Eric Osman: Still Lame-O After All These Years.

Lame-O Records started out as Eric Osman’s senior project at Drexel University in 2012. Now, he’s got a powerhouse label in Philadelphia with a catalog of bands that is exponentially growing. This month, Lame-O Records is hosting a “rock residency” at Boot & Saddle with shows every Thursday night.

Our Emily Scott spoke to Osman (pictured above with partner Emily Hakes in a photo by Rachel Del Sordo) about the residency and his plans for 2016. 

Can you give a little background on Lame-O Records?

We started in the fall of 2012. It’s now January 2016 and we have been doing it for a lot longer than we thought we would have. We had to submit our latest catalog number and we’ve reached our 30th release, so that is pretty crazy for us.

What were some of the releases you had in 2016?

We did a full-length for The Weaks, who are now The Superweaks, a full-length for Lithuania, a full-length for Three Man Cannon, a full-length for The Max Levine Ensemble, an EP for Modern Baseball, an EP for Great Cynics, and a seven-inch for lowercase roses.

What made you decide to host a residency at the Boot and Saddle?

We know Jeff Meyers from Boot and Saddle because he used to play in a Lame-O band called Ma Jolie and he asked if we would do a month of shows at Boot & Saddle.

How did you curate this show?

Three bands is so easy. I think less is more and no one wants to sit through a five-band show. Most shows at Boot and Saddle are either two or three and I definitely didn’t want to do two. I think three is definitely a sweet spot. We asked all the Lame-O bands that are around and we tried to pair them with other bands that we are friends with or we like that aren’t on the label. So it’s not just like here’s all the Lame-O bands on one show and here are all the non-Lame-O bands on another.

What are Lame-O Records’ plans for 2016?

I hope we continue putting out records that we love and I think we are going to keep doing that at least in the first half of year. I think we are going to keep it simple and put it out really good music.

Lame-O Records residency at Boot & Saddle kicks off tonight at 8 p.m. with Lithuania, The Spirit of the Beehive and Slaughter Beach, Dog. 

All the shows are $5 when you buy tickets in advance online or at Long In The Tooth.