Debt Records

An independent record label based in Manchester

News

John Otway and The Bedlam Six

The Bedlam Six

John Otway

Manchester Dirt-Swing outfit Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six team up with their hero to create a new live album at the Dancehouse Theatre on Saturday 5th February, 2011.

It has been a busy year for the Manchester band, releasing the album “Found Drowned” in February, followed by the controversial single “Mother” (later included in Drowned In Sound’s top singles of 2010). They also played shows with rock behemoths Motörhead, jazz legends Sun Ra’s Arkestra and musical inspirations The Blockheads, before gaining national notoriety with their seedy lounge version of Take That’s “Relight My Fire”, commissioned by the BBC.

But all that is nothing compared to what they have planned. Not content to mark the release of their new record with a conventional gig, they have instead asked one of their musical heros, the anarchic John Otway, to join them for a special live recording session in The Dancehouse Theatre – a stage more famous for ballet than rock & roll.

“I first saw John Otway when I was sixteen,” says Barabbas, “he tore open his shirt, head-butted the microphone and put his head through the ceiling… to say he inspired me would be a criminally gross understatement – he was THE reason why I became a performer… I’m absolutely thrilled to finally be sharing a stage with him.”

This isn’t just a dream project for Louis though; the band are also keen to use the event as a gesture of thanks to their fanbase. Last year, members of the mailing list were asked what songs they’d like the band to play at the show and the band have since been busy rehearsing up old material and obscure covers. They have also announced that everyone present at the Dancehouse show will get their name added to the record’s liner notes and receive a free signed copy of the album upon release.

“The cyclical nature of it all is very appealing to me” says Louis, “this new record sums up the band in a way that our past releases don’t… I feel like it’s got a lot of truth in it. The decision to mark its release with a show in an old fashioned theatre, scripted in part by the audience and doubling as the next release, seemed very apt – a snapshot of The Bedlam Six on the first date of a Europe-wide tour at the beginning of a new decade. To then add to that mix a performance by the man who got me started in this business is the final piece of the puzzle – it just makes the whole thing perfect. One thing is certain: it’ll be a hard show for us to top!”

Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six with special guest John Otway will take place at The Dancehouse Theatre in Manchester on Saturday 5th February, 2011. Tickets are £10 on the door and £8 advance. The show begins at 8pm. “Get Religion!” will be on general release from Monday 7th February.

Barabbas and the Beards

Louis Barabbas

Louis BarabbasEvery now and then something crops up in the life of every record label that absolutely no one thought to prepare for. Recently just such a thing happened as Debt co-founder Louis Barabbas was approached to model for the Beards Of Manchester calendar 2011.

So it was that during one of the busiest months in the music industry calendar, Louis grabbed Alfie the Debt Records dog and flounced off to have his picture taken.

The calendar was the brain child of B&N Magazine’s Samantha Bail and Hey! Manchester’s Chris Horkan, and was produced to raise money and awareness for Manchester’s homeless charity Lifeshare.

The photographs are currently on exhibition in Common’s Kestrel Suite in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, where they will remain there until the end of the year. You can’t miss Louis’ June photo (see alongside) – it’s the biggest picture in the room!

Other beards included our friend Jay Taylor from The Ruby Lounge and Pat “Mad Dawg” Macaulay (who also has a cameo in The Bedlam Six‘s music video for their cover of “Relight My Fire” – released in November).

All photos by Gill Moore.

Visit Beards Of Manchester for more information about the project and to buy a copy of the calendar.

New Record From John Fairhurst

Uncategorised

John FairhurstInternationally acclaimed guitarist John Fairhurst is to release his much anticipated second record – enigmatically entitled “Band” – on Monday 18th October 2010 through Debt Records.

Laid down in a small German analogue studio with a group of international musicians assembled specially for the event, “Band” takes inspiration from the extensive touring John has done since his last album came out – a journey that took him to SXSW in Texas, the UK festival circuit (including Glastonbury), a three-month tour of Australia and the Far East as well as continual Europe-wide performances.

Fairhurst’s debut “Joys Of Spring” (released in 2007) was an instrumental album that daringly fused Indian classical guitar trends with the raggedy American blues licks of the early 20th century. Its limited run of 1000 copies sold out almost immediately and the critical response propelled its author onto a world tour that still continues today. Later the record even secured John endorsement from legendary US guitar manufacturers National and an apprenticeship with Sarod Maestro K. Sridhar.

Though the album featured contributions from The Leaf Label’s Nancy Elizabeth and Humble Soul’s Denis Jones, “Joys Of Spring” was for the most part a private undertaking recorded in a secluded shed in Fairhurst’s native Wigan. Its follow-up, however, could not be more different.

This latest release transports John Fairhurst’s singular blues fusion style (with newly acquired fearsome singing voice) boldly onto the dance floor. Indeed, whilst his first collection of songs exhibited an artistry that compelled audiences to sit forward in their seats and marvel, the dominant message of “Band” is undoubtedly “Get on your feet!”

