After releasing seven albums in 2006, Standard Recording Co. wanted to cap its year with something special.

The Indianapolis-based label came up with \"A Very Standard Christmas, a holiday album that ties together eight Standard artists and four guests..

Kevin Phillips, who co-owns Standard with Mark Latta, views 2006 as Standard\'s \"most productive and exciting year\" since its incorporation five years ago..

Indie rock thrives at the label, which will host a holiday party Thursday at Locals Only, 2449 E. 56th St. The lineup of performers includes Standard standouts Everything, Now!, Arrah & the Ferns, Everthus the Deadbeats and Big Big Car..

Phillips recently talked to The Star about \"A Very Standard Christmas\": Question: When you took the idea of a Christmas album to your artists, did you give them any parameters or expectations?.

Answer: No, we pretty much told them they could do what they wanted..

Q: Did anybody really surprise you or go above and beyond with an original song?.

A: I\'m really impressed with the Everthus the Deadbeats song. It has this real lo-fi kind of Beatles/Beach Boys feel to it..

Q: Everything, Now! and Elephant Micah cover the same song -- Big Star\'s \"Jesus Christ.\" This is rare for a compilation, but it illustrates what can be done differently with a song. Was that your reasoning for including both?.

A: Yeah, that\'s why we didn\'t go to either of the two and have them change anything. The versions are completely different, and the Everything, Now! version mixes in Sun Ra\'s \"Nuclear War.\" It\'s not as if five acts did \"Let It Snow.\".

Q: When I think of Standard artists, I think of experimentation and musicians who don\'t take themselves too seriously. Is that how you view your roster?.

A: We\'ve really never been genre-specific, although now we\'ve kind of formed our own non-genre-specific genre of miscellany. We\'ve always wanted to work with music we like..

Q: How do you measure your commercial progress at the label? Obviously you want to be doing well enough to be able to keep putting out records..

A: We\'ve been able to use profits from one release to fund the next one. Our bands come back from touring with zero CDs because they sold them all. The Arrah and the Ferns album is moving. We\'re actually backlogged about 150 CDs that need to be shipped out for online orders.
12.15.06