 WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO RUN A RECORD LABEL? Well, whether it's the corny reply or not the reason's got to be love of music, man! I've been writing about and talking about music all my life - so it's kind of a practical step to get inside it a bit more - If I had a decent amount of musical talent I guess I'd have become a musician but I haven't - but getting involved in the process of making good music available is a really nice position to be in. Crap analogy, but a bit like a midwife assisting an artist in giving birth...! WHAT RELEASES HAVE YOU PUT OUT SO FAR AND WHAT�S PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE? 
First thing we put out was a single by Cardiff band Small Victories, double a-side "Holding on Hopefully/Spare Parts" - melancholic and beautiful - and very proud of it. It was always gonna be a one off special project - a really good way to start the history of Urban Foxx. The bands debut album will be out later this year on Boobytrap records - I can tell you right now, it's a masterpiece.Second release came out in early July "In The Town" by 50 Hertz - Our press release billed it as the "The startling soundtrack of the summer is COMING... seething discontent, careering at top speed through the urban wastelands, sneering at billboard spectacles of narcissism, spitting out the tasteless monotony of chewed-up capitalist gum, refusing to walk on/sign on the dotted, straight and narrow line" - that kind of sums it up. It hasn't become the soundtrack of the summer but that's because people would rather nod off to Coldplay for some unfathomable reason. Our next plan is a full album with Manchester band "Desolation Angels" who are going into the studio next week to create what will be the most breath-taking, sonic collage of exquisite textures and shapings you are likely to come across .... and that was not an over-the-top declaration. It will make you shiver. Album will come out early in 2004. Update: Desolation Angels Asylum album is available on Mary's new label - Blue Cat Records YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE WITH THE LABEL SO FAR? Well when you get the CD in your hand (we haven't done any vinyl yet - maybe one day!) with the artwork complete and perfect and you stick it on the stereo and hear it and realize why you are doing this - and that you played a part in making those tracks exist - it's a great feeling. And that's what will keep me doing it - if I don't go bankrupt first. Also I would have to say working with Viv (label partner) We always manage to have a laugh even when things fuck up - and that's really important. WERE THERE ANY UNEXPECTED SURPRISES WITH RUNNING THE LABEL THAT YOU CAN TELL US ABOUT. HAS IT BEEN HARDER OR EASIER THAN YOU IMAGINED? The legal red-tape side of it is a pain in the arse - the percentages and figures and stuff can be baffling to start with but I guess you get used to it. I think the main thing I've learnt is that, like any other business, at the end of the day it's all about people - human relations - personalities - communication. It's kind of like I imagined I suppose. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE ELSE WANTING TO START A LABEL, AND IN A NUTSHELL, HOW DO YOU GET STARTED RUNNING YOUR OWN LABEL? Ask yourself why you wanna do it - if you don't want it 100% it's probably not worth it. Any new label, especially one with very limited funds like us is gonna have an uphill struggle to start with. It takes time to establish yourself - we've been going nearly a year now and it still feels new and fresh & exciting but if you don't passionately believe in what you are doing you will probably not have the motivation to put in the time and energy that you need to make it happen. So I would say, have a vision and keep it alive. We've been lucky to find the right artists - if that hadn't have happened there would be no Urban Foxx. It all felt very fated from day one. We both still work in other jobs part-time to pay the bills - and there are a lot of them unfortunately. WHAT DOES IT ENTAIL ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS? It's really about co-ordination of many tasks - overseeing that at the end of the day you've worked out a "campaign" for want of a better word, for your release so that it's got the best chance of being a "successful" record within the constraints of your budget. So we'd have a "campaign" with a time-scale (recording, mastering, pressing, plugging, promoting, gigging, distributing, liasing with managers, the artists, whoever's involved etc etc) On a day to day basis you'd be dealing with one or more of those jobs really - but at the same time, no matter what else is going on there's a part of me thinking about what comes next. If we were a bigger label we wouldn't do all these things but we have to be our A&R team too - going to gigs, listening to demos etc. It may be hard work to try and do everything but really, it's probably more satisfying because you are involved every step of the way. And you know exactly what's going on (in theory!) ARE THERE ANY BANDS YOU�D LOVE TO HAVE ON URBAN FOXX � WHETHER IT�S FEASIBLE OR NOT. Hmm, well as I said earlier we've been lucky to put out records by bands we wanted to - I don't think I could ever release something I didn't absolutely love - that I know I'd buy without a shadow of a doubt if it wasn't on our label. It's not just about the music either, with bands, it's important to me that I respect them as people - that they're on our wavelength. I don't know who'll be next but I can't wait to hear them! HOW CAN PEOPLE HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE LABEL. Word of mouth is still the greatest force I know! If people genuinely like what our label is putting out then the word will travel. If people want to talk to us about anything we're always willing to listen. Visit our website at urbanfoxx.co.uk Our releases are available direct from us. The website for our new label, created by a very special friend of ours is Blue Cat Music - there you should find most of the info you might want - well, that's the idea! WHAT OTHER SMALL LABELS DO YOU ADMIRE? HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY ADVICE FROM OTHER INDIE LABELS OR PEOPLE IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS? Rough Trade and 4AD - not that they are that small these days. There's loads of great labels out there, too many to mention. In terms of advice, again we've been really lucky. People seem to appear at the right time and I'm always asking questions - you have to! Manchester is a great place to run a label because there's a really good supportive network here - People genuinely want to help each other out, rather than compete which is more often the case in London. There's lots of really good people around us here - who inspire as well as advise. FINALLY HOW CAN PEOPLE GET HOLD OF URBAN FOXX RELEASES? GOOD LUCK FOR THE FUTURE AND THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ANSWER THIS QUESTIONNAIRE. It's all on the website and we sell all our releases by mail order though they are also distributed by Shellshock so can be ordered in any UK record shop. It's a pleasure to answer your questions. Thanks for all your support. |
