Zia Records Accepting Submissions on New Local Compilation, This One Goes To Eleven

Think your band has what it takes to represent Phoenix, Tucson, or Las Vegas on a cool compilation? Got some funky sounds that needs to be heard? How about a decent recording and something of a reasonable length (no 11-minute-plus opuses on the history of erosion in the Grand Canyon needed, please)?

For the last nine years, Zia Records has put out a compilation called You Heard Us Back When of some of the best songs done by bands from Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas, where the longtime Valley (well, regional) store has locations. Each of these compilations has been released on Record Store Day, the yearly celebration of all things vinyl that typically falls on the third Saturday in April. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Record Store Day, but since Zia put out a second compilation one year on Black Friday, this is actually the 11th volume of the popular compilation series.

“This one’s titled, This One Goes To Eleven. A little reference there. Since we represent the three different areas where we have stores, we want to get some bands from each region. We’re looking to represent the variety of music out there,” says Michael Ledington, Zia Records vice president and general manager.

One of the great things about this series really is the variety of acts involved. Last year, for example, Venomous Pinks (killer Phoenix punk rock), False Cause (Las Vegas Thrash Metal), and Funky Bonz (Tucson Jam Funk) rubbed shoulders with No Volcano (Phoenix indie kings), Found In Fiction (Las Vegas ’80s-tinged rock), and Pyrotechnica (Tucson post-metal). There truly is a little something for everyone on these CDs. According to Ledington, Zia hopes to expand this series to vinyl sooner than later, but the turnaround time is difficult to manage with submissions typically coming in February and March and release of the compilations in mid-April.

To be considered for this year’s offering, bands must submit an application (available here) and a good (not a boombox recording) recording of their song into Zia by March 3. All proceeds go to charity. Only 1,000 compilations are available each year, so interested fans should plan on picking one up on Record Store Day or take the chance on missing out.

“A lot of bands have been nice enough to give us things that aren’t on other releases, which is great for fans,” Ledington says.