The next Debt event is in Liverpool, running a stage at the wonderful @ThresholdFest on 11th Feb. Details here: http://t.co/Yla1OZOQ
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
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Bedlam Six Live Album Inlay Notes
10 May 2011
We are going to send the Bedlam Six live album to the pressing plant soon. As promised, the names of audience members will be among the sleeve notes.
If you were at the show please have a quick glance at the list below to check that we have transcribed your names correctly. If you see a name of someone you were with but the spelling is inaccurate let us know about that too as they may not see this post.
Only about half the people present on the night gave us their name so if you know anyone who was there and isn’t on the list but would like to be let us know and we’ll add them.
Right, here it is…
Stefan Elsaesser, Dan Keehan, Ruthie Roo, Jennifer Liddle, Alex Mastin, Kim Casement-Mastin, Helen Crosbie, Adam Harper, Jess Connor, Vivienne Webster, Jade Mellor, Paul Rawlings, Richard Mullineux, Annemarie Visser, David Smith, Phylidda and Mike Maude Roxby, Terri Lucas, Carol Lucas, Gus Fairbairn, John Weldon, Louise Bilous, Neil Hilton, Erik Swyngedouw, Cail Kinton, Ian Moss, Mr Beg, Robert Woodhead, Richard Taylor, Eric Hamill, Trish Nevitt, Patrick Maude-Roxby, Danny “Mr Beat” Chorlton, Tom Munday, Jess Maude-Roxby, Lucy Moffit, Richard O’Connor, Ant Parr, Becky Dixon, Martin Connell, Chris Bye, Sam Garrett, Bee Gebhardt, Maria Kaika, Melanie Phillips, Ben Ferguson, Eleanor Goddard, Eric Thomas, Elaine Ellery, Kirstin Ramskir, Rashid Bouaissi, Liam and Nazia, Sam Saxby, Gemma Bradley, Laura Mackey, Andy Holland, Chris Naylor, Keith Naylor, Kyle Naylor, Judy and Len Cegielka, Jimmy Cush, Lynne Maggie Jaap Jenkinson, Gemma Hadsall, Rattler Damo, Ratther Jenkins, Louise Silous, Neil Hilton, Chris Wood, Mike Morris, Caroline McKevitt, Nick Wright, Mark Wharton, Sinbad, Mark Dwyer, Aiden Spencer, Philip Taylor, Adam Robertshaw, Colin Jackson, Sam Roberts, Jennifer Jackson, Alison Jackson, Sarah Wilde, Sophie Wright, Lorna Bennett, Arwell Jones, Damian McAreavey, Benedict Gifford, Jonathan McAreavey, Daniel O’Connor, Lauren Beard, Carol Hamson, Julian Romero, Johno Johnson, Eleanor Ives, Anne Hogan, Joe Brannigan, Michelle Gibson, Claire Ashton, Lisa Clarke, Derek Green, Alan Ackerley, Paul Addison, Chris Parkinson, Sean Bechhofer, Richard Cowan, Linda Irish, Mike Grierson, Richard Wood, Michelle Goodrich, Julia Goodrich, Mick Harris, Helen Nightingale, Gary Nightingale, Jeff Thompson, Zoe Thorman, Neil Tiffen, Kate Stephenson, Andrew Robinson, Claire Philbin, Jane Stratton, Lauren Wroe, Matt Panesh, Lissa Pinard, Gareth Hacking, Amelia Ubergoover Asburg, Jennifer Nelson, Laura Nixon Carfield, Mini Tombie, Ursula Pabisch, Camille Audsley, Lemmy Mark, Becky Webb, Alan Jones, Caroline Channing, Vicky Higgins, Nim Burgin, Victoria Symonds, Jessica Mancini, James Carr, Jo Eyre, Warwick Holland, Chris Horkan, Aidan O’Rourke, Charles Britten, Claire Hewitt, Claire Slatter, Clare Heaton, David Harbottle, Nick O’Sullivan, Doctor Yad, Christin Kusitzky, John Banks, Ina Prugel, Samantha Bail, Aleksandra Vuruna, Hannah Riley, Jane Mooney, Joan Wilson, Sam Alder, Chris Mitchell, Alex Lee, Dee Outtara, Tom Duffy, Jonathan Ritson, Zoe La Bron, Sophie Jane Daniel, Steve Pearce, David Crabtree, Marielle Hehir, Richard Barry, Gemma Foxcroft, Kelly Joseph, Hannah Crayk, Molly Macleod, Pam Shurmer-Smith, John Otway
Phew.
