Our wonderful cafe HQ now has its own vintage clothing shop, run by none other than Red Tides' own Molly Macleod!... http://fb.me/u5VvQhyf
Welcome to Debt Records
DEBT Records is a label born out of troubled times, a label nurse-fed on the understanding that current music industry practices are failing both artists and listeners. DEBT IS A LABEL THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO THAT INDUSTRY
Artist News Articles
Red Tides release WILD HOUR
02 September 2010
“Wild Hour” the new record by Debt’s jaw-dropping experimental folk outfit Red Tides is on general release from Monday 6th September 2010.
It will be available from the Debt Records shop and all the usual digital retailers plus selected independent outlets.
The Weekend Ahead...
24 August 2010
This weekend Debt’s home town of Manchester will be something of a ghost ship as all of our acts and label directors will be off making merry in the fields of England and Scotland.
Solfest in Cumbria will see the biggest influx from our roster with not one, not two, not three or four but FIVE of our acts gracing the fields with their talent.
Becca & The Broken Biscuts, John Fairhurst and Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six will be appearing on the Mainstage on saturday and sunday. Red Tides and Richard Barry will be performing on the Drystone Stage.
Honeyfeet and Alabaster Deplume will be playing The Wandering Word stage at Shambala Festival in Northamptonshire (also appearing will be Louis Barabbas solo acoustic - as well as on The Compass Stage later that same night). John Fairhurst will also be appearing at Aeon Festival in Devon. Meanwhile Monkey Poet Matt Panesh continues to wow the crowds at the Edinburgh Fringe.
www.solwayfestival.co.uk
www.aeonfestival.com
www.shambablafestival.org
www.edfringe.com
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
11 August 2010
Our acts have been in and out of muddy fields all summer - both in the UK and overseas - but there is one festival that takes the cake for mayhem and that’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Three of our number have shows spanning the full three weeks:
MONKEY POET is premiering Welcome To Afghanistan - his first play and one man show. That takes place at the Sin Club on Cowsgate Click here for more information He’ll also be doing his regular stand up poetry show (and album tie-in) Welcome to the UK complete with Debt label-mate Alabaster Deplume and some amazing people we met at Kiuperfest this year (including the puppeteers from the Something Something Company!) Details of that can be found here He’ll also be filling in a 9.15 solo slot with an hour of stand-up poetry at Sin Club.
SAM BUCKLEY, bassist and co-singer in Honeyfeet will be playing the part of “The Sex” in a new opera entitled “Man And Men” at Hill Street Theatre at 4.35pm every day except Tuesdays. It is a strange, other worldly production backed by a contemporary classical score. Written and composed by Joshua Goodman with libretto by Tom Riley. More information here
ALABASTER DEPLUME (pictured) will be appearing at Faceplant, The Forest on 17th August, at 8pm, compered by none other than Louis Barabbas’ enigmatic publisher A. Valliard. Venue info here
He will also be at Banshee Labyrinth, from 17th - 19th August as part of Monkey Poet’s Welcome to the UK at 6:20pm (see above)
Please enjoy poetry responsibly
The Becca and Louis Duet Series
28 July 2010
Becca Williams (lead singer of Becca & The Broken Biscuits) and Louis Barabbas (captain of The Bedlam Six) have begun a long-term project that will see them tackle some of music history’s classic duets.
The idea for the duet series was first floated on the Louis Barabbas facebook page and received an overwhelmingly positive response. A call for submissions was immediately issued and over the course of the day dozens of suggestions came flooding in with ideas for potential covers.
From this first batch Louis and Becca chose Summer Wine (by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra) to be the first in their series.
On 27th July they met up with Joel Roberts (Broken Biscuit bassist) at Fuel bar in Withington where Gus Fairbairn (Honeyfeet sax player) happened to be having a coffee. After a quick drink the four climbed the stairs up to the Debt Records press office where Debt co-founder Biff Roxby set up a small live rig to record the session.
Their version is faithful to the original. It is in the same key and tempo with similar orchestration. The only difference is that they have reversed the roles - Louis Barabbas appears as Nancy Sinatra and Becca Wlliams dons the tache to play Lee Hazlewood. In this new arrangement the song’s story of seduction becomes a more sinister animal. Louis’ delivery of Nancy’s choruses suggest that maybe the wine was spiked with something more than “strawberries, cherries and an angel’s kiss in spring…”
The song will be released as a free download exclusively through the Debt Records online shop on 4th August 2010 to mark the third anniversary of Lee Hazlewood’s death in 2007.
Here is footage of the four musicians laying down the track.
Honeyfest
14 July 2010
This year the UK’s most talked about new jazz-folk outfit Honeyfeet has been picked to open the 2010 Manchester Jazz Festival this month.
Times haven’t been easy for Honeyfeet in recent months. Their recent Spanish tour, whilst inspiring ecstatic audience reaction, was peppered with catastrophe - including two broken instruments and a defunct tour bus.
The five-piece (“graced by the Midas touch… plagued by the Midas touch”) stayed positive, however, and stayed tight. They are now back on home turf, putting the final touches on their new record “Scumbags” and getting ready for a lot of high profile shows around the country. As well as the Manchester Jazz Festival on 24th July, they will be the main support for highly acclaimed US performer C.W. Stoneking at the Ruby Lounge (2nd August) and among the highlights of the Green Phoenix Festival in Newcastle and Shambala in Northamptonshire (on 20th and 27th August respectively).
