by: Michael P. Iten
Tenacity and patience have paid off for Jamestown's 10,000 Maniacs, who, after delicate, involved negotiations, have landed a much-anticipated recording contract with a national record company.
Dropped by Elektra Records after singer Natalie Merchant left the group in August 1993, the Maniacs, who some worried were finished, have landed a prime deal - a five-record contract with Geffen Records. Geffen will distribute their albums nationally.
"It's the best record deal we've ever gotten," bassist Steve Gustafson said from his home today.
"Certainly, it's taken longer than we'd hoped," he said of the signing. "We were almost ready to take a lesser deal from a smaller label - certainly from a company that doesn't have as much clout and not as much money and not as good distribution as Geffen."
Geffen officials could not be reached for comment today. The company, which represents artists such as Whitesnake and Don Henley, is renowned for breaking new, cutting edge music acts. Founder and former chief David Geffen is one of three entertainment mavens behind the much-hyped Dreamworks SKG.
For Gustafson, the deal lends a sense of closure to a sometimes difficult 2 1/2 years. After Ms. Merchant's departure, the band's final recording, MTV Unplugged, became the band's highest-selling album, settling in on the nation's Top 10 list. Yet the remaining members had no recording deal.
"It's a relief that it happened," he said.
"Now we can focus on (completing) a record. We have plenty of confidence in ourselves. And our manager (Peter Leak, based in Los Angeles) has plenty of confidence in us. He always said, 'Don't worry. It would happen.' At times, we were getting anxious. And he was right."
Band members' anxiety may have stemmed from their search for a new deal while Ms. Merchant's first solo album Tigerlily topped 1.5 million copies. Not that they were idle, following Ms. Merchant's departure, original member John Lombardo rejoined the group with his folk duo collaborator Mary Ramsey, a classically trained musician who sings and plays viola.
The Geffen deal followed a showcase performance in Chicago in late fall.
"An A&R man at Geffen wanted to see us, so we booked a gig in Chicago and he came to see us and was knocked over," Gustafson said. "He came over after, had some laughs, we made some food and started discussing music. By the time of the holiday concert (the Jamestown Party, a Dec. 29 performance that benefited the city's Reg Lenna Civic Center), we had an offer being negotiated."
While awaiting a deal, Gustafson and keyboardist Dennis Drew made other investments. The two fathers became property owners purchased the former W-B Swanson Pharmacy building at 108-110 E. Third St., which contains Stage Left, the downtown restaurant they plan to reopen by Valentine's Day.
"I'll do anything I have to to feed my family - I'd pick garbage or be a waiter," Gustafson said. "Instead, I just decided to buy a restaurant. Now I don't have to be a bartender down there. My wife is very happy about that. That was going to be a safety net."
Musically, the deal takes some pressure off band members. The Maniacs began recording an album during the summer in hopes of securing a deal.
"The way I sort of look at it, the money we spent - which was quite a large amount over the past year and a half - all of that went toward getting a record (deal)," Gustafson said. "It means you can go out and spend a little more money to make a better record. If you agree with that philosophy that more is better ... It's sort of a validation - someone else has confidence besides ourselves. Fortunately, it's one of the coolest record companies out there."
Typically, the band's most loyal followers, many of whom live in Jamestown, were first notified of the band's deal with Geffen; Wednesday night, the details of the signing were released on the Maniacs' fan club site on the Internet.
"We wanted them to be the first to know," Gustafson said.