Inside Colemine Records: the Ohio label revitalising funk and soul
Finding a record label you trust is like finding a friend for life, a spiritual advisor, and an incredible DJ all wrapped up in one neat little package. Names like Stax, Okeh, or Motown, for instance, are not just recognisable brand names; they are a seal of approval that whatever music is encased in those grooves will be worth your time.
Even in the modern age, where the advent of streaming has made that label branding much more difficult to recognise, there are still a few outposts of unwavering quality, and the funk and soul sounds emanating from Cincinnati’s Colemine Records have made it a trusted name for nearly two decades.
It was back in 2007 that Colemine first hit the airwaves, spurred on by the efforts of Terry Cole and his younger brother, Bob. In the many years since, the Loveland label has certainly earned its stripes, providing a home for an unparalleled wealth of groovy sounds, from the psychedelic soul of Black Pumas to the lush disco excellence of Say She She. Along with its imprints, Karma Chief and the reissue label Remined, Colemine, and those striking blue seven-inch record sleeves have become an indisputable sign of quality when it comes to modern funk, soul, jazz, and R&B.
Yet, for those outside the realm of the American label, Colemine exists almost solely as a logo and a series of catalogue numbers. Where did this mysterious beacon of funk excellence arise from? And how did it get to the point of being one of the greatest independent labels in the game? It was these questions which I endeavoured to find answers to during the course of my interview with the label’s head-honcho, Terry Cole.
Beaming in from Loveland, Ohio, Cole reflected both on the journey of Colemine over the past 18 years and his personal journey with the music that made it all possible. It was the world of hip-hop sampling that gave the producer his entry into the world of funk and soul. “I would hear a sample and be like, ‘Oh shit, I wonder what that is’,” he shared, “Then, when I got into college, I was playing in a hip-hop band, like a hip-hop funk band—we just wanted to be The Roots—and started becoming interested in music production.”
That interest in production quickly snowballed and eventually formed the foundations for Colemine towards the end of Cole’s college days. However, the label might never have come to fruition were it not for the inspiration of other iconic independent labels, namely Daptone and the now-defunct Truth & Soul, both of which were Brooklyn-based. “It kind of blew my mind. So that was what kind of sent me down this path of figuring out how to do that in Ohio, in my own way,” Cole relayed.
As with every great independent label, however, Colemine started as a part-time gig, while Cole was earning a living as a high school science teacher. When push came to shove, though, he chose the music. “About ten years ago, the label was doing pretty well, and teaching was becoming demoralising, and I was like, ‘Well, I need to quit this shit’,” the producer recalled, “But I can’t quit and just run the label because that’s not sustainable for me at this point.”
Instead, he banded with his brother and decided to open up a brick-and-mortar record store, Plaid Room Records, in the heart of Loveland, Ohio, to support Colemine Records. Although opening up a physical shop is, by no means, a risk-free move, Cole did at least have experience in slinging wax, courtesy of his teenage experiences selling records online. “I started selling records on eBay when I was like 13, and I sold 78s and 45s to pay for my college,” he explained. In turn, that experience turned him on to a deluge of incredible R&B and soul music because, in his words, “I had to know it to be able to flip it”.
Since its foundation, Plaid Room has become a valued part of the music scene and community of vinyl-obsessives in Ohio, and its location has been a key aspect of the label’s success. Although places like New York, Detroit, and Philadelphia tend to carry more weight within the funk and soul world, Ohio has its own rich history of funk. After all, Cincinnati gave the world The Isley Brothers and King Records, the label that launched funk progenitor James Brown all those decades ago.
Cole is carrying on that rhythmic torch, and Colemine has no plans to up sticks and relocate to America’s cultural hub. “I think if we were in New York or LA, maybe our growth would have been faster, but I think being in Ohio has insulated us from any external, nefarious influences,” he shared. “You know, it’s all like, ‘This is what I want to do’, and whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea, we’re going to do it.”
Even still, the record label suffers from the effects of modernity, in that record labels tend to have less relevance in the age of streaming, the internet, and ease of self-publishing. “I feel like Colemine as a label, and we’re working on this, but we have more national recognition than we do local recognition,” the label boss mused, adding, “I think more people would recognise the store, Plaid Room, in Cincinnati, than recognise the label.”