Tickets for the Manchester Jazz Festival can be bought here
Tickets for the C.W. Stoneking show can be bought here
www.greenphoenixfestival.org.uk/
www.shambalafestival.org/
www.myspace.com/honeyfeetmusic
Every Dog Has His Day
05 July 2010
THERE IS AN ANCIENT BELIEF THAT SIRIUS (THE DOG STAR) IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HOT WEATHER. THIS JULY, HOWEVER, SEES THE ARRIVAL OF A DIFFERENT POOCH AS LOUIS BARABBAS’ TELL-TALE HOUND IS BROUGHT TO SLOBBERY LIFE…
“Dog Days” (diēs caniculārēs) are the hottest, most sultry days of Summer and were popularly believed to be an evil time “when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid” (according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813). Consequently the Romans sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of this period to appease the rage of Sirius.
Something similar happens almost nightly to Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six. There is one song that haunts the band more than any other - a song that tells the story of an ill-fated love triangle between a man, a woman and an eternally panting dog.
“This is the one the audiences always want,” remarks Louis, “it’s taken on a force all of its own, I feel like it’s reached the point where the song plays us, rather than the other way around… We’re not complaining - we love it - that’s why now, almost three years after it first emerged from its kennel, we are giving The Tell-Tale Hound its very own show.”
Sam Alder (co-founder of film company Plastic Zoo and new internet phenomenon Manchester Scenewipe) was approached to lead the project that would translate this twisted fairy tale into a visual feast. After working closely for many months with acclaimed animator Scott Lockhart the pair have done just that.
“It’s been a lot of fun but I see what Louis means… that dog really latches onto you - it burrows down into your brain like it’s sniffing out some long-buried bone. Scott and I got kind of obsessed with that dog… it got scary.”
This is not the first time Louis and Sam have collaborated. Sam recently provided illustrations for Barabbas’ collected lyrics (entitled “Love, Sighs, Regrets and Goat” - due out later this year through Irish publishing house The Tragically Flawed Press). The Hound video is the first in a series of events that build up to the book’s publication.
Louis says: “According to The Book Of Common Prayer the ‘Dog Daies’ begin on 6th July so that’s when we’ll be unleashing (if you’ll forgive the pun) the video for the first time.” The Old Farmer’s Almanac states that these are the days of the year when moisture is at its lowest. When better then to tell a tale set in “a dirty old town where it always rains”?
The video can be viewed on YouTube, metacafe, daily motion, vimeo, and myspace tv)
www.plasticzoo.co.uk
www.scottlockhart.co.uk
www.louisbarabbas.com
A Date with Yates
31 May 2010
This month’s Debt Records Presents… will take place on the first saturday of the month rather than the usual second friday (due to the Debt Set flying off to Spain next week for the Kuiperfest acoustic festival).
We like to think that the gigs we curate are something a little bit special, after all we’re musicians on both sides of the industry and know what works live. The upcoming show on Saturday 5th June, however, is something we’re particularly excited about. As well as a headline set from our newest signing Honeyfeet (one of the finest live acts of our age), we herald the triumphant return of Thomas E Yates after a two year sabbatical from the live circuit.
Tom has been on our radar for years - we met him in early 2007 at a Bedlam Six gig (when they were called The Black Velvet Band). He was an enthusiastic yet very shy first year student from Wigan seeking to size up the Manchester “scene” before plunging into it himself.
Since then he has developed his craft and grown into one of the most compelling and unpredictable singer-songwriters we’ve ever come across. It is with great pleasure that we host his live show this coming saturday at Fuel Bar in Withington.
Yates’ debut EP will be released on Debt Records this Summer.
Un-Convention's Day Of The Idiot
21 May 2010
The album that took only twelve hours to make can be freely downloaded from Un-Convention’s Sound Cloud site. The record is a re-imagining of Iggy Pop’s first solo release The Idiot, with covers by artists from all across the genre spectrum.
We are obviously most excited by track six as it is performed by Debt’s very own Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six (who managed to make a seven minute heroin dirge into something a little bit more swinging).
A slideshow of photos from the day can be found on the BBC Manchester website.
To learn more about Un-Convention and the wonderful things they do visit their blog page at unconvention.wordpress.com/
Andrzej Hood
14 May 2010
Hollywood Hood is no good. Our friend Andrzej Stepien, however, has got something that’s actually worth giving to the poor - a free song about Robin Hood on the day Russel Crowe’s misguided interpretation hits UK screens
Here’s what Andrzej has to say on the matter:
“Everyone knows Robin Hood wears bright green tights and mugs people like David Cameron, then he gives the money to the poor. Robin Hood doesn’t swan about saving England from civil war and he certainly isn’t played by Russell Crowe. Robin Hood is brilliant and Hollywood always seems to let him down. When I wrote this song I wanted to put across that central ethos of violently enforced altruism in a manner that even a child could understand and enjoy. Giving the track away as a free download seems true to the spirit of Robin Hood and will hopefully go some way to countering this film’s cynical dilution of the Robin Hood myth.”
