Local Label is Loco: The Story of Loco Gnosis

Ferndale resident Jeff Howitt has a slight stutter and a record label named Loco Gnosis.

"I've done a lot of reading, having speech issues," he said when asked why the label is named what it is. The two words are a Spanish and Greek combination meaning "crazy knowledge" and represent Howitt's personal ethic-mentality of "working with chaos, and you laugh with it."

For the past five years, Loco Gnosis has released more than 50 various formats of CDs, cassettes, MP3s and vinyl from local artists and musicians who distance themselves from the mainstream radar. After living in Phoenix for a few years, Howitt returned to his native Michigan in 2005 and met his core group of friends and associates, who didn't quite fit into any local music scene.

The idea of Loco Gnosis started small — assembling a few acts to play weekend nights in random local bars. Through that, friendships grew, as did support for each band.

Groups such as Wildcatting, Carjack, Red China, Duende!, Dutch Pink and Pinkeye emerged onto their own small scene. Howitt saw the opportunity to take that to another level, and he created Loco Gnosis.

"A lot of it is us caring about each other," he said.

The majority of the label's groups work as a collective. The artists usually record out of their own pockets, then the label fronts the money to press the album. 

A notable boost to the label's repertoire was in 2008 when the free-jazz-noise-outfit Pinkeye teamed up with poet and co-founder of the white panther party John Sinclair to release Tearing down the shrine of truth and beauty.

"We don't own anyone's music," said Howitt. "We just want our money back, plus a bit of profit. We exist outside of a mature business structure."

Howitt starts by asking the artists what they need, then together they figure out "what it takes to keep it going," said Howitt.

There is no prerequisite for genre, either, as the label's artists cover everything from psychedelic to electronic to spoken word. "If we weren't in Ferndale, it wouldn't be what it is," said Howitt.

"I would like to think I am investing in the neighborhood," he said.

Many of the Loco Gnosis bands organized a practice space a few years ago east of Hilton Road on Wanda Street. It acted as a community center for the artists to interact with one another and collaborate on new ideas. When the space closed, Howitt, searching for the next logical community step, started what now is called Due-Wednesdays at Club Bart.

Every first Wednesday of the month, Howitt's main band, Duende!, hosts a free showcase at with other Ferndale bands. Ferndale is a "neighborhood of deliberate people who want to live close to each other," Howitt said.

"It's more about people who normally play shows getting to hang out," he said. "It's showing each other that bands are good people and not untouchable." 

Loco Gnosis also hosts part of a collective DJ night, called Rock Lobster, every second Thursday at . Howitt brings in different DJs every month to either promote an album release or to showcase the variety of tastes of community musicians.

"Jeff is a real intense musical archivist," said Kerry Truscwicz of the band Macramé Tiger, who just released their self-titled album on Loco Gnosis. "A rock 'n' roll historian in modern times."

As for the future, Loco Gnosis is always coming up with a new business model, said Howitt.

"I hear a lot of stories of people bottoming out, and I don't want to do that," he said. "We make it pay for itself, and eventually, it comes back."

Duende! hosts every first Wednesday at Club Bart, and Loco Gnosis DJ's every second Thursday at Sakana Sushi Lounge. Visit locognosis.com for more information on releases and shows.