I was scrolling through LinkedIn, as a business major like myself does, and discovered something that made me feel the true Aggie spirit: the founder of my favorite Texas-based record label started his company in a dorm room at Texas A&M University. Jonathan Lee Gonzales started Sunday Drive Records in 2015, putting community and the underground scene at the forefront of its purpose. With signed bands like Glare, all under heaven, and Ritual, the label has built a reputation that goes way beyond a college passion project. After learning that he was able to create such a unique company in a similar environment to what myself and many other TAMU students experience, I felt the desire to reach out and hear more about his story.

In a world where, on the surface, music seems to be dominated by big name companies, seeing that an independent and DIY record label came to life from a dorm room right here in College Station was especially inspiring. Hoping to learn what lessons other students could take from his experience, I reached out to Jonathan to hear directly from him.

Is there any advice that you have about finding your spark while in college?

Jonathan: Do anything. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big thing. It can be something small. For me, it was really just wanting to put out my friends’ records. My friends had a band back home in San Antonio while I was at school in College Station. I liked them and wanted to put out their record. That was kind of the spark of it, and from there it snowballed into something I did not expect in both positive and negative ways.

I had read an article about you from around 2016, and it said you were inspired by Jeff Casazza from Run for Cover Records, which you work at now. In that article it also mentioned that he also started from his dorm and that this inspired you to start working on Sunday Drive. What specifically inspired you from his story?

Jonathan: I think I was inspired by the idea that “oh young kid did it, so I could do it as well.” There are plenty of examples of that. I think at the time of that interview I was 19 or 20, and I wasn’t as knowledgeable about labels as I am now. The more I’ve done, the more I’ve realized that tons of labels start with younger kids, and they can do it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be, like, a big thing. It can just be a small thing, like putting out your friends’ records as I mentioned. It really is as simple as it seems, just being able to acknowledge, “Oh, there’s another young kid that did it, so I can do it, too.”

When you were a student, how did you balance working on your label and schoolwork?

Jonathan: As far as work-life balance, it was very difficult. I don’t know if I would recommend it right off the bat to anyone without some balance. It’s not very good for your mental health trying to be active, manage school, and eat well. The priorities I have now weren’t my priorities when I was 19 or 20. I didn’t eat or sleep much then. I’d go to work, I’d do my homework, I’d stay up after finishing my homework, which was usually around midnight, and then stay up even longer to do the design for this cassette tape I needed to put out. By that time it was 2 or 3 a.m., and then I’d have to wake up for an 8 a.m. class. You know how that is. At other times, you know, I’d be able to sleep in. You have to balance your schedule. It’s a tough thing. There’s, like, so much going on, but as a younger person you have the potential to manage and balance yourself a lot. I guess my advice to someone who wants to do something similar, or pursue any hobby, is to definitely do it. I'd recommend it, but try to do it in a healthier way that works for you. I think sleep is really important, and that is something I didn’t prioritize in school. I think physical activity is also really important. Being able to exercise and move your body does so much for mental health. I’d get those priorities aligned first if you’re able to, you know? I never liked going out or partying, I’m straight edge, so that was like never really a thing for me. I know it is for a lot of people in college, which is fine, but I didn’t have those priorities. So, I had time to work on weekends or at night because I didn’t really worry about going to parties. I would just hang out with friends at home, or hang out on a Friday when I didn’t have work. You just figure things out based on whatever you have going on. I would definitely recommend pursuing your hobby. It’s important to have something outside of school or work, and the more you do outside, the more it helps you inside school as well.

Were there any resources from Texas A&M that you utilized?

Jonathan: I was working in the IT department at TAMU as a graphic designer. I think I started that during freshman year and stayed there until I graduated. Having the resources to take on a student job and getting paid allowed me to do a lot of learning on the job. I studied visualization, and I was more inclined toward scratch design and the UI/UX part of it. That’s where I learned a lot about design in general. I don't think many people realize it, but music requires a lot of design. I layout typography, color, and branding, it’s all there. So those two resources I’d say, my degree, learning the skills I use now, and my campus job, being able to have a foundation to get some sort of money to afford rent, as well as putting money into, lets say, a cassette tape release. 

