{"id":312537,"date":"2021-01-26T10:19:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T10:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nocomplynetwork.com\/?page_id=312537"},"modified":"2023-07-16T18:43:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-16T18:43:46","slug":"paul-sunderland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nocomplynetwork.com\/paul-sunderland\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Sunderland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Sunderland is a skateboarder and musician who has been running punk and metal label Give Praise Records since 2005. You can see from his company’s collaborations with skate musicians and it’s skateboarding graphical output that he’s devoted to skating and includes it in everything he does but specifically the street skating thrash era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. <\/b><\/p>\n

Paul has released hundreds of albums through Give Praise whilst supporting musicians and skateboarders with representation, record production and clothing, so we hit him up to hear his views on skating and rock music in order to learn more about it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We got stoked to hear his plans to get his label even more involved in skating, so we asked him to join the No Comply Network<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s that chat about his history in skateboarding, punk and metal music, how he started Give Praise Records, his artist roster, his daily experience running the label, his favourite recent additions to the label, his music, products and future plans for the brand, collaborations, and his favourite skateboarders, videos, styles and bands of all-time and much more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read The Paul Sunderland interview below to find it all out for yourself.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Where did you grow up Paul?<\/h1>\n

I grew up in Barnstable, Massachusetts on Cape Cod – I recently moved to a condo with my wife and 3 year old in Bourne, which is also in Cape Cod.<\/p>\n

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Cool. How did you discover skateboarding?<\/h1>\n

When I first started getting into punk music, when I was about 14-15 years old.<\/p>\n

I saw all of these punk kids on the CD and Vinyl jackets standing and hanging around on skateboards.<\/p>\n

A friend of mine, Paul from Dumpster Junkies, a local band at the time, his uncle owned a sporting goods store, and he had a small section in the store selling skateboards and music. He started sponsoring skateboarders and I really started to get into it through hanging out there.<\/p>\n

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Cool, what was your first setup?<\/h1>\n

I got my first skateboard when I was 14 as a Christmas present.<\/p>\n

It was a Alien Workshop<\/a> \u2018Sect\u2019 deck, Spitfire wheels, and Venture trucks. I was totally naive and just chose it based on how cool it all looked.<\/p>\n

I remember it was snowing and I went out anyhow, probably wrecking my griptape, with my entire family.<\/p>\n

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Where did you first learn to skate and who was in your crew?<\/h1>\n

I basically learned by going out into my driveway and skating. I lived in a very rural area and my dad had a friend build me a skate ramp.<\/p>\n

My crew was basically a few friends who I hung out with at school, we would hang out skate for a few hours and usually play video games after that.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I was about 17 or so I started to hit skateparks and get more serious about skating with my friend Chris, who lived in Plymouth, MA.<\/p>\n

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Why did you start Give Praise?<\/h1>\n

I first started doing a record label in 2004 called Teacore Records, I started a zine at the same time called Praise To All.<\/p>\n

It basically just meant, everyone should be praised for what they are doing.<\/p>\n

I quit Teacore, because it was mostly home dubbed cassettes and CDRs and started Give Praise Records,<\/a> this was the more \u2018professional\u2019 label.<\/p>\n

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What does the name mean?<\/h1>\n

The name is basically a way of saying, everything, everyone, does matter and deserves some attention.<\/p>\n

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How many artists are on your roster?<\/h1>\n

I have over 150 releases on Give Praise – it started out with fast hardcore music, punk, and that kind of stuff. Hardcore music mostly.<\/p>\n

I started out really into \u2018fastcore\u2019 and then kind of branched into other areas, like grind, death metal, etc.<\/p>\n

I have been keeping it on those certain genres for years, but have recently started to get involved in other genres for some upcoming stuff, that will be a little different.<\/p>\n

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Who creates all of the art for Give Praise?<\/h1>\n

So, the logo thing: It\u2019s kind of a joke, I have various labels all the time.<\/p>\n

About 99% of the graphics are worked on with either Mark Reategui, based in California or Lobo Ramirez<\/a> who does Escoria Comix<\/a>, based in Brazil.<\/p>\n

I work very closely with those two and usually give them ideas and then work on changing it up and adding some of my own work into it.<\/p>\n

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How can musicians join the roster?<\/h1>\n

Demos, and sending digital streams, downloads, that kind of thing. I usually like to work with bands that tour heavily and do work on their own, but in these times, that is a lot more difficult.<\/p>\n

I like working with bands that do a lot of their own work, as that way we can both support each other and it takes the weight off of just one person.<\/p>\n

In the past I would have usually seen bands at shows and ask about working with them after the show.<\/p>\n

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Which artists have you signed recently that you are stoked on?<\/h1>\n

Yes, we recently signed with Chadhel. They are based in Canada, and were recently on PRC Music, and now will be working with us.<\/p>\n

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