GERMAN SHEPHERD RECORDS NEWS – Dominic Carlton Jones, 2 Lost Souls, Longsight, A Raffle, Charitable Work

Hello

We hope you are all well and coping in these strange times.

Firstly, many thanks to those DJs, Bloggers and websites who have featured us recently. We really appreciate the support and time you are giving to the label and its artists.

This news is for releases on June 26th plus details of a new signing to the label and progress on some of our fundraising activities….

DOMINIC CARLTON JONES

Eccles based singer, songwriter, and troubadour Dominic Carlton Jones returns with a new double A side – Reach Out To Your Far Horizon/German Bombers

Dominic Carlton Jones won the Salford Star Best Band/Act 2018 Award for his debut album Salford Punk Poetry Sadness Death New Life, which judges hailed as “inspired and original”. and his work has been rightly praised. The new single sees the seven minute plus “Reach Out To Your Far Horizon” exploring ambient soundscapes with an evocative and emotional spoken word delivery from Dominic. The guitar focused “German Bombers” provides another side of Dominic’s work with layers of picking and riffs building to create an atmospheric bed for more spoken word developing an epic soundscape where vocals kick in with a heartfelt song.

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2 LOST SOULS

The ever productive 2 Lost Souls duo of Ian Moss and Paul Rosenfeld are back with another charity focused single. The harrowing “Don’t You Call It Love”, which Ian premiered at his virtual Stonehenge festival performance, is a direct attack on child sex abuse and the evil people who perpetrate it. All proceeds from the sale of this single will be donated to Childline.

LONGSIGHT

We are pleased to announce we will be working with Stockport, GreaterManchester band Longsight starting with a single.

Longsight 1

Longsight are a new indie guitar band from Stockport, North West England. Started in August 2019 their first few gigs have caught the imagination of their peers and music journalists alike.

Si Wolstencroft (The Fall/ Ian Brown’s band) “Absolutely love Longsight. They sound like a cross between The Buzzcocks and New Order”.
The Big issue: “Beg, borrow or steal the entrance fee. Longsight are about to go stellar”.
Cassie Delta KBYD radio California: “The songs have a hurting, haunting, heart-breaking echo to them.”
Manchester Evening News, “No wonder current music sounds banal, Longsight have taken all the best songs”.
Chester Chronicle: “Top new band. Every track sounds like a hit single.”
Glasgow Herald. “Beautifully crafted songs delivered in an unnerving style”.

The band comprises of:

Keo (Guitar/vox) formerly in Jez Kerr from A Certain Ratio’s solo band, The Family Bizarre and The Treatment Organisation.
Adam Halford (Drums/vox) formerly in The Trainset.
Johnny Stringer (Bass/vox) Formerly in The Stipe band.

Longsight’s first single ‘These Chains’ is out now on limited edition 7″ vinyl through Discogs. Produced by Jez Kerr from A Certain Ratio. Their first album is due out early next year through German Shepherd Records pending that a new single is coming soon.

Here’s the band live:

Catch them on Facebook

A RAFFLE

Moff Skellington has made available the original artwork for three of his albums plus the poster designed for his gig at The Peer Hat, Manchester. There are four prizes so four chances to win. All punters need to do is purchase one or more tickets for the chance to enter the prize draw. Entrants get a free copy of Moff’s EP Uncle Roy’s Utopian Vision #1
The closing date for the raffle is Monday 22nd June and winners will be notified by e-mail by Friday 26th June when arrangements will be made for Moff to mail the artwork to the winners.

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All proceeds will be donate to The Peer Hat Fundraiser. Tickets can be purchased from this link.

….AND MORE FUNDRAISING

Our recent releases from Four Candles, 2 Lost Souls and Crab Dance GIs are all dedicated to raising money to support The Peer Hat, Manchester a much loved place by everyone at the label and where we hold our annual Meltdown events. We have already raised £265 through these releases but more would help if you are able to support us.

