The story is complicated. It is random. It is accidental. It's about friendship. It's about artistic passions. Records deals abandoned. Expression languishing. New self-discovery after years in the recording wilderness.
It starts with a single band and their first album. Then a friend walks in the front door with his band. Before you know it a third old mate decides to stop the hunt for a new record company and brings his record along. In a few short months others join the group and together they begin to create a new model. A self-controlled model. A commitment to the group and the decision to own their work. To own their creation. To own their lives. Combined muscle. Combined enthusiasm. Combined talents. A United Artists for the 21st Century Record Industry.
These are Artists with a past. Albums. Bands. Deals. Tours. Cargo USA. Capitol. Rough Trade. Stunt. Feedbach. US & European tours. All had hopes, successes and failures within the cogs of the machine. For them the machine wasn't the answer. But none of them let it beat them. Fired with a commitment to keep pushing, still driven by a passion for great music, for the best visuals, the best packaging they kept at it. Now nothing is left untouched by these singular hands.
It just happens that these guys are also artisans. Photographers, designers, sound engineers and writers, they all kept on in the face of successes and failures. Bad deals, troubled tours, life changes and business frustrations couldn't change all that. Driven by the need to express and do it well, with nothing substandard. No pandering. No question. Every aspect they determined was important to their vision. A vision of business ideals, of responsibility to the audience, to the artist and to themselves.
Whatever this label may be though it isn't an altruistic exercise. It's just as simple as breathing.
This year is a brand new start. 6 scheduled records out in '07 and everything coming from the hands of these Artists. Everything you see and everything you hear. Old Artists. New Artists. And a heap of cross-pollination going on. Bands combining. Members writing new songs with someone from another band. Teaming up to make something new. In fact the side-projects nearly outweigh the main ones. And there are more waiting in the wings.
There is a lot planned. A lot already happening. A lot to celebrate. Artistic freedom. A good laugh with old friends. A chance to write a few good songs and share them. An opportunity to sweat and fight to birth a new creation. ...The new life has begun. Come on. Join the adventure.