The launch party will be at Manchester’s Ruby Lounge on Saturday 6th August. We hope you can all join us for that. The album will be on general release on Monday 8th August.
T.E Yates and John Fairhurst support Curtis Eller on UK tour
10 April 2011
T. E. Yates and John Fairhurst follow in the footsteps of The Bedlam Six and Al Baker as the latest Debt Records musicians to play with exceptional US writer-performer Curtis Eller.
CURTIS ELLER is North Carolina’s (formerly New York City’s) angriest yodelling banjo player. He sings about pigeon racing, performing elephants and Jesus, all of which he has seen with his own eyes. He started his show-business career at the age of seven as a juggler and acrobat in the Hiller Olde Tyme Circus in Detroit, but has since turned to the banjo because that’s where the money is. His biggest musical influences are Buster Keaton, Elvis Presley and Abraham Lincoln.
Mr. Eller and his band, The American Circus stubbornly perform and record in New York City. They have appeared at funerals, horse races, burlesque revues and punk rock dumps. Haunted by the ghosts of silent film and wearing a dead man’s clothes, Mr. Eller and the band have staggered their way into the hearts of audiences from London and Amsterdam to Los Angeles and Montreal. 2008 promises to see them touring extensively on both sides of the Atlantic ocean.
Along the way, they have shared the stage with strippers, contortionists, glass eaters and folksingers. They play more waltzes than any other band I know of, but nobody ever seems to feel like dancing.
On the lastest American Circus CD “Wirewakers & Assassins” Mr. Eller presents songs about John Wilkes Booth, Joe Louis, Fidel Castro, Jack Ruby and Richard Nixon (as well as the usual tales of Civil War generals and Elvis Presley). As always, sporadic yodeling and some strong language should be expected. Mr Eller’s tune “Alaska” was voted “2003’s most Popular” on NPR’s All Songs Considered. The music has the unmistakable sound of a pistol being fired in an abandoned salt mine: lonesome and violent.
The bands three previous CD’s, “Taking Up Serpents Again” (2004), “Banjo Music for Funerals” (2002), and “1890” (2000), prove The American Circus capable of being recorded magnetically. On them you will here true stories about snake handlers and Coney Island, lies about P.T. Barnum and Amelia Earhart, and all the banjo playing and yodeling anyone can reasonably expect in these dark times.
T. E. Yates is supporting Curtis at The Ruby Lounge in Manchester on 26th April and John Fairhurst will be in support the following month at Hoxton Grill in London on 6th May.
Louis Barabbas joins the Un-Convention Advisory Board
09 March 2011
Debt Records co-founder John Louis (aka Louis Barabbas) has accepted a position on the Un-Convention advisory board.
Un-Convention is a global grassroots music event and community that meets physically and virtually to share ideas and debate cutting edge issues around music, technology and creativity, facilitating members engagement with their peers. Un-Convention is not about the business of music. The community is driven by a not for profit initiative that sees opportunity for the grassroots in the changes to the way music is being produced, consumed and sustained.
The jobs involved as part of this three year post include:
Advising on overall strategy and direction of Un-Convention, particularly in terms of issues such as branding, content, event strand, geographical reach, external image, organisational developments, significant policy changes, sustainability and growth, partnerships, identity and positioning of Un-Convention; and other major questions of strategy and direction that may arise
Help establish and develop Un-Convention’s position within networks of practice, locally, nationally and internationally.
Advise on fund raising activities, including identifying opportunities especially those most relevant to the focus areas of Un-Convention.
Act as a sounding Advisory Board for new ideas and developments for Un-Convention.
Assist the Executive Team to build and deliver cases for institutional change where these are required.
Provide appropriate and constructive challenges to the assumptions and operating routines of Un-Convention.
Act as an ambassador for Un-Convention and champion the organisation externally.
For more information about Un-Convention visit the website
Debt Records at Band On The Wall
02 March 2011
Debt Records are joining forces with event organizers With A Little Help at legendary Manchester venue Band On The Wall to stage a fund-raiser for music therapy charity Nordoff-Robbins on 13th March.
With A Little Help have been staging events for the Nordoff- Robbins Music Therapy charity since 2009, raising funds and awareness and working to unite the Manchester music scene around this worthwhile and fitting cause.
They now announce a series of shows at Band On The Wall this spring. Showcasing some of the city’s most prominent and interesting artists, labels and collectives, they aim to celebrate the incredible diversity and richness in Manchester music today, whilst continuing to support the charity and their work.