Our recent releases by Moongoose also have a charitable aim with homelessness charity Shelter being the recipient on any income from sales of the EPs.

The Return of The Parish Church Fire

The Parish Church Fire are an Alternative Rock band from Manchester, UK fronted by Sam Smith. As loud as they are soft, the band have carved a unique dynamic with elements of heavy metal, trip hop, punk, jazz and blues. Comparable to Afghan Whigs, Radiohead & Pearl Jam. They have a new single out on May 10th called “Hunger” followed by two high profile gigs at Strummercamp and The Eagle, Salford in May and June.

Here is a recent interview with band front man Sam Smith carried out by German Shepherd co-owner Bob Osborne.

Hi Sam, can you give us a brief history of The Parish Church Fire?

I put together the band in July 2014 after the disbanding my previous outfit ‘Sam Smith & Company’. Although The Parish Church Fire has solely been a studio project for the last 5 years an original live band was assembled upon formation but were only together for just 21 days. The line-up was myself, Chris Gilman & Rick Jarvis (and also Dave Wooley, Jack Farnworth and Peter Toner briefly). In that time Chris, Rick and I rehearsed relentlessly almost every day to get the wealth of material I had written up to standard for a busy gig schedule which had been booked for autumn of 2014. We had even managed to complete a studio session, recording 5 songs. Unfortunately, shortly after the sessions, the band split very abruptly due to the sudden departure of Rick Jarvis and my own ongoing health problems.

What have you been up to since 2014?

In 2015, I signed to German Shepherd Records and adopted the moniker ‘Franco Bandini’ as a result of increasing discomfort using my birth name due to the global rise of Universal Music Group artist Sam Smith. I released a solo EP as Bandini, entitled ‘2014 Was a Bad Year’ and supported Australian rock legend Dave Graney at The Eagle Inn, Salford. I also did a radio session with Stephen Doyle at Salford City Radio and that was also released by German Shepherd. The ‘The Parish Church Fire EP’ which contained 3 of the 5 songs recorded with the original Parish Church Fire line up was self released at around the same time.

You pursued your vision of the Parish Church Fire band though?

The idea of assembling a band of musicians to represent the vision of The Parish Church Fire and also the desire to perform the songs written specifically for that band never went away. Whilst continuing to work as Franco Bandini, I met drummer Joe Roberts when we both rehearsed with a metal band which sadly never quite got off the ground. We stayed in touch after that band disbanded and we would occasionally meet to discuss the downfall of Manchester United, brewing methods and music production whilst sometimes exchanging demos via email. In 2016, we released the first Parish Church Fire single ‘Locamente’ on German Shepherd Records which was largely well received and we discussed putting together a live band, however as a result of personal circumstances for both of us getting in the way, this would not happen for another 2 and a half years.

Things picked up a little in 2017 though?

Yes! I returned to using my birth name in early 2017, releasing two singles and a live album along the way whilst performing live as a solo artist across the UK with just a guitar and piano. However I always felt that the Parish Church Fire band would come together as a live entity when the time was right. I was booked to appear at Strummercamp Festival in 2019 on the strength of my solo material and the time seemed right to assemble a band. I contacted former Sam Smith & Company bassist John Bardsley, who is currently one of the key forces behind The Ombudsmen, and asked him if he would be interested in joining the band in its early stages of rebirth. Joe contacted friend and former Confucius Saint guitarist Timothy Hughes to see if he was interested and an initial rehearsal was soon set up.

So where are we up to now?

From the get go, due to various difficulties each of the four of us was dealing with in our personal lives, the rehearsals took place on the provision that they would always remain light hearted, humour would be at the forefront, and ,that a large amount of beer would be drank during each session! Building on this foundation, a bond was carved between the four of us and despite the alcohol, professionalism ensued and a set of new material I had written was soon ready to perform, leading to a second gig being added for summer 2019 at The Eagle Inn in Salford.

