I know I said I was going to take a break from blogging for a few weeks, however, as my inbox almost feels like it's about to burst with emails here's some news and gubbins for you all...
I must admit that I am a wee bit jealous of Gerry Loves Records, in the past 12 months or so they have released some of the most exciting new music that Scotland has to offer. Now with their fifth release they've made me doubly jealous as they're just about to release a split 7” on the 8th of August, featuring PAWS and Lady North. Arguably two of the hottest bands in Scotland at the moment, the boys certainly know their stuff, you can stream two of the singles below.
To celebrate the split release PAWS and Lady North are heading out on tour, they're in Aberdeen's Dirty Hearts Club, Snafu, on Thursday 28 July with support from Devils Disco, followed by an appearance at Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh on Monday 1st August, before finishing up at the Captain’s Rest in Glasgow on the 3rd of August, with support from Hairy AREA ( Side project featuring members of We Were Promised Jetpacks, Lady North, Endor & Sebastian Dangerfield).
If you can't make it along to any of these shows, then you can pre-order the split release via Gerry Loves Bandcamp page, it's only £4 and it would be money well spent.
Edinburgh DIY promoters, Tracer Trails are putting on their fourth Retreat Festival over the weekend of August 27th-28th 2011 at Pilrig St Paul's in Leith. So far they've confirmed Broken Records, Jesus h Foxx, Meursault, The Scottish Enlightenment, Skeleton Bob, The Leg, Rob St John, The Pineapple Chunks, Two Wings, eagleowl, ballboy and FOUND, with more to be announced over the coming weeks. Tickets for the gig are on sale now, day tickets are £7 and weekend tickets are £12, you can buy them here.
I quite like this new trend of bloggers putting on gigs, not just because it makes me and Jim look trend setters (we're not Song By Toad has been doing them for ages), but more because it's interesting to see others stepping out of their comfort zones and putting on some excellent bills. The most recent of the blogging community to take this bold step are my friends Stuart and Chris, who run The Tidal Wave of Indifference and Favourite Son respectively.
I have already had one of them asking me for advice, which in all honesty felt pretty odd as I hardly feel like an expert in putting on gigs, I have been winging it since day one. Then again I guess that everyone's blags these kind of things, most folk just aren't stupid enough to admit it.
The Tidal Wave of Indifference gig is of particular interest to me as he's got Star Wheel Press, a band who I have heard a lot of good things about, but still haven't listened to. Apparently they've got the best selling album this year in Avalanche Records, seeing as last year Kid Canaveral were their biggest seller, I have a feeling they might well be up my street. On top of that he has Peenko favourites, French Wives, who were on top form at this years Wickerman Festival, plus there's also the excellent Douglas Firs and Lost Telegrams. Personally it's the kind of gig that might well persuade me to travel through to Edinburgh for the night. Tickets for the gig are on sale in advance here, if you buy one then I am sure you will be making a certain young gentleman that little bit less stressed.
Our other blogging companion Chris who runs Favourite Son is also stepping up to the plate with his first ever gig which takes place next month at Pivo Pivo in Glasgow. Featuring Tape Records very own Dead Boy Robotics, Any Color Black and Blank Canvas. If you're quick off the mark then you can win yourself a pair of tickets to the gig, details and the like can be found here.
Right, that's emptied out some of the important stuff in my inbox, now I just have to work out what to do with all of these free download links... oh and there's a Wickerman review to be written (if I can remember any of it that is).
Hi. I'm Andy from Gerry Loves Records, based in Edinburgh.
What inspired you to start your own label?
We've wanted to do it for a long time, but only recently been able to, for various reasons. We want to promote some of the excellent bands that aren't getting the recognition they deserve. We're both vinyl and packaging lovers so we wanted to do something where we could geek out on that too.
