Saturday 31 May 2008

Your english is good.

So the cat is, one might say, very much out of the bag: we are running a festival!

We're all (obviously!) very excited about this, as you may have been able to tell if you'd heard Ferris and I talking about it on Radio 1 the other night. We've been beavering away on this for a while now (pretty much since the last alldayer died) and it's already had a fair number of emotional ups and downs, so it's a huge relief to make it public. Hopefully you approve, and hopefully you'll snap up the earlybird tickets pretty quickly!

Thinly-veiled sales pitch over.

Today, I will mostly be burning CDRs of An Emergency's forthcoming album so I can do a promo run. This would be a lot easier if my burner (only about three weeks old) would let me burn more than one at a time, but it isn't. I don't know why. It burns the first CD, yet when it comes to the second it keeps telling me there's an "invalid block address". Still, it's marginally better than my old burner, which doesn't work at all. Glamorous life etc. I may head to Oxford later, as my friend Steve aka Jam On Bread (vetern of PSB Club #2) is playing with the wonderful Foxes!, and I fancy a night away from London. Plus, there are few better ways to go from drunk to hungover than on Oxford Tube somewhere on the motorway at 2am.

Thursday 29 May 2008

The Town I Loved So Well

Holla atcha STA kids! I am now firmly ensconced in Derry City/Londonderry - this place is mad as fuck, but I'm into it. I thought moving from London Town to Ireland would have meant that the pace would have reduced but hell no! We've opened our new office and already new projects are flying through the door. So many that The Cake has been recruited to weather the storm - he needn't think that he's gonna get paid.

STA FACT: Phil Coulter (Author of The Town I Loved So Well and general Carnegie Hall botherer) - wants to collaborate with Cahir Fighting With Wire on some tracks. This is a real fact.

The most interesting thing about the last six weeks has been the fact that I'm actually working in a real record label office as opposed to mine and LC's back bedroom at Casterbridge Towers; it's a strange experience. Feels a bit dirty, where are those DIY credentials now Ferris?

So, FWW at Number 1 in the MTV2 chart - good news people, keep those votes flying in - Alan MX's record is finished and we've just signed a new band that I'm probably not allowed to talk about yet, lest Daniel beat me with a stick. Needless to say THEY ARE INCREDIBLY BRILLIANT.

Check this out it's Brad Junk Mag's exclusive re-mix (work in progress) of Captain America Video by Alan MX - how four to the floor-tastic is that?

Anyone hear the Huw Stephens BBC Session last night? We are DIY label of the week - it was awesome; replay details when we get them.

Somehow I can't see this idea taking off

Wednesday 28 May 2008

Box of Secrets

Again this poor blog is neglected. For shame!

Lots going on at STA towers at the moment. Received the final mixed and mastered copy of An Emergency's forthcoming Wrecked Angles LP, and it sounds incredible - really leaps out of the speakers, presumably so it can beat up their previous releases using just the power of TOTAL ROCK. It's going to come wrapped in an awesome digipack, with more artwork courtesy of the multitalented Dan Reeves. This is going to be the first release in the new alliance of Faux Discx and Smalltown America, which is also going to give birth to the debut album by The Light Sleepers later on in the year. That's also a really good record, and will appeal to anyone out there into Moore / Tengo / Malkmus fuzzy guitar pop. What do they put in the water down in Brighton?

Anyway: we have big news, yes we do. Who remembers the old STA Alldayers? Who was sad there wasn't one last year? Yeah, we were as well. However, we're bouncing back with a vengence, and we're going to be announcing how on Friday morning. Keep your eyes on the STA website, and join our mailing list as something may be going out on that as well...

Monday 12 May 2008

No Gimmicks

Ah sweet Craig McKean - how much do I love thee; let me count the ways; whilst Cahir struggles to keep his vocalzone in his mouth for the duration of FWW's interview with Zane at last weekend's One Big Weekend - Half Man Half Climbing Wall McKean; delivers FWW's USP is a single bound.

He's also a dab hand with circular saw: