Flatspot Records is one of the premier record labels out there today consistently putting out hardcore from across the world with bands like Terror, End It, Speed, Raw Brigade, Whispers, and Scowl all putting out releases under the Flatspot flag. The Baltimore/Brooklyn duo behind it all consists of Che Figueroa and Ricky Singh who many may remember from the Long Island band Backtrack who dropped their demo in ’08 before touring almost non-stop through 2019 when they disbanded. Figueroa also plays bass in The S.E.T. who dropped their debut on Flatspot back in March. We wanted to find out more on how this machine works so we hit up Ricky in late June to ask him some questions and here ‘ya go… Lead photo by: Becca Lader
IE: Hey Ricky. Where exactly are you right now and what would you usually be doing at this time of the day if you weren’t answering these questions?
Ricky: Hey Chris, right now it’s midnight on Sunday and I’m catching up on e-mails on my couch at home. I’m usually doing the same on most Sundays in order to start the week off right.
IE: When did Flatspot Records start and when did you come into the fold?
Ricky: Che started Flatspot in 2004 and the label came to my attention with its 2nd release which was the Trapped Under Ice “Demo 2007”. Drain This Blood “Contempt For Tradition” was the first release on the label, and following TUI was a Wheelbite Discography and then the Backtrack “’08 Demo”.
IE: Your old band Backtrack looks to have been the main thing that initially brought you and Che together…
Ricky: Justice (Trapped Under Ice) came back to Baltimore from a Long Island show and gave Che a Backtrack Demo CD. We burned hundreds of those ourselves just to get the word out and eventually he got his hands on it and reached out to us. From there we discussed putting the demo out on wax and releasing it through Flatspot. Through that, Che and myself developed a friendship and spoke a lot about what bands were popping up in the US and internationally. We spoke about teaming up on the label over the years but made it official in 2012 shortly after the release of the first “Extermination” Compilation which was the labels 7th release. Che and I are still partners at the label today.
IE: Backtrack always seemed to be in a constant cycle of touring and putting put new music for well over 10 years. How did your time in Backtrack help you and Flatspot become what it has become today? What things were learned back then that you carry with you today?
Ricky: Backtrack was an incredibly important part of my life for 12 years. We learned a lot during that time in our lives both personally and through the band. We worked with a number of labels, Flatspot, 6131, Reaper and Bridge 9. I learned a lot from all of those relationships and what I liked and didn’t like as a band on a label. It gives a lot of additional perspective when you’ve played in a band and have toured constantly to then working with bands as someone at a label. You are able to see things from the lens of a band member and understand a lot more of what challenges come with that. Outside of that I also worked for other labels for 9 years such as Roadrunner and Concord where I learned from a lot of great people who were experts in their craft. That was also a pivotal moment of really focusing in on what I liked and didn’t like from labels and what I wanted to eventually apply to Flatspot.
IE: What is your day to day like running the label these days?
Ricky: Flatspot has had an office now for a few years in Brooklyn, NY and it’s been great to have a creative space where folks can come by and bands can come hang out as well. A lot of great ideas have come out of there and I feel like it’s been an important piece of the puzzle. From a day-to-day sense, every day is truly different. Normally there are 2-3 of us in the office and we’re all focused on a number of things. People stop by pretty frequently and we love that. I enjoy the aspect of being able to focus on a new set of goals and not have it be too monotonous every week.
IE: What kinds of things do you look at when considering to take a band on to the label and release their music and about how many submissions would you say Flatspot gets in any given week from bands hoping to one day be on the label?
Ricky: When considering bands for the label, the first and most important thing is that we think the music is great. It’s awesome to see when bands are motivated enough to push things along themselves, such as book their own tours, book their own shows, get involved with their local scene, help other bands do shows in their cities, etc. All of those are things we did in Backtrack and I believe helped shape who we are in a way. It helps you become a self-starter and not depend on any one-thing, but more so gives you an edge into pushing yourself to figure things out on your own. You don’t have to always be right and that is the best lesson in itself… learning from your mistakes. On any given week we’ll probably get around 20-50 E-mails from people to check out music.