No one really. We have put out singles by 4 bands: Conquering Animal Sound, Debutant, Trapped in Kansas and Yahweh. However, we don't have any formal deal with them as such. They are free to do things with other labels if they want. Conquering Animal, for example, have an album coming out on Gizeh/Mini50 later this year.
Being based in Scotland do you only sign Scottish artists?
So far, yes. Certainly at the moment, we can be much more effective in promoting bands who are playing in Scotland regularly, and who we have a personal relationship with. We don't really have the contacts yet to heavily promote bands fro further afield. We know the Scottish music community pretty well, and so we (hopefully) know the best way to promote bands within that. I could see us working with non-Scottish bands in the future, but not yet.
Is this something you do as a hobby or can you make a living from it?
Ha ha. Making a living from it is an amusing concept. We sell brittle plastic discs in hand-made packaging with recordings by smallish Scottish indie bands. I don't think that's something you CAN make money from, is it? We do it purely for the love of it, and to keep ourselves out of trouble.
Do you have a certain type of sound that you look for in a band?
Not really. We both have to love a band and believe in them for us to want to release their records, so naturally there are certain types of band that we gravitate towards. I really like hip hop but know very little about it, especially locally, so it's unlikely we'd take something like that on, although not impossible. We don't really get exposed to too much of it. We just like what we like, whatever that is. I think the stuff we have put out so far and the next release we're planning are all quite varied. I don't know, I'm pretty bad at articulating anything worthwhile about music.
How do you go about deciding which artists you want to work with? How do you go about approaching them?
So far, it's mostly from seeing bands live. We either see them live by chance, or hear some recordings by them and make a point of going to their shows. I suppose we just feel that there is something there worth helping. The two of us don't always agree on bands, so when we do, that's normally a sign. As for approaching bands, there is no better way to get them to hear you out than buying them booze. We are pretty bad for approaching bands while very drunk. I like to think bands find this endearing, but they almost certainly don't.
What has been you personal highlight from running the label so far? What has been your biggest success?
I've enjoyed lots of moments. Our first Edinburgh launch show was really good. We sold out the venue, which we weren't expecting, and it was the perfect antidote to a gig the night before in Aberdeen with a shocking soundman. Just getting the label started has probably been the biggest success so far. I'm also pleased that we're very close to starting to pay money out to the bands on the first release.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone wanting to start up their own label, what would it be and why?
Don't pick bands that are cool that you think will sell records. Pick bands you genuinely love and believe in. That love is all that will keep you going when it's 3am and you're stuffing records into sleeves and trying to balance a spreadsheet and one of the bands has just done something really silly.
What can we expect to see and hear from the label in the future?
We've got one more release planned for 2010, which will be a bit bigger, in terms of the amount of tracks and artists. We're close to getting that finalised, but it won't be out till much later in the year. We're really excited about it, but can't say more till we have it all agreed with the artists. Then next year, who knows? More good music on thoughtfully produced vinyl. Maybe other formats too, but not CDs.
Good evening boys n girls, this is just a quick reminder to tune into Fresh Air tonight at 7pm for my first ever radio show. It could be a complete disaster or a lot fun, or possibly even both, either way I'm cacking myself about it. Joining me tonight I have my own very 'special guest' David from Kid Canaveral, so at least there will be one sensible person in the room. I might ask him some music related questions, I might not. I will be winging it all the way! What I can promise is that there will be some really good tunes and some terrible banter. I will be doing the show for the next three Wednesdays, plus I'm not the only one joining in the fun. Plenty more of blogger mates have gotten in on the act too, thanks to the work of my good friend The Pop Cop, here's a copy of the schedule of what you can expect to hear in August.
