El Gran Fiesta: STL Bands Find a Home on Texas Label
A core part of the human experience is seeking community with others we feel are like us, whether it’s the families we’re born into or the ones we build for ourselves. For those who gravitate towards things like sports or politics, finding fellowship is as easy as picking a team color, putting on the merch, having increasingly ludicrous arguments with/against/at the “other side”, and then basking in the afterglow of how your group is better. High fives and butt slaps all around because you are righter together!
For people into slightly more esoteric things like music, there’s not as much “us vs. them” dynamics with a clear enemy everyone is against (except for fans of that one type of music, you know who we’re talking about,) so to find community, music lovers have to actually, y’know, do stuff together. Could be tooling around the local record store looking for rarities and pretending to have better taste than you actually do. Could be going to see a music group perform while avoiding the peer group you don’t want to talk to. The possibilities are endless! Music superfan Alex Hanner, founder of north Texas based record label El Gran E, found his way unintentionally through sheer persistence.
“So I started the label sort of accidentally,” Hanner confides. “My brother runs his own tape label called Aural Canyon in Austin. He has an artist, Heavy Stars (multi-instrumentalist Lacey Lewis), whose art I fell in love with right away. I had a chance to catch a Heavy Stars set in Dallas in late 2019 and was blown away. So much that I asked Lacey how she felt about putting her already released project on wax. I figured how hard could it be? My brother releases tapes. I’ll just go through him.”
“Once I started researching what it takes to get vinyl pressed, I knew I was in over my head,” tells Hanner. “I received help and advice from my brother and friends I have made over the years attending shows. Some of those connections are affiliated with labels that I really enjoy. I quickly recruited my daughter to help with template placements and any art designs needed for the label and artists because I am the worst at technology! I thought releasing the Heavy Stars record was going to be a one-off project. That was the plan, anyway.”
You’ve heard the one about telling the universe your plans, right? Well, even if you haven’t, the universe certainly has, and it always laughs last.
“We submitted everything to get pressed in December of 2019,” continues Hanner. “You know what happened to the world a few months later. Since I’m a school teacher, I was at home for the rest of the school year with lots of time on my hands so I decided to try and put together a digital benefit compilation. I started hitting up all of the artists I knew to donate a song. Then I started hitting up other artists that I love but didn’t know.”
Casting the net wide, Hanner landed an auspicious catch. “Among that list is a band called Snaex from Maine. Two of the members were from a band I loved in the late 90s, Cerberus Shoal, and they said they’d be happy to share a song for the compilation. They gave me a choice: they could give me any released Snaex song or they could give me a new unreleased song if I agreed to release their next record. I was floored! Work with my heroes? The decision was simple for me.”
“So I started the label because of the Heavy Stars record,” Hanner declares, “but I kept it going because of the Snaex album. My passion for music is what drives the label.”
Taking that passion for music and combining it with his classroom-bred collective spirit, Hanner has constructed El Gran E into the centerpiece of an international collaborative effort with over 70 releases that’s fueled by the desire of everyone involved to be the cool they wish to see in the world. Getting that many creative minds going in the same direction isn’t always easy, but all the artists we spoke to seem to think the school-teacher-turned-label-impresario handles it well through patience and communication.
“I am constantly corresponding with artists but try to limit it to evenings or weekends”, Hanner relates. “That doesn’t always work, especially when I am working with international artists. Honestly, connecting is a major part of what I love about doing the label, especially when working on collaboration projects. Working with creatives can be challenging at times because they are definitely a different breed, but I try not to smother them with strict deadlines. I am very transparent with everything, and let the artist know that I will be checking in periodically on progress.”
Like an accidental mad scientist, Hanner’s creation has become something much larger than planned. “The label has definitely taken on its own identity. The music tastes are all over the place like my own, but it is definitely its own entity. The evolution of the label has introduced me to artists and genres I never would’ve given a try. My goal for the label is ‘bringing you music you didn’t know you needed’. I invest in projects that I feel deserve more ears listening to their art. I am not a businessman, so once I invest, my financial goal is to make my money back eventually. For me, it is the process and the destination. I love setting up a new project and working with artists, but I also love getting the end product in the mail, listening for the first time, then stuffing and mailing them to the supporters.”
