I answered a few questions for Elaine Liddle of the Scotsman.com Under The Radar feature. You can find it here:
http://www.scotsman.com/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?PageID=76397
It's been edited down to fit so I've also posted the whole thing below. Hope I don't sound too much like an arse!
Stevie x x
If you could give me some basic details about the label - when you started up, and a run-down of bands you're working with/have worked with in the past? Who else is involved in Lucky Number Nine apart from you?
LNN was started in 2006 but we had manufacturing problems with the first release meaning it didn't come out until Sept '07. My friend Dave Beaton came on board as my partner almost right away, Liz Eeuwes formats all the artwork and Stuart Purcell has helped out with press releases from time to time.
We've done two co-releases with Say Dirty Records - Zoey Van Goey and Peter Parker - with a third coming up soon featuring Paper Planes. We've also worked with Electric Honey to release a split single from Wake the President and Je Suis Animal.
The other artists we've put out are The Metro-gnomes, Golden Ghost, Symbolics, Mike Hastings & Solveig Askvik, Punch & the Apostles and Rags & Feathers.
What made you want to start a label? Glasgow has a decent history of independent labels - is it still a good place to run one?
I started the label simply because I love music and all I ever wanted to achieve was to have as many releases as Postcard Records.
I think Scotland is a good place to run a label, there is a lot of live music, plenty of good bands and I think people are happy help each other out.
There are some outstanding labels to take inspiration from too - Geographic, Rock Action, Fence and Chemikal Underground to name a few.
Where did the name Lucky Number Nine come from (it always reminds me of the Moldy Peaches song of the same name)?
I did nick it from Moldy Peaches. I was trying to come up with a name and I quite liked North Country Records but I googled it and John Squire already had it so in my frustration I named the label after the song I was listening to at that moment. It's never sat well with me if I'm being honest but it is what it is.
My friend Dep Downie has just started a label called Watts Of Goodwill and has catalogue numbers go 1 Watt Of Goodwill, 2 Watts Of Goodwill... that's good, I'd have been happy with that.
Your first release was the Metro-Gnomes - can you remember how it felt seeing the EP with your own label on it?
It was great but for me the two best things about releasing records are when the band says "yes" and playing the finished product for the first time. The bands choose their own artwork and I wouldn't mind if they left our logo off.
One of the ways you've released things is through the seven inch club, which has led to a really wide variety of music. What made you decide to do things that way? How do you go about picking bands for the series? Any favourites out of that bunch (or would it be unfair to pick one)?
Scotland has loads of talented musicians playing many different styles of music and a singles series seemed a good way to feature as many of these styles as possible.
The accepted practice for starting a label seems to be to pick a genre, stick to it and forge a niche in the market, but we aren't trying to make a living out of it so we have the freedom to showcase any act we like.
Picking the bands is always done after seeing them live, sometimes they're recommended by friends but for the most part luck and co-incidence has led to us finding them. It would be unfair of me to choose one single, I like them all, but I will say that Mike Hastings is the best guitar picker I've ever seen.
The next release will be Paper Planes - who've already been featured on UtR and seem to be picking up quite a bit of press. Can you tell us a bit about the single and single launch night?(hope to get this up in advance of it)
I really love Paper Planes. They have loads of great tracks, are amazing live and are nice folk too - they deserve all the press they get. The two songs they have chosen for the single are Doris Day and Restless, it'll be released on 7" & download on October 12th and the launch night is at the Grand Ole Opry on Thursday 8th October. Also playing on the night are She's Hit and we have DJ sets from Stephen Pastel and Gerry Love - I think it'll be a cracker.
You've also done quite a few releases with Rags & Feathers - tell me a bit about how you got involved with that act?
Andrea Tomlinson from The Metro-gnomes is also in Rags & Feathers. She introduced me to Tom Davis, the bands' singer and main songwriter and we went from there.
Their album is the only LP we've done and I'm still really proud of it. Tom is a great lyricist and there's not one mediocre song on the record.
The band took an extended break and have had a few line-up changes but they are gigging again now and sounding better than ever.
Finally you also promote music through the Silence Can Break Your Heart - what made you want to start the night up? What's been your favourite performance so far? Who would be on a dream Silence... line-up?
I'm studying, working and running the label so I don't get to gigs very much. Silence is a good way to see the bands that i like or have heard good things about.
The night has been great for the label as we've found two bands through it - Peter Parker and Paper Planes - and I also started managing She's Hit after we put them on.
I can honestly say that all the bands have been great but I really liked The Seventeenth Century gig and I can't wait for our Wave Pictures, Stanley Brinks and Freschard show at Mono in October (19th).
My dream Silence line-up would be Tom Waits, Nick Cave, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Talking Heads, The Smiths, Orange Juice... I could go on forever!
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