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Distant Noise Record Label
Tarl Broad-Ashman describes his Distant Noise Records label (Electronica and Expeimental) as,"a new small label."
This doesn't hide the fact that he has big ideas and plans. Having been
a musician for many years, Tarl had the idea to start a label but
wondered how it all worked. Then after being inspired by the actions
and results that John at Awkward Silence had, he did it himself.
Knowing that Cdr's were going to be a more
cost effective way to start releasing material than vinyl, his first
idea came to fruition. Next,Thinking about his contacts, Tarl decided
which bands he wanted to release and he admits, with a hint of suprise
that, "They all said yes! "
Distant Noise Records was created
and Tarl's label was about to bring out a series of 12 cdr releases, 1
per month for a year (the first release was planned for Jan' 2008).With
each Cdr limited to 100 copies Tarl was still testing the water and was
wondering if it was all going to work. His doubts were layed to rest
when each release started selling out and the response to his label
was overtly enthusiastic.
Releasing Cdr's by acts such as
Televise (ex Slowdive memebers), Jessica Bailiff and Absent Without
Leave, anyone can spot the quality that has come from the Distant Noise
Records stable and you have to admire Broad-Ashman's plans, as the
results are based on a real passion for releasing great music.
I
spent some time asking Tarl about his label, and found him one of the
nicest people I have come across since starting Crumbs In The Butter.
So Tarl, let’s start at the beginning. Which bands or artists really turned you on to guitar and ambient music and why?
"My
life changed when i went to the Great British music weekend at Wembley
in January 91, I saw Ride for the first time - they blew my mind. This
followed with The Pixies at the invite of my cousin when they played
the Crystal Palace bowl in June 91 - but the real change came when i
saw Slowdive later that month.. They have been, and always will be my
favorite band.. So i suppose that this is how i got into the guitar
(Indie) music. The more ambient and electronic stuff came from a
mixture of stuff i listened to at school (LFO/Tricky Disco) and the
German stuff an uncle introduced me to (Klaus Schulze in particular). I
then feel in love with Fax records, with the album Bedroom by Daniel
Pemberton being a big favorite of mine. Later came Global
Communication, who have been a huge influence."
So, which of these bands made you want to pick up the guitar and start making music?
"Once
i'd started listening to Slowdive/Chapterhouse etc I decided I wanted
to be in a band. I asked my friend and we did it... We couldnt play,
but both had a love for the music.
Where did the transistion from playing music to running a label come from?
I've
wanted to have a small label ever since I got to know John who runs the
excellent Awkward Silence Recordings, in fact i would have loved to
have stolen his idea. But the time wasnt right. So I left it until the
time was right. I have been involved loosely with Make Mine
Music(Epic45, July Skies etc etc) since it started, and with that came
a ready made support network for Distant Noise. Lots of encouragement
and potential artists to use."
How did you choose the first bands that you released on Distant Noise?
"Given
that I had decided to do a series of 12 releases for the 1st year of
Distant Noise, I thought the easiest option was to approach people that
I already knew. So the majority of people who have done releases i knew
before the first one came out. I have been very lucky that all the
people asked said yes, which is pretty cool."
If you could choose any 3 bands to put out on your label, who would they be and why?
"Wow,
that's hard. I think the first one is obvious, Slowdive - being my
fave' ever bands (highly unlikely i know!), 2nd would be Global
Communication, doing lovely ambient stuff and then 3rd I think it would
be Closedown. They did one amazing album, and thats all i know about
them..."
Tarl, tell us a bit more about your own musical project Innerise, in other words, let the readers know about this project?
"Innerise
started shortly after Drift finished and has chopped and changed lot
over the years. Nowadays it's mainly me making anything that comes out
of the computer. Sometimes I ask nice people to add bits to the music,
mainly vocals.. Hopefully there will be a new album coming out on
Distant Noise next year, with a mixture of stuff on it."
So, after running your own label, would you change anything from the past or are you happy with the way things turned out.
"To
be honest, so far everything has gone really well and im certainly
happy. The feedback has been very positive and nearly all the releases
have sold out pretty quick. There is certainly a lot of work involved,
especially as the first series of releases are all hand made..."
Did starting a label meet your expectations?
"I'm
not sure what my expectations were, i'm sure I never thought things
would sell out so quick. I remember back in January, after a few days
of the Luga release being out, very few had sold and I was getting
worried, but my wife told me not to worry and don't expect to much to
soon... it didn't take long for things to start moving. With the
Televise release selling out in a matter of days my worry went away. So
now, after 7 releases and the next one on the way, i'm very happy and
am glad that i've had a chance to release some excellent music."
What's on the horizon for the label? What comes next?
"Whats
next - well its very exciting. 2009 will be different in that I am only
doing 8 cdr releases, and they will be in digipacks this time. But
other cool news is Distant Noise will be doing some 7" releases, the
first being Air Formation, which i'm very, very excited about. Artists
lined up for next years cdr's include Cheju, Yakbone and 9 Hopeless
Skies which is also pretty cool."
Distant Noise Records Myspace Page.
Tarl, thanks so much for taking the time out and good luck with the label!
Nicky |
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