Puckett is the founder of Little Heart Records, a music label out of Louisville, Ky. Featuring a diverse range of artists such as Æves, Hot Prowlers, Dick Titty Blood Punch, Everyone Leaves, and Foxbat, the goal of the label is to "cram good music down your throats". We recently featured the very DOPE debut EP by Æves entitled "Ignite" as well as an interview with the duo, so after that, we decided to dig a little deeper by interviewing the man behind it all. We asked Puckett about why he decided to start Little Heart Records, what he looks for in new signees, what he does during his spare time, and much more. 

Carlton Boyd

What do you look for in potential signees to Little Heart Records?

This is always a hard question. There's a lot of things that go into this. Sometimes it's listening for a particular sound. Sometimes it's the enthusiasm the artist has for their work. I can tell you right now the things I saw in Eons D or Harvey Pekar are different than what I saw when I realized I wanted to sign Dick Titty Blood Punch. 

Heart matters a lot. That probably sounds goofy but artists with a lot of heart are always appealing to me. You can be an alright songwriter but if you really believe in what you're singing it shows up on the record.
 
What led to you deciding to start Little Heart Records?

Heartbreak. A dare. Proving a point. It was a lot of things really. 10+ years ago when we were putting out our first record I was convinced this was the best decision of my life. Still think so.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Obviously you don't mean from my own roster, right? Hahaha. That's like a parent picking a favorite child. 

Right now my favorite bands/artists that I don't put out are:

Pkew Pkew Pkew- These guys are playing Fest this year. I'm pretty excited to see them. Lots of gang vocals and just blistering fast tunes. This band is a lot of fun.

The Wombats- My favorite band from the other side of the pond. Catchy, infectious melodies. Why this band isn't the biggest band on the planet is beyond me.

2Deep- Fun stuff. I saw these guys in a rap bracket/tournament competition where they had to go up against my guys Shadowpact. Shadowpact is a hard group to go up against. They held their own- lots of energy on stage. If that bracket had been laid out differently things would have been very different that night, I'm sure.

Ladybaby- Everyone wants to talk about Baby Metal when poppy, heavy Japanese stuff comes up. This is what happens when you blend hardcore and J-Pop. CATCHY. AS. FUCK.

Jack Harlow- This guy is from my hometown. He came out of nowhere. One day, I woke up, and everyone loved the guy. Sick flow. Great ideas. This kid is going to dominate rap in a few years if he keeps this up. I probably should have tried to scoop him up a months ago when I first caught wind of him. Kicking myself on that one.

Bad Parents- This is Cody from my boys Crewneck playing shoegaze. He's gonna be so embarrassed I listed this.

What do you like to do during your spare time when you're not tending to your Little Heart Records related duties?

The label takes up a lot of time. It's basically what I do from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. When I do take a break: comics. I've loved comics since I was a little kid. During my parents' divorce it was my go-to escape. Probably still is when I get stressed. SPIDER-MAN ALL DAY.

Being the head of your own record label must be a daunting responsibility. What are the best and worst aspects of the role?

Telling people "No." If I could I'd put out ALL THE RECORDS. There are so many projects that money just becomes a barrier. If I had unlimited funds and this was just about putting in the time-- I'd do every record I possibly could. At the end of the day, though, you put out what you can and I am insanely proud of everything we've done. Running a label is the best decision I ever made.

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