Young, Gifted And Manc

The first thing you notice about Andy Votel is his footwear. Peeking out from under his flared denim hems are a pair of ruby Adidas trainers that, were he to click three times together, would probably send him straight back to Manchester ( They re a big passion of mine rare as fuck. I have them imported from Eastern Europe especially. ). Next thing you notice is how tired he looks. Apparently the current British railway fiasco does not a happy jobbing DJ make. Especially if, on the way to catch your flight, and already struggling with a hangover, you get stuck in a compartment with the wrong crowd ( Full of Rugby dudes drinking ale at seven o clock in the fucking morning. The last thing I wanted to see was more booze. ). Thirdly, and finally, what you notice, what jumps up demanding your attention, is just how young Andy Votel is. Because the part time shoe importer and full-time video director, sleeve designer, remixer, production guru, label boss and nascent recording artist is still only a (dis) heartening 24 years old.

If an idea comes up I ll go with it because you have to strike while the iron s hot. In two years time I might go blank and have no ideas at all.
He s a pragmatic sod as well.
Over the course of the last five years, Andy has, in various capacities, worked with an array of gifted mavericks, and can count the likes of Mr Scruff, Ian Brown, Richard Fearless, James Lavelle, Justine Frischman and DJ Shadow as satisfied customers. But, ironically enough, given his immaculately connected Noughties IT Boy status, it is in the scraggy form of Damien Badly Drawn Boy Gough that he has found his most rewarding creative partnership. Not only did Andy produce tracks on BDB s Mercury award-winning The Hour Of Bewilderbeast, but the duo co-run Manchester s Twisted Nerve label home of Mum And Dad, Alfie and the red-eyed, woolly-hat fetishist himself. Andy freely admits that they make something of an odd couple. The first time they met, he thought Gough was just this dead scruffy looking pissed bloke and it was only when he produced a smartly designed business card that Votel in need of some promotional gimmicks for his own club nights began to take notice.
Straight away I was thinking Oh, this guy can print stickers on the cheap for me . So we started talking about that. I told him I worked for Grand Central records and he thought I said Grand Royal. So, he got in touch with me because he wanted to be signed by the Beastie Boys, and I got in touch with him cos I wanted some free stickers. For the next three or four months me and Damien had this perverse creative relationship going where we didn t talk about anything other than music and Woody Allen films. I didn t even know his second name.
Somehow within a year they were business partners and, as interest in Badly Drawn Boy mushroomed, the label blossomed. Now, inevitably (and prematurely) Twisted Nerve has begun to attract comparisons with Tony Wilson s Factory the definitive Manc pantomime-cum-business concern. It s not an association that Andy is overly concerned with avoiding.
I think the comparisons with Factory crop up because of the idiosyncrasy, because it is characteristically a Manchester record label. I think there is very much a Northern sense of humour to it. Twisted Nerve is a very organic label the whole aesthetic is very earthy and warm. It s very much a people s label, a homegrown label.
And, as if to emphasise its communal bent, Andy himself has finally gotten round to releasing his own album. Styles Of The Unexpected is, despite what it says on the tin, everything you would expect of a self-professed disciple of cut and match aesthetic. All over the place (he s a devotee of both Serge Gainsbourg and Ozzy Osborne) but cool with it.
The fact that it took a couple of years to make has been a real asset. It gives it a really varied tone I think. Like there s all sorts of stuff on it I ve a bit of rock stuff there, a bit of hip-hop, a bit of electronica and some cinematic stuff. It s like playing with toy blocks. A couple of years ago in Manchester there were reviews of me saying that I played to empty dancefloors. But I didn t really give a shit. I ve always wanted to mess things about a bit. There s nothing better than playing Cream or somewhere like that to lots of gurning, E d-up clubbers and sticking on The Wizard by Black Sabbath. That s the kind of spirit I want to inform everything I m involved with. Try to keep it fresh and honest.
Now, if he could only get Damon to shave.

Styles Of The Unexpected is out now.