IE: Has Flatspot had any instances where you were pursuing a band to sign and they ended up signing elsewhere?
Ricky: Yeah, that has happened before although not too many times. We want to make sure we’re putting out records with people who are equally as excited to be on the label as we are about putting out their music.
IE: Having heard you are a big fan of hip-hop could you ever see a day where Flatspot brings in bands from other music genres?
Ricky: We’ve definitely spoken about putting out other genre’s and there may be a day when we do. Overall, we’re very selective and look at things in a quality over quantity viewpoint. Flatspot is a hardcore label and will continue to be so, but if there’s a band in an adjacent world that we dig, I don’t see why not.
IE: Flatspot has had some creative marketing within the last couple of releases. I saw excellent short documentaries released for both the Raw Brigade and Terror albums as well as a billboard displaying the new Terror album. Have these more expensive types of advertising paid off in your opinion and do you plan on doing more of these types of things that were not necessarily common for hardcore labels to do before you started doing them?
Ricky: The marketing aspect of putting out records has always been one of the funnest parts of running a label for me. I try to think about what drew me into certain bands when I was a kid and how I landed there. In the case of the Raw Brigade and Terror docs, those were great ways to bring people into their worlds through visual story-telling and I really love how both of those came out. Shoutout to Derek Rathbun who did an amazing job on those. At the end of the day it is about leading someone back to the music.
IE: Flatspot has an ongoing compilation series called “The Extermination” which started in 2012 and had its last one come out in 2023. With 3 years since the last installment what can you tell us in regards to a possible Volume 5?
Ricky: Compilations were such an important gateway for myself as a kid. “Punk-O-Rama”, “Anti-Matter”, “Where The Wild Things Are”, etc. were such a great snapshot in time. The way people consume music now is a lot different than they did back then, but at the same time I really do love the fact that the compilations we’ve done give a great glimpse into where hardcore was at that time. We haven’t officially got started on “The Extermination Vol. 5” but that will definitely be on the horizon soon.
IE: Can you give us some insight in regards to what Flatspot is working on for the rest of 2026?
Ricky: At the moment we’re chatting with a few new bands that will be joining the label shortly. Additionally, a lot of the bands already on the label are working on new music. There’s a number of things that will be announced soon that I can’t get into just yet but the rest of 2026 is very exciting and we’re looking to celebrate the anniversary of the label.
IE: You also have a band management company called Matinee Sound. Can you tell us how you got into that, what bands you represent and maybe some details on what kinds of services the company offers?
Ricky: Matinee Sound is a management company started by myself and my friend Sammy Siegler. Sammy and I are still great friends but he is no longer involved. Throughout my time working at Roadrunner, some of my friends at the company would mention that I should get into artist management because of my knowledge of playing in bands, working for labels, running a label, etc. I never wanted to do it in the beginning so I brushed it off for a long time but eventually I came around to it and I really love it. Backtrack never had any proper management or anything like that, so I feel like we learned a lot of things the hard way. With all of those lessons learned over time, it feels great to be able to help bands that want to go hard and not make those same mistakes. There’s really so much that goes into it but some of the things we help with: artist development, negotiations, marketing, branding, team building, tour and release coordination, merch solutions, general problem solving, etc. The bands I manage are Speed, End It, Nuovo Testamento, Scowl, and I help with Whispers as well. I manage all of those bands with a different co-manager as well.
IE: I know more than a couple of people deeply into hardcore who would agree that the vast majority of Flatspot releases are going to exceed their expectations and at the very least are going to be a quality product. As the person who directly has a hand in making these types of things happen how does that sentiment make you feel?
Ricky: For us that is really the ultimate compliment. I can’t really think of something that we strive for more than to have people trust us and what we do.
IE: What advice would you give to your average hardcore kid who may look up to Flatspot Records and may be interested in starting their own label someday?
Ricky: Anyone can start a label, the same as anyone can start a band, anyone can book a show, anyone can make a zine. It’s a great feeling creating something tangible as well as being able to contribute to the scene. No one gets it 100% right and all of these things are a learning process. The best way to learn is to go out and do it.
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