sotones music

Tours, Showcases and Samplers!

2010-08-31T00:18:00.006+01:00

Hi, It's Sam the Intern (for those who remember me...)
It's been months since I've last blogged, so I don't blame you if you have forgotten me!

Its been a fairly miserable summer (weather wise) I'm not gonna lie! And I think since the last time I've blogged, Spain won the world cup. I know its now old news, but still, good on 'em!

But in more important news, Moneytree are finally touring, again! Off of the back of their soon to be released third and final segment of the Great Outdoors trilogy, they will be pretty much covering the whole of the nation.
Being the hardworking, dedicated intern I am (?), I've been helping in covering press and such for the tour, which starts in Liverpool and ends in our beautiful capital at the Old Queens Head.

This leads beautifully into more current Sotones news! Also at the Old Queens Head will be the two showcase parties on the 7th and 14th for Sotones, as described in the blog below. It is at these showcases that the brand new sampler, celebrating 1,313 days of Sotones, will be released, so be sure to get one!

Also, recently with Sotones, Anja McCloskey's debut has recieved a crazy amount of approval and praise and other such, and is TOTALLY worth getting your hands on!

And finally, on a-not-so-Sotones-related note, I (Sam Ziggy) will be playing as part of a battle of the bands at the Soul Cellar this coming Wednesday the 1st helping to raise money for Oxfam, so please, anyone 18+ come on down and support a good cause! (me.) Its £4 plus free entry to the DJ Hammy show afterwards.

(sorry Sotones for abusing your blog for my own purposes, but its all for a good cause!)

Anyway, I will see you all on at either of the Showcases, the Moneytree tour, and the Soul Cellar on Wednesday
until next time, Sam the intern (STI)

'1,313' Showcase and Launch Parties!

2010-08-22T03:23:00.006+01:00

Dear friends,

to celebrate 1,313 days of this record label business we're releasing a brand-new sampler featuring some incredible music and, naturally enough, throwing a huge party to boot. We'd like to invite you along to get your hands on special signed pre-release copies of the sampler, other signed merch, live painting, contemporary dance, a special competition, some excellent DJs and of course live sets from the bands themselves!

We're holding these epic parties at The Old Queen's Head in Islington, a brilliant venue with a growing live reputation helmed by some very good pals of ours.. Unfortunately there's too many to fit on one night, so we've split the bill over two consecutive Tuesdays:

Tuesday 7th Sept (Rock / Indie)
Acts: Special guest TBA / Moneytree / nato / Ed Hicks / Anja McCloskey / Ann The Arc
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118942451489727

Tuesday 14th Sept (Indie / folk)
Acts: Moulettes / Haunted Stereo / Jackie Paper / Peter Lyons / Lonely Joe Parker
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151761708173645

Tickets are £5 per night on the door (or £8 for both and even cheaper adv. from wegottickets.com). Concessions are available. Some limited early-bird cheap list tickets are available - stake your claim by writing on the Facebook event walls. There are also a number of industry list places - please email A Badge of Friendship who are handling our PR for this one - claire@abadgeoffriendship.com

And, we're running a set of special deals for all the peeps in Southampton, Winchester and Brighton: minibusses will be available to take you up to the gig and back down again - get on these, plus entry to the gigs, plus a FREE advance copy of the sampler all for £6 / night or £10 for both nights. Let us know on the Facebook pages if you want a space on the bus, and see you all there for a big messy party in the capital!

Sotones Sampler!

2010-08-10T13:58:00.006+01:00

Hi All,

some very exciting times at Sotones Towers as we put the finishing touches to our first sampler for a couple of years. It's going to be called '1313' - because when it comes out we'll have been going for 1313 days - and features:

Moulettes / Horses For Hearses / Horses For Hearses EP
Fresh Legs / Julian / Julian EP – Deluxe
Moneytree / Medicineland / The Great Indoors Part III
Haunted Stereo / Lock The Doors / On A Pin/Lock The Doors
Anja McCloskey / Newton / Turn – Turn – Turn
Jackie Paper / All The Wine / What’s Wrong With Broken Glass
Peter Lyons / Old Friends / Old Friends
Jeffisalive / Sunlight's Yellow Dress / Sunlight's Yellow Dress
rude_NHS / Roy Orbital / Roy Orbital
JayEtAl / Feather / Where No City Lights
nato / Missing Song / Eating Clouds
Ann The Arc / Buttercup / Buttercup (Single)
The Beaux Hardts / Hey, Who Turned Up The Gravity? / Leisure (B-Sides & Rarities Special Edition).
Lonely Joe Parker / Brooklyn / What’s Wrong With Broken Glass
Bobby Y Paola / Tax For Sure / Double Barreled

Artwork is by the very brilliant Billy Mather (see also the artwork for 'What's Wrong With Broken Glass') - here's a cheeky draft:

Prett-y cool, huh? We can't wait....

Joe x x

'1313: A Sotones Sampler' lands 4th October 2010 on CD / digital / Spotify. For more updates join the Facebook page.

'1,313: A Sotones Sampler' - Showcase and Launch Party

2010-08-02T02:49:00.000+01:00

Very exciting news here this month!

We've been hinting for some time now that a new sampler is in the works, and we can finally announce it properly!

'1,313: A Sotones Sampler' features tracks from: rude_NHS; Peter Lyons; nato; Moulettes; Moneytree; Lonely Joe Parker; Jeffisalive; JayEtAl; Jackie Paper; Haunted Stereo; Fresh Legs; Bobby y Paola; The Beaux Hardts; Ann The Arc and Anja McCloskey.

