Combining their passion for music, Nicole LaRae and Brian Hoekstra partnered up to create dizzybird records, a Grand Rapids-based record label that aims to bring good music to music lovers.
“We thought: lets try to spend the little money we have for very little return all the while being incredibly happy just putting great tunes out into the universe," LaRae said. “Let's put out music that is created by beautiful human beings."
The idea for starting up a record label began as a single thought almost two years ago; Hoekstra and LaRae wanted to help spread the music they love to the people they love. While dizzybird records was created out of Hoekstra and LaRae's music passion, they didn’t go into the business world blind. The two have distinguished jobs in the music industry with Hoekstra being the content curator for AMI Entertainment and LaRae as the venue manager of The Pyramid Scheme and a volunteer programmer of 10 years at 88.1 WYCE FM.
“We were already seeking ways to put sounds into people's ears,” Hoekstra said.
While prosperity is an important aspect to any business owner, Hoekstra and LaRae find unmistakable happiness in simply doing what they love and not necessarily focusing solely on prospering, although that is a nice aspect.
"We are doing this because we love it, our hearts belong here and we hope that's a good enough business model," LaRae said. "We want people to believe in us as much as we believe in them. We are dreamers."
dizzybird (which is lowercase because, "we don't want people to think about hitting a shift button on our behalf") has a primarily rock band lineup, with sub-genres that include surf rock, psychedelic, indie and more.
In honor of its launch, dizzybirds records will host a party at The Pyramid Scheme. The event includes performances from the label's roster including Grand Rapids-based Heaters and Atlanta-based Gringo Star with DJ Tom J Shannon Jr. Along with the music, there will also be a dance competition, a merchandise area and a raffle with local prizes.
"We just want to be able to sustain placing sounds in people's ears that they may enjoy," LaRae said. "If we like it, we feel that others will like it. If we continue to work with incredible talents such as Heaters and Gringo Star, we will continue to be grateful and we will continue to grow."
dizzybird Records Launch Party
wsg Heaters, Gringo Star, DJ sets from Tom Shannon Jr.
The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids
Oct. 17, 9 p.m.
$6; All ages
pyramidschemebar.com, (616) 272-3758
