18 Music Week 07.12.12 INTERVIEW BLACK BUTTER BUTTER SIDE UP TOASTING SUCCESS XL AMBITIONS
Henry Village: “A label that we all really admire and would love for Black Butter to be in the same arena as is XL Records. I love the way they are not disposable with their artists, their artists might not do so well on album one, step it up a little on album two and the patience is there by album three, that’s how you whittle down the bullshit and get to the good artist. It’s heartbreaking when you see artists binned because they don’t strike gold quickly. I think that’s quite brutal. Just keep the commitment there – remember why you signed it in the first place – and it could come good.”
Ollie Wood: “Every now and again you hear an amazing tune that cuts through all the others and, lo and behold, it’s on XL. Like that Jai Paul thing... it’s just like what?! What?!”
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known singer by the name of Jessie Ware) put them on the map. A modest place at the music business table was secured, until Rudimental’s Peirs Agget fired over a demo of Feel the Love and they had one of the biggest (if not the biggest) singles of summer 2012 on their hands. Since then, notable releases by Noisses, Hostage,
Woz and others - plus another hit single by Rudimental, Not Giving In - have helped take Black Butter Records to the next level. In October, the group took home 2012’s AIM
Two years of relentless graft have paid off for Black Butter Records. The label has landed on its feet in 2012 nabbing an AIM award, a huge No.1 hit and boasting a roster including some of the freshest sounds around. Now the indie hopes to see its success spread
LABELS BY RHIAN JONES
W
hat do you think of upon hearing the words Black Butter? A tarry accompaniment to bread? A greasy
condiment for pudding? Or a fast-growing independent record label known for the likes of Rudimental, Lulu James and Kidnap Kid? The phrase is originally derived from Jersey’s
ABOVE Butter fingered: the men from Black Butter make off with their AIM Award. From left – Ollie Wood, Joe Gossa and Henry Village
ABOVE RIGHT Rudimental health: the band have generated plenty of success for the label
answer to mince pie filling, but if its achievements so far are anything to go by, the label’s name could soon become the most common answer. Originally set up in 2010 by founders Ollie
Wood, Joe Gossa and Henry Village as something ‘useful to run alongside management company Stackhouse, Black Butter Records has evolved into a successful company in its own right. Early releases from the likes of P Money and RackNRuin (who collaborated with a then-little-
award for Best Small Label – beating fellow contenders Alcopop! Records ( Johnny Foreigner), Brainfeeder (Flying Lotus), Pink Mist (Gallows), and Xtra Mile (Frank Turner). Now with a robust diverse roster, including
some of the most innovative and hotly tipped producers and artists of 2013, the Black Butter boys look to the future…
Your output is fairly eclectic – was that the vision for the label from the off? Ollie Wood: Starting a label that only looks at one genre of music, like a lot of dance labels, is pretty much a dead end at the moment. Fashion changes. You’d look like a bandwagon-jumper if you tried to change with that fashion. But if you state from the off that you’re only going to be
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