A boatload of talent! And we've bagged the brilliant Billy Mather to do the excellent artwork you see here.

'1,313: A Sotones Sampler' will be released on MP3 and CD through all good retailers on November 4th, 2010... exactly 1,313 days since we founded Sotones!

September will also see two very special launch party / showcase type shindigs at The Old Queen's Head in Islington - more to come on this!

Win Festival Tix!

2010-07-16T15:43:00.003+01:00

The lovely Moulettes are playing Larmer Tree this weekend, and we've rustled up a giveaway ticket for this great festival, celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. To win said ticket, simply answer the following question:

'Moulette' translated from French, means (roughly):

A 'small mussel'
A 'small muscle'
A 'smelly member'

Email sotones@sotones.co.uk!
More tickets and festival info from http://www.larmertreefestival.co.uk

The Beaux Hardts - "Leisure - B-Sides & Rarities Special Edition"

2010-07-05T17:29:00.010+01:00

They were the first band on Sotones. And the loudest, and, often the latest as well as the weirdest. Welcome to the skewed avant-punk of brothers Dave and Bobby Wade-Brown..

This new 2010 Special Edition of their 'Leisure' EP contains over 90 minutes of unreleased and bonus material from their brilliant, brief and badass rock'n'roll career.

Physical (2xCD) edition is STRICTLY LIMITED, HAND ASSEMBLED and features a collage box-set as well as 19-page, full-colour 'Best of the Beaux Hardts' booklet. Order now!

Available on Spotify, iTunes and all good digital retailers.

iTunes | Amazon | Other stores | Spotify

Happy listening!

London Showcase dates announced!

2010-07-05T17:14:00.002+01:00

We're proud to announce two linked London showcase dates in association with The Old Queen's Head and A Badge Of Friendship

The two linked bills will take place on Tuesday 7th September (indie / rock) and Tuesday 14th September (indie / folk). Acts from the whole Sotones roster will perform as well as some very special guests. Currently The Moulettes, Haunted Stereo, Moneytree, Jackie Paper, Lonely Joe Parker, nato & Ann The Arc are confirmed with others TBC.

Industry tickets will be available as well as package coach deals from Southampton/Winchester and Brighton to both events. Plus everyone will get brand-new, specially-signed copies of the next limited-edition Sotones Sampler!

For more details and updates join the Sotones Facebook page

Eastleigh Music Festival! Next Weekend! Haunted Stereo!

2010-07-02T13:17:00.004+01:00

As the title may suggest, next weekend Haunted Stereo are going to be tearing up the Eastleigh Music Festival. What could be better than an evening of good weather (don't take my word on that) good company, good food, and very good music? Well...nothing...

Haunted Stereo will be sharing the stage with Badly Drawn Boy, and Peggy Sue (and the Pirates) and more, all for the price of £18! To be honest, thats a bargin...

Plus about, a billion local bands and street performers will be playing, so theres plenty for everyone! Bring the family, bring the friends, bring everyone you know, and I'll see you there!

www.eastleighmusicfestival.co.uk for tickets and times and all that stuff!

ALSO THIS MONTH (very excited about this)

Rude_NHS and JayETal to share the same stage for the first time in 5 years?!

Rumor has it that a live improv jam is on the tables between the two Winchester favorites, and mystery guests a plenty!

July 31st, 8 o clock, Railway Inn, Winchester! Be there!

So as you can see, lots and lots going on this month!

I'll see you all next weekend!

Until the next blog

Sam the Intern

Free music industry workshop / networking event.

2010-06-22T17:55:00.004+01:00

Hi all,

bit of a good opportunity, this. The Point arts centre in Eastleigh are a great local arts venue with a strong track record in supporting new music (they organise the yearly Eastleigh Festival, for instance, which features our own Haunted Stereo among others including Badly Drawn Boy). Basically all-round Good People with a little bit of money who care about music.

As such, they've laid on a free careers / networking / workshop event for anyone to attend. It features workshops, discussions and panel sessions with industry professionals from radio, print and online media as well as promoters and (repping what's laughingly known as the record 'industry') ourselves.

It all runs on the 24th June (Thursday). Due to popular demand there are two sessions: 1pm-4pm and 5pm-8pm. Although the workshop is free it might be a good idea to reserve a place. Full details at www.thepointeastleigh.co.uk

Timetable:

Afternoon Session

1.00 – 1.30pm Start arriving

1.30 – 2.30pm Workshops in Dance, Theatre or Music

2.30 – 3.00pm Break with an opportunity to speak to organisations and industry professionals

3.00 – 4.00pm Q & A Seminar with Panel

4.00 – 4.30pm Further opportunity to meet organisations

Twilight Session

4.30 – 5.00pm Start arriving

5.00 – 6.00pm Workshops in Dance, Theatre or Music

6.00 – 6.30pm Break with an opportunity to speak to organisations and industry professionals

6.30 – 7.30pm Q & A Seminar with Panel

7.30 – 8.00pm Further opportunity to meet organisations and industry professionals

Further details regarding the workshops and seminars will be available nearer the time.

If you have questions regarding the event, please contact:

Jodie Rodaway

Dance Administrator

The Point, Leigh Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 9DE

jodie.rodaway@eastleigh.gov.uk

023 8062 7804

Do You DIY? festival - Part Deux

2010-05-30T14:53:00.007+01:00

So.

Summer slithers on a few more weeks, Brighton and tours in Germany and stuff have all happened, various exciting recording projects are racing towards completion for the autumn (Ann The Arc, Anja McCloskey (Haunted Stereo), nato, rude_NHS, Moneytree as well as Jackie Paper & myself are all jostling for prime release spots in Sept / Oct as we speak) and overall the year is whooshing by! My ears are already fucked and festival season hasn't even wound up to full speed yet...

