John S. Palmer is the president of Megawave Records, a 35 year-old Lansing, Mich., based label that went national for the first time this summer. The label's roster of recordings that underscores its moniker “Small Label, Big Sound” is distributed by Innovative Distribution Network (IDN).

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John describes the debut offerings as “something old, something new.” The first three projects are from Michigan artists: reissues of My Sunday Best and Hallelujah Train by boogie-woogie piano king Mr. B, 47UMa’s eponymous album of world music and Breathe by smooth-jazz sax master Randy Scott. Due September 25, The End of an American Dream, is the latest offering from reggae legend Lee “Scratch” Perry.

John says his A&R approach is “stream of consciousness. I want to give people a soundtrack for reflection and feeling good. Megawave was founded on respect for people and a vision and values that we live by. I want to share and promote that respect through music.

“The music business is going through a tremendous upheaval right now, and it’s creating an opportunity for a small label with a big sound to get heard,” he continues. “I’ve never believed in quantity over quality, and one of our goals is to record artists and reach audiences who might otherwise be overlooked. On the business side, I want to match sincerity and intent with success.”

Raised in Washington, D.C., John has been passionate about music all his life. He’s played in bands since high school and recorded groups since his college days in Ann Arbor. Along the way he dropped out of his pre-med studies at the University of Michigan, studied art at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., worked at IBM and founded Design Systems Research, an environmental design and planning company, and returned to school, earning a bachelor's and law degree.

During all this, he never stopped recording and producing. When the recording sessions outgrew his basement, the idea for a new label, Megawave Records, was born. John eventually found an old industrial warehouse in Lansing where he could build a full-scale production studio at a reasonable price and relocated from Ann Arbor. He assembled a team of proven talent and negotiated the distribution deals that will bring the diverse artists on Megawave Records within easy reach of their likewise diverse audiences in the U.S. and throughout the world.

“I started Megawave in 1972 to create art, music and multi-media,” he explains. “I wanted to bring together a community of people who were interested in building a self-sufficient new town around entertainment, future studies and progressive politics. Those were exciting times, and I worked on a number of projects and political campaigns.” He always returned to music.

During the 1970’s and early 1980’s, John performed with local bands FMO, Metakone 53, Metakone 74, Soft Boulder, Oasis, Sparks and Stormy in the Ann Arbor area. “We were all over the map musically,” he admits. “FMO played electric blues and old rock and roll covers on the street and at parties. The Metakone groups were wild, doing an eclectic mix of mostly original pulse rock and psycho-punk, and we started to get in clubs. But, Soft Boulder, Oasis, Sparks, and Stormy did mostly covers. Megawave provided production support through its Andro-Media division. The craft got better, but we didn’t make much.”

Over the next 15 years, John recorded a number of Ann Arbor groups, including Cimarron, Group Therapy, Silent Radio, Nuthin’ Fancy and Fancy That. Local artists began to call on his expertise and experience to get their CDs released, marketed and sold at venues and in stores.

“Before I realized it,” he laughs, “I had former Motown session players in my basement creating magic. I got a call to record a boogie-woogie piano festival. I’ve been recording them now for the past 10 years. When I mentioned these artists to people in other places, I discovered that they wanted their music.

Experience & Advice
Being responsible for losing the one that got away. We’ve read pieces that say the opposite, but as an engineer, I try to record everything, erase nothing and make sure I have enough tape or hard disks, etc., to keep rolling. Some say starting a label right now – let’s talk in five years.

Why did you keep Megawave just a local label for 35 years?
We stayed busy recording and supporting artist venue sales. You always want to reach the largest audience, but we just didn't have the budget and a dependable release schedule to interest a distributor.

Why did you decide to go national at this time?
The whole business changed. For us, audio and graphics technology changed first, and we could now do more, faster with less. Then the Internet allowed us to reach more people than we could with touring and conventional advertising alone, and then the major labels cut back and so on. So, all of the sudden we had the attention of the artist who had a following and could move 10,000 units, and who appreciated our interest and willingness to partner up and work together.

What did you have to do structurally to go national?
Expanding our network with great artists was a start. We then had to rid ourselves of the notion that we could do it all ourselves. Not only did we need people with the national and international contacts and credibility, but we had to create this virtual label group quickly. Today's environment allowed this to happen, whereas 10 years ago people wouldn't have returned my calls.

Are you still an active musician?
I recently did an ambient project, and there are still some ideas that I'd like to try, but the business side has to take precedence right now, and things are really hectic.

First concert attended
National Symphony Orchestra at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., about 1960. OK, I was a kid. Second concert: The Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Baltimore Civic Center about nine years later

First concert worked
WCBN-FM radio concert. I played electric bass in FMO -- Free Music Orchestra, our street band -- in Ann Arbor, about 1972.

First industry job
Formed Megawave in 1972 to do audio and video production -- live and recording.

Career highlights
Getting to meet and record a number of very talented artists: Charles Hawkins, Robert Jones, and Spider Webb--the latter two recently toured with the Funk Brothers); Ted Nugent at a benefit appearance; Mr. B and his entire line-up of piano greats he brought to Ann Arbor -- David Maxwell, Bob Seeley, Axel Zwingenberger, Ray Bryant, Henry Butler, Sir Charles Thompson, Benny Green, Monty Alexander, Junior Mance, Harold Mabern, Bill Heid, Al Hill, Dr. Barry Harris, Cyrus Chestnut, Charles Boles, Alma Smith, Claude Black, Bess Bonnier, Charlie Booty, Johnny O'Neal, even Dr. Lonnie Smith on organ – each one very special. . Once you’ve tried to do what they do, you realize how gifted they are. Then they do it and magic happens, and you capture that moment, you know it’s special.

Career disappointment
Not yet being able to release all the great material.

Greatest challenge
Finding enough hours in the day.

Best business decision
Finding a great team with whom to work.

Best advice you received
Treat people the way you want to be treated and work with people who are honest and know how to be successful.

Most memorable industry experience
Every nomination and award our artists get, whether it’s a regional music award or a thank you from a charity, because it's affirmation that someone is paying attention and hopefully we're making a positive difference.

What friends would be surprised to learn about you
If I told you then it wouldn’t be a surprise. I hope we all have a lot of different things we do or think about that may even surprise our friends.

Industry pet peeve
What do I know to have a peeve?

If I wasn't doing this, I would be...
...wealthy.

Industry mentors
Tom Van Gessel and the Sapper brothers - Neal, Thomas and Howard.

John can be reached at: 517-371-4444; toll-free: 888-634-2983; e-mail: megawave@ic.net