First up, on March 13th, Debt acts Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six, Honeyfeet, Becca & The Broken Biscuits, Alabaster Deplume, Richard Barry & The Chaps, Red Tides and John Fairhurst will be joined by Caulbearers and Josephine to give you a night of entertainment you’ll never forget.
Tickets are available from Band On The Wall here
For more information about Nordoff-Robbins and the work they do visit their website here
Un-Convention Factory at Roundhouse Rising
24 February 2011
Un-Convention Factory is back and bigger than ever, this time at The Roundhouse in London as part of Roundhouse Rising on Saturday 26th February.
Featuring 6 special music collaborations with musicians including Jon McClure (Reverend Soundsystem), Viv Albertine (The Slits), Charli XCX, Lupa (Colombian MC) plus many more, top producer Jagz Kooner along with 80 invited music industry experts and 200 participants all involved in creating, recording and producing an album in one day.
The 6 bands involved will cover, or collaborate, on tracks from London Calling by The Clash. Accompanying the recording will be a selection of panels, workshops and showcases. The highlight panels feature Music As A Tool For Social Change - featuring people working on music projects in Sri Lanka, Brazil, Colombia and the UK; The Politicisation of Music; Sustainable Careers in Music (featuring Debt’s own Louis Barabbas); New Music Strategies; an Event and Festival Session with Huw Stephens (Radio One).
A range of new digital platforms will also be showcased including SoundCloud and Song Kick. There will be one-to-one consultancies for bands, hands on workshops and live music performance throughout the day.
More info can be found here
Causes and Cures launch party
18 February 2011
Al Baker & The Dole Queue’s long awaited new album, “Causes and Cures”, is being released on Monday February 21st through Irregular Records.
To celebrate the release from this long time friend and associate of Debt Records, we are helping the band put on a very special (and FREE) show at Fuel Cafe Bar, our spiritual home in Withington, South Manchester.
Al Baker & The Dole Queue will be playing material off their new record, and will be joined on the bill by some of Debt Records’ finest folk players: Becca & The Broken Biscuits, Richard Barry & The Chaps and T. E. Yates.
There is a facebook event page with all the relevant information here
Here Come The Moulettes!
06 December 2010
Debt friends The Moulettes are midway through their WInter Wanderings tour and will reach Debt’s home town of Manchester by the end of the week, playing The Ruby Lounge on Friday 10th December.
We love The Moulettes, they’ve worked (and sometimes even cohabited) with many of our artists in the past. They provided a haunting string section to The Bedlam Six’s debut album “Found Drowned” and featured a number of our artists (including Honeyfeet) on the B-Side to their recent “Horses For Hearses” single. Anyone who was at October’s Debt At The Dancehouse showcase will remember lead singer Hannah Moulette wow the crowd with her captivating solo set featuring collaborations with Alabaster Deplume and Louis Barabbas.
Main support on Friday comes from another friend of Debt, none other than Liz Green (who will be appearing on Louis Barabbas’ solo album “Gentle Songs Of Ceaseless Horror” next year).
If you are in Manchester on Friday then we urge you to attend what promises to be a show to remember.
Facebook Event Page for the gig is here
More information here:
www.myspace.com/moulettes
www.myspace.com/lizgreenmusic
www.therubylounge.org
Message from Future Artists
02 December 2010
Here is a message from arts co-op Future Artists…
Dec 4th we plant the seeds…
Grow your own Arts and Film council? One step ahead of the proposed northern creative hub!
The ‘Big Society’ is happening with out the need for Prime minister David Cameron as businesses from the big to the small from across the creative sectors are coming together to form a new way forward with co-operative Future Artists Live and are already to work with Channel 4.
In the face of government cuts companies have come together to cut costs, improve opportunities and access to talent and are announcing the launch event and networking party on the 4th December in Manchester at Fac251.
So far on board are both UK and international companies including Renderyard, Mofilm’s President Andy Baker, co-founder of Unconvention Jeff Thompson, innovative visual directory The Chook, West End theatre producers Hartshorn and Hook and the media content producers best friend DNA actors resource.
The co-operative is intended as an informal trade network, knowledge sharing platform with the ability to provide training for members as well as an education resource, due to work with Channel 4’s 4 Talent and the UK’s most successful Twitter Journalist Ian Aspin in 2011.
‘We are really pleased to have both large multimillion companies right down to freelancers on board. Its a meeting of minds with the great, the good, the old and the new, and the condem government can’t CUT it!!’ Mark Ashmore of Future Artists Live explained.