This is all pretty fitting as we're taking part in yet another excellent (and free!!) all-dayer at the marv Old Queen's Head in Islington on Bank Holiday Monday, 31st May. There's gonna be a total cornucopia of labels, clubnights, DJs and acts from the alternative (as in, actually do shit themselves, without major label money, rather than bang on about their 'aesthetic' ... looking at YOU Blood Red Shoes (V2/Universal)) side of things.

As well as Peter Lyons and all us lot, you should definitely catch Thomas Tantrum, and Real Fur ain't too shabby either.

The whole thing kicks off at lunchtime, is free, and goes on till closing time innit. For more details see the facebook page or OQH blog.

See you there!
Joe x x

Moneytree takeover the Hamptons!

2010-05-29T13:24:00.002+01:00

Well, what can I say...

So far in my whirlwind Sotones adventure, not once have I seen one man trash the stage in such rock and roll fashion. By the second song the microphone was crashing to the floor, and by the third song, the drum kit was in pieces and the snare drum almost had a foot put through it. And this was (mostly) the work of one man. Having not seen Moneytree before, its fair to say that it was surreal to say the least.

Though, lets start at the beginning.

Ann the arc, Sotones newest grunge trio, started the night off in perfect order. If you like dissonance, distortion, and really loud things, these are the band for you. Not to say they are melody-less! Just imagine Lonely Joe parker and a loud grunge band, and that essentially is what you have! Loved them!

Then came Shapes. Ah Shapes, what to say about Shapes...

Mathmatical-technical-jazz-hardcore-o I believe is the technical term for their music...

But most importantly, they were instrumental. But in this case, you didn't need a voice. Their twenty minute odyssey of riffing and what I suspect was improvisation (though correct me if i'm wrong) mixed with their excessive use of loop pedals was never boring. In fact, it was pretty good!

Then it was Moneytrees turn.

Eventful, surreal, and mildly rock and roll, are just a few words I'd use to describe their set. First song was straight in to the chaos, and by the third song the stage was in bits. To put it in further detail, basically, Campbell stood on the bass drum, fell off, almost put his foot through the snare and landed sat down on the chair.

The whole set was a mess of similar chaos, and a sing song of It Ain't mine. Having not seen them before, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't expect that. But I fucking loved it. If you get the chance, go see Moneytree. Even if you don't like there music (which you do, I'm sure) you'll still have a killer time.

Dear Brontide, if for some reason you're reading this, I apologize, i missed your set. Its nothing personal, I'm sure you were wonderful.

Best 'Curates' night I've been to so far, without a doubt (sorry Haunted Stereo and Lonely Joe Parker). It was a stunt filled, Loud, and very rock and roll evening. Worth the five pounds (which I was later reimbursed with) without a doubt!

Until next week, or some when before then

Your friendly neighbourhood Intern.

P.S. Monday, Do you DIY festival Part 2, Old Queens Head, Islington. 12pm til 12am.

Tidy!

Tomorrow (Friday night!)

2010-05-27T23:49:00.005+01:00

Tomorrow night at the Hamptons is the Moneytree curates evening!

Many good band is playing including Moneytree, Ann the arc and others.

Get down there, its not very expensive at all! And to be honest your paying for quality!

I (sam) will be there, and I well and truly hope to see you there!

If you have a good (and I mean a GOOD) reason not to be there, I'll tell you all about it in another post saturday or something.

I really should start keeping up to date with blogging!

Do You DIY? festival

2010-04-23T13:21:00.005+01:00

We're REALLY excited to be taking part in a unique free festival / experiment / mashup taking place over the May Bank Holiday (Monday 3rd) at the Old Queen's Head in Islington.

Do You DIY? is a coming together of independent, DIY-minded labels, artists, producers, fanzines, media, promoters and club nights. Throughout the day (midday-midnight) there will be a plethora of records, listening booths, zines, discussions, DJ sets and yes, performances.

Already confirmed are indie favourites such as Fortuna Pop!, Fierce Panda, Memphis Industries etc and we're completely flabbergasted that in their wisdom the organisers have asked yours truly to put in an appearance as well! Accordingly we will have a stall and a big crew there including Lonely Joe Parker / Jackie Paper / Moneytree joint sets, as well as new grunge trio Ann The Arc.

The whole shebang runs from 12pm-midnight, and is FREE before 6pm.

We'll be running a minibus up from Southampton for peeps that want to come for the ride.

For full listings, deets etc:
http://www.theoldqueenshead.com/do-you-diy/
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=107485545960139

Ejector Seat Arts - FREE festival in Southampton

2010-04-23T12:50:00.001+01:00

Hey peeps,

our mates (and super promoters) Ejector Seat are this year running a free arts festival in Palmerston Park on June 5th.

As well as music, performances and exhibitions, there's going to be loads of interactive arts events and workshops, including two by us: Jimmy will be running a 'How Not To Start An Indie Label' session, while Lonely Joe Parker and Andy Harris (Haunted Stereo) will be doing a songwriting workshop.

The whole thing goes on all day in the sunshine! Wahey!!

More info all the time, check it out here:
http://www.ejectorseat.co.uk/

May Day FREE Show + Get records delivered to your door!

2010-04-19T15:53:00.006+01:00

Ello peeps,

Lonely Joe Parker here. We've had a hectic few months to kick off 2010, with releases by Haunted Stereo, Moneytree, JayEtAl, the Beaux Hardts, Moulettes, nato and myself to get off the ground, plus not one but two 'Curates...' nights at Hamptons (thanks to everyone who came and partied, got any pictures?)

