This Is Not Revolution Rock: Andrew Ferris/Smalltown America

Andrew Ferris (pictured front left) with Jetplane Landing

After 10 years in the business, Andrew Ferris passion for independent music hasn't waned. In fact, his hard work is paying off - or at least being recognised for the significant achievement it is. Earlier this year Ferris was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year prize at the Derry Business Awards for his work with independent artists. Andrew kindly agreed to answer a few questions for me regarding the 10th anniversary of his label, as well as give slip that a new Jetplane Landing album could be on the cards... 

  

Congratulations on making it to the big 1-0! You started Smalltown America back in 2001, with the first release being Jetplane Landing's Zero for Conduct. Why did you decide to release the album yourselves, and did you imagine yourself still releasing records 10 years later? 

Thank you very much, it's been a blast. We released ZFC ourselves because Jamie (Burchell label co-founder) and myself felt that no one else would want to put it out. It was an odd record with lots of influences and we felt like we were quite old to be beginning a commercial career with a major - so self-publishing felt like the least stressful path, no-one to answer to and everyone to impress. I'm very proud of that album; it has a lot of passion and some great songs. In the back of my mind, I kinda hoped that I would have a career in the music industry, but I didn't really have it figured out how that would work. My hero was/is Ian MacKaye and in later years people like Alison @ Southern have become great inspirations. From what I read and know of the people I admire, they are music lovers first and believe in the power of songs as a changing force - the actual dealing with bands and their management is pretty shitty, I don't really like bands - but I love their music. We're ten years into this and making plans for releases over the next 18 months, so we seem to be rolling well.

How has the running of the label changed over the past 10 years? With labels like Deep Elm switching their distribution to purely digital, and others disappearing completely, has STA had to make any changes to survive?

The label is now my fulltime job and I have people who help me now as opposed to doing everything myself. To be honest, I was a shocking label manager; I did my best - but was generally late with most things. We've put lots of procedures and checks in place now to make sure our artists are being fairly treated and looked after. It's quite complicated now to sell music; as there are many little 'pots' of money that have to be collected. When Deep Elm went digital, it made sense for them as they have a big back catalogue that they were faced with either repressing or deleting; as the physical sales aren't there anymore to run 2000 vinyls of an old record - labels are faced with little choice. I like the way they have streamlined things, changed it up and refreshed the brand. STA changes every day - there are mistakes and successes to be analysed, repeated or not repeated. The biggest change we have made is to focus all our attention on our customers rather than splitting it with stores; we were too slow to make that change - I see that now as a mistake, but we're back on track. 

One of my favourite releases from the STA back-catalogue is the Calories LP. Being from the Midlands myself I've got a bit of a soft spot for them, they are mainstays of the Birmingham 'scene' after all. How did you come to work with them?

I love that record too 'To Encounter a Deer' is one of the best tracks we've released. When the band were called Distophia we shared a live agent (we might still do actually I'm not sure) and he gave us a copy of their first demo. It had 'Robert Redford' on it and a bunch of other songs - I thought they were great pop tracks. We took them on tour as Jetplane and offered to put the Distophia record out, we couldn't because they were tied into a deal already, which was a pity. As soon as they became free from that, I called John - he agreed to let us help out and we put out the record really quickly, I think we did the whole thing in 8 weeks. I love music from that region - in my altered universe Johnny Foreigner would be as big as Biffy Clyro. The world doesn't work like that, more's the pity!  

The past couple of years have seen an emergence of fresh Irish talent who, in a lot of cases, are giving their English contemporaries a run for their money. From your perspective just how healthy is the Irish rock scene at the moment? And have you got any tips of bands we should be keeping an eye on? 

Axis Of, Event Horses, Key Of Atlas, Ram's Pocket Radio and More Than Conquerors would be the current breed of younger NI acts that might bother people. There is a band called Eaten By Bears that are pretty good too. Sea Pinks are very well thought of. For me the electronica scene is the most exciting space in NI, it's really underdeveloped - but very cool. I don't think the Irish scene is particularly healthy, I'm not down on it but for every Villagers there are twenty fuckers that sound like him; for every Two Door there are fifty drummers playing that disco beat. It's kinda annoying - but I'm hungover today, so perhaps slightly grumpy! 

What's in the pipeline for the rest of 2011 and beyond? 

Okay - we have a compilation of new bands coming out, a documentary about the label on DVD/Digital, a book of artefacts and thoughts about the last few years and albums from JPL, LaFaro, More Than Conquerors and Fighting With Wire - so all pretty busy.  

A burning question that I've had since 2007s Backlash Cop: Are we ever going to see another Jetplane Landing record?  

