Independent labels in Scotland
Independent record labels & Scotland. There is a phenomenal history that could take several articles before you would begin to do them justice. Between them they have spawned some era-defining artists and albums. Obviously not an exhaustive list, but with a very brief flicking of the mental rolodex, you can’t avoid thinking of Postcard, then over the years, labels like Fast Product, Chemikal Underground, Creeping Bent and Rock Action all unleashing a variety of notable albums.
There are too many to mention without completely changing the focus of this blog, but there currently numerous Scottish based independent labels flying the flag for the music scene and giving many bands a platform to release their music.
Last Night From Glasgow
None more so in recent years than flourishing crowd funded non profit label Last Night From Glasgow, with its ever growing roster featuring bands like Glasgow’s independent scene luminaries Bis, psychedelic drone rock shoegaze maestros Domiciles, Kid Canaveral’s David MacGregor with his Broken Chanter project, the ethereal beauty of Sister John and the futuristic synth sounds of L-Space to name but a few. I also recently featured I Used to Be the Martial Arts EP on my blog. So successful has the label been that it is now expanding with a new offshoot Komponist.
Ian Smith – label supremo
As a recent new patron to the label I have been taking the opportunity that membership gives to explore the labels burgeoning back catalogue and I am thoroughly enjoying doing so.
What does being a patron mean for a music fan? Well, I asked label supremo Ian Smith to expand, so more from him shortly, but essentially if you remember record clubs, then you’re part of the way there. I was a member of the Rough Trade singles club back in the day. I remember the feeling whenever a new single dropped through the door, the excitement and anticipation, wondering who it would be, what it would sound like…
Since becoming a patron for LNFG, I get that feeling again when a package drops through the door. I’m like a wean on Christmas morning ripping open the package to see what delights await, so far, I’ve not been disappointed.
Enough about me, Last Night From Glasgow launched in 2016. I asked Ian what his motivations were to start the label, and what his aim was.
Well I guess my initial motivations were simple, I had kickstarted an album and discovered it wasn’t going to get a vinyl release and began wondering how hard it would be to fund a record myself and if I did that, how easy it would be to recover the outlay and do so again. After much thought and chat the idea morphed into more of the patronage you see now. It was never my intention that LNFG make any money thus once it became apparent that we could fund manufacture etc. on behalf of artists, it became abundantly clear that the more patrons we had, the more good we could do. The more money we made, the more money we could spend on artists.
Getting started…
Tell us about your first release and how it felt getting LNFG off the ground?
When we set up LNFG we sought funding from £50 from 60 people. We had worked out all the budgets and plans and knew that with that money, our starting capital and some additional investment from sales, we would be able to manufacture 2 Vinyl 7” Singles and 2 Vinyl 12” Albums. We gleaned our first 50 patrons inside two or three weeks by the time of our first release, 02.06.16, we had double the patrons we budgeted for and we had already worked out that we needed to double our projections for output.
Our first release was an odd beast – a very sparse piece of alt folk from Mark W Georgsson. We released a 7” with 300 copies pressed. The B-side being an Iceland Cover Version of the same song. The single was presented in a AA sleeve with art by Brian Sweeney (who to this day is our label photographer)
We launched the single at a sold-out gig at The Old Hairdressers. Mark played as did Emme Woods and Stephen Solo. Within another 6 weeks we would have released our first album and second single. By September and the release of TeenCanteen’s debut album, we had already fulfilled our obligation to members but still had funds/time to release BooHooHoo’s debut EP, Be Charlottes second single, the debut single from Sister John and the debut LP from Mark.
Artist Roster
A rollercoaster first few months there, and already a wide range of artists releasing their music on the label. How do artists go about getting their music on your labels?
They write to us and we listen, if they write well, we listen better. There is no doubt a well written email or letter is the first step.
Once received, one of three people will listen to the music, they have the power to reject all submissions, but we find that if we don’t like something, we have the ability to sense that someone else might. Thus, for LNFG – pretty much everything has to pass by Gary, Rose or I. If it gets past us, then the main team get to listen. At this stage we are looking for a couple of things, consensus is good but passion (even just one person’s) is better.
If during this editorial stage we decide to take it further, usually I will contact the artist and suggest a meeting. We call this the Dick test – apologies but let’s be honest. The purpose of the meeting is to make sure we can handle having a beer with you, if we can’t abide you over a beer, it’s not likely we will enjoy working with you. So, it’s key for us to establish that we like you and you are deserving of our support. It’s a big ask to raise and spend £30,000 a year on artists, we need to believe in you artistically and as people.
I am a patron for LNFG, for the layman who hasn’t come across your label before, what are the advantages of becoming a patron?
Well I guess there’s lots of ways to look at this.
If you’re a vinyl or music enthusiast then for 60 quid you’re going to receive 5 or 6 vinyl LP’s a year, plus 2 or 3 CD’s and a bundle of digital releases – so it’s a bargain.
If you’re a live music enthusiast, then you will be invited to 7 or 8 shows a year For Free and you will get discounts to 7 or 8 others. So, its cheap entertainment and it’s a brilliantly friendly club.
If you care about such things, then you get the genuine sense of goodwill brought about by doing the right thing. Paying for music and supporting musicians. For a few quid a month you can help 5 or 6 artists get an LP made, distributed, promoted. It’s a glorious thing and you get to be part of it and own everything that is made. Why would anyone say no?