But! We've still managed to put together an AMAZING free show for you all on May Day, and we're also very excited to tell you that this week we're launching a brand-new mail-order service.

Get Sotones records! Wherever, whenever!

We have always wanted to respond to your demands and make our artists' music as widely available as possible. Although virtually the whole back catalogue is available online through all good stores and Spotify, nice things like CDs, tapes and vinyl have, up till now, only been available at gigs and a few stores in the South (like Rough Trade and various Oxfam Music stores). We know this has been pissing you off, because you keep emailing us to say so!

Having discussed all the mail-order options available we decided to keep costs down. By working in-house we can manage this, and stay true to the DIY ethos of labels that inspired us, heroes like Dischord and Chemikal Underground. We're really excited that now our fans can get high-quality physical releases at the lowest possible price, wherever they are.

So, as of TODAY you can order acclaimed releases by Moulettes, Haunted Stereo, Moneytree, Jackie Paper and Lonely Joe Parker - the service will expand over the coming weeks to include the entire Sotones back-catalogue.

To get the ball rolling, with every order placed this week we'll stick in a free copy (while stocks last) of our very first ever sampler, the individually-numbered, hand-assembled, Kruger-Magazine-endorsed 'Vol.11', which includes early tracks by Blakfish as well as Band Of Skulls...

What are you waiting for? Go hit the store now: http://www.sotones.co.uk/shop.php

May Day FREE Extravaganza!

Every year we like to throw a big free party for everyone to welcome in the summer, and this year is no exception. It will be exceptional, though, in that we're also celebrating our third anniversary! So we've pulled in a brilliant bill of bands we all love, as well as some genuinely exciting emerging talent (and you know how picky we are)...

So on May Day (thats, like, the FIRST of May...) we're taking over the Hobbit in Southampton for an entire day of music and festivities. It's totally free whether you dip in to catch a few bands and enjoy a BBQ in the sunshine-y beer garden at the back, or hang tough for an unbelievable 8 HOURS OF MUSIC. We very much hope you manage to catch every single artist though as they are all very talented people that will aurally pleasure you in various diverse ways. There will also be cheapo drinks and BBQ in the garden. Plus Bank Holiday sun*.

Line-up confirmed so far includes: Anja McCloskey, Moneytree, Lonely Joe Parker, Pete Lyons, Sons and Lovers, El Raccoon, Baku Bankai, Viva Sleep & Nato

Join the Facebook event to get updates about the line-up, stage times and Campbell's top burger combo predictions.

So that's all for now, see you on May 1st for a big fat party!
Oh yeah: don't forget to vote!

Love, laters, ludo,
Sotones xx

*I'm actually going to go out on a limb here and guarantee good weather. Sue me.

Right, okay...

2010-03-07T22:48:00.002Z

Right, despite what it looks like, I have done a blog in these past two months. So don't feel neglected! But for some reason, the other blogging sight (podbean) the bastards, seemed to have locked me out of our account for some reason. So Im redirecting my blogging efforts to this reliable site!

So, whats been happening the past month and a bit? I inevitably hear you ask...

To tell you the truth, not much. Although, what is happening soon (tomorrow) is the release of Lonely Joe's single shanty with the Moulettes. Which I love, by the way! Its so shanty and jaunty, it actually smells like rum... Go buy it! Go! Go! Go!

Anyway, so my month has been pretty boring. And haven't been to the office as much as I would like, so Im gonna work on that, but the few times I did, I pretty much annihilated the PRS work. I think we're pretty much finished with it, which is a relief. For both me and you, as, unless Im wrong, Ive gone on about it in every post to date.

But its on to bigger and better things now! Things Im not quite sure what they are, but they are bigger and better none the less! Not that spreadsheeting and such for hours isn't fun...I'm just saying...

And Im pretty sure soon it must be time for Moneytree's new album right? You bet I'm looking forward to it. I wonder if I have to buy this one? Or theyll just give it to me... Either way, Im getting my hands on that album. Make sure the second it comes out, you go find somewhere and get hold of it! Or spotify it...whatever....

'til next time, Sam the Intern (STI)

Sotones 90-minute special on Resonance FM

2010-02-10T14:39:00.000Z

This saturday, acclaimed London arts &  community station Resonance FM will be devoting a 90 minute show to a  special look at what we do!


Moulettes, Campbell Austin (Moneytree) and Lonely Joe Parker  will all be LIVE in session, and there is also a short documentary  (which you can hear here) 

Tune  in to the Dexter Bentley Hello Goodbye Show from 11am on Saturday 13th  February

Last Night...

2010-01-17T19:22:00.001Z

Last night I went to the Haunted Stereo curates the Hamptons, my first proper Sotones event, and was pretty impressed! I wondered how a place that, lets be fair, is as small as the Hamptons could hold such events, but I was wrong to doubt it! It wasn’t cramped, but there were plenty of people there.

My favorite band of the evening (no offense to the others) had to be the Little Philistines. Having not had time to see Moneytree (which is actually such a shame) Little Philistines were a good substitute! Their whole set full of surprises, including one of the guitarists pulling out a trumpet mid song. And, I was lucky enough to get the last of their free CDs, which i will enjoy soon enough!

Saying that, the other bands were good! So Say So and Not Made In China certainly got the crowd tapping their feet! Good choices from Haunted Stereo, really. Of course headliners Moneytree, I’m sure were brilliant, but this isn’t first hand information, so don’t quote me on that. But how could they not have been??

