Bands turn the table on music and return to vinyl By MATT NEAL Warrnambool Standard May 19, 2015
THE best new music the south-west has to offer will soon be making its way to your turntable.
“The aim is fairly low key — it’s just to create a bit of infrastructure for local bands to get out their music on vinyl,” Russell explained. “We won’t be signing bands. It’s more of a collaboration with the artist.” Russell said he hoped to release about half a dozen records a year with the focus being on the bands that have stayed in Warrnambool rather than those that make the move to Melbourne.
The first seven-inch to be released will be from veteran blues band Blue Heat, who will release the songs Traded In and Chicken Shop from their most recent album One Day Too Long on orange vinyl.
It is expected the limited run of 150 records will be ready for a special launch at The Loft as part of the annual Arockalypse music festival. The launch event on Saturday, June 6, will feature iconic Warrnambool trio Piffen Yonnies playing their first gig in 15 years. “I want to keep a link with the past too,” Russell said. “I’m hoping twice a year to get old iconic acts to reform, so new artists coming through get to see these bands and see where the music comes from and the strong history of music in Warrnambool. “There’s a strong timeline and bloodline of pioneering bands that created the unique culture of Warrnambool music.” While the initial focus will be on releasing new music, Russell said that if things went well he hoped to put together compilation releases of classic Warrnambool music. Inspiration for the label stemmed from seeing the work that F Project was doing to raise the profile of south-west artists, he explained. “I thought we could do something for the musical side of the arts as well,” Russell said. Following on from Blue Heat’s Traded In, Silver Ball Records is planning to release a split 7” featuring new tracks from Red Eagle and Crossfire Hurricane, as well as a new EP from Blackwood Jack. Records will be stocked in some stores in Warrnambool, Geelong and Melbourne, and will also be available through a soon-to-be-launched
website.
Silver Ball Records’ Ben Russell is starting a vinyl-only local record label, which will release new music from local bands. Warrnambool band Blue Heat will be the first to release a record later this year. Picture: LEANNE PICKETT
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