“It’s a weird thing in the age of the Internet to make that connection,” he continued, “because honestly, most people just don’t care. They’re like, ‘I like this band. I don’t give a fuck what label they are on’.” It is safe to say, though, that Colemine’s ever-expanding audience of devotees across the world is working to reverse that trend. After all, the label boasts one of the most expansive and infectious rosters of any of the independents currently in operation.
Seemingly, that unparalleled breadth of sound comes directly from Cole’s tastes. “I think ultimately, the stuff that we’ve signed and choose to put out is just stuff that I really like, that’s it,” he simply put. That inherent manifesto comes with a lot of freedom; freedom which isn’t afforded to most other labels, particularly not major labels. According to the boss, that freedom is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, whereby their output brings in more audiences and recognition, which in turn brings the label more free rein.
“I think we benefit from having enough of a brand that we can take risks on projects that maybe other labels couldn’t,” Cole confirmed. Offering a glimpse into the depressing reality of the modern music industry, he shared, “You know, some labels can’t sign a band if they’re not going to tour, or they don’t have a social media presence”. That is where Colemine differs. “Fortunately, we can sign bands. If the music is dope, we can sign bands, whether they have an Instagram account or they are just a studio project, we can sign bands like that, and that is really cool.”
“It’s not being influenced by marketability. It’s being influenced by, ‘This is a cool record’, or ‘We could make a cool record with this person’.” With Colemine, the music is always the ultimate focus; there is no phoniness or superfluity, and that has culminated in a dedicated following for the label itself, in addition for the artists on it.
“It’s not being influenced by marketability. It’s being influenced by, ‘This is a cool record,’ or ‘We could make a cool record with this person.’”
Terry Cole, Colemine Records
Alongside those blossoming new artists who call Colemine their home, Cole and the label have also done some incredible work in resurfacing and reissuing various forgotten gems from times past. ‘Herm’ by the San Francisco TKOs is a notable highlight within the output of Remined, the reissue imprint of the label, and Cole is keen to keep that aspect thriving. In addition to the excitin6g revelation that a release from Ghanaian guitarist Ebo Taylor is on the books, Cole also revealed, “We just bought this massive tape archive, like 15,000 master tapes from a pressing plant that was in Cincinnati, and it was one of the big pressing plants from the 1950s to the 1980s.”
Although those tapes don’t guarantee anything—the label would still have to find who owns the rights to the music on them—there surely has to be some funk and soul gold within those 15,000 tapes. “Having the tapes is almost like Jeopardy, you know, we have the answer that you usually don’t have,” Cole laughed.
It should be noted, at this point, that Cole’s mobile phone scarcely stopped ringing throughout this half-hour chat and, from the sounds of Colemine’s operations, he is indeed a very busy man. The label only hired its first staff member in 2020, and still only operates with a small team of around six people, according to him, so it’s certainly not a relaxing affair. On top of all that, the honcho has just released his own record, A Tiger’s Tale, under the name Leroi Conroy, and he has a baby on the way. In fact, this interview took place very close to his partner’s due date, so you have to admire his dedication to the cause.
“By 2023, my personal life was starting to settle into a really good point,” Cole shared, giving a glimpse into the plate-spinning life of an independent label boss. “I got a good therapist, and she got my head right, and I met a wonderful woman, and we’re engaged, and have a baby on the way. Balance was coming to me, and along with that came the desire and time to get back into producing records.” After producing a few records and finding his feet once again, he turned his attention to his album, giving himself the deadline of his 40th birthday to finish it.
The release of A Tiger’s Tale last week missed Cole’s birthday by a month or so, but it was certainly worth the wait. Drawing upon a lifelong appreciation of cinematic funk and soul, the producer has crafted a lush, captivating, and incredibly innovative collection of instrumental excellence, which seems to capture the inherent sound of Colemine in the process.
Whether it’s through creating his own work, producing others, or overseeing the release of various fun, soul, and R&B masterpieces, past and present, Terry Cole has achieved something spectacular with Colemine Records. Fortunately, the label looks set to continue being a trusted source for music obsessives for many years to come.
