{"id":345555,"date":"2021-09-28T20:20:33","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T17:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/james-murphy-ousted-dfa-records-co-founder-jonathan-galkin-last-year-what-happened\/"},"modified":"2021-09-28T20:20:33","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T17:20:33","slug":"james-murphy-ousted-dfa-records-co-founder-jonathan-galkin-last-year-what-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/james-murphy-ousted-dfa-records-co-founder-jonathan-galkin-last-year-what-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"#James Murphy Ousted DFA Records Co-Founder Jonathan Galkin Last Year. What Happened?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#James Murphy Ousted DFA Records Co-Founder Jonathan Galkin Last Year. What Happ<\/a>ened?<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

DFA Records<\/a>\u2014the New York label co-founded by LCD Soundsystem\u2019s James Murphy\u2014underwent a significant behind-the-scenes shake-up last summer when Murphy dismissed label head and founding partner Jonathan Galkin after almost 20 years. The news<\/a> was revealed in a new conversation<\/a> published this month between Galkin and the writer Shawn Reynaldo (who has contributed to Pitchfork) in which Galkin discussed his relationship with Murphy, DFA\u2019s history and the beginning of his new label, FourFour Records<\/a>. The label\u2019s inaugural release is the imminent new album from Black Dice, a former DFA artist.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOne day I came to work and the [DFA building\u2019s] locks were changed,\u201d Galkin told<\/a> Reynaldo. \u201cIt was a really sad day, and the only information I got was that the partnership\u2014of which I was part as a minority owner\u2014had made the decision to cut off the label. And then it got ugly, with lawyers involved.\u201d Galkin claimed that after he was ousted from the label, he was \u201cbarred from communicating with anyone\u201d: \u201cIt felt like a wrestling move, where you get into the ring and are immedia<\/a>tely stunned by your opponent,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was no conversation, literally nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy, speaking to Pitchfork over the phone from DFA\u2019s Brooklyn headquarters, gave his account of Galkin\u2019s dismissal from the label, confirming that locks were changed while clarifying his own timeline of events. Across an hour-long conversation, Murphy did not cite a specific incident or behavior that led to Galkin\u2019s ouster, but repeatedly alluded to financial and artist relationship issues at the label during his longtime partner\u2019s tenure as label head.<\/p>\n

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\u201cJon was my friend,\u201d he said. \u201cI went to his wedding. The way Jon says we met totally is exactly as I remember it. Jon was this incredibly hungry, excited Anglophile music head. His older brother Andy is a DJ and a record collector and super into music. It seemed like the exact right energy to have someone run the operations of the label.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He specifically challenged Galkin\u2019s claim that the label was \u201cself-sustaining\u201d: \u201cIt had an insane burn rate and regularly needed injections of cash that were supposed to be temporary loans that never were loans,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cWhich was all fine\u2014I knew what we signed up for to a certain degree.\u201d Murphy also expressed concern that the label \u201cwas going to collapse,\u201d and that DFA was \u201cnot fulfilling what [he] believe[s] are its ethical duties to its artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Murphy called Galkin in July 2020 to tell him he was \u201cout.\u201d \u201cI remember the feeling that I was doing it, and it\u2019s awful,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cBut after some time to reflect, he could listen back to what I had said to him. \u2018Well, how are you going to retire? How is this going to work out? What\u2019s the future gonna look like?\u2019\u201d He continued:<\/p>\n

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I had to do that and he knows why, and if he doesn\u2019t know why, it\u2019s because he just didn\u2019t listen. But I explained really clearly why he had to go\u2026. After the initial shock\u2014which you\u2019d have to be bloodless not to be shocked, because it was pretty much out of nowhere\u2014I just called him up and I was like, \u201cThis can\u2019t go on.\u201d And I told him, \u201cDon\u2019t go to the office, we\u2019re going to figure out your exit.\u201d And he said, \u201cOK.\u201d And I had changed the locks because I felt that he would go to the office. So an hour later he called me and said, \u201cYou changed the locks?\u201d And I was like, \u201cYeah, I\u2019m glad I changed the locks.\u201d<\/p>\n