Click here to get your free download (tights not included)
For more information about Andrzej Stepien visit his website at www.astepien.com or go to Fuel’s Open Mic night in Manchester every Wednesday.
Un-Convention's Invisible Band
09 May 2010
The last few days have seen two historic events take place: the first UK hung parliament in thirty six years and the first album to be recorded, produced, pressed and released in a mere twelve hours.
The latter is, of course, Un-Convention Factory. Eight bands, Sixty music industry professionals and three hundred people in a converted factory space recreating Iggy Pop’s “The Idiot” album to mark the thirtieth anniversary since Ian Curtis hanged himself while listening to it.
One of those bands was Debt’s own Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six who were commissioned to rearrange track six “Dum Dum Boys”. Despite receiving praise on the day from everyone from Har Mar Superstar to UB40’s sax player they don’t get a credit on the album sleeve. The artwork for the record was produced and printed in-house and somehow the band with the longest name (playing the album’s longest song) was left off the sleeve notes. This oversight comes as no surprise to Louis:
“It’s pointless getting annoyed about these things, it happens all the time and has characterized our musical career. We’re best known for our live presence but to the existing industry we’ve always been invisible - it’s apt for us to be anonymous on the only record that has any kind of mainstream appeal… it tickles my perverted sense of humour that anyone enjoying our track on the Unconvention album will have no idea who’s playing it. Besides, I’ve always said I’d rather be a myth than a legend.”
The whole Debt Records team were at the factory all day and were moved by the mixture of positive collaboration and useful discussion between current practitioners (coupled with the usual industry survivors wittering on about the good old days) - it was a curious harmony of new ideas, community spirit and optimism with a handful of irrelevant famous people wasting everyone’s time. A perfect mirror to what we now hesitantly call “the music business”.
For more information about the great things that Un-Convention gets up to visit their blog.
MAPS Festival Free Download!
03 May 2010
This news item is being written from the Debt Records stage at Manchester’s Northern Quarter Festival - MAPS (Music, Art, Poetry & Stuff). It’s a great day, we’ve already had Louis Barabbas and Al Baker playing stripped down sets, currently Still Down Gill are rocking everyone’s socks off and the wonderful Red Tides are on next.
Later on this mammoth all-dayer we’ll be hearing from Debt’s own Honeyfeet, John Fairhurst, Richard Barry and Becca & The Broken Biscuits, as well as Plain Sounds’ signature signing The Suns, Samson & Delilah from Little Red Rabbit Records, SR Gents and poetry from Matthew Wilson, Carol Batton and… of course… our very own Monkey Poet compering (and drinking).
To celebrate this monumental line-up we have created a special promo download, available free from our shop for a limited time only (no idea how long it’ll be there - until the next giveaway probably).
So head over to the shop and pick up yours. Or better still, get down to The Bay Horse on Thomas Street in Manchester and come watch some of these acts live!
News From Mexico
29 April 2010
For the last four months David Rybka and Honeyfeet’s Rik Warren have been touring Mexico with Debt’s creative associate Jon Bonfiglio. As well as the usual bars, clubs and festivals the pair have also been booked to play shows in a maximum security prison and the British Embassy. They are also working on an album with local musicians from Cuernavaca (which will be released on Debt later this year).
We finally caught up with Dave to get his thoughts on this latest tour, so far from his native Wigan…
“There is so much history, so much to understand… the Ruins and archeological finds are really inspiring. I have seen so much yet barely half of what Mexico is about. On my return I intend to delve deeper into its history.
And what effect has it had on your writing?
“It’s made me write songs that are very different to those ones I wrote back in England… the different climate, the scenery, the feeling - it all just adds to the creative flow that boils inside all of us.”
What can we expect from the new record?
“The project is with two Mexican musicians called Matisse and Andrea Valdez. We are producing a record consisting of two traditional Mexican songs and two European Folk songs, then two songs from each of the four musicians involved in the project. They sing and play on our songs and we play and sing on their songs, then see what comes out. It should be an interesting project for everyone involved.
And what are your thoughts on the prison gig?
“Blake wrote that the body is the soul’s prison unless all five senses are fully developed and open. He considered the senses the ‘windows of the soul.’ People in prison deserve a second chance most of the time, lets hope we awake their senses…”
Rybka and Warren will be reunited with the rest of the Debt Records community at Kuiperfest in North Spain this June before returning to the UK to get their Mexican collaboration album ready for a late summer release.
Cry God for Monkey Poet and St George!
23 April 2010
It’s St George’s Day and Monkey Poet is treating the world to an exclusive free download of his long-awaited debut record Welcome To The UK.
The album - which will be officially released by Debt Records on the day of the General Election - is based on Monkey Poet’s award-winning live show of the same name, an act that toured the world last year, gleefully vaulting customary genre divisions and inspiring no small amount of controversy for its political, sexual and occasionally downright obscene content.
Never one to tread the usual paths, however, Matt Panesh (the Monkey in question) has decided that a conventional live album just won’t do.
“It’s hard enough to entertain with just one voice and one body in front of a crowd but take away the body and leave the voice and it gets harder still… I thought the idea of a radio play with some acidic asides and poetry to emphasize certain points could be more effective.”
