Ben Calvert, Creature of Simplicity – Video in Production

Post / Anti-Folk friend of Blue Whale Studios, Ben Calvert is currently working with illustrator Louise Wright on a video for ‘The Creatures of Simplicity’.

Still from 'The Creatures of Simplicity'

The video, accompanying the single taken from The Broken Family Daysaver, according to Ben; “tells the story of a mis-demeanor in a wooded area.”

More info can be found at the Bohemian Jukebox blog here.

As well as stirring up a grand old hoo ha about Putting A Price on Art, Ben recently popped into Blue Whale to record and film a few tracks –

More of this sort of thing can be found on Blue Whale TV here.

White Boy Funk, Chorus Pedals and Eighties Madonna Beats – The Shruburban Bliss of Greg Bird & Flamingo Flame

Shruburbia available to download for free from Speech Fewapy

In The Belly co-presenter and Sunset Cinema Club funkaholic bassist, Greg Haines, has been snapped up by Speech Fewapy Records to release his debut solo EP under the guise of Greg Bird & Flamingo Flame. Available to download for free from www.speechfewapy.com, ‘Shruburbia’ is seven tracks of Eighties Goth and Funk influenced majesty which Greg himself claims to dawning of the ‘Gothic Groove’ genre. The Blue Whale Blog caught up with him to find out more about the Shruburban bliss…..

‘Wonderland’ by Greg Bird & Flamingo Flame from Shruburbia

‘Shruburbia’? where’s the title come from?

“I’ve got a song, that I haven’t recorded yet, called ‘Suburban Dog’ where I’m fantasising about being a middle-class family’s dog lying around and eating all day with no worries, so it’s kind of an extension of that. And ‘shrubbery’ is big theme in the lyrics on this EP, especially as I use the word ‘leaves’ in about three different choruses.

“But it was actually Eve (Greg’s girlfriend) who named the EP, I threw a bunch of words at her to see what she could come up with and that one stuck.”

You recently moved from Redditch to Moseley – has that ‘culture shock’ had any bearing on the writing of the tunes? It obviously played a big part in recording as you did it all under your Moseley staircase.

“It definitely influences my music, as it influences my dreams, which are what most of these songs are based on. But I will have to correct you there, as I’ve been living in Selly Park for over five years…And also, Redditch is very green; I’m sure I read somehwere that there is a higher tree:square mile ratio there than any other town in the UK. So, neeargh!… But yeah, I do love my new surroundings in Moseley, I live in a really sleepy / retirement home area and I just love it.”

Prince +

The Cure +

+ Madonna

=

Greg Bird - Light entertainment - hahahaha ugh, kill me

When did you know you were going to create the EP? Before Sunset Cinema Club went on a hiatus?

“My solo project has been in the works as long as SCC were around, but I never got around to it. I think some people even got sick of me talking about it when at one point it seemed like it’d never happen. It was like a personal Chinese Democracy for me and a few mates really. I think both SCC’s hiatus, and the gradual re-emergence of chorus pedals in new / current music is what drove me to sort it out once and for all, ’cause I can’t let that revival pass without getting involved myself!”

Shruburbia seems quite conceptual as an EP, is that the case? Did you have an intentional sonic target? SCC seemed to throw the kitchen sink into every song, was this an intentional fixed direction?

“Nearly everything I write is conceptual, there’s always a vibe or atmosphere or even just a beat that I want to use before I’ve got anything resembling a song. With SCC a lot of stuff came from jams, but you could probably tell which ones happened in my head before the rehearsal room… Like ‘Breast Strokes’ and ‘Hardcore’. I used to imagine this cartoon version of myself, and a sitiuation, and then write around that like some weird post-hardcore musical.

“But my solo songs mainly, lyrically speaking come from dreams and fantasies and stuff like that. I feel like I can get a lot more weird and personal on my own now, as I’m not putting anyone on the spot except for myself.”

Will you continue to explore the Gothic Shooegaze sound on future EPs? Or do you plan to change direction with every release?

