Brainlove Records: An Interview with John Brainlove
Sat waiting in a vacant hotel lobby; with walls clinging to dated, crumbling art deco fascias that one day were pristine and meant something to someone, I await the arrival of a media pioneer, an implementer, a man of no small reputation for fierce opinion and a fevering passion for music, dare I call him a mogul? Not to his face, not this time. I await: John Brainlove. With eyes in soft focus in this mildly lit room, John Brainlove cuts a fine form of a man who for all
the mystique and internet generated persona of being opinionated beyond the point of reason and cutting when is the prerogative of his fancy, he is mild mannered, gentle and relaxed…Of course, none of this has actually taken place, that is merely the implied setting of what one may consider to be the functional, traditional set up of an interview. These however are modern times. Things have changed. They needed to. This mission to draw information from the rock of Brainlove records has been conducted through the medium of the internet. This is what happens nowadays. This internet malarkey is the future. It is being used with gumption and aplomb to distribute the sounds of the unsigned, and this man, the brains behind the love for music is the peddler of musical candy to the kids of the World.
So, what of the record company?
Its not just the man behind it, this is a World of opportunities for unsigned
bands of a nature defined ‘original’, rather than ‘awkward’
as would be the derisory label given by other record companies to bands
that dare to be different; looking to use that quirk to their advantage.
Unleashing riotous melody, intriguing ideas and electronic manipulations
left right and centre. The product up for discussion today, a singles
club, in exchange for no large change, a regular monthly flow of MP3s
and/or 7” Vinyl of songs from artists being held in the Motherly
clutches of John Brainlove.
What is the thinking
behind this venture- is it more than a self indulgent effort to satiate
your lust for DIY bands and electro?
Well, I do have a strong appetite for new stuff, definitely. I would look
How do you go about commandeering acts to put their music out on your label? Is there a strict policy or purely personal taste that drives you to acquire more acts?
When we work with bands, it’s more of a partnership really. We help each other out. There’s definitely a connecting thread that links the bands we work with, although it’s an obscure, ephemeral, mystical thing that we could talk about for hours and not nail down. This label started because all my favourite bands a few years ago were totally underexposed, and kept finding themselves being marginalised with not enough support and organisation to get them ‘out there’. But there are audiences out there for most things, and there are ‘nuff DJs and journalists that are receptive to all kinds of music. It’s just a matter of getting your shit together and joining the dots. So I guess that’s my self-appointed job or a part of it at least.
You incorporate a plethora of methods to cover acts, and not just your own artists-BRAINLOVE TV is a great way of getting live, exclusive performances and promo videos etc out to the masses…How do you see this function developing and do you see it as an effective way of showcasing talent given the prevalence of the internet as a marketing tool in these heady e-times?
I’m really excited about Brainlove TV at the minute. YouTube makes it possible to record a gig on Hi-8 and share it within minutes of getting home, head still spinning, ears still ringing and clothes stinking of smoke, and have hundreds of people reliving it all over the world within hours. It’s amazing really. And the Brainlove TV site is like an umbrella for all of the music we know and love that maybe not everyone has heard yet. That’s what it’s all about for me – bringing the creative and wonderful music that exists on the fringes and driving it forward, onwards and upwards. And maybe, in some way, this can be part of helping to swing the general climate towards a place where more artistic musical forms are accepted by a wider audience. If enough people pull in the same direction, to popularise the riches of the underground, maybe bigger things would change, and one day we wouldn’t see Blunt at the top of the charts any more but someone who actually deserves to be there. I guess I see it as some kind of a civic fucking duty to try and debunk the anti-creative hegemony that’s squatting over the arts in this country right now. And this is my small way of trying to contribute to that. If that doesn’t sound horribly grand, as I am prone to do I think…
The singles club is strictly vinyl and mp3 releases only-is this a stoic approach of ‘vinyl is best’ as well as incorporating the demand for electronic copies?
Well, I have come to hate CDs. They are just a plastic carrier for
How often do you plan
to release through the singles club? Who is next for release and what
can we look forward to?
The singles club is off and running - number 2 is released on the 28th
of this month - its Tim Ten Yen's dynamic Casio show and the warm math-pop
of Shimura Curves.
…and we’ve just
confirmed Germlin for an appearance later down the line… that boy
is a proper genius. Look him up on MySpace, readers. Planningtorock and
Anat Ben-David are gonna be on number 4 with Bishi and Vicki Churchill,
which is very exciting. There will also be some releases away from the
singles club, including an EP from Pagan Wanderer Lu which was produced
with Napoleon IIIrd fairy dust.
What do you see as the failings of the current music industry that you
believe your label can readdress?
Hahaha. Hmmm. Is this where I rant for half an hour? I think I already
touched on this… the music industry is hugely problematic to me,
yeah. I believe music is an art form before it’s a commodity, but
even that simple equation has become incredibly warped by the industry.
And in my own bubble, yes, it’s possible to redress that, of course.
In a wider sense - possibly. Maybe as we get bigger we can do more. Who
knows?
Riotous, electronic, glitch-pop is a niche in which you have a great passion-how did this manifest itself?
Well, I got into that through two friends, Brian and Fidel, when they were in a band called Bureau De Change. I was in a band called The $hit with Brian for a while but it imploded, as bands tend to do when girlfriends are over involved. I went solo. Fidel is now the guitar-singer-slinger in the Applicants. Between them, they’re totally responsible for wrecking my once respectable taste. I just got bored of the same old traditional structures in songs and the same old indie sounds. And it turned out lots of other people are too and so there are whole new types of stuff evolving out of it all.
What plans do you have
for reaching out to a wider audience, away from London etc? Are there
are live events or label nights planned?
We tour, we run nights all over the country when we can, we have
bands from all over the country and the world, not just London – as far a field as New York, Iceland and Sweden… Leeds to London, Birmingham to Brighton. The Brainlove Roadshow is available for anyone who wants to book us!
What would Jesus do
once he had signed up to the Brainlove Singles club found at www.brainloverecords.com
where there are several affordable options to be a part of this musical
cocaine venture, that one day will make you enough money to buy a Jag?
Be born. Make a big fuss.
Die nastily; inadvertently create a big stupid supercult...
Oh wait, that’s what he did already. What would he do now? Try to
get on Big Brother, probably, to spread da message. Then get voted out
against Peter Beardsley.
Interview by James Ainsworth