Interview with Mike Darby for ‘Lights Go Out’
INTERVIEW FOR – ‘LIGHTS GO OUT’ FANZINE MARCH 2010
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES
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Bristol Archive Records is a record label dealing in Bristol post punk 1977 onwards. They aim to showcase music from the diverse Bristol Music scene and provide a historical account / document of all things Bristol that should never be forgotten. Many of the artists and releases are rare, unknown or never before released. The material has been lovingly digitally remastered from vinyl, ¼ inch tape, dat or cassette. The original vinyl releases would generally have been limited to runs of 1000 copies or less. We caught up with head honcho Mike Darby to chat about the label…
Hi Mike, thanks for chatting to us at Lights Go Out. So firstly, what made you start up Bristol Archive Records?
2008 was probably the start up period. It all happened quite quickly when a friend of mine, Dave Bateman, Vice Squad’s guitarist, passed away suddenly. It got me thinking about all the other guys who had either died or who would be forgotten if we didn’t create an historical vault of information of all the things that made up the Bristol music scene. Bristol is known for Portishead, Massive Attack, Smith and Mighty, but all these guys found their style, their vision, their confidence in music from the past, and much of this would have stemmed from the punk scene, 1976 onwards, the clubs…and the Bristol vibe.
You obviously release punk bands from days gone by, are these bands all bands you remember seeing years ago?
Yes but mainly from 1978 so I missed the first wave The Cortinas, The Pigs and Social Security.
Does the label help you find new bands you missed back then?
Good god yes indeed – it’s like a magnet for old recordings, cassettes, demos, dats, recordings which most probably have sat under the bed or rested in the attic forever and a day.
Which Bristol bands have been your favourite and most missed?
THE POP GROUP
TALISMAN
ELECTRIC GUITARS
THE SEERS
THE VARIOUS ARTISTS
Obviously Vice Squad are still playing and packing out venues, are you surprised to see them still so active?
It’s not Vice Squad is it! It’s Becky with three other guys. Dave is dead and Shane and Mark aren’t in the band so to me it’s not the same. I come from the same village as Becky and went to Youth Club with her so I will always wish her and the band all the very best.
They feature on your new compilation as well, how easy was it to pick the tracklisting for this release?
Shane Baldwin the original Vice Squad drummer helped me put it together, it was pretty easy as The Archive had most of the recordings.
Is the label more a hobby and a way or remembering bands who run the risk of being lost to the archives or are there some exciting new bands in Bristol that will be on the label?
My other label www.sugarshackrecords.co.uk releases new music. Bristol Archive Records is more than a hobby it’s a mission.
What have you found the hardest things about running the label?
Lack of money, time and energy.
At the end of the 70’s and into the 80’s fanzines were a huge part of punk culture, did you ever put one out yourself?
No sorry, I was in band The Rimshots.
Where there many zines around back then and which ones would you recommend?
If you go to the Fanzine download section of the site www.bristolarchiverecords.com you can download full PDF’s of Fanzines from 1977 ‘Loaded’ is great. Big news today as Bear Hackenbush has just agreed for his fanzines to be downloadable ‘Skate Muties’ and ‘Bugs and Drugs’.
Are there any punk/music fanzines still around Bristol?
Yes but not 100% what they are called I know Shane Baldwin still writes one.
What are your main memories from punk in Bristol in the late 70’s early 80’s?
The fusion of black and white influences. The brilliance of Talisman, Black Roots, Restriction — these great bands helped create and influence where we are today.
The Pop Group: weird, out there, unique, brilliant. Talisman: great songs, the best reggae band in Britain.
The Cortinas: the leaders, the trendsetters…1976 punk.
Andy Fairley: unknown, art, off the wall, out of his head, Mark Stewart [of The Pop Group] and [Portishead's] Geoff Barrow love his music, dead.
The Various Artists: pop, songs, hooks, should have been massive.
Electric Guitars: creative, great look, great songs, different, left field but still strangely commercial.
Shoes For Industry: A theatre company, a record label, art, music, visuals.
Bristol is probably more known for trip-hop bands like Massive Attack and Portishead but it seems like there was a huge punk scene there, is this still the case these days?
There has always been a strong underground Rock scene, problem is NO Rock band from Bristol has ever done anything on a national or international scale so Bristol will always be: MASSIVE ATTACK, PORTISHEAD, SMITH AND MIGHTY, TRICKY & RONI SIZE
Has the internet helped you find bands and people related to the Bristol punk scene?
Yeah, Facebook has been a great help.
I read that you’re doing digital only releases? Is this because it’s because the bands never really made it out of Bristol and that’s where the fan base is or is it more a sign of the way independent labels need to go these days? Or maybe both?
Both really, its cost effective to test the water. We have released ‘Western Stars ‘ The Bands That Built Bristol on CD. And we have the following release schedule in place on cd and vinyl:
BRISTOL THE PUNK EXPLOSION – CD
THE CORTINAS ALBUM ‘MK 1’ – VINYL
THE BEST OF HEARTBEAT RECORDS – CD
THE BEST OF FRIED EGG RECORDS – CD
AVON CALLING 2 – CD
THE BEST OF THE BRISTOL RECORDER AND WAVELENGTH RECORDS
What releases do you have in a pipeline for the rest of 2010?
As above.
How can people get hold of your releases?
All major distribution outlets, Amazon, Play, HMV and Record Shops and www.bristolarchiverecords.com
Thanks for chatting with us and finally, what words of wisdom can you leave our readers with?
Be open minded and love Bristol music.
Cheers,
Mr. T
For more info click on the link below:
http://www.protesteverything.com/lgo/?page_id=183&page=11
