Interview by Allison Bailund

Former student news; Paul Abramson - Van Richter Records profile

When I graduated from San Diego State University in 1983 with a degree in Environmental Geography there were absolutely no job opportunities in my field (even after several internships). In fact I knew of only one classmate who was lucky enough to get a job.

However my involvement with KCR Radio and the Cultural Arts Board at SDSU lead me to work opportunities and my long career since in the music industry I started as a night club DJ and booking agent for the Distillery Night clubs (Escondido and Solona Beach), managed local bands and also was a DJ at various venues in the city of San Diego. I got out of the night club game in 1989 after the City without cause took away my building permit when I was in the process of restoring the historic Adams Ave Theatre into a night club for teenagers (LA Times article)

Thereafter I worked for various Independent Record Labels including the legendary Wax Trax Records (pioneers of the industrial music movement). After the Bankruptcy and acquisition of Wax Trax in 1993 I founded Van Richter Records . The label has enjoyed a now twenty year run and has survived many challenges including Napster's illegal downloading and file sharing to the shuttering of the storied Tower Records Record store chain.

Van Richter's business model and focus is artist development in the niche genre of Industrial Music. We have a roster of seven of the leading bands in the genre including Testify, The Fair Sex, Plastic Noise Experience, Sielwolf, Death and Horror Inc., Girls Under Glass and Underwater Pilots. (six hail from Germany and one from Canada)

Van Richter was one of the first Record Labels to have a website vanrichter.net with almost 5 GB of deep rich content. The Label was an early partner with Apple's Itunes in 2004. That relationship has allowed us to provide digital distribution for other record labels and artists of all genres. This ancillary revenue stream has allowed Van Richter to stay tune to its old school roots of industrial music without a compromise of artistic integrity. Since Founding Van Richter I have acted as its Label Manager overseeing the employees and artists as well as handling all A & R duties, business development marketing and promotions, new media and even creating some of the art work (ie Girls Under Glass "Equilibrium") with its Geography influence.


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