On Initial listening to the new release we found a newly reborn Sam Smith, an artist with the potential we always knew was there, bursting through With this new band drawing on the strengths of each individual member whilst always respecting the composition of Sam’s songs, there is a unique dynamic sound, emerging through this rebirth, which can be as heavy as it can be soft. We took the view that there was a perfect marriage of the rock and punk ethos, exciting!

German Shepherd Records Newsletter #24 – Matthew Hopkins, Mistletoe, Sam Smith, Lizard Brain, Bouquet of Dead Crows, m.t.scott subscriber offer and gigs!

Hello and welcome to this weeks edition of the German Shepherd Newsletter.

In this issue:

Matthew Hopkins release first single – with a special deal for subscribers
Ian Moss teams up with Mark Corrin for a new Mistletoe Release
Sam Smith launches new single on Sunday
Cambridge band Lizard Brain join German Shepherd for their new album
Bouquet Dead release a new video from forthcoming album
Special subscriber offer for new m.t.scott single
Some new gig announcements!

MATTHEW HOPKINS

As trailed last week North West Trio of Julia Nelson and Anne & Max Calderbank release their first single on German Shepherd Records on November 2nd. General distribution via the usual digital outlets will be provided for lead track “Something” – two additional tracks “Hey Joe” and “Lachrymose” will be subscriber only releases via Bandcamp.

MISTLETOE RELEASE NEW EP

Ian Moss is back with a brand new EP called “Made To Break” this time in partnership with famed Manchester area musician and DJ Mark Corrin. Ian says “Accidents will happen and plans go awry , a Moss/Corrin live summit had been bubbling and then evaporated but from the plume of steam signifying the end of that project the idea of a recorded project was trapped in a bottle and given a shake.
Unscrew the top carefully and see what is released back into the air”.

Corrin backing tracks and Moss vocals were glued together by the Auster Boys to produce three pieces where Moss’s intriguing spoken word is coupled with atmospheric sounds.

The EP is released on November 2nd.

Moss and Corrin’s previous collaboration “Ali Baba” was a bit special….

SAM SMITH LAUNCHES NEW SINGLE ON SUNDAY

The much trailed new single from Sam Smith – formerly of the Parish Church Fire and alter ego of Franco Bandini – gets released on Sunday 29th October complete with video. A special newsletter will be released on the day to celebrate this event.

LIZARD BRAIN JOIN GERMAN SHEPHERD

Increasing our Cambridge band count to five we are pleased to announce we will be releasing the new album from Lizard Brain in the new year. The melodic quartet have had two album releases to date and are recognised as one of the most exciting bands coming out of Cambridge. The band appeared on Cambridge Calling Volume 1.

Watch this space for more news.

lbb

DEAD CROWS LAUNCH ANOTHER VIDEO

In preparation for the release of new album “Motus Octo” Bouquet of Dead Crows have launched another video from the album with track 2 “The Devil’s in the Detail” – also featuring guest miming from Stewart of The Scissors and Garry from Umbrella Assassins it’s a strong indicator of the quality of the forthcoming album.

SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL

The new single “Don’t Mention The War” from m.t. scott is released on 9th November. In a one-off special gift our first ten subscribers will receive a unique signed print of one of ten images created by Michael. With subscription places going fast signing up to the service is strongly recommended if fans want to claim their free gift. Here is an example of one of the prints.

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GIGS

A number of new gigs have been announced since our last newsletter and these are highlighted in bold in the list below

2018

October
24th – Umbrella Assassins play Pim Jam Festival Fundraiser at the Haverhill Arts Centre
25th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play The Pepys, Huntingdon – acoustic gig
27th – Pearl Divers play Red Wall, New Victoria Mills, Bury