‘Gothic Groove’ is the sub-genre I’m claiming as my own at the moment. I’ve always wanted to go more Goth and I’ve always wanted to go more Eighties Soul / Disco…Both sounds are what I grew up with so I’m always drawn to them. But there was only so far I could take that in SCC because I didn’t want to inflict those styles on Dom and John! And I didn’t want to turn it into “my” band.

“Part of the reason it took me so long to get this done is because I couldn’t settle on which direction – Goth or Funk. Then it became screamingly obvious that it would cool to try and do both sounds at the same time. The Cure did it with ‘Lullaby’ and Killing Joke did it with ‘Love Like Blood’, so it’s not that original, but yeah, my personal challenge is try and push those extremes as far as I can without things getting too muddled or novelty sounding.

“So there will be more whiteboy-funk, and more chorus pedals, more Eighties Madonna beats, and more dream-pop…And on the next EP some New Jack Swing. After that I want to mix Bauhaus with Soul II Soul.”

Greg with his SCC pals

How did the release with Speech Fewapy come to fruition? I take it you’ll release more stuff with them?

“I’m a big fan of Bryn Bowen/The Shalfonts – who I’ll be playing bass for at Island Bar on June 11th, and I love how they give their stuff away for free. I think as long as you’re still recording stuff in your bedroom and not paying for it then you can’t really charge people for it. I also hate it when bands come out of nowhere and you find out they only got together like a year ago; I can only imagine them as label-projects then. So I had this idea to build up a back catalogue of songs and at the same time get as many people into them as possible by giving them away as I went along.

“And then I saw how The Traps have been releasing their singles and EP’s through their Speech Fewapy site, and the presentation and effort they put into that label is just really inspiring…So I emailed them asking how they went about it…And then I was mega chuffed when they offered to do it for me!

“The amount of enthusiasm they’ve had for this so far has blown me away. All the comps and special events they’ve held and are still planning… I imagine this is better than being on a major label in a lot of ways!

“So yeah, I will be doing more stuff with them, at least another two EP’s this year and probably loads more in the future.”

How did it feel taking to the stage as a solo artist for the first time? Did you feel ‘naked’?

“I was dreading it for a while, even to the point where I thought it would put me off pursuing the solo thing altogether like it has done in the past. But it was a lot easier than I thought it’d be. I did rehearse a lot so that helped. And stickers on the keys…And masks do wonders for onstage confidence too, definitely a fixture for future gigs.

“And next time I’ll have Danny Rowe from 35 Seconds jamming on guitar, so there’ll be someone else to take some of the slack heh heh.”

Greg Bird & Flamingo Flame support Casio Kids for This is Tmrw at The Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath on Thursday 27th May. Tickets available from here.

Intimate Architecture – an interview with Jamie Clayton

Jamie Clayton preparing for his recording session at The Whale

Jamie Clayton made himself known on the Birmingham music scene as frontman of the brooding and angular Dirty Soul but is now rapidly garnering respect for his touching and powerful solo work.

He has recently completed a number of tunes at Blue Whale Studios one of which, the much acclaimed ‘The Architect’ can be found in the player below. Also, as with all of our artists, we asked Jamie to tell us more about his catalogue of gripping songs.

How do you find things working as a solo performer compared to your Dirty Soul days? Is it easier to achieve your desired results on your own or is it easier working with the friction of band relationships / dynamics?

“In all honesty it is a lot easier, there’s no other input so I can totally go with what I’m feeling. Getting to gigs is easier, there’s no smokey lock up and no compromising which is nice. That’s not to say I wouldn’t want a band now though, I miss the gang mentality of a band and the noise I can create with others but to be quite honest I’ve found it difficult to find people to jam with me with my current stuff, its not regimented it’s all about the mood and what is going on there and then. I did a few shows with Pete from Dirty Soul on drums and a friend on bass, that was fun so I am actively looking for band members so if there is anybody out there interested, do get in touch.”

Although you show glints of optimism in your lyrics, you can turn quite dark at times – would you describe yourself as a tortured soul? Where does the darkness stem from?

“No not at all I don’t think anybody who gets the ‘tortured soul’ tag title is it or thinks that of themselves. I write on my mood and emotions, I guess you can hear in my songs that sometimes life can sometimes have its downsides, but I can hear the optimism in there.”