Anyway, I really hope none of you are reading this the day that I have written it, because really, you should all be at the Hamptons for the second night of the Haunted Stereo Curates weekend. With headliner Peter Lyons and an array of other acts. And Its Free! So you actually have no excuse not to be there.

I on the other hand was a little too ill to get there tonight for the second night. But will most definately be at the Lonely Joe Parker Curates evening this friday! Can’t wait…I wonder if they let me into this one for free again…

Until next time, Sam the Intern!

Here we are again...

2010-01-09T17:14:00.001Z

decided today would be a good time to come into the office. Its been so long I thought I would offer my services once again, which today included uploading 134 photos and name each one of the separately. It was quite mind numbing really…

Ive only been here like, two hours today, but already Joe has dismantled a computer, which was interesting to watch. Especially when he came back from a battery run for the keyboard to find he had the wrong size. But Im sure there’s a purpose to it all.

I’ve also only had one cup of coffee today, which is a depressing number, but it was good. Hampton’s sure do the finest instant coffee around. No lie.

This is only going to be a short one today, because Im running out of things to talk about. I swear this is like talking to a brick wall, god, you people!

Anyway, Im sure I will post another one sometime this week, but until then, how about reading this one again on www.sotones.podbean.com?

Anyway, til next time! Sam!

My Contribution for the week...

2010-01-02T19:09:00.000Z

Hi! I haven’t been to the office for over a week now, so I thought I would input some kind of contribution so they don’t think I’ve forgotten them. This being it…

So christmas is over, which sucks. New year festivities is also over, which also sucks. What a depressing way to start a new decade. But ah well, I hope everyone had a very merry festive season.

2010 is looking to be a good year for not only myself, but for the whole of Sotones. They start with a whole load of pretty sick things happening. First off, they are brought into the new year with awesome reviews of Haunted Stereo’s new EP ‘Cross the Sea’, which, from personal experience, I can tell you is worth all the Hoo-har. I may need to beg/steal/borrow myself a new copy due to it being over played in my stereo. But enough about me…

Its also looking good for Moneytree who have the launch of their third EP ‘The Great Indoors part 3′, and from previews and even the strength of the single ‘Wake Up and Pay your Overheads’ alone, I can tell you it is well worth the wait, and I may even pay for this one…

But the first thing to scribble onto your newly obtained 2010 calendar should be the Haunted Stereo curating a whole weekend at the Hamptons with acts such as Peter Lyons and Moneytree etc. I’m gonna make sure I’m down there anyhow!

So overall, this year sets to look good for everyone. Even myself as I am forced to choose universities already. I swear I only left for big school two weeks ago! ah well, onwards and upwards. Now…do I take Art, Music or Physics..? But, I’m sure you all skipped this paragrah, so I’ll see you all on the 16th and 17th at the Hamptons!

Until then, your favorite intern, Sam!

More Coffee Please...

2009-12-23T17:02:00.000Z

In my entire day today, I have gotten through around 5 cups of coffee. I woke up far too early this morning (the wee hours of 10 o clock) all because my family were panic-ing that it was too icy to go into town, so I downed a brief cup of coffee to wake me up, followed by another one, and decided to go into the office.

But, during my travels, I was rained on, which is basically God’s way of saying go to Subway and stay in there with your cup of cheap coffee. So I did just that. Then made a break for the office once again.

I got here to find it was locked, but we scaled the walls and climbed in the window. We didn’t really, the lovely man already inside let us in. But still, we were in. So, we (myself and Campbell) sat down and began the days work ahead of us, which included PRS forms, publishing contracts and such. The full works. But none of this before my last two cups of coffee so far. But if anyones offering, not my last.

But now Campbell has left to get some more folders from the shop, and left me to do a blog. But I think I’ll take this time now to strum on the guitar that has been taunting me in the corner of the room for days.

Merry Crimbo for 2 days away. Peace and love, sam.

Another day at the Office

2009-12-22T16:32:00.000Z

Hi, its me (sam) again, just here for a quicky.

Popped into the office today to finish off some of the ever growing pile of spreadsheeting and such. But it wasn’t to bad. Campbell was here to keep me company and guide me through it, and I was also kept nourished with a not too shabby cup of coffee and plate of scrambled egg. These two seem to be regulars in my visit to the Sotones office, but I think I like it.

We finished the butt of the paper work to find we were out of paper, so I was sent on my mission to go find some. It was all quite exciting really. I returned from my adventure in one piece, and we carried on. Interestingly, we learnt Million Dead and paperwork aren’t good companions, lets just say we got distracted.

Anyway, we finished to find we were still short on paper. So off I went again, returned, then wrote this blog. As you can see, an exciting day was had by all. Good times!

Have a good Christmas Y’all, and a happy new year. Sam!

Day one with the Sotones label...

2009-12-19T17:00:00.000Z

Hi, Im Sam (as just said) and I started with Sotones today. I showed up at around 2pm, to be directed into the office, which if Im honest, was a little dirtier than I expected. But none the less, it was cosy, and it seems to do the job.

After quick introductions, and a brief discussion about Hash Brown and scrambled eggs (?) I was shown how much fun could be squeezed out of Admin work and spreadsheets. Of course, I was being sarcastic, but still, it was healthy experience for me to pursue a career in the music buisness.

This was followed by more introductions, this time with half of Thomas Tantrum who decided to come up and visit. Again, all were very friendly. I was then handed some freebies (which I look forward to listening too) and was set my first task, this blog. Thus was my day to this point.

So now you know all about my first day, how about some information on myself. I started here looking for work experience in the music industry, and found a somewhat little less orthodox practice of the record business. It does the job though, i now know how to work songwriting payments, and if Im honest, its probably a lot more fun than the corporate types at EMI etc…

I think I’ll leave it there, until next time.

