SPIN

Over two nights in NYC, record label Fueled By Ramen celebrated 15 years in business with performances by some of its biggest bands, from Paramore to Cobra Starship to the Academy Is..., and more.

After the show, SPIN called up label founder John Janick to chat about his label and how it all came together, from his days as a ramen-eating, penny-pinching college student at the University of Florida in Gainesville to the big bash.

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Interview by William Goodman

The label honcho and Cobra frontman Gabe Saporta are longtime friends, having met back when Saporta was in the band Midtown. "I've always wanted to work with Gabe. I think he's super talented," Janick says, adding that Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz was vital in signing the band. "Cobra Starship are Fueled by Ramen's dance punk band -- they're a little bit different from everything else we do. They've really developed with kids and have become a great touring band. And now they have radio hits, too!"

If you're wondering about all of the people wearing sunglasses indoors in this photo -- Saporta was attempting to break a world record for most people wearing sunglasses in the dark. Their new album, not shockingly, is called Night Shades.

Janick was impressed by not just the Chicago indie-pop outfit's music, but the members' personalities. "Pete Wentz turned me onto the band," says Janick. "So I flew out to see a show and ended up staying in their apartment. They were all 17 or 18, just one year out of high school. The guys in the Academy Is… were super driven and making great music. They're passionate and know what they want to do. I was hesitant to sign them at first, since all I'd heard was their first EP release. But as soon I met them and saw them play live, I signed them on the spot."

Janick, who discovered this Florida-based post-hardcore trio, says he initially fell for the band's ambition and vision. "The singer, Sierra Kusterbeck, was only 17 when we signed her band. She's super talented. And the guitarist Blake Harnage had this interesting vision," explains Janick. "He interested in working with scores and soundtracks. They have a lot of potential. They were young and still finding themselves -- we wanted to help them developed their career."

This genre-fusing Upstate New York rap-pop-rock group helped Fueled by Ramen step outside the popular belief that the label was strictly a home for emo-punk groups. "I heard the music and thought, 'Well, this is really different. This is really dope,'" says Janick, who was introduced to Gym Class by a graphic designer, who has worked on multiple Fueled LP covers. "Travis was rapping, but they had a full band -- they can go on tour. I knew we had to get involved. It branches us out in a new and different way. Gym Class are on a different path."

The Tennessee band have become Fueled by Ramen's "flagship artist," says Janick. "They're truly amazing." He discovered the young group when an employee working in FBR's Florida office (the label has since moved to Manhattan) tipped him off. Soon Janick attended a Paramore acoustic performance in Florida, and instantly fell in love: "I heard the music and immediately it clicked. They write great songs and [singer] Hayley Williams has an amazing voice. What they're writing musically and lyrically connects with what we're doing here. They've grown so much in the six or seven years we've worked with them."

Janick was impressed by the online following and entrepreneurial approach of Nick Santino, the founder of this Massachusetts pop-rock band. "Nick had this huge following going. Great songs. Great touring act. He was a kid that was recording in his bedroom and posting songs online and kids were reacting to it. He was independent and doing his own thing, writing great songs and melodies. He was just out of high school and trying to figure out how to take what he was doing and make it bigger. We helped him with that."

Janick was immediately drawn to the sound of this four-piece alt-rock band from Seattle. "I'm very much a melody and voice person," says the label founder, "and theirs was so unique. This Providence were playing very intricate sounds. It was more complex than just straightforward pop-punk songs. "

For Janick, the third time is a charm. The Fueled by Ramen president had twice offered to sign frontman Nate Ruess' previous band, the Format, to no avail. But he finally got to work with the talented singer/songwriter in his new band, fun., featuring members of Steel Train and Anathallo. "Nate is one of the most talented musicians I know. The new fun. album, which we're wrapping up now, is one of the most exciting records I've been involved with," says Janick, adding that the LP features Janelle Monae and production from Kanye and Beyonce knob-twiddler Jeff Bhasker. "It feels like one of those game-changing records."

This Flint, Michigan, pop-punk band's No. 1 fan? Paramore's Hayley Williams. "She was super supportive and was really into their album," says Janick. And she wasn't alone. "They have this gritty rock sound and everybody at the Fueled by Ramen office just fell in love with it. We thought they were a different addition to the roster. They're still developing but have a bright future ahead of them."