The Night starts at 7.30pm at FAC251 in Manchester, UK, with the evening kicking off with a Introduction by founder members Mark Ashmore, Jenny Inchbald and Jeff Thompson to the creative co-operative its aims and objectives, the stage will then be open for 6 of the co-operative’s members to take to the stage and give a short 6 minute presentation.
6 minute talks from 8.15pm
Mofilm.com president Andy Baker on new ways of getting exposure as an artist via brands. Manchester based, London west end theatre producers Harts and Hook productions on theatre. Jeff Thomson talks un-convention http://www.unconventionhub.org/ Rebecca Evans producer of ‘The Dinner Party’ talks film, fresh from her world premiere in London this week! Niko Paterakis talks about his debut musical, the ambitious, Ano Throsko: Musical for the 21st Century. Jenny Inchbald talks on behalf of Rederyard a social media platform for film and audience members, http://www.Renderyard.com
Music from Debt Records’ RICHARD BARRY
Plus: A showreel of members work playing throughout the night, a free myebook and live music all night till 2am! As we carry on the party with FAC251.
If you want to have Dinner with Future Artists founders before the event, join us for dinner on Oxford Road, at 4.30pm, Saturday 4th Dec, tickets priced at £25 via the links below.
Tickets are priced at £7 or £10 on the door, and are available from www.futureartists.co.uk with all profits going to the co-operative. For more information go to www.meetup.com/futureartists or search Future Artists Live on line.
Debt at the Museum
27 September 2010
It’s Un-Convention time again.
From the amazing team who brought you the public recording of an album in one day (plus a dozen international conferences and showcase events) comes Un-Convention Salford 2010 - number twelve in the Un-Con series - held in the city where it all began.
Debt’s first signing Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six have played at two Un-Conventions so far and this year our little label has been asked to curate a stage of its own, a saturday afternoon acoustic showcase in the Edwardian Engine Hall of Manchester’s People’s History Museum.
The Debt Records Stage at the People’s History Museum will be the only Un-Convention event open to the general public as well as to pass-holders (free entry).
In addition to providing music Debt’s own Louis Barabbas will don his “industry cap” and join one of the panels at Sacred Trinity Church. The discussion - entitled “Building A Sustainable Career In Music: 9-5 What A Way To Make A Living” - takes place at 2.30pm on the saturday.
He will then be playing with The Bedlam Six on the Now Then stage at The Rovers Return at 9pm.
For more information visit:
For venue details visit: http://www.phm.org.uk/visit-us/how-to-find-us/
Line-Up for the Debt Records stage is as follows:
12.00 - 12.30 : BECCA & THE BROKEN BISCUITS
12.35 - 13.05 : SARAH McQUAID
13.10 - 13.40 : RICHARD BARRY & THE CHAPS
13.45 - 14.30 : HONEYFEET
14.40 - 15.10 : KAYA & CAPTAIN TEMPER
15.15 - 15.45 : PHILLIOUS WILLIAMS
15.50 - 16.20 : RED TIDES
16.25 - 17.00 : JOHN FAIRHURST
Facebook event page here
David Rybka Celebrates Mexican Independence
13 September 2010
One Hundred years after the 1910 Mexican Revolution and two hundred since the nation’s Independence, Wigan-born David Rybka releases his debut record.
Best known as the leader of The Victorian Dad Band (currently recording an album for Elbow and I Am Kloot’s label Skinny Dog), David Rybka has spent the majority of 2010 touring Mexico, exploring new creative terrain and writing a special collection of songs for release on Debt Records.
The record - entitled “Out Here” - won’t be available until November but the recently repatriated composer felt compelled to draw attention towards the country that inspired the songs, with a free download on what is arguably the most important day in the nation’s calendar: Independence Day.
“The country gave me so much - I was playing with amazing local musicians, performing in all kinds of places (even a maximum security prison) - I didn’t want to just release a record, I wanted to express what the country meant to me, almost as a Thank You rather than just a series of songs. 16th September is Mexican Independence Day and that’s when we’re giving away the single “Mexico”. No cost, no mailing list to sign, no catch - it’s not much but it’s my small homage to a place that altered the way I look at music.”
Rybka’s Mexico booking agent and creative consultant Jon Bonfiglio - who has previously organized tours there for Nancy Elizabeth, John Smith and Louis Barabbas - notes the importance of the record both in its honesty and tragic incongruity:
“A century after the revolution and one of the measures of progress here is 30,000 drug killings in the last four years… the Mexico in Dave’s music is a very different Mexico; it’s the Mexico of the glancing blow, of personal release by difference. I think in time (if not already) Dave will regard it as something of a dream, one in which he was briefly, humanly happy.”