For people who want a career in music or just enjoy the local scene, do you have any advice on how to find your creative voice and identity?

Jonathan: I started going to local shows and getting into punk and hardcore around the ages of 13 or 14, so I was fairly young. When you’re that young and get introduced to DIY and hardcore ethics, you quickly realize that “oh, there’s no real barrier between an artist and a person at the show.” It’s very communal, everyone's on the same page. Just because someone’s on a stage doesn’t mean they’re unreachable. Like, “OMG! I can’t believe that’s the singer of *whatever band*!” That’s not really a thing in this space. I realized that these are just people that go to my school or are only just a little older than me. That made me realize nothing is blocking you from music or anything. The barrier is free. The people are there, you just have to find them. You should go to local shows at venues; it doesn’t necessarily have to be an arena concert. Go to a local venue with a friend or something. Then you’ll easily get introduced to other people, friends of friends, and so on. Then from there you start to meet people who want to do something similar. Maybe you start forming a band, you realize someone there plays drums and you play guitar, you can be like “Hey, maybe we should hang out” decide to hang out. You’re already at the same show, so you know you like the same music. Everything is very organic and easy when you’re at an in-person localized show in the scene you already like. If you’re having trouble finding it, you’re probably not looking hard enough. It’s, like, easier than ever now, being able to look up what bands are playing near you. That used to not be a thing. Spotify literally even tells you when a band is in town. Follow bands you like on Instagram and keep up with that. It used to just be that you’d go to a record store and find flyers for events coming through. The shows are around you, and if they’re not near you, find shows in San Marcos or Floresville or whatever nearby city, then you make the drive. Everyone complains about tour announcements, like, “You’re not coming to my city”, but you see the show is only two or three hours away. If you really want to go, you’ll be there. I think making the drive out is something I wish I did more of when I was in college. It was just harder because I didn’t have a car and had all these other things. It was something I did when I was in high school and then after college, too. But those drives, those long drives will make you so many friendships and lasting memories. I went on a road trip to Los Angeles right after I finished school. It was pretty much a day trip with some of my best friends in a small car. That's such an ingrained memory now. We all went to this hardcore festival and had a lot of fun. Go to shows, meet people, and then from there I think it becomes fairly easy to figure out what you want to do and how to be part of the community. Whatever that looks like for you.

Sunday Drive has recently hit its 10-year anniversary, congrats of course! What is a way, or multiple ways, you've had to balance growth, but still maintain your core focus? 

Jonathan: The more people that you meet, the more artists are going to get involved because they have friends, and those friends have friends, and so on. That’s kind of how most of our releases and signings happen. It’s a very communal thing. As the records get bigger, the bands get bigger, so things get a little bit more complicated. Once a band is big enough, they’ll have a booking agent and then they'll have a manager, and those people will have opinions about a release, versus just the band and myself. There’s just more lines of communication there. Then there's more growth that will happen where you’re like, “we need to hire a PR person for this record to get this record out to more audiences.” From that there will then be another person that's like, “this will do really well on radio”, so then there's another person you hire for radio. Sometimes artists want to work with another artist for cover art or another photographer for inserts. It slowly builds into this whole thing of just putting on the record, and now I’m in communication with the band plus like five more parties that we’re going to have to work with, which can be hard to manage. That was from an established band perspective. Then on the other hand, you can have a band that just made a demo and just wants it out in a couple weeks. It’s sometimes hard to balance those two perspectives. But as far as me growing with it, I just kind of like, take it as it comes and figure it out. I didn’t really know anything starting out, so I figured it out as it came. I feel like a lot of people are kind of scared of that approach, but I think it's the best approach. It’s the best learning opportunity, being thrown into something and being like, “well I need to survive.”

Besides graphic design and music knowledge, what are some “non-artistic” skills that have helped you in your business?

