Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the German Shepherd Records Newsletter.

This week

• The latest release from Moff Skellington and his forthcoming Manchester Gig
• A new release from Night Operations with special remix guests
• Our brand new subscription service for fans
• Forthcoming gigs

MOFF SKELLINGTON

Poet of the obscure and Eddodi master Moff Skellington returns, on October 12th, with a new four track EP – Uncle Roy’s Utopian Vision #2 – the follow up to August’s six track first volume of the saga of the mysterious Uncle Roy. The creation of this latest four track was spontaneous, taking just one morning, with Moff employing the drum machine to create a different sound than avid Skellington watchers are used to, a surreal re-interpretation of early Cabaret Voltaire (Chris Watson period) and Moff faves Pere Ubu steeped in an bubbling stew of Yorkshire charm. This is Moff stripped back and playing in a different musical kitchen than usual.

Lead track – A Love Song can be streamed here….

Moff plays The Peer Hat, Manchester on October 11th with his popular lantern show. Entry is a mere £3.50, there are no prior tickets, opening time is 7:30pm and he promises an entertaining evening of wonderment.

NIGHT OPERATIONS

Mike Powell returns as Night Operations with a new EP extracting tracks from this years Advantage album with a few added bonuses. Hailed by “Get To The Chorus” blog via a great video from Phil Shaw the new extended play includes a single and album version of the sci-ti tinged “Area 51” and three remixes of the albums standout track “Forbidden Fruit” by The Screaming Love Collective, Issac Navaro, and Auster Boys. More information next week.

 

OUR NEW SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

We have been struggling for a while to ensure that we balance our books and maintain our not for profit service. After a bit of research we have taken the decision to use Bandcamp’s subscription service.

With our subscription, fans and followers can get all of our new releases for just £40 a year (less than a pound a week!), while supporting our label and our roster of great artists directly. Given we release over 40 items a year this is a great value for money choice.

If participants would like to pay more for their subscription they can. Ten subscribers would help us balance the books for this financial year but many more would allow us the freedom and flexibility to do a lot more.

German Shepherd is owned, operated and funded by us, on a not for profit basis We pride ourselves on being grass-roots, DIY and artist-focused. We started in 2014 and have been slowly growing a fan base and getting the support of a selection of friendly DJs and bloggers who feature what we do. However changes in the music industry, and price increases, have made it harder than ever for small labels like ours to stay in business in today’s climate. The subscription directly helps us to continue releasing great music and in turn support some of the best underground artists out there.

Subscribers get a load of great music and special offers which are unique to the service

– All of our new releases are automatically added to the subscribers Bandcamp account and available to download
– A selection of items from our back catalogue completely free when a subscriber first signs up
– A 10% discount on merch items including CDs, T-Shirts and Gig Tickets
– Special releases which are only available to subscribers – they will not be sold anywhere else
– Regular blog updates from us on what we are up to

All income, after admin fees from Bandcamp, goes direct to the bands, or to the nominated charity we are supporting on specific releases.

Subscribers can sign-up via this LINK

GIGS

Our planned fundraising gig on November 2nd has been put on hold for a short while whilst we sort out a few practical issues. Watch this space for updates. Here are the rest of the planned gigs featuring our artists:

October
5th – Electric Cheese play The Railway as part of Chorley Live
5th – The Scissors are at Oxford Wheatsheaf (Klub Kakofanney).
6th – Electric Cheese play Cunliffe Hall as part of Chorley Live
6th – Toska Wilde plays Saks Southend on Sea as part of Cult 13 Showcase
6th – Inferior Complex play Liberties, Southampton
11th – An Evening with Moff Skellington at The Peer Hat, Manchester
13th – Poppycock playing a Fates set at Yes, Manchester supporting Virginia Wing
14th – Positronik and The Strays are at Fab Cafe, Portland Street, Manchester
17th – The Strays play West Street Live, Sheffield
19th – The Strays play A.M.P. Music Bar, Buxton
24th – Umbrella Assassins play Pim Jam Festival Fundraiser at the Haverhill Arts Centre
25th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play The Pepys, Huntingdon – acoustic gig
25th – Ian Moss appears at El Manisero, Innside, Manchester
November
1st – Bouquet of Dead Crows play The Dublin Castle, London
15th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Esquires, Bedford
17th – Drink and Drive and Four Candles play The Railway, Greenfield
22nd – Inferior Complex play The King Charles, Poole
24th – Bouquet of Dead Crows launch new album Motus Octo at The Blue Moon, Cambridge
29th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Gringos, Norwich
29th – Four Candles play “Free Rock & Roll” at Sound, Duke Street, Liverpool
December
1st – Toska Wilde plays Saks Southend on Sea as part of Cult 13 Showcase
1st – Bouquet of Dead Crows and Umbrella Assassins play Smokehouse, Ipswich
6th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge, Stamford
8th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play The Horn at the Half Moon, Bishops Stortford
8th – Boz Hayward and Keltrix with Misharlo play The Peer Hat, Manchester
8th – Poppycock support Vic Godard at Yes (The Basement) on Charles Street, Manchester with ASBO Derek
8th – Øre will be playing their debut gig at the TA in Dumfries
22nd – Drink and Drive play Strummercamp Fundraiser and Oldham Rugby Club
28th – Drink and Drive play Whittles, Oldham