Caamp’s Evan Westfall helps local bands produce and release music with Super Sport Records.
Credit: Ali Bell
In 2020, Caamp banjoist Evan Westfall bought a 1974, burnt-orange and white El Camino Super Sport, having fallen in love with the car at first sight after seeing one in a movie.
Later that year, the pandemic forced Columbus-based folk band Caamp off the road and Westfall found himself looking for something fresh to fill his newly free schedule. He began recording his own music and later decided to use his new solo platform to help other local bands release their music. Thus, Super Sport Records — a record label named after Westfall’s car — was born.
In the winter of 2020, RADATTACK became the first band to work with Super Sport Records, Westfall said. Since then, he said the label has supported numerous local artists including Dom Louis, A-Go-Go, Sparky & the Hills, Simon Molnar, Left Out, villagerrr, The Cordial Sins and the label’s youngest act Space Kid.
Ali Bell, Westfall’s cousin and creative director at Super Sport Records, said Westfall first discussed the idea of a label with her shortly after her intended move to New York City was put on hold in 2020, and she has been grateful for the change of plans ever since.
“I grew up just outside of Columbus and I always thought moving to Columbus would feel like I was just coming back home,” Bell said. “But now that I’m involved in the art and music scene, I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon.”
Bell said her role in the label involves overseeing all visual aspects of Super Sport — including merchandise and the website — and working with musicians to create cassette tapes and vinyl records.
Westfall sees Super Sport Records as a “do-it-yourself” label, meaning signed musicians are given the freedom to not only create their music and album covers but also organize their own shows. Westfall said he and Bell focus on supporting the artists, giving advice, finalizing designs and recordings and getting the music out into the community.
“I love the role that I kind of stumbled into, where I get to be like a number one supporter of a lot of great bands,” Westfall said. “It’s more of what I am doing to showcase these artists and that is what I love.”
More specifically, Westfall said his label supports artists by selling cassette tapes and special-release vinyl records, with all earnings going to the artists directly. He said the label’s profits come from hosting showcases — concerts featuring multiple Super Sport artists in one show — to get bands and their music out in front of potential fans.
Caamp’s Evan Westfall helps local bands produce and release music with Super Sport Records.
Credit: Ali Bell
Westfall said Space Kid is a band that has been on his radar for a long time, so he was extremely excited to add it to the Super Sport roster.
“They have always been big supporters of what I do, and now we have been supporting each other for a while,” Westfall said. “I always see them out and at other people’s shows and that is kind of how Super Sport started in the first place, just being a fan and being in love with making music and showing love to your friends. Space Kid really embodies that.”
Comprising three high school students — guitarist and vocalist Patrick Gallaugher, drummer Liam Keron and bassist Riley Morgan-Boucher — garage-rock band Space Kid will release its debut studio album “Wanted” on all streaming platforms Friday.
Gallaugher said he has been looking forward to seeing physical copies of Space Kid’s first EP after working on it for a year.
“Slowly over the course of a year, we got to a point where we could choose what songs to include, which always takes a lot longer than we expect it to,” Gallaugher said. “It’s funny when you’ve been working on something for a year and you end up with so many new songs that you love. By the time we’ve been waiting for this to get done, we’ve made enough for a whole ’nother EP.”
Gallaugher said it has been beneficial to work with someone like Westfall, who understands the band’s sound and has worked extensively in the music industry.
“It’s easy to work with him because he knows where we are coming from,” Gallaugher said. “We like a lot of the same bands: The Stooges, Black Lips, The Nerves. He just gets us in a way that is super helpful, and it has been so great to get to work with him and to work with friends.”
In addition to its release on all streaming platforms, Space Kid’s first EP will be available for purchase on a Super Sport exclusive cassette tape on the record label’s website later this month for $8, with four live tracks and an acoustic demo included, Gallaugher said. The band will also host a release show Friday at 8 p.m. at Cafe Bourbon Street.
Westfall said he hopes to continue platforming musicians in his hometown, giving them a chance to reach wider audiences beyond Columbus.
“I was born and raised here, and it’s always going to be home for me,” Westfall said. “A lot of people think they need to leave Columbus when they grow up and want to be in a band, they get out and go to a bigger city. My hopes and dreams are that more people, more bands, realize that the city of Columbus is perfect to build a business and play shows.”