Would you agree that your solo material of late has a similar feel to Johnny Cash’s American Recordings with Rick Rubin? Is that a conscious influence to your sound? If not, what is influencing you at the mo?

“No not at all, apart from admiration for Rick Rubin’s beard there is no conscious influence, that’s not a bad comparison though! I have my big five, Ryan Adams, Jeff Buckley, Dylan, Springsteen and Tom Petty. Generally there’s always a CD in the car from one of them.”

You came into Blue Whale stating that you wanted to achieve an ‘intimate feel’, do you think you’ve got that sound, or has working with Ben progressed it into something else?

“We could have got carried away and almost did, but like you say the intimate sound of me and a guitar was what I was after and I think it worked. The track ‘December’ sounds so intimate its untrue.”

Do you plan on releasing the recordings?

“Yeah, I have a few plans to release it but nothing concrete just yet. But hopefully towards the end of the summer something should be out.”

For Jamie’s gig listings and more of his work, check out: www.myspace.com/jamieclaytonsongs

Promoters are Ruining Birmingham’s Music Scene by @JeffStuka

***As ever, Jeff Stuka’s blog post comes with a disclaimer. His views are those of his own and do not necessarily represent those of Blue Whale Studios. For anyone wishing to respond to this article, there are comment boxes below for you to convey any views that you may have in response to this piece, thank you***

Ok. You’re someone who likes indie music  so you go somewhere for a night out, a bar which caters to your tastes with DJ’s playing tunes that fall broadly under the category “That’s my kind of shit”.  You notice a sign indicating bands are playing in the downstairs room. Local bands. You may even have heard of one of them. You’re intrigued.  So downstairs you stumble, perhaps dragging a couple of mates in tow to keep you company, and as you’re getting your first hearing of the young bunch of oiks who happen to be the first on the bill, blaring out some middling piece of clump rock, you ask the guy on the door what the entrance fee is.

“A fiver.”

“£5? What does that get you?” you ask.

“Three bands.”

“Just the three bands?  No DJ?”

“No DJ.”

“What’s on after the bands?”

“Nothing. That’s it.”

You survey the room, sparsely populated by people glumly staring at the stage and think again about that £5 entrance fee.

“Fuck that, I’m not paying a fiver for this,” you decide and back upstairs you gambol to the music that the DJ is pumping out for free.

Not so long ago, Birmingham used to lack venues for local acts to perform.  For a time, bands were limited to the Flapper, the Jug of Ale and the Old Railway as pretty much the only places that were known as regular music venues with proper stages and proper PA systems.  In this limited market space, all bands were effectively vying for whichever one was most amenable to their fanbase i.e. their family/mates.

With so many bands and so few venues, promoters had little problem maintaining a three tier roster of bands, with those bringing the most people to the gig being most able to get their hands on the prime spots.  At £3 a person and the bands not seeing a penny of it before 15 people or more were marked down as specifically coming to see them, promoters could easily expect to see gross returns on the door of over £70 per gig and a lot more if two of the bands pulled a crowd.

Part of this deal was the requirement for bands to create the audience for the gigs themselves, either through word of mouth, their own advertising or sometimes flyers provided by the promoter. Bands would then spend the weeks preceding the gig trying desperately to Shanghai anyone they could into coming along, just to ensure they could continue getting gigs with the same promoter.

Things have changed for the better in the Second City but though this hegemony is now broken, the same approach to gig promotion is still propagated by some, with bands expected to source paying punters to attend a gig where they’re providing the entertainment. It’s an insidious form of pay to play except that instead of themselves paying, bands are embarrassingly forced to cajole family and friends into parting with a significant sum of money or perform to a depressingly empty room and risk not being invited back.  Passing trade, as I’ve tried to show, is unlikely to bulk out the audience.

Bands don’t want to play to empty rooms.  They want an audience present, people who may turn into fans if the band are good enough and who may come back to see them again.  On the other side of the coin, most people aren’t interested in paying three quid plus to see three unknown bands, at least one of whom will probably be a bit crap and unexciting.  Why would they want to stand around in an empty, atmosphere free room listening to music they don’t know when they can happily stay upstairs to enjoy a DJ playing tunes they want to hear for no charge?