Sam

Sam's Stuff - Introducing Sam

2009-12-19T15:15:00.000Z

Hi Everyone,

It’s been a really busy year (thanks as ever for all your support) and so there’s more jobs than ever to do - how the hell does anyone ever find time to do all this stuff?

Enter Sam, a (currently) very nice young man who for reasons best known only to himself has decided to join us as an intern. Over the next few months he’s going to be keeping a diary of his adventures in the music industry.

Take it away, Sam…

those green shoots

2009-05-16T11:59:00.003+01:00

hey peeps,

i think i've been motivated by a really interesting, inspiring and reflective blog by Broken Social Scene (check our topPages). Or maybe just cos it's quite a nice morning. Or maybe because I'm coming down with swine flu and so am at death's door.

Anyway, here's a few things we've been up to, are up to, and are gonna be up to. cos a) i'm lazy and b)we don't have our RSS together, i'm gonna post to our facebook, myspace and main web site as well (erm, this is just a cunning way of trying to get you to go there.. geddiit?)

The last couple of months have been hella busy for us. Everyone's been putting loads of work in. I won't single anyone out but suffice to say if it was just Jimmy Ray and me doing this we'd both be dead of stress by now. We've actually started putting releases out properly through our distributor, Believe, and let me tell you, it's a shitload more work than putting stuff up on myspace or self-release.

I won't bore you but basically, to make sure everyone gets the right royalties and stuff as well as the record coming out on time (when about 20 people are working on a release it's a massive pain in the arse if we miss the release date) involves emails, spreadsheets, proofs, discussions, templates, clippings, press releases, etc..... you get the picture.

In the end though, it was all worth it once we saw the finished result on iTunes (and other digital stores)- - you can now get each release pretty much worldwide, pretty much on the same day! We're still committed to keeping our prices as low as possible, and as usual most of the time if you're skint come down to a gig and we'll sort you out with a CD.

So what are / will be these great releases?

Well, three weeks ago we launched the Moulettes / Pete Lyons split single, 'Wilderness' / 'Old Friends'. For our very first stab at a full release (and with 2 weeks lead-in, industry hacks!) the response was brilliant, with airplay for both cuts and press too.

Most importantly, it seems to have done exactly what we wanted in terms of introducing Moulettes fans to Pete's peeps, and vice versa. Both are working on albums at the moment, by the way - Pete has recorded a really great live album with his band as The Fiction Theatre, which is in post at the moment and will probably head off to the stores soonish for a summer release (it's a summery kind of sound, ya get me?)

The Moulettes' album is virtually finished recording - the word is that wandering fiddler George has returned from somewhere-or-other to lay down some high-register touches of silken niceness to complement Hannah's looped, octaved, ripsaw cello assault. So we're probably looking at a September release for that, cos we're all mega excited about the songs and the record. I know labels always say it, but it really does send a shiver down my spine when I hear the rough mixes!

I guess you could say our big release at the moment is the Moneytree EP, 'The Great Indoors Part II.' it really is a stonker of an EP, with guest appearances from Blaine Harrison (Mystery Jets), Rob Skipper, Ted Dwayne (Mumford and Sons / Laura Marling Band), Modernaire, various Moulettes and my own Lonely Joe Parker self. But fuck the cameos, it's a sucker-punch of a record anyway, and rightly picking up loads of reviews and plays. It's actually been mastered for a while now, but we wanted to wait until we had our shit together to put it our properly.. . I'm glad we did. Out on Monday.

Records in the works? I'm still working with Dave Miatt on our Oxjam charidee EP. The trouble about doing everything for free is that sometimes it's hard to pull everything together. We've had about 8 different sessions with several people at the controls, as well as making a great live tape at Hamptons (thanks to everyone who showed up and sang!) ... so by rights we should have pulled something together, a long time ago in fact. The reality is that we're all busy with our own projects so it's quite hard. Now we've got Tom, Rysia, Bea, Alfie and Audrey at Furnace Studios cracking the whip though, and I think we'll get something tied up quite soon.. 'down among the dead men'!! (for those in the know)

Wow - so many things in the pipeline, where next? Oh yeah - we've licensed an EP from rude_NHS (originally recorded for a german release) which is a bit of a bolt from the blue but definitely exciting - it's amazing how much musical ground that guy manages to cover in just 4 tracks, and it really seems to draw you into his rude little world the more you listen to it, spooky... it's mastered, obviously, we're just waiting to sign off on the artwork so a summer release, hopefully in time for Glade festival (he's playing).

For a while this spring, it looked like we were going to put out a single or EP for Caesura - you may remember they were on the first sampler, then did an LP with Lockjaw before finding themselves on a Big Scary Monsters comp. They'd started work on the follow-up to 'Dear Light Outside' and two of the finished tracks were looking like single material.

Then they only bloody went and played a great minitour with Jeniferever (if you weren't at the packed-out joiners show, shame on you, you missed out! told you, didn't we?!?) and subsequently found themselves the subject of the attentions of not one but two 'well-known large indie labels.' We'll see how that turns out but needless to say, while single plans are on hold at the moment we'll still be working closely in future (the boys are all individually active in Sotones; James Moss is playing the summer showcase today in fact)

Erm what about my own stuff in all this? Well some of you will know that i've been slowly demoing up new tracks for about a year now, at home, with Neil Kennedy and Geoff at The Ranch in Nursling, and with Izaak Bullen in Winchester. It's weird, I've never ever had any problems writing songs themselves but arranging - fuck - it's not my strong point by a long shot...