Effective is one way of putting it. Mould-breaking is another. Panesh’s signature enthusiasm-combined-with-rage is typically delicious here but all the more moving when set within the grey confines of a kitchen sink radio drama.
“The play was born out of a desire to reflect the society we live in… and to mock it! The album afforded me some amazing liberties - allowing me to push the boundaries of the original show and then laugh heartily when the cast subsequently ran with the ideas.”
He goes on to address the subject of poetry itself:
“I’m very protective of poetry as a form. I loathe people who want to identify it as Poetry rather than Entertainment. Entertainment covers anything that’s entertaining, Poetry allows people to don their righteous boots… It’s the opera syndrome, if you will.”
With this album Monkey Poet explodes the form entirely, with some elements taken from live performances, some set to music and others played out by actors. The collaborative element working under Panesh’s stewardship is certainly one of the record’s great strengths and features wonderful turns from label-mates Biff Roxby (from The Bedlam Six - who also produces the record) and the legendary voice-over skills of Richard Barry.
So does Matt believe this is the future for recorded poetry?
“Well, it’s not perfect but I think it stands as a blueprint for possibilities in this field.”
We wonder what he has in store for us next…
Welcome To The UK can be freely downloaded from the Debt Records shop for the duration of the St George’s Day weekend. It goes on general release 6th May 2010.
Find Richard Barry's Uncle!
18 April 2010
Richard’s Uncle has gone away (but you can find him in the Debt Records shop)
Richard Barry is one of the most fondly revered performers on the UK folk circuit and Debt Records is making it their business to bring his work to a wider audience (whether he likes it or not). In the past Richard has shared the bill with the likes of Bob Geldof, Kiki Dee, Midge Ure, Fairport Convention and Dr Feelgood but now, at last, he is taking centre stage.
When the doors were first thrown open at the wonderful Kasbahn studio in Cheshire Richard and The Chaps went over to lay down a couple of demos in the live room, helping our engineer road test the space and iron out any kinks.
The result was two lovely little tracks that deftly address some of the popular song’s greatest themes: loss of a loved one and waiting for your wife to get dressed for dinner.
We urged Richard to let us officially release this as a double A-Side but he insisted that he had something a little more special planned for his first release with the label. He did, however, consent to letting us stick them in the shop as a free promo, as a way of sign-posting some of the material those Chaps have in store for us later this year.
So, to mark our second anti-press release (whereby we endeavor to reward those who are already supporting Debt Records by giving away music for free) here is “My Uncle’s Gone Away” and “Continents”, free to download from the shop.
We would like to let you know about future offers, releases and events so in order to take advantage of this freebie we ask that you join our mailing list. It must be said, however, that everyone at Debt is generally too busy gigging, recording and drinking to send out lots of mail so you probably won’t even notice you’re on the list. Needless to say, you can unsubscribe at any time.
Below is a video of Richard Barry & The Chaps performing “My Uncle’s Gone Away” live at The Dancehouse Theatre last year.
Where's Molly?
16 April 2010
You may be wondering what’s happened to Molly Macleod Band. Well they’re still here and, in true underground fashion, they’ve changed their identity just as they were starting to make a name for themselves.
So what are they called now?
RED TIDES
Expect their first latest EP “Wild Hour” this summer…
Un-Convention Factory
29 March 2010
Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six have been invited by the good folks at Un-Convention to be involved in an amazing music first. What’s even better is that you can be involved too.
Register Now for your chance to attend Un-Convention Factory.
- Eight Bands
- Sixty Music Industry Professionals
- Three Hundred People
- Twelve hours to record, produce and release an album
Get involved: watch the bands record the tracks live, design the sleeve, debate ideas, learn about releasing music, explore new digital platforms and create a unique piece of history.
At Un-convention Factory, we’ll be transforming a mill space to contain all of the elements and processes involved in creating a record. You’ll be free to explore everything that is going on, interact with music industry professionals and ultimately make all the decisions along the way.
We’ll even provide food, drink, a free pair of trainers, and a CD of the finished album by the end of the day for everyone who attends.
And to cap it off, the day will end with a free evening show featuring the bands involved, with a line up including Reverend Soundsystem, The Whip, I Am Kloot, New Education and more.
It’s all taking place on May the 8th 2010, at Un-Convention Factory, in The Heritage Centre, Macclesfield.
For the chance for you and a friend to attend this free, once in a lifetime event, please fill out the registration form below by Friday 23rd of April. Numbers are limited, so we are looking for the most creative and inspirational people we can find to come along, and to make this a unique and very special event.
If you’re in a band, make cool videos, design amazing things, run a cutting edge blog or are just keen to get involved then tell us about it and you could be coming to Un-Convention Factory.
It’s that simple. There is only one rule: This is a Factory
You have to turn up on time, and stay ALL day. We’re making this album together, the bands, the industry and the people, from start to finish. We clock on together and we clock off together. You’ll have to be at the venue in Macclesfield centre for 8.30am on Saturday May 8th. The evening will finish at around 1am on Sunday morning. Food and drink will be provided.
Please only register if you can DEFINITELY attend the whole day. There will be a standby list, so anyone arriving late may find their place has been allocated to someone else. Successful applicants will be notified by Monday 26th of April, and further details will be provided then.