Over recent years, it’s been amply demonstrated that gigs involving local bands can attract big crowds of people, simply by keeping prices low, adding a DJ or two to the mix, keeping the night going after the bands have finished and promoting the night vigorously using social media.  Adding quirky little touches to make the evening a more bespoke and exciting event has become a feature of many of the nights and a welcome sign of the ingenuity of Birmingham’s stylish entrepreneurs.

It works for everyone involved. Punters feel like they’re getting a great night out, bands get to play to an audience that they wouldn’t normally reach, the venue gets a shitload of people putting masses of wedge behind the bar and a hell of an atmosphere that encourages repeat business. They might even contribute to the running costs, if they can see the value in it.

Whether or not a venue will put money towards hosting gigs, by charging a nominal fee, the promoters can still get a decent bit of cash out of it to use for whatever.  Paying for equipment hire, covering promotional costs or dropping the bands a few notes for their time, though this is hardly necessary.  Most local bands will happily play for free if they’re guaranteed to get an audience. People don’t miss a quid.  If you have a couple of people to pay for, you still would hardly notice two or four quid, whereas eight pounds is almost a taxi fare home.  Paying a tenner for two people and you could reasonably expect a bit more than two or three not very polished bands coming through a shit PA and fuck all else to entertain you.

Even if your sole purpose for putting on gigs is to line your own pocket, it doesn’t make financial sense to charge too much.  If you get fifteen people paying a fiver to see their mates bands, they’ll come along for that one gig and not come back.  Get 75 people paying two quid and give them a night to remember, you’ll make double the money and they’ll be back again, again and again.

Is it acceptable for this form of promotion to still have a place in this city?  It’s a barrier to encouraging the average person on the street to go out and see local bands and as such, I believe it’s incredibly damaging to the future of Birmingham’s music scene.  Other promoters have proven that if you give people a value for money experience, they will flock to see live bands, and afterwards they’ll talk about a great night with friends and colleagues, creating a buzz which will attract more people to future events.

Promoters, you know who you are.  I challenge you to defend yourselves.  Not to me but to the bands you put on, to the punters who pay and to those that turn away.  What exactly are your reasons for promoting and pricing gigs the way you do, because if it’s trying to provide a platform for local music, build a vibrant music scene or just give people a good night out, it doesn’t look like it’s working to me.

Jeff Stuka

Do you agree with this article? Are you a promoter or an artist or even a gig goer who would like to put across your opinion or reaction to Jeff Stuka’s piece? If so, please do via the comment box below. Many thanks.

Listen again to ‘In the Belly’ Episode 3 on Rhubarb Radio

Here is last night’s ‘In The Belly’ with Andy Roberts from Blue Whale Studios backed up by This is Tomorrow DJs Matt Beck and Greg Haines.

Times New Viking, Yuck, Savant @ The Victoria, 1st May

We waffle on about the best music from Brum and beyond!

Including:

‘Little Omar Little’ by Savant recorded at Blue Whale Studios

‘A Spectacle’ by Can

‘Roly Poly’ by Ace Bushy Striptease recorded at Blue Whale Studios

‘Suicide Policeman’ by Yuck

‘The Line’ by Black Dollar Bills recorded at Blue Whale Studios

‘The Party Shitter’ by Home Stretch

‘Arrogance is My Middle Name, Said Will Davies Arrogantly’ by Falling & Laughing recorded at Blue Whale Studios

‘Wonderland’ by Greg Bird & Flamingo Flame available for free download at www.speechfewapy.com

‘Electric Sylvie’ by Modern Guy

ENJOY!!

A Bluffers Guide to the Birmingham Metal Scene from ERADIKATOR

ERADIKATOR play The Old Wharf for BSP 24/4/2010

Black Scorpion Promotions are hosting another free night of metal mayhem at The Old Wharf this Saturday (24th April) featuring four of the finest hard rock outfits from the Home of Metal: ERADIKATOR, Malacite, I Hate You More and They Came With Weapons.

Now, beloved seasoned readers of The Blue Whale Blog will know that we are not exactly well versed in the metal scene, but as we aim to ever expand our horizons, we thought we’d ask Andy from headliners, ERADIKATOR to give us a brief bluffers guide to Birmingham’s metal scene.