It sucked, it felt like I was stabbing my friend in the back, but I knew he\u2019d go in and I didn\u2019t want him to go in. And I\u2019m not going to say why. Why he had to go is between me and him, and why I changed the locks is between me and him, unless he wants to share it. But I have no interest in shitting on Jon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Galkin, in written statements to Pitchfork, agreed that \u201cthere is a case to be made the label would collapse in time,\u201d but argued, too, \u201cThere is also a strong case to be made that with actual teamwork from the partners, all in the same room, going over the artists and accounting and release schedules and catalog, etc., the label would have been fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galkin added that he\u2019s \u201cunsure what [Murphy] is alluding to,\u201d regarding why he changed the locks. \u201cI literally went in to get my laptop charger,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

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One fact Galkin and Murphy appear to agree on is that Murphy wasn\u2019t as involved in the label over the past decade. In recent years, Murphy said Galkin ran the label \u201cwhole hog.\u201d \u201cWe shared an office and were in the same building, but we never saw him,\u201d Galkin said. Murphy said he felt like a \u201cfrustrating\u201d presence for Galkin. \u201cI mean you\u2019re sitting there running something and then in comes this big dummy from tour with big ideas and wants to change things around,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThat\u2019s fuckin\u2019 annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy also referenced what he felt were significant differences in opinion and approach as part of the reason he became less involved with the label. \u201cYou have to understand that DFA Records is not DFA,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cIf you were making a sad, epic tragedy about this, that\u2019s the longstanding disagreement or misunderstanding between us. To me and to [co-founder] Tim [Goldsworthy], DFA was a collective of people that was independent of a label and predated the label. It was parties.\u201d He added:<\/p>\n

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We were sort of a crew. And when Jon became more the manager of the label, I feel like he felt that DFA was this label<\/em>. The label was an element of DFA, but it wasn\u2019t the only thing. And I think that was just a hard thing for us to reconcile. We never really fought about it at all. It was just kind of a difference of understanding of what DFA was<\/em>. And over the years, as he managed the label and ran the label the way he wanted, and I did the LCD thing to keep the lights on and be on tour, we were less and less attuned to one another, and I was less and less involved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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In one of his written statements, Galkin retorted, \u201cStill thinking DFA is about \u2018parties\u2019 is like thinking your high school band is getting back together, given the right gig. Otherwise, where were the parties these past 20 years? I can count them out pretty easily. Most or all of them I helped organize and was involved in directly. They were lots of fun. But in no way shape or form was DFA about \u2018parties.\u2019\u201d (This morning, DFA Records shared<\/a> the event listing<\/a> for a fundraiser party at Brooklyn\u2019s Good Room, featuring DJ sets from Murphy and his LCD Soundsystem bandmate Pat Mahoney.)<\/p>\n

One significant sore point raised by Murphy: the departure of Holy Ghost! from DFA Records prior to 2019\u2019s Work<\/em>.<\/em> \u201c[Holy Ghost! member] Nick Millhiser is one of the biggest DFA fans of all time\u2014just straight up, he loves DFA. And then Holy Ghost! left and demanded their masters back,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cIf you lose somebody that\u2019s as much in love with the label as Nick is, then that kind of put me in a corner. That\u2019s the sea change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree it was a wake up call for me, too. It was a sad moment. He is friends with Nick, as am I\u201d Galkin wrote of Holy Ghost!\u2019s departure. \u201cThey were also offered an arrangement to help revive West End Records and make it their own home. Why would a disco-history-loving artist like Holy Ghost! pass that up?\u201d Holy Ghost! did not respond to multiple requests for comment through their former representative.<\/p>\n

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Galkin told Reynaldo that his dismissal was followed by his \u201cimmediate concern [for] all of the artists who were stuck in the middle.\u201d He said he wanted to \u201cget them out of the burning building, so I took a bunch of the unfinished albums and began setting up my own label.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy told Pitchfork that he gave his blessing for Galkin to take and release any records on FourFour (including \u201crecords that DFA paid all the recording costs on\u201d). Murphy also claimed that he offered to give Galkin money to start the label.<\/p>\n

