Art MacIntyre’s modern family

Winnipeg record label Transistor 66 is happily dysfunctional

Transistor 66 Records founder Art MacIntyre in the basement of his home. MacIntyre aims to put the artist and the music before all else. Dylan Hewlett
This Hisses is a recent addition to the Transistor 66 family. Tyler Funk

It’s amazing what can happen when the right situation meets the right attitude by accident. Almost 10 years ago, Art MacIntyre (a.k.a. Art Transistor) was managing a local band when he hit a snag.

“I never planned on starting a label,” MacIntyre says. “It was really just to work with The Rowdymen, to help them run their band as a business. When it came time to release their record they didn’t have a label, so I just figured, why not?”

Thus began Transistor 66 Records. Macintyre, founder and owner of the Winnipeg-based music label, has built the company from its unintentional origins to the point where he now represents a roster of 34 bands – 22 of those local – employs five people, and has racked up more than 70 releases since he started out in 2002.

The label is behind such local phenomena as Scott Nolan, The Farrell Brothers and This Hisses, but also represents bands from across Western Canada and as far east as Montreal.

The high ratio of local talent on the label is the result of natural selection rather than any master plan. MacIntyre said it’s simply easier to check out local bands than to travel long distances.

“We don’t deliberately try to stack up Winnipeg bands, but it just makes sense in so many ways.”

Whether a band is local or not and what kind of music it makes doesn’t matter at all when MacIntyre considers a new group for the label. An artist needs only one thing to be considered for Transistor 66: “Good songs.”

If a band breaks up, a lot of times they’ll break off and we’ll end up with two new bands. That’s the way we’ve pretty much grown.

Art MacIntyre

However, MacIntyre noted that the main source of growth for the label is internal.

“The label has grown organically,” he says. “So if a band breaks up, a lot of times they’ll break off and we’ll end up with two new bands. That’s the way we’ve pretty much grown.”

After releasing The Rowdymen album Rubbernecking in 2003, MacIntyre began work on a Guess Who tribute album. It was this record, released in 2005, that really got things rolling. MacIntyre found 18 Winnipeg bands to record as many Guess Who songs, which allowed him to get to know bands such as The Fabulous Kildonans, who would eventually join the Transistor 66 family.

In the early days the label took a much more hands-on approach, arranging studio time and paying many of the expenses for recording. However, lately that has changed, with Transistor 66 focusing mainly on marketing and distribution and taking an overall smaller percentage from a larger number of artists.

One of those artists, Joanne Rodriguez, singer and guitarist for The Angry Dragons, says MacIntyre’s approach is both professional and laid back.

“It’s a very relaxed relationship we have with him. I never dread hearing from him like, ‘Oh no, the label’s calling,’” says the local rock veteran, who has also fronted The Vagiants and American Flamewhip.

This artist-label dynamic will be the subject of a new documentary coming out this fall on MTS on Demand.

Happily Dysfunctional, directed by local filmmaker Steve Ward, follows MacIntyre and several Transistor 66 bands over a period of eight months, exploring what makes the whole operation tick.

“I don’t really like to be in the spotlight,” MacIntyre says. “I’d rather be at the back of the room and let the bands have the stage, but I couldn’t really turn this down because I knew it’d be a good opportunity for the bands.”

And just how happy and dysfunctional is the Transistor 66 family?

“We couldn’t be any happier doing what we’re doing, but anyone looking in from the outside would probably say, ‘What the hell are you thinking?’” MacIntyre says. “We’re certainly about as far from mainstream as we want to be.”

Visit www.transistor66.com to see the full artist roster and to purchase Transistor 66 releases.

Published in Volume 66, Number 3 of The Uniter (September 15, 2011)

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