Hit the north: Catch him if you can

Pinning down mercury would be a simpler task than getting hold of Andrew Ferris. The Derry man stands as a sterling (and timely) example of light-footed versatility and can-do vigour – dividing himself (with little evidence of dilution) between his various roles as musician (with Jetplane Landing), PR flag-waver, and all-round DIY-dervish.

Throughout the course of the decade, and alongside bandmate Jamie Burchell, Ferris has also worked tirelessly to establish Smalltown America Records as the most exciting independent label in Ireland: stockpiling a roster which should put much larger concerns to shame. Oppenheimer, FWW and Hooray For Humans are just a small example of the acts who have been welcomed under the SAR tent.
Next month sees them release the debut album from And So I Watch You From Afar – a record that already feels like a significant staging post in Northern music.
So, stun gun at the ready, we thought it was about time we tried to get Mr Ferris to sit still and explain himself.

What made you start the label?
Primarily to release the first Jetplane Landing album Zero For Conduct; Jamie and I decided that we wanted to put out records without external interference! In 2001, we put our hands in our pockets and got the first one out the door. Eight years and sixty records later, we’re still at it!
What’s STA’s motivating ethos?
Our mantra is ‘Good Music Needs To Be Heard’ – we only release records that we would like to buy ourselves, so we try to deliver beautiful product, well-recorded at the right price. The thing that motivates me personally is the constant quality of the art our bands produce: sleeve-art, photography and video as well as their music. I’m interested in the whole experience a band can give you and how that can make your life better. I want people to put their headphones on on the way to work and escape into a label that they can trust.
Lots of musicians question the need for a label these days, what answer would you give them?
I would agree up to a point – there is nothing stopping a band bringing its own music to market. DIY is no longer an aesthetic value but a sound, practical business model. However, to be financially self-sufficient requires significant initial investment and thousands of hours. Very little of this work has anything to do with art and mostly is to do with logistics. We view ourselves as a creative agency rather than a record label. We strategise, promote and advise our artists daily in a very bespoke and careful way. It’s difficult for an artist to have objectivity over their own career – that’s where we come in.
We’re in the midst of a global economic meltdown: what are the implications for a label of your size?
It’s actually advantageous to us, last year was our busiest yet in terms of sales: distribution warehouses are closing; larger labels folding so the marketplace is smaller – yet there are still the same numbers of music lovers out there willing to buy quality, independent music. The challenge is finding them – so we work very hard on new ways to communicate with our customers through social networking sites, our blog, old fashioned telephone calls and the occasional letter in the post! Hopefully when all the craziness dies down we’ll be the same sized fish in a much smaller pond.
The Northern scene is getting bigged-up at the moment. Is there substance to the optimism, or is it in danger of being over-hyped?
Scene-based journalism is cyclical - it’s Belfast today but could be Toronto tomorrow. The attention is not undeserved, I think that with Fighting With Wire, General Fiasco, Cashier No. 9 and And So I Watch You From Afar – there is a critical mass of solid talent that we haven’t had for a number of years. Over-hype is the fulcrum of music journalism; it’s never going to change – if the right acts are clever enough, we might see a spate of signings and I’d rather the money come into Ireland than elsewhere.
Tell us about the ASIWYFA record.
On April 13th, their debut album will melt faces. It’s brilliantly recorded and mathematically executed. For me they’re a post-punk, instrumental Rage Against The Machine. They completely sideswiped us in ‘08, as they seemed to improve every single week. The band are genuinely nice guys, a pleasure to work for. They are really flying the flag for the NI scene and becoming standard bearers for the Do It Yourself (and for Do It For Others) movement. I love them.
What have you planned for the rest of the year?
We have awesome albums coming out by Calories (Pavement-style pop genius), Alan MX (Peaches meets Thom Yorke in a strip bar) and Let Our Enemies Beware (bass guitar-less, groove driven, technical wizards) as well as continuing to work with ASIWYFA and Fighting With Wire. This year we’ve acquired our own premises and warehouse in Derry so we’ll be looking forward to stuffing even more envelopes for our customers! As well as our release schedule we run monthly shows in Derry and London and are putting a festival together for both cities towards the end of this year. We’re completely up for people helping out and love hearing from new acts, so if you’re in a band and would like to send us something give us a shout [[email protected]].

See www.smalltownamerica.co.uk