Luke Caley
Marshall Records has been a springboard for new bands since 2017. The singer/guitarist of Press To Meco reveals why it’s a great place to call home…
Nobody said it would be easy – but few young bands realise just how tough the modern music industry will be to crack. Marshall has been there as the business shifted from vinyl and million-dollar advances to MP3s and streaming fees. And in 2017, with doors slamming shut on promising bands, the firm took a stand. “Marshall Records is all about encouraging people to start playing again,” says Managing Director Jon Ellery. “We can offer everything, from production and publishing to rights and management.”
The first band aboard was the mighty King Creature; since then, the label has snapped up artists from Irish folk-rockers Keywest to Japanese virtuosi D_Drive. With the roster showcasing at Marshall Live on 1 June and offering the use of the firm’s soon-to-be-completed studio at Milton Keynes, Marshall Records is a onestop shop for real musicians – and for Luke Caley, singer/guitarist with British rockers Press To Meco, it’s proving a great place to call home.
Why is Marshall Records a good place for a band to be? “What we like about it is that you’ve obviously got an extremely prestigious name that carries a lot of weight in anything to do with guitar-based music. That’s worth its weight in gold with opening doors. But on the flipside, it’s still an independent label. I can pick up the phone to the guys who are running the label and check something with them. With a lot of major labels, you don’t have that privilege. It’s a family feel. It’s like a big independent label, I guess.”
As a fast-rising band, how can the label help you? “The best thing they provide is some infrastructure. There’s a lot of paperwork, emails and unglamorous stuff that goes on behind a release. There’s hours of doing things like making sure everyone’s got the right dates, and that the distribution and artwork are sorted out. It takes a huge load off when you’ve got a good label that are running that stuff. Having that infrastructure means you can just focus on being an artist. We don’t know what we’re doing with that stuff – we just want to write songs.
“And you know, they’re constantly hustling. The label boss, Steve Tannett, is constantly going around the world, pitching the band to new people. He’s got access to people that if we messaged personally, we’d just get ignored.” Getting your hands on the latest Marshall gear must be another perk... “Yeah. The first time you go to the Marshall headquarters, the guitar nerd in you is squealing with excitement, with all these old Plexis and JCM800s just scattered everywhere. Right now, I’m using the 100watt JVM 410HJS. But for our next tour, I might send the Marshall guys an email asking to switch my rig up. I’d like a JMP with a nice little drive pedal for a slightly dirty clean.”
Do you get the sense that Marshall wants to support music and young bands? “Yeah, definitely. I mean, Steve has come from being in a political punk band [Menace] when he was in his youth, and he’s worked with so many major artists in his time. He gets it. He knows where it comes from. But he’s obviously got a business head on him as well, when people are knocking on his door asking for numbers. If these guys weren’t doing Marshall Records, they’d be doing something else in the industry – even if that was just playing.
“It’s nice that it’s not got that corporate feel that I know some labels have, from friends on major labels. I think everybody’s heart is in the right place at Marshall Records.”