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Business Interviews
Q&A Feature: Behind the label
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 25 October 2012
On 29 Oct the Association Of Independent Music will stage the second Independent Music Awards, celebrating the bests artists, albums and songs unleashed by the indie label community in the last twelve months, and the people behind the scenes that make the indie music sector such a vibrant place. In the two weeks running up to the 2012 awards, CMU will be chatting to six such people – all nominees at this year’s awards – the label bosses at six of our favourite independent record companies.
Simon Raymonde – Bella Union
Simon Raymonde founded the Bella Union record label with this Cocteau Twins bandmate Robin Guthrie in 1997. Although the original intention was to release the band’s own music through the new company, the group split up shortly afterwards, so its first release was Raymonde’s solo album, ‘Blame Someone Else’.
Jack Clothier – Alcopop! Records
Alcopop! Records was founded in 2006 by Jack Clothier and Kevin Douch (the latter also founder of the Big Scary Monsters label). Initially launched as a singles club, the company has gone on to sign bands including Johnny Foreigner, Stagecoach, Sam Isaac and Ute, while its compilation series ‘Alcopopular!’ has been called “the coolest compilation ever” by NME.
Marcus Scott – Hyperdub
The Hyperdub label was founded in 2004 by producer Steve Goodman, aka Kode9, and its first release was a single by Goodman himself. Highly influential in the development of dubstep, Hyperdub subsequently worked on early releases with a number of influential producers in the genre, and has branched out into the wider realms of electronic music too.
Sam Dyson – Distiller Music Group
Founded by Sam Dyson in 2009, Distiller Records released music by artists like Sound Of Guns, White Belt Yellow Tag, Losers and Sparrow And The Workshop in its first year, and signing Funeral For A Friend the next. The company also owns a recording studio where many of its artists work, and has expanded into management and publishing too.
Chris Goss – Hospital Records
London-based drum n bass label Hospital Records was launched by Tony Colman and Chris Goss in 1996, with the company’s initial releases coming from their own projects. Following the success of the latter’s debut album, ‘Pull The Plug’, in 1999 the label began to expand and sign other artists, including Landslide, Danny Byrd and High Contrast.
Simon Morley – Pink Mist and Blood & Biscuits
Indie label collective Pink Mist was formed by Big Scary Monsters, Holy Roar and Blood & Biscuits in late 2010, bringing Tangled Talk on board last year. As well as allowing the labels to share resources in order to reduce costs, they also use the alliance to co-operate on releases where bigger budgets are required.
Stay tuned for more interviews right here next week, and also check out last year’s interview with Beggars Group chief Martin Mills.