Eradikator

Do you think the city gets enough credit for being the ‘birthplace of heavy metal’?

“Yeah I think Brum gets a lot if credit for being the birthplace of metal, a lot of the touring bands from the states even credit it which is awesome. I personally think it will always be the home of heavy metal, you cant deny Sabbath, Priest and Napalm. I grew up in the West Country where the metal scene sucked so I think it’s an awesome city to work out of as an upcomng metal band. Long live heavy metal!!!!

Can you name your top five favourite metal bands from Birmingham currently playing the local scene?

“Necrotize, Slab, Mindless Torture, Morgue Orgy, Warlord UK”

Can you name us your top five Brum metal bands ever?

“Black Sabbath, Carcass, Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death, Judas Priest”

Black Sabbath

What are the main venues for the harder bands to play around Brum?

“The Old Wharf, Eddies, Asylum2, Black Horse, Flapper and Firkin”

The Flapper

Right, we’re donning our leather jacket and fingerless gloves and off to taste the local metal scene. Hmmm, bats heads for tea methinks.

The Colour of Money – Interview with Black Dollar Bills

Gargantuan bluesy garage foursome, Black Dollar Bills are another in a long line of awesome Brummie acts that have recently frequented Blue Whale.

They shook the walls of our lovely Custard Factory recording studio with knob twiddler, Dom James, to produce the pummeling rock of ‘The Line’ which can be heard in all its fire and brimstone glory below.

The Line by Black Dollar Bills

As part of our now famous customer satisfaction survey, we caught up with guitarist Tom, to ensure that we continue to exceed the needs of our valued clients. Well, we threw a few questions at him about the band’s time at the Whale anyway.

Black Dollar Bills

So, how was it for you?

“Working with Dom was good. Very relaxed atmosphere. From the moment I arrived he was easy to get on with. He knew what he was doing and all the lads felt comfortable.”

You state on your Myspace that most of your tunes are borne from improvisation, was there much of this during your recording session? Or did you plan specifically what you were going to record?

“Not specifically during the recording session. We decided to do this track pretty much the day before. This track was another creation using that method. The riff came and the rest soon followed.

Live shot by Annelie Rosencrantz - Anuli Photography

“We just want promote the band really [with this recording]. I don’t think that people have heard the best of us yet. From my point of view we are improving all the time. This track is just a bit of what we are capable of doing. Its already had a few spins in the Sunflower Lounge and hopefully other places soon.”

What other bands in Brum do you rate?

“Other bands that we rate are Soldier, The Cedar House Band, Karma Suite, Arcadian Kicks and Idiosync who are more Redditch based. We played a gig with the Bluebeat Arkestra who impressed us as well. All slightly different from each other but good in their own right. We are all into quite bluesy garage bands I suppose. Bands like the Dead Weather, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Band of Skulls we are listening to at the moment. These are the type of bands that are influencing us.”

Black Dollar Bills play The Actress & Bishop on Friday 23rd April.

Blue Whale Presents… @ The Rainbow 24/4 – Interview with Mike ‘Boat to Row’ King

***Boat to Row play Blue Whale Presents…at The Rainbow on Saturday 24th April. Entry £2 before 8pm***

The enviable Michael King brought his force of folk, Boat To Row into Blue Whale Studios to kindly perform for our In The Belly sessions.

Michael not only creates leafy acoustic romanticism with baffling finger picking wizardry through songs such as ‘A Boat to Row, To Row to You’ and ‘Autumn Glow’ (see below), he also gets the blood pumping as one fifth of disco sex punks Youves and a third of the adventurously angular Bronze Medals. So, how does he find the time?

“I think it’s important to myself as a musician to try and keep a happy medium,” says Michael. “When times are busy with Youves I’m still able to write for Boat to Row and plan stuff, and now Bronze Medals are gigging we seem to be able to fit around the other 2 acts nicely as we’re quite a new outfit.”

“I’m hoping for a busy year with plenty of shows and releases to look forward to. I feel extremely excited with where Boat to Row could go to terms of progressing in the songs I write and rowing everywhere!”