Don’t just take Ian’s or my word for it, head over to Last Night From Glasgow’s website and look at the options.
Favourites?
So far, I’ve received some fantastic vinyl. I’ve enjoyed it all but if I was to pick a favourite to date, it would be Domiciles. Ian, I know this is probably like asking parents to tell me who their favourite child is but tell me about some of your favourite releases on LNFG to date.
There’s so many for many different reasons. If you nailed me to a post and insisted I pick one record to proclaim as my favourite I’d say Sister John – Sister John, if you made me pick a second, I’d say Sister John – Returned From Sea. Those two records are incredibly special to me for a number of reasons, which I will happily go into at another time.
That said, I have a hugely special place in my heart for our first two LP releases – TeenCanteen (for it is they who’s album I had kickstarted) and Mark. They were our first two in our first year.
Our first collaboration with Scottish Fiction for Annie’s album was special (Annie Booth – An Unforgiving Light), as were our first non-Scottish releases with Foundlings and Loudmammoth. I suppose you could say that Zoe (Bestel) somewhat fell into that bracket, being from Liverpool and living in Dumfrieshire, it felt like we were moving far afield and that made the label feel bigger and better as a consequence.
I am hugely excited about the next three LP releases we have Domiciles, Broken Chanter and Cloth – I mention those three bands and think “My word that’s an impressive roster” (I couldn’t agree more – TGQ)
The one record that makes me beam from ear to ear everytime I think about it though would have to be Bis Slight Disconnects. I’ve adored Bis from day one, I was at their farewell concert when they were Data Panik, I was at the Glasgow reunion concert. If you’d ask me 12 or 13 years ago to tell you my dream, I would have said convincing Bis to reunite and being able to help them release a record. It’s a staggering mind-boggling situation that a label I founded is now the label they have chosen. Words genuinely fail me
Komponist
LNFG are in the process of kicking off a new offshoot project, a new label Komponist, how would you describe the difference between the aims and offerings of two labels?
Simple – Komponist is for everything that was reluctantly rejected by LNFG 😉
No, I’m being mildly facetious. Komponist as the name suggests will focus upon composition over songwriting. Music that is grander in its ambition and less accessible as a consequence. We want Komponist to champion the more avant-garde and left field music. We want the label to be seen as curators, want the catalogue to be seen as a library.
What’s Next?
Obviously, the launch of Komponist is an exciting development. As I said, singling out one band, Domiciles excite me (among many others…), their album is heading for my top five end of year list (look out for a review on Louder Than War website soon) and I’m looking forward to the showcase gig Remember, Remember the 3rd of November featuring The Gracious Losers, Martha Ffion, Annie Booth, L-Space, Domiciles, Fight Milk, Slime City (by the way their new single is superb – check it out), The Plastic Youth & Lemon Drink. What else should I be getting excited about release or gig wise?
I’d say Cloth‘s album in November is going to be a stoater.
I am very excited about Kohla – her next two singles are quite, quite special.
We have just released Stephen Solo’s third and final Pii album and we are about to embark on the process of making a solitary triple vinyl of the entire series, that’s going to be lovely process and a really nice way to mark 3 years of activity.
I’m also very much looking forward to seeing what L-Space do next – Kipple Arcadia was such a great debut, I’m really excited to hear album two.
Exciting times ahead. I also enjoyed the L-Space “Music for Megastructures” futuristic soundtrack LP, reviewed here. I too am looking forward to the Cloth album, though I couldn’t play my Cloth cassette as I ditched my tape player when I moved to a new house. However, one of the advantages of being a patron means I can access the entire catalogue online. Result.
Wish list?
Many thanks Ian for taking the time out of a busy schedule to talk. Just one throwaway question before I let you go, as a music fan, if you could have had any band past or present on LNFG who would it be/have been and why?
Where do you start – You’d be mad not to say The Beatles because they are the greatest band the world has ever seen and ever will see.
That’s boring though so I dunno, do we go British and say XTC the most inventive, intelligent, funny and generally brilliant musicians from my lifetime or Radiohead because, well, Jesus wept have you heard their music?
Do I look to the US and say REM or Pavement or The VU?
Do I dare to dream and say Carol King, Tom Waits, The Band…?
It’s impossible so let’s keep it local – the best band in the country not on LNFG – well that’s easy in my opinion. Mt. Doubt on Scottish Fiction are just spectacular, should be superstars. Shout out to Pocket Knife on Olive Grove too – very special folks.
If I could have released any Scots albums – I’ll take 3 if I may:
Trashcan Sinatras – I’ve Seen Everything
The Delgados – The Great Eastern
The Blue Nile – Hats
Well, as a fan of the Trashcan Sinatras from day 1, a band who perhaps I’ve seen live more than any other, Ian is on my wavelength there.
Ian has mentioned many of the bands featured on the label throughout his interview. If that has whetted your appetite, check out the website for details on how to become a patron and more about the artists featured. Or click on any of the bands names throughout the article to take you to their own Facebook pages (or Bandcamp or other such…)
I’ve probably bored you with my love of the Domiciles album. If you’re at a loose on the 16th of August, and not at Bellahouston Park (sorry Ian!), check them out live at their album launch show at The Old Hairdressers.
Me, I’m off to listen to the Broken Chanter LP.
Last Night From Glasgow: