Label of Love - Usurp Records
Interview by Eddie James

Right off the bat what is the mission statement for Usurp?
Usurp is as DIY as feasibly possible for a new label without many industry connections thus far. I feel like it harks back to the punk/new wave philosophy of the late seventies of releasing stuff starting at nought pence and building it up to a scene, rather like the classic labels like Factory, Rough Trade and Creation in the 90's. I guess we are quite specifically indie-electro. I wouldn't say we were avant garde though. Splashes of that will appear intertwined within the framework of the recordings I'm sure. We are a niche pocket in Bristol right now.

There was obviously a big spotlight on Bristol music back in the 90's with the whole trip hop explosion - are we set to see a revivial in 2009?
I think it's about time Bristol came back with some new stuff. We have been labelled as purely trip-hop/drum 'n' bass for too long. I'm not saying i'm against those genres as I like aspects of both and you will hear evidence of that on Dayward's forthcoming album. Bristol is very eclectic which reflects the multicultural crossover of the city being in such close proximity to each other. Dubstep is big in Bristol at the moment. There is an arty eccentricity to the best stuff coming out right now. Kid Carpet is the epitomy of that. Dayward I think reflects that to. We like mucking about with beats, synths, squelchy bass, loops and samples down here. The bedroom producers are bursting at the floodgates.

How representative of the local scene is the Dayward material - is Electro as big there right now as everywhere else?
Dayward is quite reflective of many aspects of Bristol music. We are electronic producers using bits of everything. We are like an essence of the city. I could name about 10 electro groups or artists in the same ballpark as Dayward. It is hard to say if there is a specific electro scene. Normally you get one club night championing electro and a scene forms from that. I have set up my own club night called 'Friday Night Release' which I hold in the backroom of a pub in Bristol about every month. Perhaps something like that can grow into a bigger scene.

Was the setting up of a label something you had wanted to do for a long while or was it more a method of being able to control your own music (Dayward) and how it was released / represented?
The label formed because I was inspired by my Japanese friends (Koji and Hiroki) from their own label Sunday Tuning in Kyoto. I have had an album and single released on their label (The Boots 'Flavour of the month').
   A friendship formed in 2002 when they found some tracks of mine on mp3.com. I met Hiroki in Bristol (He is obsessed with Bristol music) and the idea to release a 7 inch in Japan was hatched. In 2005 I did a tour in Japan as 'The Boots'. In 2006, Sunday Tuning came to Bristol to play with their bands The Known and Night Teller. I did another tour of Japan in 2007. Then the album was released in Japan. I thought - if they can do it, I can do it. I was fishing around to get signed by a British label for too long, now with the music industry being in turmoil as it is, no one is getting signed. In a way it's good, it forces you to do-it-yourself.
   Quite a few bands are starting their own labels now. It's like returning to 1977 all over again. I also plan to release stuff by Bristol band Thumb Tack in the near future.

Do you have any plans to perhaps do anything in terms of bands outside Bristol (such as expoliting the Japanese connection?) or are you looking to try and keep things nice and local for the time being?
I would like to return the favour with my Japanese label Sunday Tuning. Perhaps when they decide to come back to tour the UK hopefully this year we can tie in a release of their albums through our distributor. Perhaps in 6 months time when I have enough experience of the releasing process it will happen other Bristol artists. At the moment Usurp is Dayward and Thumb Tack from Bristol. I have another indie alto ego called Moochild and The Boots. That is the music I released in Japan. I plan to release that on Usurp next year. Also there is an idea to curate a compilation of Bristol bands and tie it in with local radio stations. That would be a win win situation for Usurp, the radio stations and the artists involved. I hope it works out.

How are you looking to release these records - are you looking to live purely in the digital domain or are you branching into 7" CD etc etc?
It's a hard time for indie distributors at the moment what with indie giant Pinnacle going bust in December last year. It was beginning to get harder to get physical product on the shelves of shops as it was, now, with most smaller distributors who used Pinnacle's physical network, it's going to be almost impossible until we see an upturn in the credit crunch. It will be purely digital downloads for Usurp for the forseeable future - especially for singles. It's always good to produce CD's for albums. People prefer having something to show for their hard earned cash especially when in most cases it costs the same for an entire download as a physical CD album. I've have had a single released on vinyl and I loved it. It's a beautiful object, staring at the grooves knowing your music is on there somewhere. At the moment I see it as a bit of a luxurious 'vanity' proposition to do vinyl. If you are going for a niche market which has demand for it, then by all means do it.

There seems to be a real revival on the grassroots of music right now for small labels and indie operations - do you think is a reaction to the ongoing climate in the music industry or do you think its a sign of a more general move towards a more "feudal" existence for artists? We can perhaps all then leave the businessmen and the saturdays to fight over ringtone deals etc...
At the moment we are running things on a shoestring and the main thing you need money for is promotion. We record, mix and master on our own home equipment. We can do anything bar record a drum kit. We produce our own promo CD's and I'm a graphic design by trade so I handle artwork. I have experience in photography and video making so we film and edit youtube style pop videos ourselves. We also handle our websites www.usurp-records.com on a weekly sometimes daily basis. As of the start of this year we started our own Blog on the opening page of the site. We also update our Facebook fan page and Myspace constantly. With all this going on it will inevitably sort the wheat from the chaff. Musicians all have to look for new money making schemes in order to survive. The concept of 'selling out' will phase out. We have to be less precious about our decisions. I still want to maintain a certain artistic integrity but if a ringtone company came a knocking you just have to say 'yes' in these times. Call it the bread and butter work that pays for the good stuff. The glamour and mystery will dissolve away. The music business will become workman like. Which I think is good. A return to the '77 punk DIY ethos. A real shake up. Great things will come out of these times.

On the evidence of sparkling new single "I think I saw you for a reason" Great things do indeed seem to be afoot down in the docks... Eddie James