Michael from Boat To Row at Blue Whale

You seem very versatile with your playing as the styles of the three bands you’re in are quite different from each other, are you classically trained?

“I’m not classically trained, I studied Popular Music at University of Wolverhampton and finally graduated last May so I’ve been playing for a good few years. There are still so many instruments I’d love to learn though, so wish I was classically trained.”

Ben from Boat To Row

You must have a pretty wide taste in music then, who else are you admiring at the moment?

“It’s always a tough one as it’s sometimes hard to distinguish who you think are a great band and who are your friends in a band so I’m going to go for new bands that have really impressed me. I’ve really liked Malpas whenever I’ve seen them, with a voice like Ali’s, it’d be hard to sound boring. Goodnight Lenin are a band I really want to see live, from the footage I’ve seen they sound ace with a kind of Laurel Canyon approach to folk pop.

“Nottingham based Dog is Dead have landed some pretty impressive support slots including Ok Go, Friendly Fires and Lightspeed Champion. They’re really fresh and original, I guess equal parts Hot Club de Paris, Futureheads and Gerry Rafferty in the best way possible.”

After impressing many people in the past 12 months or so at a number of Coffee and Cake gigs amongst others, Boat To Row has also caught the ears of super hip Nottingham based label, Danger Laser! Phaser! Razor! who will be releasing an EP and tape in the near future which Michael promises us that the packaging will be, “immense”.

Paul from Boat To Row

And finally, go on, say something nice about your time at Blue Whale.

“It was a nice experience all round and the set up worked really well in the end playing as a three piece. Both the students and Ben and Andy were a pleasure to work with, It was nice to not have to worry about anything in that department. We we’re in safe hands.”

Awww.

Here’s a live version of Boat To Row’s ‘Autumn Glow’ exclusively performed for Blue Whale TV:

New tunes from Savant – recorded at Blue Whale

Savant setting up shop In The Belly of The Blue Whale

Brummie four piece Savant recently joined Dom James at Blue Whale Studios to produce two tracks of dazzling tropical math rock majesty. To make sure that we’re keeping the customer satisfied, we spoke to guitarist Liam about their time here with Dom at the Whale as well as posting up their tunes for your listening pleasures below.

Little Omar Little by Savant by Blue Whale

So Liam, are you pleased with the results?

“Yeah definitely, it’s nice to hear our songs without the crackly, ‘MacBook mic’ sound. It was quite nerve wracking just waiting for the tracks to come back, and then it took an hour to download them. We’re really happy with them, all the sounds are just right. I think the two songs sound really different, which I like.”

“We’d never really recorded properly before, so we were all really excited – I think Frank even made some Reggae Reggae Sauce sandwiches to take. We all played ‘Muralitharan’ about ten times trying to get the drums right, and then I stood there on my own playing it a few thousand times trying not to hit the wrong frets.

“It was just a really good day, except maybe when George cut his forehead on a window. Ha Ha Ha.”

What did you set out to achieve before you came into Blue Whale and did you achieve it?

“Really we all wanted to get the two songs, ‘Muralitharan’ and ‘Lil’ Omar Lil”, recorded. We expected great things from Dom’s production – those William songs were sick, and personally I think he did a great job. ‘Murali’ has a nice formulaic sound, and its even got that slowed down bit it in.

‘Omar’ has got the sound we were looking for, and the vocals fit in well, so we’re happy boyz. Frank and Ed really like Maps and Atlases and all that mathy stuff so I think that comes through a lot in ‘Muralitharan’.

Dom at the helm

What do you think Dom brought to the recordings?

“Working with Dom was so good, he’s a cool guy. He made us play ‘Muralitharan’ a lot of times to get the drums perfect, and then he even came up with an idea to change the beat slightly, so there’s his major contribution to the recordings!”

You fans of Sunset Cinema Club?

“Being the young, inexperienced band we are, we hadn’t really heard a lot of their stuff before we recorded. I’d heard a couple but I wasn’t really aware of the huge movement that the band is. So yeah I’m a fan of them, although it’s hard to imagine Dom when you listen to them. I think Frank really likes them as well, only the other day he said he loved Greg’s voice. What a nice boy.”