The quality of the artists on El Gran E and the significant charity work Hanner has done through the label has brought plenty of support from around the world, with a surprisingly deep concentration of it in the Saint Louis area. Given the hyper-saturated information age we live in, how does an indie label from Richardson, TX, find itself entwined with Saint Louis, MO?
“My connection to the STL music scene can be summed with two words: Stephen Favazza,” Hanner proclaims. “Stephen is one-third of Future/Modern, and he found the label when he discovered Heavy Stars and 10 (a post-rap project from France.) I worked with the latter on a project that donated profits to an organization that helped immigrant youth in Toulouse. After chatting with Stephen a bit, we learned that we have a ton of musical taste in common. It also turned out that we met many years ago in Dallas when he was on tour with previous bands.”
The new old friends quickly got to work. “After we released F/M’s Chroma EP, Stephen told me about a different band he was in, They Need Machines to Fly? (whose 2023 self-titled release is on the label),” Hanner recounts. “Shortly after that, I learned about and released records from Children of the Rat Temple and Subtropolis. Katt from Rat Temple quickly became one of my favorite humans and another person I have a lot in common with musically. We then released Katt’s solo project, DESIREPATH. I am currently working with Sean Carosello and Brian Fleschute on their ‘depressing dance party music’. We had one release in April and one more coming up in July. The stuff is excellent!”
If you’re thinking a bunch of label artists being in close proximity to each other means they could throw a hell of a party, you’re not wrong. Not only are you smart, but you’re super cool, so you’re invited to come check the party out for yourself July18-20th, when El Gran E is bringing their label showcase to STL for 3 days. Friday, July 18th and Saturday July 19th are both at Heavy Anchor (5226 Gravois Ave), but there are so many awesome artists that the party continues Sunday, July 20th at CBGBs (3163 S Grand Blvd)!
“When I pitched the idea of the showcase to Stephen we realized we had enough acts for a couple of days, so he organized everything and put it all together,” Hanner muses. “Then we realized that we were in need of a third day to make sure everyone was included, and now here we are! I am grateful to Stephen for introducing me to his little corner of the world. I’ve never caught or heard of any of those bands coming to TX. Hopefully, that can change a little. Future/Modern headlined our first showcase in Dallas a few years ago and that was beyond special. I can’t wait to get to see all of the STL/Carbondale area folks live and get to experience acts that are new to me: Zantigo!, Nightswim, Hopeful Utopian, Icy Tropes, and Van Buren. I know every night of the showcase will be special.”
After getting far down a road he never set out to walk, Hanner feels good about where El Gran E is at and where it’s going. “The label and artists have really turned into a beautiful community. It is full of very talented and supportive artists. Not just for the label, but for each other. I’m excited I will get to experience this beauty firsthand at the upcoming showcase! Afterward? I guess business as usual. The rest of the year is basically full of upcoming releases, and I will start brainstorming for the next annual showcase. I’m thinking of either Florida or Portland, OR, for next year. That could easily change in the coming months, though. I’d love to somehow get some of the international artists out here.”
We’ll see what happens for the ever-expanding world of El Gran E next year, but your opportunity to find some community with other music fans is here and now, this weekend. Don’t miss your chance to check out the showcase so you can prove just how much better your music taste is!
Find the full schedule of artists and locations for the 3rd Annual El Gran E Records Showcase here: https://www.instagram.com/el.gran.e.records/
Find out about And Be But Surrounded By Monsters, the latest El Gran E and 10 charity vinyl project, with proceeds going to RAICES (raicestexas.org) here: https://elgranerecords.bandcamp.com/album/and-be-but-surrounded-by-monsters
All photos in this story were taken by Erik Carlson. Follow him on Instagram at @sonicgallerystl
