compilation CD we were ready to put out another album. We had saved up enough for another release. They joined the label and became the first band officially signed to Blood and Guts Records.

Speaking of your illustrious roster, you boast quite a few well-respected bands from the scene. Who would you say has been your best signing as far as sales go?

Carrie: For sales we pretty much have a tie between Casket Casey's "Coffin' Up Bones" and T-Virus' "Horror Thir13teen." However the Vladimirs have multiple releases out including ones that weren't released by us, although of course we sell them and we are constantly having to get Brian (guitarist) to send more copies of their other cds because they are steadily flying off the "shelf." In General all of our bands have been great though, their like your children or something haha, you don't have favorites. They're all just perfect in their own ways.

We know the label is self financed but has it gotten to the point where it's paying for itself yet, or are you still both having to work day jobs? If so, what do two mad scientists such as yourself do to keep this horror train a rolling?

Bradd: Blood and Guts Records was started with $12.50 that I borrowed from a buddy of mine to get buttons made up for the horror punk band I was playing in at the time, The Humanoids (the only thing ever officially released was the first song on the our first Blood and Guts compilation which is out of print and out of stock.) Then I had saved up enough money for one release when we had finally spoken with Casket Casey. A while after that Carrie had been awarded a sizable in-court award from an insurance company after she had broken her neck in a car accident when she was 16. We had a good chunk of money to use to lay the foundation that would be able to make Blood and Guts Records last long after we leave this earth. I am a freelance web designer and I also give young'uns guitar lessons. So my schedule is about 100 percent flexible, which is how I like it. Most of our day everyday is spent working on Blood and Guts business/projects etc.

Carrie: I currently don't have a job but am looking (hint, hint) ;) I have worked as a Veterinary Technician and find myself happiest working with animals, or doing graphic design when not working for B&G.

Speaking of finances; the average price of one of your band's cd's is fifteen bucks. Is there any reason why they're higher than most indy labels?

Bradd: Good question. Here is how/why/what we are doing with that. Each project we do entails a lot of different things. Recording time, CD Manufacturing, promotional stuff (photography, posters, advertising, giveaways, promotional materials like postcards etc.) So that racks up quite a bill. The next thing we do is give 100 copies to each band to kick off the release. This ensures that they are making money right off the bat by selling their CDs to their fans personally, while we wait to pay back the project, then they start making royalties. We make sure our bands and everyone we work with (bands, labels, distros) have priority over us as far as being able to obtain sales. You can find our CDs for around 10 bucks online at places like InterPunk, or other entities like Best Buy, or Barnes and Noble. We use the web shop as last resort for finding our CDs. When you look at our web shop though you will find that everything besides the CDs we sell, beats just about everyone's prices in the world. Hands down.

More than half of your current roster resides outside of the U.S.. Is this a method behind the madness or just a coincidence?

Carrie: Haha actually pure coincidence, there's a lot of talent in Scandinavia right now, and The Rival Skulls of Italy are long time favorites.

Congratulations on one of your newest signings; The Serpenteens. How did you and the band initially get in touch with each other and was there any added pressure on getting the band since they're fairly big in the underground horror scene?

Carrie: Actually it dates back to our first compilation CD, the "Old School" as we call it. The Serpenteens had two songs on that album and they told us that it was instrumental in getting them the popularity they have received. We have been fans and friends of theirs since then. When we found out they were back in action I sent them an email telling them that I was excited to see them back after all those years, they have some real talent! George was talking with several labels but nothing seemed to be working out for them. Everyone felt good about working together again and that was it, Serpenteens were inducted into the B&G family.

What would you say makes Blood and Guts Records stand out amongst other horror labels such as Fiend Force, Dr. Cyclops and Horror High?

Bradd: To be quite honest, I feel like I do not have enough information about those particular labels to answer this. I know absolutely nothing about the business practices/tactics of Fiend Force or Horror High. We have known Shane from Dr. Cyclops for a while, he is a good guy and we enjoy working together with him. I would say that as far as other labels go we are most closely connected with Crypt of Blood records, Travis is a cool dude whom we speak with a lot, do trades with and there is even talk of him coming to visit us this spring.

When you're not working yourself into the ground on the label, what if anything do you occupy your time with?

Carrie: Well the label is our life, when we aren't working on the business we travel. Scotland, Sweden and Costa Rica are some of our favorite spots. We love to go and meet our bands, they all are awesome people and great friends. Camping is a favorite pass time of ours and in fact one of the pictures we sent along with this interview was taken on our last camping trip at "The Shining" Hotel otherwise known as Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, Oregon. (go there its awesome!) I also spend a lot of my time (and worry) trying to help companies like ASPCA, Defenders of Wildlife, The Humane Society, etc...

Bradd: I live for music. I play guitar, bass, drums, and am working on becoming a better singer. I play for upwards of four hours a day, sometimes more if I have nothing going on. I love writing, playing and recording music. Carrie and I have built a recording studio in our house that we are constantly tinkering with. Hopefully, in time, we wish to be able to do the recording of our bands ourselves. That would be killer. Carrie and I are also very motivated to do what we can to help animal-kind. We love animals. We currently are the proud owners of a ball-python named Zelda, a miniature dachshund named Marilyn, a huge rat named Armondo and two hamsters.

If you could give a piece of advice to an up and coming entrepreneur who was thinking about getting into the Horror Punk label business, what would be the best advice you could give them?

Be nice. Be honest. Be in it for the blood, not the money. If you can do these things, you can be a happy person with this career! Thanks for the interview, you guys rule!