EM: Occupation and Position.
PEARSE: Events organiser for B-Music in Barcelona. I also help out with labels such as Twisted Nerve, Finders Keepers Records and Nosordo, as well as selling fine wine and Spanish ham on the side.

EM: What neighborhood do you closely identify with? What makes your community so unique?
I have travelled a lot and moved around a lot over the past twelve years (I have lived in Manchester, Barcelona, Chicago, London and am now back in Barcelona) so I don’t really feel that much about any neighourhood, which is a shame.

EM: What is your favorite city to visit when you travel abroad? And why?
I love visiting Malmö in southern Sweden as I have lots of good friends there. I also love visiting Manchester as I have friends and family there. I’d like to go back to New York one day, too. This year, I will try and visit Portugal (especially Porto and Lisbon) as I went there on tour last year with the B-Music gang (with Andy Votel, Dom Thomas, Badly Drawn Boy, Voice of the Seven Woods, Doug Shipton and Samandtheplants). It was quite a trip!

EM: What was kind of music did you grow up with at home?
My parents were never really into music that much. The only records they had at home were by Charlie Pride, Abba, Elvis and the Everly Brothers. My dad told me he went to see Roy Orbison once, though, which is quite cool. Mum was a big Elvis fan and cried for two days when he died. As with many people who have older brothers, I was hugely influenced by his taste in music, which luckily was really varied. He taught me to love all styles of music equally as they are all as valid as each other. I grew listening to as much punk as country & western, as much pop as heavy metal. I repaid the favour in later years by turning him on to jazz.

EM: How do you select the music for your label?
B-Music is a collective of DJs and bands. I have worked with Andy Votel and Dom Thomas (the resident DJs) plus guests such as Jarvis Cocker, Bob Stanley (St. Etienne), Chris Geddes (Belle & Sebastian), Broadcast, Cherrystones, Chris ‘The Judge’ Arthur, Lee Janda, Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and others. I also set up shows and have worked with artists involved in some way with Twisted Nerve, such as Voice of the Seven Woods a lot, as well as Jane Weaver, Emma Tricca, Cate Le Bon, Samandtheplants, Badly Drawn Boy, Twin Kranes and Wio Leokadio.

EM: What has been the greatest challenge and reward, working with the label?
Distribution is always tricky, as if the records aren’t in the shops, people don’t always go online and look for them. We have a great website (www.finderskeepersrecords.com) which does really well, but getting CDs and LPs into the shops is an uphill struggle. Getting paid is another story…

EM What is your stance on vinyl and do you release any?
Almost all the Finders Keepers and Twisted Nerve albums are released on LP and CD at the same time. We also produce limited edition LPs with screen-printed covers, plus 7″s and 10″s now and again. We love vinyl.

EM: In terms of artwork, what influences B-Music’s album and singles covers?
Andy Votel is the main artist at Twisted Nerve, along with his partner Dom Thomas. They produce some amazing work as ‘The Liars’. They have also done a lot of covers for other artists. All of the classic Badly Drawn Boy album and single covers are done by Andy Votel. He has had exhibitions in the UK, Japan and USA.

EM: Since the arrival of blogs, social networking sites e.t.c, would you say its been a benefit for the music scene or had cluttered more shit online, making it hard to uncover the good stuff?
I think social networking sites and blogs have done wonders for record labels such as Finders Keepers and Twisted Nerve as people are far more adventurous now when it comes to new music. The sheer variety of music available online has broadened people’s music tastes to no end. We release quite unusual stuff (psychedelic music and soundtracks from less-well known places, such as Wales, Hungary, Turkey, Spain, USA, South America, Pakistan and loads more) so the internet has definitely helped us get the word out.

EM: What is your favourite city to travel in and why?
Barcelona, I guess, as it’s home.

EM Any hairy moments whilst traveling?
I met a few hairy people along the way, if that counts. Other than that, not really.

EM: Anything you’ve learned from your extensive travels that has opened your eyes and viewed things with a renewed perspective?
I love traveling so I have had the chance to go places and be involved in events in cities like London, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Malmö, Gothenburg, Porto, Fundao, Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid, Vigo, A Coruña, small festivals in the Pyranees, as well as festivals in the UK and Spain, so I have been able to see beautiful cities and meet some really amazing people along the way. I always prefer to travel and have something to do, like an event, while I am there, rather than just wander around and eating ice creams.

EM: If you could interview one unsung hero, who would it be? Why?
There are lots of people I’d like to interview, but none that are really unsung…for example Scott Walker. I think he is a genius, but everyone knows that nowadays. I’d like to interview Creed Taylor (Impulse!, CTI Jazz producer), but again, he’s hardly unsung and I already know him personally. I would have liked to interview Depeche Mode at one point in my life, or Sam Fuller, the director, but he sadly passed away a few years ago. Carlos Reygadas, the Mexican film director, would be interesting, too, as his films are mental.

EM: What’s your favorite youtube video.
I love Philip Glass’ Geometry of Circles, an amazing animation piece he did for Sesame Street in 1979:

EM: Where are your favorite local spots to eat?
Barcelona is full of good restaurants, as you can imagine. My favourite places have to be Cantina Machito (on Calle Torrijos in Gracia, the only good Mexican restaurant in town, in my opinion), Alkimia (on Calle Industria-Sicila, run by Michelin-starred chef Jordi Vila), La Clara (Gran Via-Roquefort, ace Mediterranean cooking and the best wine list in the city). I also like to check out good “menus-del-dia” (set lunchtime menus) in dodgy old restaurants full of locals and workmen in overalls. There are some really good ones around if you look hard enough.

EM: What songs are at the top of your playlist at this very moment?
Have been listening almost non-stop to the ‘Born to Run’ 30th anniversary box-set by Bruce Springsteen, or ‘El Boss’ as they call him here. I know it’s not that cool, but I think it is one of the best rock n’ roll albums ever made. Have also been listening to Samandtheplants (Twisted Nerve), who I think is amazing and a contender for the crown of Badly Drawn Boy for his northen charm and found-sound melodies. Have been listening to jazz a lot, as ever, mainly mid-1950 bebop, as well as a Serge Gainsbourg box-set of all his soundtracks.

EM: What is your current bedside read?
I am currently reading, Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson, a Norwegian author, which is very good so far. Have just finished a collection of short stories by Raymond Carver, called “Where I’m Calling From”, which is ace.

EM: What new projects you are building on right now?
Now that the Primavera Sound festival is over for another year (we had a B-Music showcase again this year with Andy Votel and Chris ‘The Judge’ Arthur DJ-ing and Wio Leokadio live), I will only do a few events before the summer. I have an event on 26th June at La 2 de la Nitsa, here in Barcelona, with “The Amazing Transplant”, which consists of DJs Andy Votel and Cherrystones.

EM: What does the future hold for B-Music?
We are looking into doing more events in Portgual and in other cities in Spain. We do mix CDs for shops and radio stations and also licensing music for films and adverts. I will try and get around to setting up a B-Music Barcelona account on Facebook so I can let people know about new events and new releases.

***
B-Music: www.b-music.co.uk
Finders Keepers Records: www.finderskeepersrecords.com
Twisted Nerve: www.twistednerve.co.uk
Nosordo: www.nosordo.com

via EM Staff, 15 June 2009 11:02am | |