To apply for 2 tickets, for you and a friend, register at www.unconventionhub.org by Friday 23rd of April.
Successful applicants will receive two free tickets for the ‘Un-convention Factory’ event to be held on Saturday 8th May 2010, at the The Heritage Centre, Roe Street, Macclesfield, SK11 6UT. The event will begin at 8.30am prompt, and to ensure entry all applicants must arrive by this time. The event will last all day, and will include the Factory event, lunch and an evening show that will end at approximately 1am on Sunday morning. The individual who completed the application form will have to provide proof of identity when registering on the morning of the event in order to collect their pair of tickets.
Visit www.unconventionhub.org for the relevant application forms
Enquiries to: steph@fatnortherner.com
For more information about Un-Convention visit their website
The Un-Convention team and board will decide on the final 300 participants by Monday 26th of April.
HONEYFEET!
18 March 2010
NEW SIGNING … NEW SIGNING … NEW SIGNING … NEW SIGNING … NEW SIGNING
We are overjoyed to announce that Debt Records has now signed the wonderful, incomparable HONEYFEET. We’ve been hoping this would happen for some time now, they really are one of the greatest outfits on the gig circuit. We’ll be properly updating the website in due course to make room for their formidable boots to sit comfortably in the label’s hearth.
In the meantime, check out their music and upcoming shows on the Honeyfeet myspace
And join their facebook page for updates and discussion
Joy of joys.
Free Fairhurst!
17 March 2010
ANTI-PRESS RELEASE - “FREE FAIRHURST - KING OF SPRING”
JOHN FAIRHURST’S ACCLAIMED DEBUT ALBUM WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE FREE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING
21st March, the traditional beginning of Spring, will this year feature a unique opportunity to procure John Fairhurst’s highly praised debut album Joys of Spring for absolutely nothing.
“This is an unbridled, joyous explosion of simple textures, thrilling musicianship and handsome melodies.”
(Chris Long, BBC Radio Manchester)
When Joys was first released in 2008 critics and audiences alike were stunned by its sheer majesty - the common consensus was that it signaled the auspicious arrival of a formidable new talent.
Since its humble beginnings in a Wigan shed the album has reached audiences all over the world and accompanied its creator on tours that have included North America, Australia, continental Europe and the Far East, as well as nearly every music festival imaginable (including Glastonbury and Texas’ prestigious SXSW).
Now, we are pleased to announce that John is giving this infamous LP away free of charge to fans old and new. The national press don’t know about this one, the publicity is limited to informing individuals who have supported the independent music scene and followed the progress of artists affiliated with Debt Records and like-minded progressive labels.
How do you get it?
Avoid the usual retailers, head straight to John’s personal shop (which will be linked in to www.debtrecords.net/shop on the day of the giveaway) and download your copy in whatever format best suits you.
Offer is limited to Sunday 21st March.
Details of John Fairhurst’s follow up release will be announced in due course.
NOTES TO EDITORS
There shouldn’t be any editors reading this. This information is not for journalists, they received their free press copies years ago.
For more information about John Fairhurst’s music contact us or visit www.johnfairhurst.com
This One Is For Mother...
02 March 2010
LOUIS BARABBAS & THE BEDLAM SIX WILL GIVE AWAY THEIR NEW SINGLE FREE ON MOTHER’S DAY. SIMPLY CLICK HERE AND LEAVE A MOTHER’S DAY COMMENT - THE BEST ONES WILL THEN BE READ OUT LIVE ON BBC RADIO MANCHESTER ON SAM WALKER’S SHOW.
IN YOUR MESSAGE PLEASE STATE WHETHER YOU’D LIKE US TO:
EMAIL THE MP3 TO YOU DIRECT
EMAIL IT DIRECT TO YOUR MUM
EMAIL YOU A DOWNLOAD CODE TO SAVE YOUR INBOX THE STRAIN
BELOW IS THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE AND VIDEO
Unlikely Mummy’s Boy Louis Barabbas, better known for his high-energy live performances and vitriolic lyrics, has announced that he will distribute his new single to mothers across the world free on UK Mother’s Day (14th March 2010), the day before its official release on Debt Records.
The song - aptly entitled Mother - sees Louis address themes of filial angst typically eschewed by more mainstream songwriters.
He doesn’t think his choice of subject matter is a strange one though:
“Why aren’t there more songs about the Mother/Son relationship? It’s one of the stock dramas, deep set in pretty much every myth going… that bond is so terrifying - in every sense - it’s both terrific and terrible.”
He goes on to wonder:
“Why does the music industry keep on churning out the same old inferior shadows of Peggy Sue when there are far richer models to revamp: Volumnia, mother of Coriolanus; Jocasta, mother of Oedipus - now that’s really destructive, properly violent, mind-altering love… Romeo and Juliet were such light-weights.”
So in what form will this give-away manifest itself?
Well, as much as we wanted to have a 7” vinyl pressing wrapped in the Maestà of Duccio waiting on every mother’s doormat, it’s just not possible in the current financial climate. The internet will, consequently, be our agent here. Visitors of the Debt website will be able to pick up the free single there and fans will have the option of giving us their mother’s email address so that we can send it direct. A selection of Mother’s Day messages will be published in the Debt Records news pages and the favourites read out on the evening of Mothering Sunday on BBC Manchester where Louis and the band will be in session to promote the release.