Mexico has a history of attracting British creatives, inspiring the likes of D. H. Lawrence, Aldous Huxley and Graeme Greene. David Rybka is the latest in this prestigious line and we look forward to showing the world what he made of his experiences there.
The single “Mexico” will be available for free download exclusively from the Debt Records shop from Thursday 16th September 2010. The full EP is on general release on 8th November 2010.
Welsh Music Foundation is 10
10 September 2010
Debt’s Director of Communications Chris Mitchell is speaking on the AIM panel at the Welsh Music Foundation’s tenth birthday at the Wales Millenium Centre on Saturday 11th September. Details of the panel are below…
The Independents of Wales Session curated by AIM for the WMF’s Birthday Event
DATE Saturday 11th of September 2010 TIME 15:30 - 17:00 (approx finishing time) LOCATION Wales Millenium Centre, Japan Room Cardiff CF10 5AL
Panel
Pat Fulgoni (Chair) - Chocolate Fireguard
Sharon Matheson - AIM / AIF
Bethan Elfyn - BBC Radio1 Introducing Wales
Chris Mitchell - Debt Records
Guto Brychan - Gwymon & Copa labels
Audience: Independent labels / self releasing artists and manager Layout: Top table / theatre style seating
Format:
15:30 - 15:50 Presentation from AIM
- Introduction to AIM
- Introduction to Independents Day
15:50 - 16:45 Panel Discussion chaired by Pat Fulgoni
- The Independents of Wales
Begin with intro into who everyone is and what those on the panel do. Perhaps for the labels, mentioning a success story.
Topics for discussion may include:
- Why it is great to be independent
- The importance of independent artists and labels to a regional music industry
- The support provided to the independents
- What is missing regionally / why do so many move to London / go major
16:45 - 17:00 Questions from the floor
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
The Festival that wasn't there
29 June 2010
The Debt Records team has just returned from the Aragon region of North Spain where almost all our acts (plus others from across the globe - spanning every conceivable artistic discipline) gathered to celebrate the final Kuiperfest, an all acoustic festival hidden among the olive groves of the Mattaraña mountain range.
The festival is one of the most welcoming and challenging events an artist can be involved in (as well as the most secret) - there are no lighting rigs, stage props or effects pedals - not even amplification beyond the terraces’ natural acoustics - all a performer has is their material and the trust of a listening crowd. To say that the festival is “no-nonsense”, however, would be grossly inaccurate… with turns from The Navet Bete clown troup and the Something Something puppetry duo there is certainly plenty of nonsense - though nonsense of the finest caliber.
Over the years the Kuiper showcase has led to collaborations, international tours and Fringe Festival residencies for those that have taken part. David Rybka and Louis Barabbas, for example, found themselves with bookings in Mexico, Alabaster Deplume ended up performing alongside a string quartet and contemporary dancers, Biff Roxby became Monkey Poet’s producer and a lot of drunk musicians fell down a ravine (but that’s another story).
This year’s Kuiperfest was always set to be the final installment, its founder Jon Bonfiglio (producer, playwright and author of the Movement and Memory lecture series) was adamant that one cannot sustain the innocence of such an event indefinitely. Anyone who has watched the metamorphosis of festivals like Glastonbury over the years will no doubt agree.
The legacy will live on though as Debt plans its own arts festival to begin next year. An acoustic Kuiper stage for both seasoned and emerging talent will most certainly be in the schematics.
If you have any memories of Kuiperfest please add them to the comments board below.
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.
Honeyfeet and Levantes Dance Theatre
04 May 2010
“The quirky & eccentric touches suggest the depths of emotion & even perversity that lie beneath the mundane & everyday.” The Stage
“With a kitsch aesthetic & kooky costumes… [they] create a space where a world of play is superimposed on the ordinary & everyday.” Metro
“Room Temperature Romance”
Manchester Premiere
Greenroom, Manchester M1 5WW
Friday 7th May @ 8pm
www.greenroomarts.org
Choreographed and Performed by Eleni Edipidi and Bethanie Harrison
Multimedia design by Gopan Iyadurai
Guest performance by HoneyFeet
Room Temperature Romance blends dance, video & movement with flamboyant costume & evocative audio. This fantasy voyage indulges in the delights of both ordinary & extraordinary behaviour, revealing their beauty and ultimately making you smile.
It tells a charming story about the moments that mean nothing and everything in life’s daily routine. Combining the mundane with the absurd, audiences are taken on a trip down memory lane as the performers recount tales of youth, life and love.
Winner of the 2009 Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award & co-produced by barbicanbite09, this is the first time the work has been seen outside London.