Things have entered a new kind of phase lately, though. People are always coming up to me and saying 'Hey Joe, if you ever want me to play with you, just give me a call' and, for once, I've started listening. Without naming names we're talking about some Really Talented People to a man and woman... . The guys at Furnace have also been really generous with their time and I've found we're on totally the same wavelength when it comes to stuff like Pavement, Cat Power, Feist, PJH etc. SO we're starting to gather a bit of recording momentum on the demos. Also gradually putting this band together - so at some point in the next several weeks we'll hire a barn, truck all the hardware down and track it all.

The end result probably won't be very Lonely-Joe-Parker-y, at least not in the ramshackle, unfinished way of old, but it still be seat of the pants stuff cos most of it'll be pretty much live. Performances are gonna change, too - about 2/3 of the time it'll just be me rocking up on the bike as usual, but for some shows we'll do the slick luscious sounding full band thing. I won't lie to you, that's only gonna be shows where we get paid enough! You get what you pay for! I'll still break strings and forget words though, just with a sick band there as well...

Lastly, there are rumblings of new material from Edward J. Hicks, Cat In The Furnace and Viva Sleep (Neil Kennedy - Chin Music) - we'll let you know more when it comes to pass...

Whew, so, musical things.. what else? Well, in brief: We're very pleased to be working very closely with the Woolfire Festival people. As well as a load of acts playing, we'll also be running a record store with Brainlove and Tape Club. Let me explain.. this year they're gonna have a 'Village Street; kind of bit in the middle of the festival with a pub, a tea shop, stuff like that... so along with the other labels present we're going to set up a record store, and as well as selling records be doing things like signings, etc... also just as a general place to come down and have a chat!

We're slowly working through the back catalogue, re-issuing everything on MP3 through Believe. The idea is to make everything available, since a lot of everyone's stuff was only available on limited CD or whatever. More on each release as it comes, needless to say keep your ears pricked! Join the maillist or Facebook page to keep informed..

And last but not least, we're moving into a new Southampton orifice (ha ha ha never could resist that one) right in the centre of town. Basically working out of bedrooms and backrooms across the land has become a bit too taxing now we've got mountains of paperwork, promos and peeps to deal with, so it seemed a natural move. We'll have some sort of party to celebrate when it's all done i'm sure - Ed Hicks is gonna don a Laurence Llwelyn-Bowen wig and cravate and decorate for us!

AaaaAaaAaaaaaaaaahh. All done. Just got the all dayer and Moneytree EP launch party tonight**. And a cold to fight through. Thanks for reading, listening and dancing, please tell your friends or invite them to myspace/facebook whatever if you wanna support us. Lord Knows we can't afford a radio plugger and we're not into that shit anyway! SO. You know what, since he said it better and they're totally my heroes, i'll leave BSS to sign off now:

"We're grateful and we are thankful. Enjoy your lives, avoid the instant gratification society, watch out for vampires, easy on the all the drugs out there (legal and illegal), don't ask guidance from your stereo, just ask for a little bit of truth. Also watch out for this twitter shit that has become the new thing these days...if instant communication keeps going like this we’ll have to all find our own personal shaman to help remind us how to live and there is not enough of them on this planet for all of us....."#

Couldn't have put it better ourselves. Laters! xx

Joe - Sotones

**A lot of people have asked 'why is it an all-dayer if it starts at 4pm?' I can only say 'have YOU ever tried cashing up at 3 in the morning after booxing since midday?. A lot of people have also asked 'why do you have two big events (hobbit showcase and lennons Band Of Skulls + Moneytree EP launch) on the same day??' I can only say, firstly, we're a bit disorganized, and secondly - well, think of it like a fiesta, kind of like SXSW or In The City or CMJ or The Punt or The Great Escape - - just flit between the two like a musical dragonfly in the sun... no really, we're gonna have to!

Rumblings from the belly of the digital beast

2009-04-17T21:29:00.015+01:00

Hey everyone (did we mention we've got a Twitter feed now?),

Now for a bit of real news...

So, we spent the last months negotiating it and have now appointed a digital distributor. As from this month, our digital releases will be handled worldwide by Believe Digital; they service music retailers around the world, including iTunes, eMusic, Napster and Amazon, as well as a bucketload of niche retailers. We have also begun to deliver content to Spotify, the popular new on-demand streaming music service that has already revolutionised music listening in the UK.

All of which means getting our music out to thousands more people! We've wanted to shout about this for a while, but kept our fingers crossed until everything went through like the superstitious oulde witches we are. Now we're actually doing it though, burying our noses in metadata and content delivery specifications and stuff like that. So - 'yay with big shiny bollocks on to us' - we handed the first releases over to our distributor today...

We're all really, really, excited to have moved into this new phase of business, which will let us concentrate on producing and promoting records as well as our showcase nights in Southampton, Brighton, London and Winchester.

Similarly, Vincent Bordier, Believe UK label manager, added: "We're thrilled to welcome Sotones amongst our label partners. We also hope that we'll together bring the label and its artists the attention and interest they deserve."

Over the next few months we'll be steadily re-issuing our existing catalogue through these new channels, as well as gearing up for some great new releases, including:

Part II of Moneytree's 'The Great Indoors' triptych (18/5/09)

A Peter Lyons / The Moulettes AA single (15/6/09)

A live LP by Peter Lyons with his backing band The Fiction Theatre (June 09)

The Moulettes' debut studio LP (June 09)

A split 12" EP for Oxjam featuring Lonely Joe Parker and Jackie Paper (Thomas Tantrum)

In other news, we now have a new mail-order partner in Norman's Records and you can get our first releases here, as well as a swank new Facebook Page which shot up to over 200 new fans in the first two days we launched it! We were shocked and appalled, but to see what the fuss is about and check out discog and other stuff as well as fan pix, click here.