As above - absolutely. I'm remaining tight lipped about the title, but I can say that some of the riffs are the best we've ever had and some of the lyrics are the most bonkers. It's probably closer in sound to Once Like A Spark - but it's not finished yet so I could well be bullshitting you.  

As a label you've been fortunate to work with some great bands, however, if you could work with any act - past or present - who would it be? Everyone would like Arcade Fire or Radiohead I guess but for me I'd take Tom Vek, At The Drive-In, Ron Sexsmith, The Band, Rage Against The Machine and Talking Heads - if I had to pick one it would be Nirvana 'cos that really started this whole thing and I would have liked to have watched it blow up from the inside.

www.smalltownamerica.co.uk

www.independentmusic.com 

Digital vs. Physical: the debate that refuses to die

Richard Franks over at Counteract Magazine posed the following question on Facebook earlier, and I couldn't help but add my two cents to the argument.

What we want to know is: do you still buy CDs? Is there something special about physical copies? If not, why not?

I've been buying records for over ten years, and don't see my habits changing anytime soon. I've been saddened by the decline in record stores available on the high street, and struggle to see what the appeal of MP3s outside of the portabil...ity factor! Personally, I don't see why anyone would want their music collection to be entirely digital. For me a big part of the appeal of music is the asthetic, the artistic element, the sleeves and art that makes a record great. Sure - you can have a thumbnail in iTunes, but it's not the same as holding a 12" slab of card which immortalises your favourite record. Saying this I do digitise all of my CDs, vinyls and cassettes, due to the ease of adding things to my MP3 player - but I see this as only the next step from kids in the 80s recording all their fave tracks from LP to cassette. I suppose my main issue is that when I buy a record I feel invested in it, its part of my character and feel a closeness to it that I don't feel when I download an digital file. You buy an MP3 and it's instantly worthless, there's no resale value, you can't leave it as your legacy to your kids, its just a bunch of 1 and 0s that works when played through a computer. I know I wouldn't pay much for someones MP3 collection, but will literally kill to flick through someones physical collection. My record collection is me, and I am my record collection, I couldn't part with any of it. I suppose I see my record collection a bit like sex: digitally it's alright, but it's much better in real life.

Kong at the Hare & Hounds 28/04/2011

It's Just Noise have put together a corking line up this evening, and one that would give environmentalists obsessed with noise pollution a fit. First up are God Damn, who treat those who have turned up early to a solid set of heavy, bluesy, stoner rock and roll. Opening with their namesake track, the manifesto of sound that is 'God Damn', it's obvious that the crowds ears are going to get a bit of a bruising before Kong even make the stage. There's something of Queens of the Stone Age in their sound, whilst the duel vocals recall the Blood Brothers - to this reviewer at least. Since the last time I saw the Wolverhampton three-piece (at a gig in their lock-up in Wolves last Oct) they've come on leaps and bounds, and despite Thom Edwards' usual antics being somewhat restricted by the tightly packed stage, the songs speak for themselves. And if the rush for free CDs the band were offering is anything to go by, it's an indication that these boys are ones-to-watch.

Next to the stage are &U&I who, for those who don't know, feature 3/4s of the legendary Blakfish. This is the second time I've caught them play since Blakfish's demise early last year. Last time was at the Off the Cuff festival last year, where they received mental support despite having only played a couple of shows with the new material. Tonight the lads are in good humour: "Good evening Birmingham, we're from Sutton Coldfield!" they joke during a pause midway through their set. Certainly the most melodic of the bands on the bill tonight, &U&I know how to write a catchy hook, with latest single 'Stalk this City' a shining example of the bands technical abilities when it comes to writing a good tune. Wary of running out of time, the band bring their set to a close with "the hit," 'Chancer's Paradise' off of last year's debut EP. I still feel it's their best song to date, and I'm pretty sure I caught a few people in the crowd singing along. They're playing the Saturday at this year's Off the Cuff festival at the Flapper, so if you're planning on going make sure you catch them.

Kong are easily the scariest band I've ever seen. Forget the masks Slipknot wear - there's nothing creepy about those rubber faced fools - Kong are the real deal, and are waaay off the chart when it comes to weirdness. Their music is difficult to describe, it's very fucking heavy (expletive necessary), but it's not just noise for noise sake; there's an inventiveness in their music, as well as a sense of humour that makes them absolutley fantastic as a live band to watch. Just like all the best horror movies, you don't want to look, but at the same time you know you need to because otherwish you'll miss guitarist Magpie flashing his arse at the crowd and calling the crowd something along the lines of "turkeyheads", or bassist Lulu's pale body scrawled over in felt-tip pen with the evening's setlist (amongst other things) gyrating at the edge of the stage. Yes, it's confrontational, it's aurally violent, but tonight Kong have the crowd eating out of their hand. Previous singles 'Leather Penny' and 'Blood of a Dove' give the crowd a good reason to (to steal from Willow Smith's vocab) whip their hair back and forth, equally as does the new material, which leaves us with the question just when will they follow up 2009s Snake Magnet?