PEENKO August 4: 7-8.30pm August 11: 7-8.30pm August 18: 7-8.30pm
Monday - Penguins Kill Polar Bears sunk their teeth into some Fresh Meat Tuesday - Scottish American outfit, The Wynnton Marshals Radio 2 session got a well earned posting. Fans of the Teenage Fanclub would be recommended to check them out Wednesday - The Seventeenth Century stepped up to the plate and became the 25th entry into the Scots Way Hay club. Great band, great post, great tunes, if you missed it on Wednesday make sure you check them out. Thursday - The legendary John D from Pin Up Nights did some Community Service, plus I also posted live sets from this T Break Stage. Friday - Yet another week filled with some amazing Freebies, including tracks from Peenko favourite King Post Kitsch, a greta new tune from Edwyn Collins, up and coming Edinburgh outfit Trapped Mice and some solo tracks from Ryan Joseph Burns of the afore mentioned The Seventeenth Century. Saturday - Camera Obscura were our We've Got It Covererd stars with their take on the Abba classic Super Trooper
News, gigs and any other gubbins......
Right it's Sunday, Sunday's nights are usually pretty dull nights, the fear of work the next day tends to start to kick in late in the afternoon. So what better a way to cure those blues than by heading along to the Classic Grand tonight for Mammoeth’s debut album launch. Formerly known as Team Turnip , the band have organised cracking wee line up featuring Sunset Song (formerly Wake The President), recent 'Ayetunes vs Peenko' starlets Randolph’s Leap and the a talented young lady by the name of Georgia Seddon (the daughter of Incredible String Band legend Mike Heron- now that's some impressive heritage). Doors are at 7pm and tickets are only £6, possibly the cheapest Sunday night blues curer that you're ever going to find. You can find further details here.
Now for the bit where I go all corporate on you all. Some of you (i.e. Jim) might remember that I ran a post a while back about the end of the Mill, 'cleverly' entitled 'Run of the Mill'. I had picked the information up from a bands blog, but as they had their fingers rapped for it I had to pull the post. Turned out that it was actually true though, the Mill is no more, some might argue that it's not that great a loss, but I always thought it was a good idea that could have been tweaked. I guess once you give things away for free it kind of devalues to a certain extent, which usually meant that you ended up with a lot folk being there to be seen rather than to see the bands. I know I am getting older, but seriously why the fuck do people go to gigs just to talk shite to their mates. The older I get the more I can relate to Larry David. Anyway, there was a point to this, honest there was. Basically the Mill is no more, in it's place Miller have used their research to find a product more tailored towards what 'the kids' want. It's called Miller Filtered and t sounds like it good be a much better way to market beer and music together. What they have decided to do is go with the novel idea of bringing big name bands to Oran Mor (sorry Edinburgh, but there will no longer be any East coast Miller gigs), and to have them play their songs in a stripped back fashion. Kicking it all off are The Doves, a band that are billed as one of the biggest in Britain, or at least that's what the press had us believe. Weren't they supposed to do an Elbow last year, I don't think they ever quite made the major league breakthrough did they? Still though, they are a pretty big band, I think the fact that the gig sold out in less than 24 hours can vouch for that. In addition to the Doves they have two local bands playing, one of which is Pearl and the Puppets. An artist that I will that I have never really painted in a positive light, after seeing her play at the launch I can appreciate that she's talented. Not my cup of tea, but she should do well. As for the other band that are playing on the night, they were so bland that I can't fully remember their name. Right that's just about enough of my ramblings on Miller Filtered, basically it sounds like an interesting concept. The Doves gig is sold out so you'll have to wait until the next event before you can check it all out. Apparently they have someone pretty special lined up, but they won't be releasing any details until after the first gig takes place. So basically keep those eyes peeled, I am sure they have something exciting in store for us all.
In case you missed the plug for it during the week, then here's a wee reminder that this Friday is the second ever PinUp Nights Festival, featuring sets Mitchell Museum, Sonny Marvello, Futuristic Retro Champions and Campfires in Winter. Plus DJ sets from Scott from Sons & Daughters, Remember Remember, plus loads more. Check their website for further details.
