WAIM #149: Ken Shipley of Numero Group

You could think of Numero Group simply as a record label, but you’d be missing the point entirely. Sure, with its massive catalog of neary 1,000 releases, it is technically a label, but as their own ideology says, “There is no Numero sound, rather there is a Numero aesthetic.”Ken Shipley and his partner Rob Sevier first began Numero when Shipley lost his job at the famed massive reissue label Rykodisc, a place famous for churning out reissue packages from legendary artists like David Bowie, Nick Drake, and myriad others. As Shipley began work on what would become Numero Group, he focused on seeking out lessor known artists to reissue.Much of Numero’s early catalog was defined by their Eccentric Soul series, a running series of compilations featuring some of the finest, but lessor known sounds in American regional soul. These comps often focused on now defunct labels that once featured groundbreaking artists, or they might have laser-focus on the soul scene in a particular community. Yet, while soul may have helped build the business at Numero, Shipley and his colleagues were always seeking out new and exciting sounds regardless of genre.In the two plus decades that Numero has been in business they have dabbled in afrobeat, disco, funk, soul, lounge music, ambient, new age, techno, slowcore, punk, shoegaze, lo-fi pop, and more. Numero has taken an almost museum-like approach in much of the curation work they do with these releases. Buying a Numero record is a listening experience that often comes with scholarship, contextualization, and enlightenment about the artists involved.During our chat, Ken and I discuss Numero’s process for finding sonic needles in the hay stack, sharing the long arc that can often be required for a record to eventually see the light of day. We cover the fading regionality of American music and the ways in which the internet has homogenized some of our sounds. Ken and I talk about how Numero helps to foster sonic curiosity, all while striving to be a label that has offerings for the music lover from teens to octogenarians.Let’s get into it.Cheers,Matty C-------------------------End CreditsThanks so much to Ken for joining me. You can find out all about his work at https://numerogroup.com/The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin.You can subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts. Please be sure to like, rate and review the show if you enjoy it.Our work is solely sponsored by listeners and readers like you. Please lend your support today with a paid subscription at whatamimaking.substack.com/. Now is a crucial time for new paid subscribers. Please step up and support the show.You can email the show anytime at [email protected]. You can also leave us a voicemail with your questions or concerns at speakpipe.com/whatamimaking Get full access to What Am I Making at whatamimaking.substack.com/subscribe