John Fairhurst’s “BAND” is on general release from Monday 18th October 2010.

Debt at the Dancehouse

Alabaster dePlume, Becca Williams, Events, Richard Barry, The Bedlam Six

Debt at the DancehouseOn Saturday 16th October 2010 – as Manchester’s In The City delegates nurse their wine-hangovers and fringe promoters stack up the unused chairs – Debt Records will throw open the doors of the beautiful Dancehouse Theatre for its annual live extravaganza.

For one night only, the Northern Ballet School’s sumptuous art deco headquarters will be transformed into a hub of independent music and performance, brought to you by Manchester’s cooperative imprint Debt Records.

Debt is a label ready to admit that the music industry is currently in a condition whereby live performance is, for the first time since the formation of EMI in 1931, the only dependable way in which a artists can realistically and sustainably ply their trade. What better place then to hold this independent label’s annual party than in the splendour of a 1930s proscenium arch auditorium?

The timing is not insignificant. The three day ITC conference that precedes Debt At The Dancehouse is a world famous music industry event that will facilitate (albeit naively) many local bands being seduced into performing for no pay by fringe promoters promising them the attentive ears of hungry and sympathetic industry representatives (who, in reality, will all be half a mile away in a hotel getting drunk). Debt Records is not opposed to the ITC conference – indeed a number of Debt associates are taking part and Debt’s technical director Dan Watkins is on the team recording the event – but this showcase will be an antidote: an evening of exceptional entertainment free from agenda or artifice.

The Debt Records team believes that no space should be ignored when planning a concert. They have to date performed and organised shows in museums, churches, libraries, olive groves and derelict buildings but, for their yearly label celebration at least, they prefer to be old fashioned: a theatre is the proper place for an evening’s entertainment, especially in a time when the world outside seems so uncertain.

According to BBC Manchester, last year’s Debt At The Dancehouse elicited “a general feeling of bonhomie”. This is precisely the sentiment musical performance should be associated with rather than the commonly accepted posturing of the recorded industry. It is with a spirit of inclusion – as well as independence – that Debt Records is run. Come see for yourself on 16th October 2010.

The line-up is as follows:

John Fairhurst – “As gripping as it is totally different” – The Guardian
Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six – “Excellent in every way” – BBC 6 Music
Becca & The Broken Biscuits – “Thoughtful, emotional music that cuts to your heart and feeds your soul” – BBC Manchester
Red Tides – “Music that sounds like the last day of summer, like shadows creeping across golden fields, like the echoes of a time long past finding their way into modern-day dreams” – Manchester Music
Richard Barry & The Chaps – “A talent that Vivian Stanshall would roll around in flames for” – 3 Weeks Magazine
Alabaster dePlume – “Absolutely stunning, evocative, confusing, tragi-comic. I felt like laughing and crying – I didn’t know whether it was poetry, music or theatre, all I know is that it was wonderful” – Shambala Review
Hannah Miller (from Moulettes) – “Complex & beautiful… Intriguing & unique” – Mojo

Plus a special Debt Supergroup to close the night…

£5 advance; £8 on the door.

Tickets available in person from the box office (0161 237 9753) and online.

We hope to see you there!

Debt at the Museum

Becca Williams, Events, Honeyfeet, Louis Barabbas, Richard Barry, The Bedlam Six

It’s Un-Convention time again.

From the amazing team who brought you the public recording of an album in one day (plus a dozen international conferences and showcase events) comes Un-Convention Salford 2010 – number twelve in the Un-Con series – held in the city where it all began.

Debt’s first signing Louis Barabbas & The Bedlam Six have played at two Un-Conventions so far, and this year our little label has been asked to curate a stage of its own – a Saturday afternoon acoustic showcase in the Edwardian Engine Hall of Manchester’s People’s History Museum.

The Debt Records Stage at the People’s History Museum will be the only Un-Convention event open to the general public as well as to pass-holders (free entry).

In addition to providing music Debt’s own Louis Barabbas will don his “industry cap” and join one of the panels at Sacred Trinity Church. The discussion – entitled “Building A Sustainable Career In Music: 9-5 What A Way To Make A Living” – takes place at 2.30pm on the Saturday.

He will then be playing with The Bedlam Six on the Now Then stage at The Rovers Return at 9pm.

Line-Up for the Debt Records stage is as follows:

12.00 – 12.30 Becca & The Broken Biscuits
12.35 – 13.05 Sarah McQuaid
13.10 – 13.40 Richard Barry & The Chaps
13.45 – 14.30 Honeyfeet
14.40 – 15.10 Kaya & Captain Temper
15.15 – 15.45 Phillious Williams
15.50 – 16.20 Red Tides
16.25 – 17.00 John Fairhurst