Galkin dismissed Murphy\u2019s claims, telling Pitchfork, \u201cThere was no blessing\u2026. I took no money from them, only the albums. And they were in various stages of completion. No, they did not ask me to reimburse the label for any expenses related to those albums. But in no way were they completed and paid for before I acquired them. Some were almost done and some were not done whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Galkin\u2019s interview with Reynaldo, his minority ownership of DFA was also eliminated at the time of his dismissal. When asked about lawyers getting involved, Galkin replied: \u201cBasically boiled down to, \u2018You\u2019re gone, we\u2019re not, thank you for your time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Court documents, viewed by Pitchfork, confirm that Galkin sued Murphy, label partner Tyler Brodie, and DFA LLC for breach of contract, fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, and more in August 2020. That legal filing was voluntarily discontinued by Galkin\u2019s attorneys one month later.<\/p>\n

Asked about the legal summons, Murphy said he was unable to comment on that action or any hypothetical settlement. \u201cAll I know is that it was very important to his side, whether it be him or his representatives, that there was a non-disparagement, nondisclosure agreement,\u201d he said. He also claimed that DFA hadn\u2019t \u201cbarred\u201d Galkin from speaking to anybody at the label.<\/p>\n

Galkin wrote to Pitchfork, \u201cThe only settlement achieved is what I state above,\u201d referring to his obtainment of the unfinished DFA albums. He also said he and his attorneys have \u201cno recollection of insisting\u201d on \u201ca non-disparagement, nondisclosure agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Murphy, as well as current DFA Records general<\/a> manager Sam Duke, confirmed that two other employees were laid off at the label last summer in addition to Galkin. While noting that he didn\u2019t have \u201cgreat insight\u201d into what employees were doing at DFA under Galkin\u2019s leadership, Murphy also noted financial reasons for cutting back.<\/p>\n

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Galkin also claimed that he and the label were left in the dark regarding LCD Soundsystem\u2019s reunion in 2016. \u201cDFA was never told any information regarding LCD Soundsystem reforming, playing Coachella, signing a new deal with Sony, or releasing a new album\u2014not a word.\u201d Murphy concurred here, as well, noting that he owed Galkin and the label team an apology. \u201cThey did not know,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt like a dick. There\u2019s no defense for forgetting your friend and hanging them out to dry.\u201d (In October 2015, Galkin gave a statement to Pitchfork claiming that LCD Soundsystem were not reuniting. LCD Soundsystem subsequently returned in December of that year with a Christmas song and the announcement that they would be headlining Coachella 2016.)<\/p>\n

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With the dust settled following Galkin\u2019s departure, Murphy emphasized that DFA Records is coming back and new releases are being planned. \u201cThe big job was untangling the finances,\u201d he said. He\u2019s also rethinking the label\u2019s approach. \u201cI wanted to get back to a little bit of classic DFA, where we released a lot less music. We didn\u2019t send weekly emails with mugs and shirts. I wanted to go quiet and rebuild and recenter on the community that DFA was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galkin said that he\u2019s not spoken with Murphy following his dismissal and has no desire to get in touch. Murphy, for his part, repeatedly wished Galkin success with FourFour. \u201cPeople say this shit all the time, but some of the artists on the label are friends of mine, so I really do,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if I wanted to throw a pie at Jonathan, I want him to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two of those FourFour musicians shared statements with Pitchfork through Galkin. \u201cDFA actually passed on releasing their new record,\u201d wrote Eric Copeland of Black Dice. \u201cPlus, Galkin had been working with us on the record for almost a year at that point, so it was appropriate to continue the relationship with him.\u201d Bjorn Copeland, Eric\u2019s brother and Black Dice bandmate, wrote, \u201cJon has been one our biggest supporters since releasing our first album almost 20 years ago, and was always the main person we dealt with at DFA. Making this album was a long and oftentimes cursed-feeling process, so having the support of someone who really understood our band, and was enthusiastic was important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy is not confident that his words will change how Galkin feels, and, sure enough, Galkin dismissed Murphy\u2019s comments, telling Pitchfork his former partner is \u201cnever sincere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you publish that I wish Jon well and that I hope he does well? With the mindset that he seems to be in, I think he\u2019ll think it\u2019s bullshit,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cBut even if I can\u2019t stand him, he\u2019s got artists that I care about on his label. For him to read that later, he\u2019s just going to be like, \u2018Fuck James. That is such bullshit. He\u2019s just trying to look nice.\u2019 So I\u2019m trapped.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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