If you miss the offer, the record will be out through the usual channels on Monday 15th March.
Latest Becca Dates
20 February 2010
Becca & The Broken Biscuits have just updated us on some new gig dates, including a performance with award-winning folk sensation Jim Moray in North Wales and a mainstage appearance at Cumbria’s much loved Solway Festival.
Sunday 21st Feb - Nordoff Robbins Charity night @ Oddest, Chorlton.
Sunday 28th Feb - Appearing on BBC Radio Manchester (95.1fm) Andy Crane show. 12-2pm
Saturday 6th Mar - Supporting Jim Moray @ Trelawnyd Memorial Hall, N.Wales.
Sunday 11th Apr - Green Bohemia @ The Green Room, Manchester.
Saturday 24th Apr - Hope Mill, Manchester.
Sunday 2nd May - MAPS Festival @ Night’n’Day, Manchester.
Monday 3rd May - DEBT RECORDS STAGE at MAPS Festival @ The Bay Horse, Manchester.
Saturday 3rd July - Ymuno Festival, Conwy N.Wales.
Sunday 29th August - Solfest, Cumbria.
For up-to-the-minute news on Becca & The Broken Biscuits visit their myspace page or contact us to be added to their mailing list.
LOVE IS...
15 February 2010
You wrote to us in droves, like swarms of angry cupids, some wanting to take advantage of our Valentine’s Day album giveaway, some merely wanting to share their innermost feelings about LOVE.
So, what did you have to say for yourselves?
Here are a few of the responses we got (sorry, couldn’t publish them all - partly due to sheer numbers, partly for the sake of decency!)
LOVE IS…
…that indefinable feeling that sticks two together even when the glue stops working
… always being on your side even when you’re not on your own side.
…a hungarian poetry recital
…sadly slowing down my heart
…not buying your girlfriend a Valentines Day card or present, and her being remarkably calm about the let down.
…never running out of Marmite!
…champagne at lunch time and chunky Fanny Burney through a drunken haze in the afternoon.
…nearly as good as getting a free album
…freedom?
… someone that understands you when everyone else is left scratching their heads
… pain…
…never lost, just sometimes misplaced.
…everything
…A nice cup of tea being made for you just round about 3 in the afternoon. (biscuit/roll up optional)
…the only true adventure that keeps me guessing, sustained by action, communication and belief in yourself as much as trust in the other.
…a universal common thing that melt all the living things
…was and always will be exhausting- in a good way mostly.
…patient … a losing game … in the air … blind … just another word i never learned to pronounce
…very difficult and not hollywood-like at all, but usually worth the effort (if it’s really real…)
…like a new pair of Doc Martens, when you first get them you can’t stop looking at them, the longer you have them the better they become including creases and scuffs, you just love them for being them :-) x
…getting stuff free, especially good music!
…saying ‘I love you’ and doing (free) nice things every day and not just because it’s Valentine’s Day and the media say that you should spend lots of money doing it!!!
…food for the soul, devour it while you can!
…love is someone drawing on you with a biro
…the enemy of apathy.
…like a box of chocolates: you didn’t ask for it in the first place but you just can’t help dipping-in, pinching all the good stuff & feeling guilty about throwing away the hard bits.
…not what you think it is…
…wanting to spend all your time with someone, but understanding when they can’t!
…the slowest heart attack you will ever have.
…a pain in the heart, arse and wallet
…knowing someone has your back and you will always have theirs
…cabbage and chocolate soup.
…better than a warm trombone
…giving me a free download of an album. love is loving a free download. love is defining love.
…not for me
…a near-death experience.
…either a fools game or the most powerful force in the universe
…what happens when you didn’t believe in it anymore.
…blind… So why is lingerie so popular?!?
…a good excuse for a drink.
…usually over in the morning!!!
…like a plane ride - a huge amount of anticipation and uncertainty, a quick take off and takes ages to land. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes you get cheated. And it’s bloody expensive too.
…incurable
…an illusion lost in the mist of some distant misunderstanding, and a constant warmth embracing my solitary heart.
…never having to say ‘that’s disgusting’
…a fascinating combinations of chemical reactions in the brain. Rather than making love seem less special that fact we can understand it makes it even more immense.
…whatever you want it to be
…a green-eyed monster. No, that’s jealousy. Oh wait, what’s the difference?
…short-sighted
…the ultimate selfishness.
…not about looking in each others eyes …. it’s about looking in the same direction
…gleefully severing off an appendage of your choice then through the subsequent off-kilter blinking, nauseating pain and suffocating dizziness finding that the flailing, spurting stump has in its sanguinary writhings produced a dazzlingly accurate replica of your true and only heart’s desire, Les Dennis
…fighting the battle between my instinctive selfishness and the desire to make other people happy. If you can find balance from the chaos, you might occasionally glimpse real love.
…a morpheme which, through convention,now represents a feeling of affection from one human to another. Love is misleading. You don’t need to be loved back in order to love. But surely the more love you give, the more you will get back. Be loving.
