Blog

Keeping the Faith

We're already in the last month of 2009, hurtling towards Christmas. Despite the endless deadlines and intake of new clients and thoughts of prospects for the year ahead, you just can't help but get just a little reflective around December.

We began the year really wanting to branch-out and do different things. Although London's live scene is ever burgeoning and bustling, teeming over with bands old and new playing the big smoke every night, we wanted to help bands in a different, more long-term way. PR and management was the natural route for us to take and we're really glad we took this road. Our very first clients were Phantom, Prego and 85 Bears and we couldn't have wished for better people to work with. As with every new project, starting a PR arm of the company was a little daunting at first but we were genuinely appreciative and overwhelmed with the support from the press covering our bands. As time went on, we were really pleased Function Records joined, bringing all their fantastic bands with them. Shane of Function Records is a breathe of fresh air - he is passionate about his bands, focussed on pushing them whilst considering the business side of things but is also really open to new ideas too - we have deep respect for him and the label.

It's been a really hard working year establishing new contacts, strengthening bonds with existing ones and seeing all the effort and passion we put into every project result in a great quote, a "Track of the Day" or airtime on radio. No matter how far we travel or how large we grow, I know we'll always feel equally as chuffed for every single bit of press we generate for our bands.

I guess, all in all, this year has restored my faith a little in the "scene". I love music with an unbridled passion - it's my life and the reason I wake up every morning and slave tirelessly over my laptop, but it's easy to feel your hope fading a little every time you hear yet another yawnsome record being spun on radio or see yet another "haircut" band or pop gimmick being covered in a magazine. However, we've been shown that there are some great people out there writing about brilliant bands. Collectives like Glasgow Podcart fly the flag for small bands all over with a heavy focus on Scotland and magazine's like Rock Sound and Rock-A-Rolla try and review a diverse range of acts giving coverage to some really brilliant wee finds. Websites like The Line of Best Fit and The Quietus are brilliant online hubs for quality writing and brilliant features and XFM's John Kennedy definitely deserves respect for playing challenging bands like Ex Libras and Nitkowski on his Xposure show.

So with a very hardworking 2009 almost done and dusted, we're looking forward to an equally challenging 2010. We can't believe it's almost 2010 - it sounds a bit too sci-fi to be considered a real year! Having done the PR for art project Art for Kunst, it has definitely reminded us of our second loves - art and fashion. We hope that we can work with similar companies, events and brands in the new year.

Well, that's my little outpouring of love for the time being. It's been hard at times but nothing is ever easy and, hey, life would be a bit dull if it was! We can only hope that the good vibes continue to roll into next year!

Bring it on!

Wee C x