November
1st – Bouquet of Dead Crows play The Dublin Castle, London
2nd – The Strays play Zombie Shack, Manchester
5th – Weimar are playing The Peer Hat supporting Madmoizel.
14th – The Junta is invading Lock 91, Deansgate Locks, Manchester
15th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Esquires, Bedford
17th – Drink and Drive and Four Candles play The Railway, Greenfield
17th – The Mindsweepers play The Riverside, Dumfries
18th – Four Candles and Matthew Hopkins play The Eagle, Salford
22nd – Inferior Complex play The King Charles, Poole
24th – Bouquet of Dead Crows launch new album Motus Octo at The Blue Moon, Cambridge
24th- Keltrix play The Crown & Pipes, Fenstanton.
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
1st – Moet the Poet is back on the Independents Tour with JD Meatyard and others as MC at Bar 39 in Darwen.
2nd – Moet the Poet is back on the Independents Tour with JD Meatyard and others as MC at Sound, Liverpool
6th – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge, Stamford
6th – The Scissors (plus Ember Rev and Goddammit Jeremiah) at Cambridge Cornerhouse.
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

2019

March
2nd – Four Candles play the Peer Hat, Manchester, a benefit for Macmillan nurses as a memorial for Modal Roberts

AND FINALLY WE HAVE JUST HIT 750 LIKES ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT. CHECK US OUT HERE

German Shepherd Newsletter #10 – Umbrella Assassins, Moff Skellington and Positronik

Hello and welcome to the German Shepherd Newsletter for releases on August 3rd

This week-

Haverhill purveyors of Shed Punk – Umbrella Assassins – join German Shepherd
Positronik deliver their pop stylings with a Summer EP
Moff Skellington is back with the first of two new EPs
Gig News
What’s in the pipeline

UMBRELLA ASSASSINS JOIN GERMAN SHEPHERD

Haverhill based and self-styled Shed Punk trio Umbrella Assassins have moved from the confines of their usual recording set-up in The Shed to a fully fledged studio for the release of a new three track EP “Live at The Crunch” in late August.

As long admirers of this band, who already have a massive back catalogue of 24 releases via Bandcamp we were extremely pleased when they agreed to join us on the label.

Recorded at new studio “The Crunch” in Norwich, the band – Steve guitar/vocals, Bunge bass,vocals, and Garry – Drums – have delivered some of their best material to date. Recorded by Mr Jason in a location which was an Operations Control Centre during the Battle Of Britain. and built in 1939, they played live onto 7 tracks of a vintage 8 track reel to reel tape machine, using vintage mics, vintage drums, and 70s little 5 watt WEM guitar amp to create a gutsy earthy sound. Look out for more news on the band who play PIM JAM Festival Haverhill on 28th July and Rugfest Haverhill on 25th August, in the near future.

FACEBOOK @Brollys1

POSITRONIK POP PICKS FOR SUMMER

Greater Manchester’s finest purveyors of electro-pop, Positronik, return with a four-track EP “Summer” featuring two new tracks, and two reworkings of classic material from their first album. Featuring Nathalie Haley – Vocals , Monty – bass and Captain Black on guitar and keyboards, the trio’s powerful pop is perfect for those long hot summer nights bringing back memories of classic chart hits from the 60s onwards. This is a digital only release which comes out on August 3rd via Bandcamp, Spotify, I Tunes, Google, Amazon and lots more platforms.

Here is a sneak preview of lead track “Caged Bird”

FACEBOOK – @positronikband

MOFF AND UNCLE ROY

The ever-prolific Moff Skellington is back with a new six-track EP which looks at the life of the mysterious Uncle Roy and his Utopian Vision. Uncle Roys is a shadowy figure from Moff’s childhood who was partially inspired by the work of legendary science fiction writer James P Blaylock. In the first of two EPs with the same title, Moff delivers his usual unique and thought-provoking music examining the nether regions of life at the edge of your imagination. Moff’s music is described as Eddodi which is best explained as a form of music which has no boundaries and is not constrained by what has gone before or indeed may happen in the future. If you have not heard Moff before the best comparison we can is that of a surreal version of Ivor Culter who has been infested by post-punk.

