- can you tell us the history of Best Before Records and the philosophies
your label has?
A: We are owned by a company called Channel Fly. This company owns
all the Barfly's around the UK,as well as owning The Jazz Cafe,
The Forum, The Borderline, The Garage and the Hammersmith Apollo.
I am good friends with Be Rozzo, one of the co-founders of Channel
Fly and he approached me after I had been running the day to day
management of a band called Muse for four years. At first, I didnft
want to start a record company because I was very worried that it
would lose money, as many record companies do nowadays. I wanted
to create a production company which is what my last job at Taste
Media was, where we sign a band, make a record and then license
it on to someone else.
However Adam Driscoll, who is the CEO
of the entire group persuaded me to actually start up a proper record
label instead. So we set-up a five year plan and aimed to sign bands
that had played at the Barfly, so indie-rock bands mainly. I really
wanted music that was made up of really strong songs that the artists
could play well live and wanted to play a lot. We have been around
for three years now and we have signed three artists and we have
three more artists that we are trying to sign. Our goal is to take
the time to develop our artists and help them to make a name for
themselves as well as licensing them abroad to give them a good
international platform.
- Can you tell us about your artists
that you have signed?
A: The first band we signed was The Heights. It was actually the
very first demo I opened for the new Best Before Records! I thought
someone was winding me up because I have opened thousands of demos
before and 99% of them are not interesting at all. When we first
saw them play, we saw the potential but in general, they didnft
seem to be gelling as a band and we reckoned it was because they
werenft touring enough. So the first thing we did was put them on
tour and they toured for around two and a half years solid. We would
put them in the studio during that time to get some tracks done
and we ended up with about 30 tracks. If I had to describe them,
I would say that they sound like The Strokes & Foo Fighters;
an American sound but with a British angle with really catchy choruses.
Youtube : The Heights - For Real
We also have The Morning After Girls
from Australia. They sound more like Shoegaze or My Bloody Valentine
and Brian Jonestown Massacre. They are a really great band and Ifm
very proud of their record. Even though they are from Australia,
the album sounded a lot like the stuff that was coming out of New
York a couple years back when we first signed them.
The third band is called Trailing Laces, they are a very young band
who still have at least a year to go before they release anything
and until then, they will continue doing more shows and touring
in order to develop their sound. I think they sound like The Verve
meets U2.
Youtube : The Morning After Girls - Run For Our Lives
- So do you do both the management
and PR of your bands?
A; No, we have other people who will do the PR for each band. We
will find individual bands the PR that we think will help them the
most, so each case is tailored to the band. We are in contact with
our artists everyday making sure that release schedules, touring
schedules and marketing plans are all organized. We have different
people working independently from the label taking on different
roles, from our online person who sorts out all the press/exposure
for the internet and then another person who does TV and another
who does Radio. They have to really like the music as well, otherwise
it would be too hard for them to try and sell it to a stranger.
Youtube : Trailing Laces- Twisted Head
The same goes for the international
market, where we sell the license to a foreign label to distribute
and they will have independent PR people who we also have to liaise
with.
- You must get a lot of demos sent to you. What format are they
being sent in nowadays? CDfs, MP3fs or via the internet?
A: I would prefer if people just sent me their Myspace to listen
to. Save the planet and donft waste CDfs! I much prefer Myspace
because itfs just so much easier and if you message me from your
Myspace address, I will always have a look at your account.
Youtube : The Pistolas - Take It With A Kiss
- How do you think the internet has
changed the way you do business nowadays?
A: It has changed everything. File sharing is destroying record
companies right now as you just canft sell as many records anymore.
I heard a statistic that 52% of all music in the US last year was
stolen. That means all the bigger record labels are suffering and
many more indie labels are popping up here and there. We are all
hoping for new revenue streams to pop up, but until then we continue
to operate at a loss. At least in Japan, I donft think people are
stealing as much music as they do over here. So unless there is
a change in peoplefs attitudes, we are going to have to look at
other ways of creating revenue.
- Why do you think there has been a
resurgence of indie bands releasing 7-inch records?
A: Because they are collectible. But, major labels are setting a
precedence now as they are creating things like picture discs which
may cost GBP3 to make, but they are selling them for 99p. It doesnft
make sense, but it is a good way to plant a seed. People want to
invest in a band because in the future, that 7-inch could be worth
hundreds of pounds.
- What do you think of the current UK indie scene?
A: Itfs never been stronger. There is so much live music at the
moment and itfs all affordable to watch. Any night of the week,
there will be a great band playing live. The irony is that there
is so much great music and everyone can go watch amazing bands but
no-one wants to buy the music.
- Any future plans you want to share
with us?
A: We are trying to find a suitable venue to open up the first Barfly
in Tokyo which will be great. 10 years ago, Western acts in Japan
made up maybe only 5% of the market, but now that figure is up to
25%. So the awareness of Western bands has risen and so has the
market share so we are interested in tapping into that more.
Also, like I said earlier, we are in the middle of trying to sign
a couple more bands, The Pistolas and Johnny Foreigner. Both of
these bands have such a great sound but I donft want to say too
much about them before we have actually done the deal!