Johnny Foreigner added to Off the Cuff 2011

Johnny Foreigner have been confirmed to headline the Friday night of this years Off the Cuff festival at the Flapper. Also added to the bill for Saturday are Brontide and The James Cleaver Quintet. These new additions compliment the already burgeoning bill which includes returning favourites Tubelord, Tall Ships, and &U&I, as well as headlines from Dananananaykroyd and DD/MM/YYYY. This years' festival is also going to be taking place in the upstairs of the Flapper rather than the cellar gig room - the first time it will have played host to bands in a long time - increasing the capacity in the process. Keep an eye on the official OtC website for the latest updates: http://offthecuffbirmingham.co.uk/

Besides, it's Monday #1: Million Dead

I've always been a fan of the single format. Perhaps because a lot of the first records I bought tended to be cassette singles from Woolworths. Whilst some people overlook them and head straight for the album, I've always felt it was worth investing in singles for one main reason: the b-side! Whilst these days a lot of groups see it as an opportunity to bundle off a dodgy remix and increasingly, in our digital world, no b-side altogether. However, in it's hayday the other side of the wax was an opportunity for a group to display another side to their craft - perhaps a song that didn't gel with the rest of the record, perhaps a demo, or a cover. In some cases the b-side would end up almost as popular as the a-side (see New Order's 1963, originally released as the b-side to True Faith in 1987, later issued as a single in it's own right).

Right then, my first audible treat for you comes in the form of the b-side to Million Dead's 2003 single Breaking the Back. The track in question is There are Ghosts, a cover of a Karate song from their 1998 record The Bed is in the Ocean. As previously mentioned, the b-side is a great chance for a group to throw down a cover of a group that have been an influence on their music, and Geoff Farina et al may not instantly be an obvious influence on Million Dead, their take on the track shows similar regard to breaking the standard as Karate's take on indie, punk, jazz and the blues.

Million Dead

'Breaking the Back'

Integrity Records, 2003

b-side:

There are Ghosts

Recorded at Mighty Atom Studios, Swansea by Joe Gibb.

Ten Years Later #1: Nirvana 'Nevermind'

Nirvana 'Nevermind'
DGC Records, 1991
Purchased 28/01/2001
Paid £2.00

It's fitting that I begin this series of blog pieces with a classic album, and an album that has shaped my musical listening habits of the past 10 years. I started buying music in earnest back in 2001; up until this point I had mostly copied cassettes off of my Dad or bought the odd singles from Woolworths on a Saturday morning, however I now had a paper round and could afford to buy myself some records. Nirvana was an obvious place for me to start. My Dad had a few of their albums which he had picked up through Britania music club in the mid-nineties, and the tracks from Nevermind which appeared on their posthumous live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah had already become favourites.

I already had a CDR copy of Nevermind but didn't feel that I was doing the band justice by having an illegal copy - even at 14 I was well on my way to becoming a music snob. I didn't really go shopping in the town centre very often so most singles I had bought at this point were from Wellington, where I tended to go each Saturday shopping with family. I actually found this album on a market stall in Wellington, and as it was in good condition I happily payed the £2 asking price to get myself a proper copy. At the time it was the only official Nirvana record I owned (I would buy In Utero a week later from Woolworths) - now it is one of many albums, singles and bootlegs I have by the group, a band who I consider to be a big part of my youth and inspired many of my early purchases.

My year in lists: 2010

I was going to write this up proper with reasons and opinions and stuff, but y'know I'm lazy and never have really got around to doing so. So rather than my list of wicked records from this year being forgotten like the UK entry in the Eurovision here they are all for all eternity (unless the internet dies).

Top 12 Albums of 2010
Errors - Come Down With Me
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Wavves - King of the Beach
Abe Vigoda - Crush
Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring
Calories - Basic Nature
British Sea Power - Zeus E.P.
Chew Lips - Unicorn
Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts
Liars - Sisterworld
Sleigh Bells - Treats

Top 11 Songs of 2010
Errors - 'A Rumour in Africa'
Tellison - 'Edith Wharton'
Cold Cave - 'Love Comes Close'
Tall Ships - 'Books'
Los Campesinos! - 'There are Listed Buildings'
Los Campesions! - 'Romance is Boring'
Errors - 'Supertribe'
Tall Ships - 'Beanieanddodger'
Deftones - 'You've Seen the Butcher'
Men - 'Big Fucker'
Only Animals - 'The Future's Gonna Be Awful'