This performance will be followed by a Q&A.
http://www.greenroomarts.org/archive/events/room-temperature-romance/
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.
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.
MCR Scenewipe
23 March 2010
Over the past six months or so, Manchester’s gigging musicians have one by one been dragged down alleys, into basements and up trees for intimate (not to mention secret) acoustic performances, captured on camera by two very enthusiastic guerrilla film-makers who operate under the name MCR Scenewipe.
Now the fruits of this ongoing project are finally available to the whole world.
At www.manchesterscenewipe.co.uk you will find both local heroes and international big-name visitors. So go on, spend an evening getting acquainted with some of the talent (and keep checking back because these boys are always adding more).
Below is what happened when our very own Red Tides were approached to contribute…
Here’s what the folks at Scenewipe have to say about themselves:
“Manchester Scenewipe is an online channel devoted to bringing together and uniting one of the world’s greatest music scenes….Manchester.
We want to create a platform where the best local talent can be seen alongside the biggest acts in the world, with no boundaries of genre or status.”
To be kept updated about the latest artists featured on the website join the mailing list at www.manchesterscenewipe.co.uk
Save BBC 6 Music
10 March 2010
Below are some words from the Association of Independent Musicians about the BBC 6 Music fiasco:
TAKE ACTION NOW TO SAVE BBC 6MUSIC & THE ASIAN NETWORK
You will all by now be aware of the recent announcement that BBC 6Music and The Asian Network are set to close as part of a costs review.
6Music has been a vital platform for independent music lovers since it was established in 2002. With diverse playlists, passionate presenters and a focus on all that is cutting edge and iconic, it has been the first station to provide cutting edge music that would not be heard elsewhere.
AIM has been quick to respond to this announcement and spread the message that 6Music and The Asian Network MUST NOT CLOSE. AIM CEO Alison Wenham, Beggars’ Chairman Martin Mills and Bella Union Founder Simon Raymonde have all spoken out on the news and in the press to explain the importance of 6Music. Together with the BPI, we have sent an open letter to BBC Director-General Mark Thompson (you can read this here), and we will be submitting a formal response to the BBC Trust consultation.
We must all do what we can to keep these important stations alive…let’s make our voices heard!
What You Should Do:
- Click the link below to complete the BBC Strategy Review Online Survey - tell them how important 6Music is!
Email the BBC Trust: srconsultation@bbc.co.uk
Sign the petitions:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/BBCcuts http://www.petition.fm/petitions/6musicasiannet/1000/
Join the Facebook group to Save 6Music: www.bit.ly/aJ04tq
Show your support by listening to 6Music on the iplayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlive/bbc_6music/
Forward this message or send the links to all of your colleagues, artists, friends and family, and post the links on Twitter (use tag #savebbc6music), Facebook, Myspace etc.
The BBC will take note if enough people take action, so spread the word!
“Commercial radio can never replicate 6 Music’s cultural value - it’s not viable for us to do so. The commercial landscape has featured many fine rock music stations that have never made any real money - over time we water them down and gently shepherd them back towards the traditional commercial heartland. We will gain nothing from this closure yet the music industry will lose much.”
Steve Orchard (a former group programme director of GWR, who launched Planet Rock and programmed Classic FM, also ex-group operations director of Gcap, responsible for XFM and Capital.)
“Cherry Red Records is one of the 3 or 4 independent record labels that started in the late 1970’s and is still going strong. Last year it released over 500 albums. The majority were catalogue releases, i.e. releases of music that was no longer available. Many were from artists that were long forgotten by all but a very few. 6 Music were one for the few radio stations that played some of these tracks enabling people to become aware of some wonderful music that was virtually forgotten about. It would indeed be a tragedy if this opportunity was lost to us all. We should all do what we can to make the BBC wake up to the monumental mistake that they are in the process of making.”
Ian McNay, Cherry Red Records
A message from Domino Recording Co. Ltd…
We would like to make it clear that we are extremely concerned by BBC plans to cut BBC 6 Music from its schedule. BBC 6 Music is an extremely important and rare outlet for much of the music that we release on Domino. For many of us who grew up listening to, and learning about music from John Peel, we’ve come to appreciate this station of mostly free playlists, diversity, new things, old things, the unexpected. Indeed we’d argue that the BBC should be making this fantastic station more readily available via the masses of unused FM bandwidth.
