Transgressive Records is the dream coming true. Run by two still-impossibly-young dudes, Tim and Toby have been running their own label for what will be five years this September.
WORDS: STEPHEN PIETRZYKOWSKI
They’re a prescient pair, launching the careers of British indie heavyweights Foals, The Noisettes and Mystery Jets, as well as licensing killer records by The Shins and Iron & Wine. It’s their job. They get paid to release music, but without the major label pressures of having to sign something horrendous like The Enemy. They also get to travel the world and do cool things like be on MTV and meet Iggy Pop and Steve Albini. Theirs is a rare privilege and I’m totally jealous. And to compound my envy, they’re actually really nice people too. God, I hate them (not really. Can i have a job please?)
With their fifth anniversary coming up in September, celebrated with a trio of shows featuring label signees Young Knives, Foals and Johnny Flynn amongst others, I spoke with the lucky bastards to shed some light on just how they’ve managed to get this far while the rest of the industry is falling apart like an erection in a cold shower. Surprisingly, it turns out that running a successful independent record label is really hard work. It’s still better than working in a crisp factory though. I get the feeling they know this too.
You’re well known as a team – how did you meet?
Tim: Toby and I met at a gig, the best place for all music fans to get together. I was selling a record by the band that Toby was putting on… we bartered to blag tickets/records from each other and struck up a friendship.
Toby: It was a massive shock to the system, meeting Tim. I’ve only had it very few times before where an intuitive bolt of energy rushes through me and simply demands; “you have to know/be involved with this person you don’t even know!”
What’s the best thing you’ve done as a pair – kind of like a “fuck, I can’t believe we’re doing this” kind of moment?
Tim: Recently it struck me we were doing something exceptional when we were casually sitting down for pizza with Graham Coxon. I got a little flustered taking it back to when I was a kid hearing “You’re So Great” for the first time, and then sitting down with your hero and deciding the best way to put out his masterpiece.
How easy was it to set up Transgressive?
Tim: Set up equals easy as pie. Sustaining it takes every waking hour and insane dedication however.
Toby: It was surprisingly natural. Fill in a few forms, start a company, open a bank account, then do the fun stuff. Not much has changed.
What’s the most rock and roll thing you’ve done?
Tim: This week? I tried to convince a Northern Irish attendant to let us and our new (Northern Irish) signing do some bowling after-hours by screaming: “Don’t you know who we are? We’re your childhood heroes ASH!” That was about as drunk and disorderly as I get.
You’re working with Ash?!
Tim: No, no, no, no, no…. I was drunkenly trying to persuade her to let us in by claiming we were Ash, her fave band. We tend to stay sober so the bands don’t have to worry about their professional affairs being screwed up by a crew of party guys.
Toby: The music industry is known for its decadence, but I find half of it fucking cheesy. Having said that, doing a drunken forward-roll three times in a row down the aisle of a plane, narrowly missing stewardesses, for the promise of £10 springs to mind.
Did you get the £10?
Toby: Yes, I did. Weirdly enough, it was George Lamb that gave it to me.
Musicians can be notoriously difficult to work with – have you any funny stories of inappropriate demands/diva behaviour?
Toby: Not related to our artists, thankfully. I was at Primavera this spring, where Wavves did that now-legendary onstage meltdown. It was a bit upsetting. The bit where his drummer poured his drink over his head was probably a telling sign that things were bad. I don’t think our modern culture is loose and relaxed enough as it was in the 60s or 70s to provide a reassuring platform for such hedonism/demands. Everything’s too orderly and neurotic these days.
That considered, would you rather be a ‘rock star’ or a label owner?
Tim: It’s funny… In a sense, as a label owner you have a lot of chances. You can enjoy the thrill of a pop hit at the same time as seeing a small crowd get off to some obscure instrumental remix album… it’s super rewarding for the musically open minded.
Toby: I know what Tim’s saying. It’s harder to continually reinvent yourself successfully as a musician, because the moment you become popular, the harder it is to innovate and still maintain that appreciation. So few get it right – Blur and Radiohead did, but they’re very rare cases. Tim was in a band, I’m still in a hobby band…
You don’t harbour any secret desires to be up on the stage yourself?
Tim: We’re both show off’s at heart, but I think for the moment, it’s about encouraging others.
I guess you’re seen as tastemakers. What would you say is the best album ever made?
Tim: “Lick My Decals Off Baby” by Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band
Toby: “Marquee Moon” by Television. I was so moved by it, I did a GCSE art project based on the title track.
I once drew a cartoon to pictorially represent the lyrics to “Dry County” by Bon Jovi.
Tim: For real?! That’s one of my favourite ‘Jovi songs. I saw him do it at Wembley Stadium and nearly wept, but they cut that track (and Ritchie Sambora’s insane solo prior to it) from the “Live in London” DVD. Shame. I once almost met Bon Jovi at the penthouse of the Trump Tower in New York whilst I was trying to negotiate a US home for the Noisettes. He slammed a door in my face. I think it was an accident but he’s certainly shorter than you’d imagine.
Did you know Jon Bon Jovi used to drink gallons of soda water under the (possibly deluded) impression that it would make his penis bigger? I’m not sure it works…
Tim: No, I didn’t know that! Why would that work? Why didn’t he just use a vacuum cleaner like everyone else?
Presumably it’s easier to get soda water on a rider…
And with that beautiful thought, that, as they say, is that. In an attempt to banish ill thoughts of the New Jersey Devil, Tim and Toby have also compiled a Spotify playlist of their ten favourite Transgressive songs. Yep, it’s pretty bloody good.
Tracklisting:
1. Foals – “Electric Bloom”
2. Young Knives – “Terra Firma”
3. Johnny Flynn – “Tickle Me Pink”
4. Esser – “Headlock”
5. Noisettes – “Saturday Night”
6. So So Modern – “Synthgasm”
7. Liam Finn – “Second Chance”
8. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – “Woodfriend”
9. Graham Coxon – “Sorrow’s Army”
10. Mechanical Bride – “The Final”