The second volume Uncle Roy’s Utopian Vision will follow in September

FORTHCOMING GIGS

Here is our latest gig list

25th July – Mesmer Disciples play Santiago Bar, Leeds
26th July – Pearl Divers play Jimmy’s, Manchester
27th July – Bouquet of Dead Crows play Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge in Stamford
28th July – Drink and Drive and Poppycock play Peer Hat, Manchester
28th July – The Strays play Fuel, Manchester
28th July – Bouquet of Dead Crows and Umbrella Assassins play Pim Jam Festival, Haverhill
29th July – The Strays play Red Lion, Chesterfield
17th August – The Junta and Special Friends Live At The Peer Hat, Manchester – album launch
25th August – The Mind Sweepers play the Carlisle Fringe Festival
25th August – Umbrella Assassins play Rugfest, Haverhill
26th August – The Mind Sweepers play Solfest – Cottage Stage
27th August – Four Candles play The 2nd annual Pressure Drop summer gig (private by invite only)
27th August – Taser Puppets play Glaston-Bury, Bury
15th September – The Scissors and Charlie Marshall play The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
15th September – Mesmer Disciples play Music Lounge, Stockton on Tees
16th September – Mesmer Disciples play Museum Vaults Sunderland.
21st September – Four Candles, Poppycock and Charlie Marshall play The Peer Hat, Manchester
27th September – Inferior Complex play Ferndown RBL
27th September – Electric Cheese support Tom Hingley at Preston Guildhall
28th September – Inferior Complex play The Shooting Star, Southampton
5th October – The Scissors are at Oxford Wheatsheaf (Klub Kakofanney).
5th October – Shaun Maxwell of Taser Puppets plays a solo acoustic set at Chorley Live
14th October – Taser Puppets play TNT Punk Fest at The Peer Hat
19th October – Taser Puppets play Old Courts, Wigan
2nd November – German Shepherd Records Fundraiser at The Peer Hat, Manchester – with Drink and Drive, Taser Puppets, The Strays and Flea
8th December – Boz Hayward, Poppycock and Ketrix play The Peer Hat, Manchester
22nd December – Drink and Drive play Strummercamp Fundraiser and Oldham Rugby Club

IN THE PIPELINE – WHAT’S COMING NEXT IN THE RELEASE SCHEDULE

The release schedule is hotting up as summer moves into autumn with the following in the pipeline

10/08/2018 The Junta – Network : brand new album – check out the launch gig at The Peer Hat in the list above
10/08/2018 Loop -Aznavour – Requiem for a mouse : a new single
17/08/2018 Toska Wilde – Oscar In Earnest : a new EP
17/08/2018 Poppycock- Iggy Pop/Magic Mothers ; the long awaited second single and a taster for next years debut album
24/08/2018 Four Candles – Chastity BeltDipping A Toe -: the third pairing from the Spiritual Rapture album
24/08/2018 Inferior Complex – Reflections : a new EP
31/08/2018 Umbrella Assassins – Live at the Crunch : see above
31/08/2018 Various Artists Cambridge Calling Vol 3 : a new compilation from Dave Hammond – this will be a Bandcamp only release
07/09/2018 The Screaming Love Collective – Imola : a new album
14/09/2018 The Strays – new EP
21/09/2018 Moff Skellington – Uncle Roys Utopian Vision #2 : the second volume!

Mesmer Disciples to release debut EP

Leeds based Mesmer Disciples release their debut EP “The Big O” via German Shepherd Records on 20th April.

Mesmer Disciples formed relatively recently and they have had many comparisons suggested to them by their audience members, including Can, Captain Beefheart, Butthole Surfers and Edgar Broughton band.

Mesmers
Not wishing to be constrained by genres, Mesmer Disciples have no intention of recreating a sound from a by-gone era, or a desire to sound like anybody else.
With a constantly evolving sound, and set-list they will continue to jam, play and record for as long as it seems appealing.

The band is

Stewart Kinloch – vocals lap guitar percussion and Tanpura simulator
Dave Royston – guitar
Mike Smith – drums
Mark Stainton – guitar

Check out their full biography elsewhere on the site.

Here is a taster from the EP the mesmerising Preetam Bobo…….