Comments from just a few of our artists…
Noah Lennox (Animal Collective/Panda Bear)
“When I was a lot younger radio used to be the place I’d go to find new music and I feel like I would find it everywhere on the dial. Since then it seems like less and less stations are willing to or have the means to play new music. I miss unpredictable radio. Please support these guys…”
Alison Mosshart (The Kills/The Dead Weather)
“Please don’t leave us musicians and music lovers with such a void. We need BBC6. It is the only radio station we all listen too, and seemingly, the only station that plays anything worth listening too. It would be culturally damaging to lose this station. I highly doubt I would ever listen to radio in England again, if it were gone. And that goes for a great many friends and colleagues of mine. BBC6 has been very supportive to the bands that I have been in and supportive of my friends and label mates. We are all greatly appreciative of the fine work they do, and the open minds that they have. It baffles me why art and culture must always suffer and get the boot before sport or the generic music which EVERYONE plays already, anyway. We can get these trashy things anywhere. But we’re relying on BBC6 to encourage and inspire. To shut it down would be a real shame and a real mistake. Think of it as the Tate Modern of radio. We want it; we need it… because it’s unique and culturally significant.
Please save BBC 6 Music.”
Hayden Thorpe (Wild Beasts)
“The closure of BBC6 music would be a huge blow to British arts in general. I don’t know any other established vehicle, which allows for inventive and contemporary music to reach such a wide audience. I’m in no doubt the unrelenting support we have had from BBC6 has massively helped our career. This sends out a damning message to creative young people.”
Jack Barnett (These New Puritans)
“BBC6 was and is incredibly important to bands like us. In the world of ‘independent music’, where it can be difficult to survive by your ideas, it really is a unique and completely positive force. Its closure would be a massive blow to the possibilities of creative people doing creative things in this country.”
Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion) “The end of 6Music is such a disgrace and catastrophe, I learnt so much from it, and imagine that if I was younger I would have learnt more. A lot of people are going to remember this. This is so upsetting for music fans across the country.”
Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) “Please don’t close down 6 music and Asian network. It’s important to have stations on the radio that don’t just play mainstream music.”
Finally, a note from AIM Board Member Martin Mills…
Good afternoon,
My name is Martin Mills, and I run the Beggars Group of independent labels, the largest in Europe producing new alternative music, comprising currently the labels XL Recordings, Rough Trade, 4AD and Matador. I am also a board member of PPL and UK Music, and of the independent label associations AIM, Impala and A2IM. I chaired the Department of Culture Committee which produced the report Consumers Call The Tune, and was awarded an MBE in 2008. A list of artists signed to our labels who have recently been played on 6 Music is attached below.
I firmly believe that the BBC should not close 6 Music. 6 Music is a station for music lovers and plays music that largely is not heard anywhere else on the dial. Isn’t that what the BBC is meant to do? The BBC’s public service remit charges it to do exactly that - and 6’s output is distinctive, eclectic and unique.
Radio’s 1 and 2 do a great job at what they do, but are essentially pop music stations. 6 is the Radio 3 version of that, and is a home to great artists and music, particularly independent, who don’t fit in with its larger brothers’ programming needs - ‘album’ artists who have large followings like The National, who can sell out the Albert Hall, but who won’t fit on 1 or 2 until when or if they come up with a pop radio-shaped track. Then there are new artists like The xx, who got all their initial radio exposure on 6.
This is not an area that the commercial sector will fill - Virgin and Xfm both started off with similar ambitions, but commercial pressures diluted and normalised them. A station like 6 can only survive and prosper in the public radio sector. See annexed below * for what a specialist in commercial radio had to say about 6’s prospects in that world.
91% of listeners to 6 Music say that it introduces them to music that is new to them, and 89% say they hear music on 6 that they don’t hear elsewhere. It plays five times as many new songs as any comparable commercial stations. Last week its playlist of 28 titles included just six that were also on Radio 1, three that were in the national airplay top 50, and one that was on Radio 2. 80% of 6’s music can not be heard elsewhere on the dial. This is exactly what the BBC should be doing.
Please don’t believe that integrating 6’s programming into Radio 1 and/or 2 is the answer. They cannot avoid operating in a competitive radio environment, in which the criteria for play are tight, logical and well-researched. The kind of music that 6 plays does not by definition belong or flourish in that space, it needs its own station, not its own programmes, or its space within programmes.
6 Music is a big part of the reason that the UK’s music scene is so vital and healthy at the moment - and I don’t just mean UK music making, I mean the appreciation for and love of artistic creativity in music.
I have nothing against commercial radio. Commercial radio is commercial radio. But the beauty of the BBC is that it is a public service. It can put art and culture above commerce. That is precisely what 6 Music does. And that is precisely why we need it. You’ll hear tomorrow’s Bob Dylan on 6.
