Olive Grove Records
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In late 2010, Halina Rifai (founder of Glasgow PodcArt) made a phone call to infamous Scottish blogger Peenko (a.k.a Lloyd Meredith) and posed the question: “How do you feel about starting a DIY label together?”This was the start of Olive Grove Records. Both Lloyd and Halina wanted something that matched their ethos when it came to their individual projects, so it needed to be a label that was both innovative and independent. A label that would act as a platform for the artists they took under their wing, and one that would echo the grass roots experience that they were accustomed to.
Olive Grove Records' first release came from fresh-faced Randolph’s Leap, and their debut EP Battleships & Kettle Chips was the perfect introduction. Olive Grove maintained that they always wanted to bring something interesting and exciting to physical releases, so it was decided every release would have a limited edition of physical copies pressed that had their very own unique signature. With the talents of friends such as I Heart… and others they created handmade copies of each of the releases.
There are also digital copies of each release available to keep up to date with the ever-changing industry, but the label wanted to keep that special element of having something physical on offer for the public.
Subsequent releases included loop maestro Esperi, elusive and BBC Radio 6 favourite The Son(s), Dundonian alternative rock pioneers Pensioner and the most recently Scottish super group The Moth & the Mirror. The aim in choosing each artist was to mirror the eclectic tastes of the owners, but more importantly the artists had to have a touch of brilliance about them.
Less than a year on, and Lloyd and Halina have had tremendous success thanks to the talent and hard work of the artists. Their roster has received regular play on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Scotland and the bombastic 4-piece Pensioner have even recorded a Radio 1 BBC Introducing Live Session! With publications such as The List and The Unsigned Guide doing a full feature on the label, and music website Drowned in Sound featuring the duo, it is not surprising that they are well on their way to becoming an established indie favourite in Scotland.