…short and life is always over in the morning. …never having to go to Surrey. …the giving of an umbrella in a back street boozer in Salford.
…not a crackhouse, it’s a crackhome.
…Complicated… painful… obsessive…. hardwork.. but also beauteous, joyful, carefree and passionate….. to quote Tennyson “It is better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all”
…complicated..frustrating…obsessive…hard work…and yet beauteous, joyful, carefree, passionate….
…difficult, frustrating, heartbreaking… but always worth it
…the tragicomedy that makes life more than an empty stage…and we all know something is better than nothing..
…free, at least, it should, but every year as the 14th draws near, we wrestle ideas from behind blind eyes and between deaf ears in a crass attempt to tempt the attentions of those who are subjects of our amorous intentions, only to find that behind the lines that divide the sexes, the lovers , the ex’s, that money talks, but bullshit walks………
…everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.
…a dangerous and exiting poison that makes us think for a brief moment that our life has meaning. But when you’re alone, you realize that love is a horrible mirage and the only true love is the love for yourself. Women let me go…
And here’s a new one from Louis Barabbas:
LOVE IS…not some open road we walk in pairs. It is an open wound we salt with promises.
“Found Drowned” by Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six is now on general release.
David Rybka & The Mexican Dad Band
13 February 2010
David Rybka is currently on tour in Mexico. He is the latest in a line of Debt songwriters to cross the Atlantic and bring the new Manchester sound to North America (the first being Louis Barabbas last November - the next will be John Fairhurst later this year).
He is touring with author, producer and raconteur Jon Bonfiglio, recently seen in these news pages in the context of his own world tour. In addition to the live shows Dave will be teaming up with a number of Mexican musicians (plus Victorian Dad drummer Matt McNicholas - joining them in March) to record an acoustic record fusing his own style with those of the local artists. The record will be released on Debt in the Autumn.
Last we heard Rybka and co were about to rent a truck and speed off into the mountains.
Let’s hope they actually get some work done.
Here are a selection of live dates:
13th Feb - El Limonero (Cholula), 26 Feb Galeria Rahel (Mexico City), 7 Mar Black Horse (Mexico City), 13 Mar Caso Spencer (Cuernavaca - Distrito Federal), 28 Mar Oaxaca, 8 Apr UNAM Morelos (Cuernavaca), 10th Apr La Turbina (Tepotzlan), El Hijo Del Cuervo (Mexico City).
For a full list see The Victorian Dad Band myspace page
Valentine's Day Giveaway!
10 February 2010
PRESS RELEASE - DEBT RECORDS’ VALENTINE’S DAY GIVEAWAY
LOVE IS…
A free album from Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six
Manchester independent label Debt Records is offering you a Valentine’s Day gift that’ll outlast all those bouquets and boxes of chocolate (and probably the subsequent marriages and children too). Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six’s debut album Found Drowned is available on 14th February 2010 absolutely free.
The twelve track LP - recorded over the course of a ten day caffeine blur in a crowded Withington house - was completed in January 2008 and is only now being officially released after two years of the band flogging clingfilm-wrapped hand-illustrated versions for petrol money at gigs.
The group have achieved much acclaim since their inception in late 2006, playing with the likes of Supergrass and Motorhead, rubbing shoulders with jazz veterans Sun Ra’s Arkestra, adapting poems by John Cooper Clarke and even winning the support of the Hell’s Angels. In spite of this success, however, the near constant destruction of instruments, vehicles and equipment has meant that there’s never been enough money left over to press a record. Luckily for the band, The Community Foundation of Greater Manchester recently decided to help out and this long overdue album (the first of three records anticipated for this year) will at last be on general release.
But why give the record away for free? On Valentine’s Day of all days?
“Because,” explains song-writer and front-man Louis Barabbas, “Valentine’s Day is a wretched, gimmick-stricken, expensive excuse to hate yourself and this album is, contrastingly, all about love. Granted it isn’t about the radiant, hopeful, life-affirming aspects of love… the material is sordid, obsessive, manipulative and cynical - the perfect soundtrack to Valentine’s Day.”
The songs - gleeful romance tragedies that range from swing to folk to rock and back
again - are peppered with love metaphors that you’d be hard pressed to find in a
Hallmark card (such as “Relationships are like chickenpox, you’ve got to get immune
when you’re young”). This is the crux of the giveaway - it requires an act of creativity on
both sides: Go to www.debtrecords.net, fill out the contact form with the subject “Love
Is…” and send off your own definition (or leave the space enigmatically blank) to
receive a secret Found Drowned download key to the tracks and artwork.
If you miss the offer, the record will be out through the usual channels on 15th February. Stay tuned for Mother’s Day plans…
And That's A Wrap...
01 February 2010
Filming for Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six’s video “Mother” is now complete. The crew wrapped at 06:15 on Sunday 31st January after twenty six hours of shooting (following weeks of set building, prop manufacture and storyboarding).
The sight of The Bedlam Six standing on nursery chairs with their heads in nooses over the course of the first night’s shoot was creepy enough, but nothing could prepare the crew for Louis’ transformation into the austere figure of Mama Barabbas during the final hours of filming. It seems there has now emerged a new level to the singer’s mania. We hope you enjoy the result.
