Label Profile: High Voltage - Manchester, UK - Autumn 2006
By: Gareth Roberts
In a city where the musical landscape is still largely dominated by the towering eyesores of it's past, it is left to a few brave individuals to plug away in an attempt to push things forward. The High Voltage label is at the forefront of Manchester's musical output at the moment, and if releasing records from the regions best new bands isn't enough, they also produce a free monthly fanzine and run their own club night. Rockfeedback caught up with founder Rich in the week leading up to the influential In The City conference for a quick, but nonetheless inspiring chat.
Rockfeedback: People would be forgiven for thinking that the Manchester music scene has been a little sterile over the past few years (at least when compared to the 'heydays' of the past few decades), what's your evaluation of the current climate?
Rich, High Voltage: "Its always a case of peaks and troughs really. At the moment we're seeing people like The Longcut and Liam Frost, who've just released two amazing albums, Nine Black Alps came out a bit earlier, then there's The Whip, Polytechnic and the KBC. So there's 4 or 5 bands that will be progressing to the next level in the next six months, then there's newer bands like Bureau and The Answering Machine (pictured, below left). But there are also a lot of other bands who we're hearing for the first time and have maybe only done one or two gigs who sound brilliant. So there are a lot of bands at different stages of development. There are a lot of people wanting to start club nights and record labels, you're always going to get that in Manchester, especially with all the students coming in and wanting to get involved and coming up with ideas. I don't necessarily like all the old Manchester bands, and that worries me a bit. But that attitude is always there. There's a big acoustic scene in Manchester as well, and the house scene is popular too. So there are a lot of people wanting to be a part of that, including us, Blowout, Akoustic Anarkhy etc."
RF: Do you think there are enough people making the effort, enough to really change things or at least facilitate an element of progression?
R, HV: "Well, Manchester is still not a massive city, and people operate well in there own little circles, but there's always stuff going on at places like the Waldorf, the Bierkeller, and in Fallowfield and Withington as well. I think a lot of people just put on some bands and some djs and get their mates along, but for us its more about showcasing bands we're releasing records by. There are a lot of people doing their own thing in Manchester, but a lot of them if they have a bad night will give up, whereas we've had plenty of shockers but have kept at it. For us it's a long term thing, a lot of people finish uni and then go home, but this is our job now. We've always been focused on steadily building it up."
RF: In terms of releasing records, which labels inspired you to take the plunge?
R, HV: "Probably Fierce Panda were the biggest influence, I started reading Melody Maker when I was 14, and I was reading about bands like Coldplay and other Fierce Panda acts and it was really inspiring. I really like the stuff that Marquis Cha Cha and Transgressive put out, they're very passionate about what they're doing. Although I do think its easier being based in London, that's why In the City is really important for us in terms of generating interest because by the end of the year we'll have released 17 records yet still a lot of people have never heard of us, which is a bit annoying. I love Dance to the Radio in Leeds as well, and I actually gave Whiskas advice on how to start the label before he was in Forward Russia. We sat down for a couple of cups of tea and had a chat about how to go forward. I think that people in the North have to make that connection with each other and share information like contacts and the like."
RF: How do you go about finding your artists?
R, HV: "Because we pick up on bands so early, a lot of them need guidance, a lot of them don't have management. It helps us that we're involved with all our artists from the start. Having the club night also helps us pick up on new bands, like the KBC - it's really good to see them go from playing to ten people to having a hopefully big album."
RF: What are the main difficulties you've encountered?
R, HV: "Financial mainly, we've managed to be clever with the club night, we have a few shockers but we have a lot that are sold out, so we mainly get funded from that. We've had gigs like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah who sold 600 odd tickets, so gigs like that really help us out. But whilst I was still at uni I worked night shifts and used my student loan to pay for the first releases. If I had ten grand right now I could spend it on bills and other stuff we'd like to do. It is hard work because as soon as money comes in we've got to spend it on bills and mastering etc."
RF: Any regrets?
R, HV: "Yeah, The Whip really wanted us to release their first single 'Frustration', we had a choice between releasing that and the Dead Disco single, we only had the funds for one, and we went for Dead Disco, which was great, but with The Whip being a Manchester band and with New Order being one of my favourite bands of all time and them having that influence, it was hard. I don't really have regrets, but that still bothers me. Also we had a chance to put out the Arctic Monkeys single, we were about a month late on that."
RF: What are your ambitions for the label?
R, HV: "Well, it's always been about the momentum of the label really, I've never really sat down and thought, right, I want to be here in two years or anything like that. The compilation that's coming out in November is a big release for us. I'm really pleased with what we've done so far but it's an ongoing and gradual thing. The ultimate ambition is to see a band you've put on to ten people move up to play the Academy or the Apollo, so that's the ongoing motivation. I wouldn't be doing this if I thought that wasn't going to happen soon."
And who would bet against them? Not me. The 'Full Charge' compilation is released on November 20th, for those still unaware of Manchester's finest, it's an essential introduction to one of the most exciting labels around at the moment, and hopefully it will see High Voltage gain the recognition and respect they deserve.