Daptone Records Robbed, But Still Running

Last Monday night, Daptone Records in Bushwick was robbed and the details of the break-in were released shortly after in an email to friends of the studio. The email stated, in part, that "there was a lot of equipment stolen and damaged. And, no, we did not have insurance. We had been shopping around with different companies earlier this month but had not signed a check." They had been in the building for 7 years, and, despite not having an alarm system, hadn't been robbed until last week.

The NY Times now checks in on label, co-owned by Gabriel Roth, who received a Grammy for work on Amy Winehouse’s album “Back to Black." The paper gets into more details, reporting that "the lock on a gate outside the ground-floor studio was pried open and a front door window smashed. In the studio, wires had been yanked out from the mixing board and other equipment, records thrown on the floor, and a number of rare instruments, amplifiers and other pieces of equipment were missing. Upstairs in the office, computers, modems and printers had vanished." Over $20,000 lost, all in all, and more damage yet to be tabulated.

As of last Friday, the studio was back up and running, however, with loaner equipment, as well as the mixing board and eight-track reel-to-reel left behind by the thieves. And though Roth declared to the Times, “we are not taking any money or any donations or doing any benefits or fund-raisers,” there is a Save Daptone site set up and taking donations. To see the studio as it was, there's a video after the jump showing the inner-workings.

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By Jen Carlson in News on February 23, 2009 5:45 PM

Comments [rss]

invisibleman

hhahahaa...the nbhd sampled them,the way they sampled the nbhd.

otterd

look like they are getting donations to purchase new equipment. What a strategy!

rbeshenk

@otterd: Definitely an inside job. Otherwise, this place would have been "burglarized" six years and eleven months ago. Bushwick. Hello.

That being said, they had $20,000 worth of recording equipment in a walk-up in Bushwick with no insurance. They are right to not ask for donations. I think they're just sitting there saying, "Oh, shit. That was pretty dumb."

otterd

I'm 99% sure this was an inside job.

rikomatic

Daptone Records is one of those heroes in the indie music business that has been holding down the most authentic, analog soul music experience for awhile. We are so lucky to have them in our backyard in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

If Gabe says they don't need cash, that's great. But it certainly wouldn't hurt for you to head over to http://store.daptonerecords.com and purchase a CD, record or tee-shirt.

Hawk

The headline is wrong. The place was not "robbed." Because no one was present when the thieves broke in, the place was "burglarized."

eflash

@gimme it's not like anyone else is putting out this kind of music right now ... and they have some great bands. (search youtube for "sharon jones 100 days")

@daptone: come one guys, 7 years and no insurance!?

suepart

make sure it is not an inside job, aka set-up for insurance fraud.

gimme

well seeing how the honky run label and studio are pillaging the rich musical history of soul and r n' b for their own gain it's only fitting no? these guys should be in more tribute bands

virgil

What a sad view of the world. Nobody owns a musical style. Kanye does electronica, Yo Yo Ma does classical, Iranian ids do death metal, etc. Stop looking for something to gripe about and be glad people make music at all.