Shit. It's no wonder we all reek of BO and cheap red wine after the last few months.. if you are a blogger or journo and would like to join our industry list for mp3s and other news, just send us an email.

Till next time, see you soon!

Sotones x x

Friday night, a nice bottle of Bordeaux and some catching up to do

2009-03-07T00:16:00.005Z

So...we set up this blog with the intention of updating it at least weekly but as these things always pan out, that didn't quite turn out to plan.

Things have to get done; release schedules have to be made, budgets have to be created, bills need to be paid, websites have to be designed and programmed, e-mails have to be sent and replied to, social networking sights have to be tended, videos need to be filmed and photos need to be taken, flyers, adverts and banners need to be drawn, designed and tea stained, shows have to be put on, masterplans over too much red wine need to be created, spreadsheets need to be spread and that's not even the half of it.

We all have our own bands and music (which is why we are a co-operative of artists) to get on with, material has to be written, rehearsals need to be rehearsed, recording has to be done, shows have to be booked and played, records need to be funded and issues have to be resolved. This all needs to happen whilst we work our jobs, spend time with our families, eat, sleep, shit and deal with all the other responsibilities we have to fulfil.

Doesn't leave a lot of time to write blogs.

However, communicating with our fans and supporters is one of the most important things for us. We created this label because we care about people, not about the cash flow, not about how cool we are (don't have much of a choice with that one) and not about succumbing to the latest indie fashion trend.

So...I decided to write another blog. I will (and hopefully some of our other artists and members) with enderver to write one every week, some of them may be short, some of them maybe long and some of them may be near on essays, some of them may have music to listen to, photos to look at, download and photoshop so it looks like our faces are on annoying celbrities and some may have new videos to watch. Fingers crossed, you'll want to read it often (please let us know if you think they are rubbish and we should just keep to the musics).

But for now I'll leave you with the thought that next time you come back, there may well be something worth reading rather than this little time wasting excersize.

Enjoy your week x

Jimmy
Sotones Co-Managing Director

Chin Music Call It A Day

2008-07-02T13:40:00.009+01:00

It's always a sad time when a band you think is pretty damn good and has the potential to do really well calls it a day.
It's even sadder when the band is made up of friends of yours, and sadder still when you were really hoping to sell loads of their records.
But some people don't want to do the Rolling Stones thing and be playing badly remembered versions of songs you wrote 30 years ago whilst hobbling around on your drug fueled arthritic legs and are happy to have enjoyed playing and making records, moving on to other things.
I think you get to a point playing music when you have to make a decision whether you want to either get seriously poor, work really damn hard, piss off your girlfriend and try and take it as far as you can, or sit back, make a go of your 9-5, make sure you spend enough time with your girlfriend and think about mortgages and car credit.
Sometimes your priorities change and that's fine, at the end of the day you do these things to make you happy so if it's not, stop.
I've got a feeling this will not be the last we hear of a few of Chin Music's members though, with rumours of a studio only prog rock project and lead singer Neil Kennedy running Shelter Studios, there is bound to be some influence at the very least.
You can still buy Chin Music's full length LP 'Temper Temper' from the Sotones online shop and iTunes and if you want some decent recording done check out Shelter Studios .

To listen now click on the play button below:

Chin Music - Our Last Chance mp3

First Proper Post

2008-06-18T01:45:00.001+01:00

Ok, so it's 1.45 in the morning. I've just got home from work at one of Southampton's staple venues The Talking Heads, a little bit tipsy because it's the Soundman Martin's birthday today (easily one of the best soundmen in Southampton) so we had a couple of beverages and a bit of Tom Waits before heading home.

Despite not having a proper banner up yet and a distinct lack of links and interesting things I want to have on this blog, I thought now might be a good time to do a bit of general ranting...
We've not been doing a huge amount recently due to a lack of funds but have been planting a serious amount of seeds, some of these include getting together with Tapeclub Records. A cassette tape based label situated locally that put out great stuff including a single by our very own Peter Lyons. Anyway, we've decided to work together which is great and means lots of great things coming your way soon, so keeps your eyes and ears peeled!

Joe Parker (the other co-manager) has been working on a few things in between finishing his PHD at Oxford, two stand out things being working on getting digital distribution for Sotones and it's going well, expect to be able to get all new releases online by the end of the summer. Secondly he's linked up a RSS feed from all the Sotones artists myspace blogs to their page on the Sotones website- www.sotones.co.uk, so check that out, it's a fun time and means you can easilly access all the best news about everyone from one place.

Also were sorting out some new clubnights which should be kicking off by the end of the summer so stay tuned for some awesome parties!

Hmm, what else...oh yeah we are having our annual general meeting in a week and a half which should be pretty productive and make some things happen in the way of getting our music to your ears.

Ok, I've ranted enough now and need to go to sleep, because in true Sotones botch style I'm moving out of my flat to couch-hop for a month before moving to London. Nothing is ever easy but if it means being able to do the things you want, it's always worth it.
Cheers.

Jimmy x
Sotones Music Co-Op Co-Manager

Introduction

2008-06-13T16:01:00.001+01:00

This is the official blog for Sotones Music Co-op,
As we haven't quite figured out how to use Blogger, there's not gonna be a lot up here, nor will it look nice for a little while.
Please bear with us.
When we've got our head around this stuff you can expect, news reviews, pictures, videos and mp3's about all our artists and everything and anything we're loving at the time.
In the mean time, check out www.sotones.co.uk for more information and media about us.
Cheers x