For more information about the film company responsible for this project visit www.seriousfeather.com
serious feather shoots mother
30 January 2010
Principle photography is now well underway for the music video of Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six’s song “Mother” directed by Brett Gregory and produced by Serious Feather films.
The first day of filming took place on a closed set at a secret location in Manchester’s Northern Quarter - a space previously used by the likes of Ray Winstone, Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. The seven musicians entered a Dickensian nightmare-land of mist, masochism, gallows humour and soft-shoe shuffles to bring Louis Barabbas’s tale of filial anxiety to life.
Some behind the scenes pictures from day one of the shoot can be viewed on the Bedlam Six’s blog. More to follow…
Monkey Poet swings into studio
26 January 2010
Monkey Poet Matt Panesh has begun recording his much-anticipated debut album.
But it’s not going to be just any album…
Joined by a cast of incomparable actors at Manchester’s oldest surviving building Slade Hall (parts of which date back to the 12th Century), script read-throughs and recording tests marked the beginning of what is set to be an extraordinary undertaking that features a staggering salmagundi of poetry, drama, music and comedy.
The project is entitled Welcome to the UK, a radio-play written by Panesh and spiked throughout with live excerpts from his award-winning show of the same name.
Filled with Monkey Poet’s distinctive caustic poetry and enduring humour, the album looks set to redefine the recorded poetry genre whilst at the same time putting a lot of smiles on faces and questions in heads.
It will be available in the Spring.
Alabaster Abroad
20 January 2010
Debt’s resident absurdist wordsmith Alabaster Deplume, last seen buried in his home studio with Homelife’s Paddy Steer and members of Honeyfeet, has skipped town to play sax with Liz Green on her tour of Continental Europe. Below is a selection of their dates:
- 19 Jan - Fokus @ Jöngköping Bibliothek, Jöngköping (Sweden);
- 21 Jan - Fingerböllet, Kopenhagen (Denmark);
- 22 Jan - West Germany, Berlin (Germany);
- 23 Jan - Paris Syndrom, Leipzig (Germany);
- 24 Jan - Werkstatt, Chur (Switzerland);
- 25 Jan - better2gether, Reutlingen (Germany);
- 26 Jan - Graf Hugo, Feldkirch (Austria);
- 27 Jan - Rocking Chair, Vevey (Switzerland);
- 28 Jan - Papiersaal, Zurich (Switzerland);
- 29 Jan - Kohi, Karlsruhe (Germany);
- 30 Jan - Salle Ockegheim, Tours (France);
- 31 Jan - Mofo Festival, Saint-Quen (France).
Bedlam Break
15 January 2010
Debt’s in-house band The Bedlam Six will be taking two months off from playing live shows while they work on their second album.
After three years of near solid gigging they’re eager to recharge batteries, make plans and work on new material. Louis Barabbas, the songwriter, says “we’ve been playing the same set for months, it’s becoming slightly robotic. There are tons of songs ready to go, we just need to rehearse them. Also we’re determined that the next album won’t take two years to release (like the last one did) so we need to get going on that - it won’t record itself!”
Their last show before the hiatus is at the Dancehouse Theatre on Saturday 16th January.
We will, however, keep you updated with news and photographs from the studio, fresh recordings and upcoming live dates.
The Bedlam Six will return in March to play their first and second albums live - back to back!
Louis Barabbas commissioned to write the soundtrack for major motion picture
10 January 2010
Jog On Son and Boom Productions have asked Debt co-founder Louis Barabbas to write the music for their upcoming feature film biopic of BKB World Champion Paddy Monaghan.
This will be a major cinema release charting the childhood and professional career of the only undefeated bare knuckle boxer the world has ever seen. Paddy also reached international attention outside of the sport when he spear-headed the campaign to reinstate Mohammed Ali’s fight license after it was revoked following his refusal to go to Vietnam.
Louis is assembling a special team of musicians for the project including members of The Bedlam Six, Honey Feet and The Broken Biscuits. Pre-Production begins in March 2010. The working title is “The Rough Diamond”.
The Bedlam Six release first album
10 January 2010
After sitting on the recordings for nearly two years (occasionally flogging a few CDRs hastily wrapped in clingfilm at gigs) Debt’s in-house band The Bedlam Six will finally release their first album Found Drowned. The release will perversely coincide with Valentine’s Day 2010. The group are currently in the studio working on the follow up Love & Other Demons.
Debt comes to Mexico
10 January 2010
David Rybka, the enigmatic and unpredictable frontman of The Victorian Dad Band (currently performing in North Spain) is to be the latest member of the Debt Set to attempt to break into the Mexican music scene.
The tour has been organized by Debt Records affiliate and arts promoter Jonathan Bonfiglio (founder of the Spanish acoustic festival Kuiperfest). Bonfiglio organized a similar tour for Louis Barabbas in late 2009 and will be doing the same for John Fairhurst in April 2010.
John Fairhurst is the new sound of charity
10 January 2010
Music by Debt’s wildest signing has been used in a documentary about Traditional Heathcare, a charity set up in Australia to build and run sustainable healthcare facilities in India, Broom and Alice springs for very disadvantaged communities. www.thc.org.au.
Signed
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