Would you care to introduce yourself?
We are Flowers In The Dustbin. I am Stephen McKee.
What inspired you to start your own label?
Kick To Kill. And a conviction that we shouldn't spend the rest of our lives waiting from someone from London to tell us our music was worthy. Create your own revolution.
Who do you have signed to your label?
Currently: Nevada Base, For Abel, Mummy Short Arms, Kick To Kill, The Echo Session, The Ex-men, Tatyana.
Being based in Scotland do you only sign Scottish artists?
Flowers has no boundaries!
Is this something you do as a hobby or can you make a living from it?
It's a religion.
Do you have a certain type of sound that you look for in a band?
Inspiration.
How do you go about deciding which artists you want to work with? How do you go about approaching them?
There are 3 criteria: great songs, great live, and great people. Must have all 3! We usually ask them to play at one of the Flowers nights.
What has been you personal highlight from running the label so far? What has been your biggest success?
The label exists to promote music we believe in. So every time a track gets played or reviewed, or we see people discovering the band at gigs, we're inspired. Success? There have been loads of high points. Some of Kick To Kill's reviews were rightly euphoric. The Echo Sessions half page in The Sun, and day's coverage of the second 'bank job' on Real Radio when they played gigs outside RBS branches to promote Fred Goodwin baiting single 'Tell Me'. Hearing Nevada Base on the radio the other day. Daytime radio play? Bless 6 Music.
But my personal conviction is that our greatest successes are still to come. 'Cigarette Smuggling', the forthcoming single from Mummy Short Arms, is a personal anthem. It's the kind of song that reaffirms your belief that living is indeed good! The For Abel album 'Greater Inventions' is magnificent. A joy akin to the Stone Roses debut album, though it's influences are more post punk. Nevada Base should clearly be broadcast directly into workplaces by legislation on an hourly basis. And Kick To Kill are the first genuine contenders I've heard to follow the lineage of Velvet Underground, Stooges, Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain. The Echo Session's album is a Glaswegian Sergeant Peppers, as if the Kinks had been born and bred in Glasgow.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone wanting to start up their own label, what would it be and why?
Do it for the right reasons - love of the music you are promoting. And don't be a bullshitter.
What can we expect to see and hear from the label in the future?
The most exciting music known to us! That is likely to include releases from Nevada Base, For Abel, Mummy Short Arms, Kick To Kill, The Echo Session and more! Our 6th commandment is: BE REASONABLE - DEMAND GENIUS. If you fit the criteria, tell us! But whatever we release, it will be the the antidote to most of the drivel force fed on the public by the media. It's an obvious target, but nonsense like the Xfactor and The Brits are a national disgrace. Don't accept the bland that confronts you every day. We're at the outset of a dreadful repeat of the 80's Tory nightmare. Too many people made a terrible mistake voting to disenfranchise themselves. They can keep the parliament, we demand the airwaves! The revolution is NOW!
Flowers In The Dustbin
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