What are you planning to do with the recordings?

“Probably try and get as many people as possible to hear them, really. We’ll probably record a few more songs at some point (Coffins and Samba anyone?), and make a couple of CDs and send them to people. I think we’re too young to take it too seriously at the moment, we just like writing music and playing it. Hopefully people will be walking around Kings Heath and Moseley (which is better) humming the start of Muralitharan?”

Muralitharan by Savant by Blue Whale

Free Mix and Interview with @callumjoynes of Brave or Invincible Records

Brave or Invincible Records celebrate the Easter holidays by unleashing the ‘Hotel Radio’ EP by Tiny Cinema for free from Bandcamp.

Tiny Cinema 'Hotel Radio' - Out Now

The label has initially been set up by five Media and Communication students from Birmingham City University to release records by Tiny Cinema, with the debut album ‘Designs‘ available as a ‘pay as much as you like’ download. As BOI’s Callum Joynes explains, this was the necessary decision to make to guarantee wider exposure for their artist.

“We all very much believe that we want people to be able to hear the music and so it seems right to have the album as pay what you like. If you haven’t heard Tiny Cinema before, you’re not that likely to spend money on the CD. We like to think that we’re not just selling a product but creating a fan base, and allowing them to enjoy the music that we have as easily as possible. After all, the reason we started the label was to allow more people to hear music that we love, so allowing people to pay whatever they want for the album seems the most logical thing.

“Also, to encourage people to get down to see some live performances, we are now offering the CD copies of ‘Designs’ for ‘pay what you like’ at Tiny Cinema gigs.”

But don’t free releases devalue the music or art?

“Not at all, we’re still firm believers in the physical package, as long as it’s done in an interesting and exiting way, and will actually mean something to a fan. People have been sharing music for years, whether its through lending your mate a CD, or playing someone a song. Music should be accessible, the value comes in creating desirable packages and giving something extra.”

How do you you think that the music industry will survive free file sharing from your fledgling record company point of view?

“In short…I think that many “big names” in the music industry and in the politics surrounding it, think they can stop free file sharing and claim that it’s killing them off. Basically, the internet has empowered the independent record industry again, for those that wish to embrace it; and for those who choose to fight against it, it’s really a losing battle.”

There was a noted resurgence in vinyl in 2009, is vinyl here to stay and grow and do you think CDs will become obsolete?

“I don’t think any physical product is becoming obsolete, if it’s packaged in the right way. Most of us have decent vinyl collections and are all known for probably spending too much money on them. Vinyl is generally a nicer product aesthetically than CDs, but I don’t think they’ll totally die out just yet.”

Students Callum, Nick Moreton, Ryan Smith, Chris Williams and Chris Moore met in the first year of their course and through several encounters at the pub discovered shared passions for music and a natural collective instinct for forming a record label. Once they had worked with Leicester based solo artist Tiny Cinema in a live capacity and then hearing the ‘Designs’ album they urged themselves to release it.

“At the moment we have Tiny Cinema [on the roster] and we are in talks with three or four other artists, so will be expanding the roster very soon,” continues Callum. “Aside from that we are also going to be releasing a ‘Brave or Invincible Mixtape’ on a limited run of coloured cassette tapes, where by the covers will be hand made by local artists.

“Along with Steve Thornton; Nick, Chris and myself also broadcast as part of ‘The Forum on Rhubarb Radio’, which is every Saturday from 3-5pm on www.rhubarbradio.com
We have previously had a live session and will look to do more in the future. Generally though, the show is a mixture of chat, football and competitions, with music ranging from Hip-Hop, to Motown, to Alternative rock, to Acoustic and Folk, to Drum and Bass and Dance music. So we cover a lot of ground, but we think it sounds good.”

Boldly venturing into the world of independent record labels, Brave or Invincible are showing that they are capable of living up to their name with their fresh and flexible approach to building and rewarding their artists fanbase as well as nurturing a solid communication foundation through local networks and social media sites. This progressive approach matches their indestructible moniker.

What’s more, they’ve only gone and given you lovely Blue Whale Blog readers a free mix for you to lend your lugholes to…..

BOI Mixcloud