Thank you for listening.
Martin Mills, Chairman, Beggars Group
Al Baker is On The Move
24 February 2010
Our good friend Al Baker, much-praised radical folk-punker and leader of The Dole Queue, is teaming up with revolutionary leftfield hip-hop artist The Ruby Kid for a short tour of the UK next month.
The dates are as follows:
THE RED SCARE TOUR March 2010
Friday 12th - Brighton - Caroline of Brunswick
Saturday 13th - London (Stoke Newington) - Ryan’s Bar
Sunday 14th - Bristol - The Croft
Monday 15th - Leeds - The Pack Horse
Tuesday 16th - Manchester - The Corner (compered by Debt’s own Matt Panesh with DJ sets from Roxby’s Wonky Disco and appearances from celebrated Debt Associates!)
Wednesday 17th - Nottingham - Chameleon Café
Thursday 18th - Cambridge - The Hopbine
Upon their return, Al and the band will be locking themselves away inside PlainSounds Studio and laying down (at long last) their maddeningly anticipated second album. The record will be released through Debt later this year.
More information on Al Baker & The Dole Queue can be found at www.albaker.co.uk
DEBT MEETS MAPS
09 February 2010
Debt Records will be working alongside Manchester’s formidable MAPS Festival to make the 2010 Mayday Weekend a truly memorable event.
The festival’s aim is to support and promote music, art and creativity in the busy Northern Quarter - and in Manchester as a cultural city - through involvement of the public in the wide variety of activities encountered in the area.
Unlike many city festivals MAPS has the full backing of The Musician’s Union with a programming and profit plan that follows a strict code of conduct.
Debt Records will be offering a free album made by contributing signees to MAPS weekend wristband holders. We will also be curating the Bay Horse underground stage for the all-dayer on 3rd May - a whopping eight hours of music, poetry and dancing. Our full line-up will be announced next month but so far we have confirmation from John Fairhurst, Al Baker & The Dole Queue, Molly Macleod Band and David Rybka. Monkey Poet Matt Panesh will be compering.
More details to follow nearer the time…
Movement & Memory
04 February 2010
Debt Records Affiliate and Creative Consultant Jon Bonfiglio is currently touring the world with his talk On Movement and Memory, a project that began in the fictional world of his latest play Midnight, When Trumpets Cry but now has a life all of its own.
The subjects of history, identity and collective memory feature in the talk though two are never alike, each one being written on the day of performance (usually on transient objects such as newspapers or menus).
Bonfiglio is regularly twittering about the lecture series. Here are a selection of his recent posts:
Photographs only ever display earlier versions of us, make us constantly aware of what we used to be. Little wonder the weight of the past. 12:57 PM Jan 30th
The central paradox of Gibraltar is in its physicality, at once tiny yet also visibly a colossus, to the Spanish a perpetual inverted scar. 11:34 AM Jan 27th
We do not mourn strangers because they cannot recollect our lives - whereas our lovers…; without their memories, we find ourselves erased. 12:22 AM Jan 12th
To follow Jon on twitter follow this link
bang out
01 February 2010
John G. Hall’s latest book of poetry (entitled “Bang”) is now available in the UK and USA
“In these sad, terrible, wondrous days, it is reassuring to read the poetry of John G. Hall, writings that remind us that the generative power of poetry comes not from the formalists and the faux counter-culturalists inside the academy, but from the people standing outside the academy’s lustrous gates…”
(George Wallace, Poet Laureate, Suffolk County, New York)
Cover art is by German artist Marion Lucka, Forward by poet Lucy Lepchani.
It is available to buy here
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).
Bardsley Puts Down His Bass
15 January 2010
Jay Bardsley, one of Manchester’s busiest and most beloved bass players has announced that he is to retire from the music industry while he’s still at the top of his game.
Instantly recognisable for his high energy performances in ensembles all across the genre spectrum, Jay was one of the founding members of The Black Velvet Band (that later became The Bedlam Six) and Al Baker’s backing group The Dole Queue. He first reached notoriety as one fifth of the sublime tongue-in-cheek metal outfit FIGMO (under the alias of Captain Beef) then later worked with Robert John’s Keystone Band, Delayed Promise and most infamously the Anglo-Norwegian rock-pop sensation that is Daddy’s Milk.
Debt Records would like to wish Jay the best of luck in whatever projects he chooses to lend his considerable bounce to next. His exuberance and drive will be sorely missed among the musical community.
Photograph © Steve Thorley
Signed
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