I fell out of my mother’s dress a fan of music, and it’s been a lifelong passion since. Both my parents were musicians – Mom was a lead vocalist in various Gospel Quartets and my dad was a Honky Tonk Pianist/Singer. My folks split when I was young, so I got to experience the best of both worlds as far as music goes. One weekend I was in random churches and the next weekend I’d be in some Juke joint. My parents were also fans of music outside of their craft, so music was always on, talked about, played and revered. My older brother, Danny, was also a guitarist extraordinaire, I called him the finder of lost chords and melodies, he studied guitar as if his life depended on it. And he drilled music into me and took me everywhere he played. I was a seasoned roadie by the time I started playing drums at the age of ten. I was never given lessons, I was told that if I had “it”, it would be natural. I learned by playing along with records and watching VHS tapes. Everything I know about drumming, I learned from watching Rolling Stones VHS tapes. So, Charlie Watts was and will always be my favorite drummer. I learned to serve the song, to never over play and that less will always be more. I can’t claim to be the best drummer, I’m not, not even close. I’ve played in tons of bands, played all genres of music and even taught myself how to play a washboard and did that for a season or two. These days I prefer playing Rockabilly/Psychobilly music. I’ve never made much money playing music, but that was never the goal and if you’re playing music for money, you’re doing it wrong. Being a musician isn’t for the faint at heart, it’s a slippery slope - one day you’re all that and a bag of chips and the next day you’re playing to the bartender, the sound guy and all of you are strung out on something.
I can’t recall when I started writing/doing PR stuff for Record Labels/Bands, but it was somewhere around the Millenium, probably the tail end of the year 2000. I accidentally got into it due to my fandom, know-how and the relentless pursuit of all thing’s music. It was a real joy working with Indy Labels, learning the ropes, doing the grunt work and being on the front lines from the signing of a band right up to getting their album in stores/distros. In doing all this stuff, I realized that I could get more done with my own website so Black Angel Promotions was born. And for awhile B.A.P. was all the rage, we covered everything under the sun and several of our articles were published in print whether it be Horror Magazines or the New York Times. It was an honor to be thought so highly of and be sought out for reviews, be offered job interviews with prestigious major record labels and so forth. And then one day I woke up and decided to let it go. So, I went back to playing music full time and working with various record labels on the side in small doses. I also helped to start up a few labels here and there, sharing the knowledge that I’d procured from years and years of this madness. Unfortunately, working with and for other labels always leads to a clash in personalities, differences of opinion, specifically when you know what it takes from the practice space to the stage and to the signing of a contract with a record label. I understand the process from every aspect, because I’ve experienced it from all sides.
And now here we are today…. Black Angel Promotions is back, but this time we’re back as a fully functioning Record Label as well as a Zine. The Zine is for fun, because I still want to offer a space for the bands who need reviews for their socials, their portfolios and so on. When you go see a band no matter if it’s in a shitty Dive Bar that wreaks of stale beer and piss, the band up on that stage has put in the time and busted ass to just get to that point and that still means something to me, it means everything. If this was easy everyone would do it.
-Andy Burke