Innovative Edinburgh base label, Gerry Loves Records, celebrate the release of their second split single. After the success of their first split release which featured Conquering Animal Sound and Debutant. Now they're back with another really interesting combination, Yahweh and Trapped in Kansas. The single is out next week (2nd of August) on limited edition 7", with the added bonus of a download of the two tracks, plus also an exclusive bonus track by each of the artists. Plus if you're quick off the mark then there is also going to be an extra special super limited, deluxe edition. You can pre-order yourself a copy by heading over to the Gerry Loves website.
To celebrate the release they're putting on couple of gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The first one is this Thursday (29th) at the The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, with the bands relocating to Glasgow for on Friday the 30th July at Nice n Sleazys. Trapped in Kansas and Yahweh play live on both nights, plus support. You can stream both of the singles below.
Next weekend sees the launch of the inaugural Captains Rest Festival. It takes place over two nights, Saturday 31st July and Sunday 1st August, with the 'Rest is being taken over by a whole mixture of Scottish and international bands. Saturday's line-up looks something like this World Atlas (Brooklyn, Ny) Lenzie Moss (Glasgow) Male Pattern Band (Glasgow) Lady North (Edinburgh) Q Without U (Glasgow) Calacas (Glasgow) Mike Nisbett (Glasgow) While on the Sunday they have Young Empires (Toronto, Ca) She's Hit (Glasgow) Un Cadavre - (SEE THEY CAN STILL GET GIGS IN GLASGOW, FUNNY THAT IT'S WITH PCL) Xprolifex (Glasgow) Tangles (Glasgow) Curators (Glasgow) Little Kicks (Aberdeen/Edinburgh). Further details are available here.
Tickets for this years Retreat Festival go on sale tomorrow, billed as a strung out weekend of DIY pop music in Edinburgh. The event which is in it's third year, takes place over the weekend of the 28th and 29th August. Featuring 16 acts from Edinburgh and Glasgow, the event has a a cracking line up in store for you. SATURDAY AUGUST 28TH : eagleowl, Enfant Bastard, FOUND, Jesus H. Foxx, Skeleton Bob, Withered Hand and Wounded Knee SUNDAY AUGUST 29TH : Benni Hemm Hemm, Conquering Animal Sound, The Douglas Firs, The Leg, Meursault, Milk, Rob St John and The Wee Rogue Day tickets are £7 and Weekend Tickets are just £12 Click here for further details.
Lastly, next week sees the launch of another independant Scottish Festival, Doune The Rabbit Hole, which surprisingly enough takes places up in Doune (near Stirling). This one is for charity, it has a cracking array of Scottish talent, it looks something like this Meursault (Song, By Toad), The Junipers , Withered Hand (SL), Rozi Plain (Fence), Francois & The Atlas Mountains, Wounded Knee, Hidden Masters, Lipsync for A Lullaby, Les BOF!, Modus, Sara & The Snakes, and much more, as well as (DJs) Rudi Zygadlo (Planet Mu), Josh Jones (Death Disco - The Arches, Glasgow), Tall Paul Robinson (The Go-Go Club – Studio 24, Edinburgh), and GRNR. Now that's what I call a line up! Tickets are very reasonable £15-£47, you can buy them here.
I must admit that I am a wee bit jealous of Gerry Loves Records, in the past 12 months or so they have released some of the most exciting new music that Scotland has to offer. Now with their fifth release they've made me doubly jealous as they're just about to release a split 7” on the 8th of August, featuring PAWS and Lady North. Arguably two of the hottest bands in Scotland at the moment, the boys certainly know their stuff, you can stream two of the singles below.
I quite like this new trend of bloggers putting on gigs, not just because it makes me and Jim look trend setters (we're not Song By Toad has been doing them for ages), but more because it's interesting to see others stepping out of their comfort zones and putting on some excellent bills. The most recent of the blogging community to take this bold step are my friends Stuart and Chris, who run The Tidal Wave of Indifference and Favourite Son respectively.