Jonathan: I’m, like, really bad with Excel stuff. My wife has taught me a good amount. Because she studied engineering, she has better knowledge about that than I do. But she’s been telling me the basics to help me with accounting or paying out royalties and things like that. So that's a really helpful skill to know. It’s the least fun thing about this, but I have a templated spreadsheet now that I can plug numbers in and figure out what the budget is, what we are going to make, and how many copies we need to sell to break even. Learning website development and how to manage accounts like Shopify was valuable. I’m not a photographer, but I like taking photos. Another one: being able to photograph the products that you have in a way to best showcase them online. Also figuring things out like social media and what type of identity you want online. Honest networking as well. Kind of like I was saying earlier about going to a show and meeting people. I never really go out of the way to be like “Oh, I’m going out to meet this person because I think it’ll be good for me business wise.” I don’t really look at it like that. I just meet people at shows and talk to them, be nice to them, and they’ll be nice back. I prefer a more organic approach like running into someone at a show, they’ll say something like, “By the way, I photographed blank band. If you ever need anything let me know.” Those are the types of relationships that I’ve found most beneficial for me. So a good communication type skill is helpful. I think it’s not a good perspective or headspace to have, one that's like, “I’m going to meet this person and I want them to help me”. If someone is genuine, wants to help, and likes your presence, those relationships will be a lot stronger. Even if you’re working in oil and gas, in a coffee shop, or at a grocery store, there are ways for these relationships to be established. 

Going back to Run for Cover, I saw you recently became the Creative Marketing Manager for them! How do you feel about your position at the company who inspired you back around 2016?

Jonathan: I feel like if you were to ask me this ten years ago I would have answered very differently. I’d be like, “Oh. My. God. I’m working for this huge record label, I cannot believe it!” Now, at this point in my life, about to be 30, it didn't feel like this kind of grand thing that happened to me. This happened very organically. The label manager just randomly reached out to me, maybe two or three years ago just to see what Sunday Drive was doing. I already had his number and we connected through email. He reached out to me saying, “Hey, what are you doing? Let me know if you have time to chat. I would love to pick your brain about things.” We would then get on a call and just talk about records and what's going on in our lives, things like that. You know, being friendly every now and then. So once I had lost my job at this other company I worked for and wasn’t finding anything, I already had this relationship. We’re not seeing each other everyday, but it was an established relationship where I can reach out via email and be like, “In case you need someone, I’m available. No big deal if you don’t, but here’s my resume and here’s what I can do if you happen to have a chance. Let me know and we can talk.” And that’s kind of how it happened. He was like “Yeah, that's great. Let’s get on a call!” Bingo. It just felt very organic. This feels rare nowadays when applying for jobs and getting interviews. From there I got hired. So now actually doing the work, it’s cool and exciting, but it wasn’t this monumental milestone for me. It’s more so doing what I love. I love the label, I love the artists. It’s really fun and cool to be a part of. From my 19 year old perspective, my mind would be blown, but right now I feel very content. It’s good being able to work with people that are fun to be with and being able to hangout with them. It’s been very easy to get along with everyone. We’re already on the same page because of this DIY music mentality. It’s also cool to work somewhere that admires the things you do, it’s a shared admiration. I have coworkers who also do other labels or who put out music themselves, so it’s pretty much a communal collective of artists working together, so it’s been really awesome!

Thank you again for meeting with me! I told some of my friends that the “Sunday Drive guy” started in a dorm on campus and they thought that was insanely cool. Do you have any last comments or anything?

Jonathan: I would hope that more students like yourself are able to reach out to whomever and they would respond. I like what you are doing and what you are doing is not unordinary. Anyone can do this. I’m just another person. Like I mentioned, I was inspired by seeing another person my age do something, and I think the same sentiment can be applied here. I know you might not be able to get this from, say, Warner Records or Atlantic, but there are tons of labels in this space that students, or anyone, can surely reach out to. I appreciate what you’re doing. You’re working hard.