Rock, roll and rays

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Plastic molds, red paint and USB drives. For one local group, these ingredients make for a one-of-a-kind brand that’s putting its name on the map.

After releasing its "Split 7" record last year, Kill You in the Face dropped "Mighty Atlas" in May with its songs, videos and illustrations compacted into a USB-enabled handmade raygun. An original cast of it was sculpted and then cast several times, allowing the bandmates to hand paint each toy, developing an original entertainment medium.

"We wanted to create something that we would be a physical representation of something we were trying to do," Kill You in the Face singer and guitarist Mike Romeo, of 15th and McKean streets, said.

The concept is one of many creative ventures of Punk Rock Payroll, a South Philly-based label that manages musical acts, as well as the merchandise and marketing.

Working its way up from a two-bedroom apartment at Ninth and Jackson Streets to a newer, bigger studio space on the 1800 block of South 18th Street, the company is the brainchild of Frede Zimmer, who began the business as a merchandise company for local bands in 2003. He said the operation began by making buttons, posters, screen printing album covers and T-shirts for bands and other labels.

The Extraordinaires, of 16th and Moore streets, hadn’t been signed to a label at the time and changed everything for Zimmer.

"It just seemed like a natural progression for us to expand into becoming a record label ourselves," Zimmer said. "We already had all of the equipment and years of experience of working with bands and other record companies, so we just decided to go for it."

Since its ’03 inception, the company has enjoyed a number of successes in its young career.

"On the merch production side we’ve been contracted to do work with record labels ranging from Sony, BMG Jive [and] Atlantic Records to smaller more independent West Coast labels like Revelation Records," Zimmer said. "We’ve worked with an array of bands and artists from Britney Spears to Bloc Party to the unknown punk bands playing in the basements throughout the city."

The groups under Punk Rock Payroll have been getting airplay on college radio stations and Internet music sites such as Pandora.

"The bands are being received very well," Zimmer said. "Once in a while I’ll get calls from college radio stations that we’ve had songs in their top 10."

Romeo along with longtime friend and housemate Alejandro Torres joined Adam Plante and James Saul to form Kill You in the Face, which has recorded in South Philly for about four years.

Zimmer toured with bands in previous years as the "merch guy."

"I learned from bands themselves, just talking with bands and hearing them praise their record label or complain about their record label," Zimmer, said. "After a couple of years I knew what to do and not to do. Being on the inside gave me a much greater perspective and gives me a good working relationship with the bands."

In addition to signing The Extraordinaires and Kill You in the Face, the label has added Pyramid $keem, of 16th and Tasker streets, and Lux Perpetua, of 19th and Mifflin streets.

"Our bands have had the opportunity to enjoy touring the U.S. and Europe this year and we are currently talking with three different production companies that are interested in using a few songs from each of the bands on the record label for soundtracks in movies scheduled to be released in 2010 [or] early 2011," Zimmer said.

Zimmer and his wife Misty moved to South Philadelphia from Florida in ’03.

"We set up the company in Florida but after being on tour with friends and visiting friends that lived in Philly, I really fell in love with the city," Zimmer said. "Three days after my wife and I were married we packed up our belongings and headed for Philly to start our new life together."

Since deciding to relocate, Zimmer has an ever-growing appreciation for the city he now calls home.

"I love Philadelphia and especially South Philadelphia," he said. "There is a big do-it-yourself feeling in South Philly and that more than fuels the fire for Punk Rock Payroll to thrive as a company in such an environment."

This feeling is what gave the label its name.

"It just seemed to make sense. We were doing everything ourselves from screening the LP covers, CD covers and T-shirts to handling our own online distribution," Zimmer said. "The name isn’t a description of the music we put out on the label; it’s more about the [do-it-yourself] approach we take to make it all happen.

In addition to the raygun, Punk Rock Payroll has developed other unique brands of packaging to get noticed.

"The three full-length CDs we put out for The Extraordinaires are all in hardcover book format that we make by hand from start to finish right here in South Philly," Zimmer said.

It also developed board game called Battle of the Vans. The object is to get to the show in time for the audience to see a band. If too late, everyone has to go home.

Looking to expand even more, he said Punk Rock Payroll is working on making its Web site, www.punkrockpayroll.com, more interactive.

With band tours in the works and a growing fan base, Zimmer is keeping things in perspective.

"I have no intention on leaving South Philly," he said. "Everyday I feel like I’m positioning myself and Punk Rock Payroll to be here as long as possible. If we do enjoy even bigger success, I want to be here to share it with the city that helped us achieve that success."