To keep it short and sweet – we’re incredibly proud of our residents and their outside endeavours, with the new launch of an annual charity fundraiser EP set up by Spittal and a few pals being a particular highlight. We’ll be celebrating the release of this new EP with Hammer this coming Wednesday, but in the mean time we sat down with Spittal to ask a few questions and get a better idea of what it’s all about…
1. To get started can you explain what exactly Craigie Knowes is and what exactly inspired you to get it all set up?
Craigie Knowes is a record label that will donate profits to various causes. 100% of our Annual Fundraisers profits will be donated to War Child. Our EPs will donate 20% of their profit, and the charity will be decided by the artists with our approval. As to how it came about; I had the idea for the project in my head for weeks on end, so I acted upon it when I knew the idea wasn’t going to budge, and here we are now. Various forms of help, without which the label wouldn’t exist, have been provided from my good friends Tarky Hunter, Stuart Colin and Callum Hunter, they have all helped the running of the label massively, a million thank you’s to those lads too.
2. Setting something like this up must have taken up a serious amount of time and effort, getting in touch with other artists, exchanging tracks etc, not to mention all the fine tuning. How long has it been in the making and what was the trickiest part of it all?
I first had the idea about a year ago. I could have had the release out for summertime, but I chose to make it the best possible package (in my eyes lol), so that consumed a few additional months of our time. I opted to approach Clone to distribute our vinyl, and I’m glad we waited as they are the best at what they do, there is decades of experience in Serge’s team. We also spent a lot of time on the artwork side of things, working with James Fazzino from Love Hotel District in Australia, and parading around Craigie (My childhood neighbourhood) taking pictures of all the places that were special to me as a child and young adult.
Mastering was of huge importance to us all (the artists and the label), so we had MA Spaventi from Amsterdam work his magic, and we can assure you it sounds unbelievable on vinyl. There was some back and forth tweaking the masters to each of the 9 artists preference too. It’s best to make sure everyone is 100% happy, because once it’s pressed – that’s the sound immortalised!
3. Did it initially start as a charity compilation or was that an outside suggestion to get a charity as big as War Child involved?
It was always my vision to do it as a charity album, the annual thing along with the idea of EPs were secondary. War Child got in contact after they caught wind of the project, along with the fact we had chosen to donate to them, they have voiced their support since. It’s cool to know an organisation as large as War Child still have time to individually thank their Fundraisers and support us through the process of putting this thing together.
4. Getting into the nitty gritty, roughly how many tracks did you and co sift through before eventually settling on the final 9? Were there always plans for collaborations?
There was some back and forth with some of the tracks the artists sent in, and others knew exactly what they wanted to contribute and I was sent the music they intended to release first time round. We nearly used a different Lord of The Isles track, and a different track from Hammer & Ludd. The Burrell Connection’s track was a last minute decision if I remember correctly, but I think everyone will agree a charity album isn’t complete without a stripped back acid track consisting of 303 bleeps and bass line, crusty 707 drums and a couple of effects for a bit of depth, right?
The collaborations kinda just happened, and they seem to have worked too. Move D sent his track back with a message reading something along the lines of ‘Gerd Janson has added some additional synth work on the break down, is this ok?’, to which myself and Calum Hunter’s reply was an obvious ‘AYE!’. More collaborations are planned for next year, so I’m really excited for them too.
5. How has the response been so far? Making the front page of RA news is always a good sign, but in terms of how other DJ’s and artists have perceived the EP what has been the general consensus?
The big music sites have been really supportive, yeah. RA, Vice / THUMP, Mixmag, XLR8R and a load of others have all given lovely reviews, so cheers to them. DJs I look up to have been playing the tracks around and about too, Tim Sweeney giving us some airtime on his Beats in Space show, a little word about us on BBC Radio 6, The Warehouse Project’s Krysko giving us a big thumbs up and a long list of comments from DJs around the world that received the album during our promo campaign last month. Closer to home, Dom said he liked a number of the tracks so that’s more than enough for me (everyone knows I look up to the big man!).
6. Without taking into account the amount of effort and time spent on deciding whether or not to include the track, do you have a particular favourite? I know the Hammer & Ludd one has gone down a treat a few times at Sub Rosa in the past…
Favourite track… Shit. Working with Daniel Waples is pretty insane as the man is so humble and so very talented, his intro track is so dreamy, love it. You’re right about the Hammer & Ludd track, I certainly play it out the most (along with Bicep – Malima, before Nowicki grills me for that answer.)
Having Neville Watson on board was a really big thing for me, and I absolutely love his track. I’m adamant he made it inside Sub Club as it sounds exactly as it should on the basement’s sound system. Either that or he borrowed the system for his studio while making it. The people’s favourite may either be Lord of The Isles’ track, or Amir Alexander’s joint under his ‘Binary Star System’ guise. ASOK’s addition has always been my favourite though, ASOK fans will dig it if they liked his material on MOS (Delsin) from a while back. He’s a hardware advocate, and this is a live jam with minimal editing. I think it’s kept its realness through that method of working, and I love it. Stu’s a character and his music is as individual as his personality, in the best of ways.
Outstanding work! In true party fashion we’re going to celebrate like it’s the christening of a newborn child… and yes, you can expect a birthday party.
Join in on the celebrations with Hammer (Feel My Bicep) and Craigie Cartel this Wednesday at Sub Rosa. £5 all night long. Listen to the Hammer’s hits to get you in the mood..
Pre Order links to the release:
Juno – http://www.juno.co.uk/products/the-first-annual-fundraiser-war-child/585110-01/
Clone – https://clone.nl/item36457.html
Any local heads can buy in store from our pals at Rubadub.