Student-founded music label brings artist to After Hours

While many students aspire to realize their dreams, few manage to do so before they graduate from college. Lizzy Plapinger '10, however, has translated her passion for pop music into her own singles label. Plapinger co-founded the business, dubbed Neon Gold Records, with her childhood friend Derek Davies in Summer 2008. One of the label's talents, Marina and the Diamonds, will perform in a Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE)-sponsored event in Main Building's Multi-Purpose Room at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 27.

Plapinger founded the label to promote a currently underrepresented genre of music. "We always felt that our music taste was pop music that never made it to be pop music—kind of like alternative, pop-worthy music," she explained. "I think that pop has a really bad reputation, which is really unfair because it's fun, dance-worthy, exciting, enthusiastic music."

The label was conceived in May 2008 when Davies saw Boston indie-pop band Passion Pit open for a Girl Talk concert. The pop aficionado immediately notified Plapinger of the band's potential, and the two decided that they could not miss the opportunity to sign the talented band.

Plapinger and Davies spent the remainder of their summer filing their business with the government and determining the label's look, sound and name. 

"It was really hard," Plapinger said of finding a name for the label, "because we knew that the name had to be something really awesome." The settled-upon name derives from one of Plapinger's favorite albums: the German indie-rock band The Notwist's 2003 Neon Golden. They transformed "Golden" into "Gold" to fashion a name that embodied the expressive and endearing nature of pop music.

Correlating with Plapinger's poppy musical interests, the name evokes striking visual images. The logo, made up of thin capital letters, grades from blue to purple to pink. "[The logo] is the aesthetic of our label," Plapinger explained.

Passion Pit, Neon Gold's first client, provides catchy melodies, falsetto vocals and frolicking beats. In their single "Sleepyhead," the band blends electronic synths with Jack Kerouac samples to produce a truly novel sound. The song's charming lyrics also increase the listener's tendency to press replay consistently.

Neon Gold released Passion Pit's single in 2008 and then managed to get the band signed to Frenchkiss Records, which released the band's EP Chunk of Change. Frenchkiss, in turn, got the band signed to Columbia Records.

This pattern solidified Plapinger's and Davies' business model. "We find a band who we think are really worthy of people's attention; we put out a single, create some good buzz about them and then work as hard as we can to match them up with a label who can take them to the next step," Plapinger said. Marina and the Diamonds, Neon Gold's second release, has already signed an album deal with 679 Recordings, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers.

ViCE After Hours and the Class of 2011 will co-sponsor Marina and the Diamonds' performance at Vassar. The show will also feature Photosynthesis—the stage name of Carsten Rodin '11—and Max Kutner '11.

While Marina usually plays with a band, she will present a solo acoustic keyboard show for Vassar students. The Welsh singer-songwriter's signature tune, "Obsessions," is a passionate melodrama that reveals the volatile nature of relationships. The signer's unique wavering vocals and energetic theatrics mimic the song's ups and downs. "Mowgli's Road," the other song on her Neon Gold record, presents a charismatic, catchy pop hit. "She's such a dream," Plapinger emphasized. "It'll be so much fun for her to come out here."

Bloggers have already pegged Marina's music as one of their top picks for 2009—especially in terms of her poetic lyrics and original vocals. Kutner, who serves as the After Hours Chair, expressed his excitement concerning Marina's visit. "Once I heard Marina, I knew I wanted her to play at Vassar," he explained. "She has a very unique sound, and I think she's going to be very big very soon."

Neon Gold's upcoming single is from the Boston band Yes Giantess. "They are really awesome; they are like a 21st-century boy band—really over-the-top cheese and pop," Plapinger said. "It's almost ironic how over-the-top it is, but it's so infectious." The band already has interest from major labels in the United Kingdom.

Neon Gold manufactures only vinyl singles. "I think that the vinyl is a special market, and I think it's making a comeback," Plapinger said. "It's awesome to have MP3s, but I think people miss the tangible feeling of a collector's item. We put a lot of emphasis on artwork."
Currently, U.K. singles labels—such as Young and Lost Club and Chess Club—dominate the hip, underground music scene in London. "Singles labels are really big in the U.K., but they are almost non-existent in the U.S." Plapinger said. "So, we are trying to appropriate that model and bring it here to start something new."

Following the British advertising format, Neon Gold holds monthly parties in New York City that are open to the general public. Beyond generating a jovial atmosphere, the parties showcase Neon Gold's groups and other promising artists. "We want to be taste makers and breakers," Plapinger joked. The newly-made businesswoman is always looking for new bands, and with six singles lined up, Plapinger has a busy year ahead.

"The dream is that we will graduate to full-length albums," Plapinger explained, "and we've been in talks with a couple major labels about maybe being incorporated as a subsidiary of one of the labels." 

—Additional reporting by Gülfem Demiray