#95 Reckless Yes - Label of the Month
This month, we‘re featuring Reckless Yes, an independent label working ethically and collaboratively with artists, and alongside boating a strong roster, offers memberships to harnesses and nurture their fans. We spoke to co-founders Sarah and Pete to find out a little more about what they do...
What first got you into music?
Sarah: Truthfully it was probably a clockwork doll I had - she had a floral mop cap, ringlets and would rotate slowly on a plinth while a music-box rendition of Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head played. But as an only child growing up in a small village I also spent a lot of time listening to the radio and reading. My parents didn’t have a massive record collection so I sort of found my own way in, somehow. Hearing From Despair To Where by Manic Street Preachers on the Radio 1 Sunday night chart was a real stand-out moment for me in connecting to music and wanting to write about it. I read Smash Hits as often as I read NME and Melody Maker and took whatever avenues of discovery they opened to me - be it teeny bopper pop, indie, MOR rock, Jungle - I was hugely, and shamelessly, into it all.
Pete: I have a much older brother so when I was about 6 or 7 years old he would always be playing music pretty loud in his bedroom. Very early on he was into Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin as well as a load of dodgy prog rock. Then punk came along and switched to bands like the Buzzcocks, the Stranglers and the Clash. On Sunday nights, we’d have the ritual of recording the charts on his stereo system and on Saturday afternoons there would be a trip into town to the local record shop. When I started to get bits of pocket money for washing the car or whatever I’d buy a 7” chart single. I can still remember the first purchase - it was Adam and the Ants ‘Ant Music’.
When did the first idea of creating the label come about?
Sarah: I think we’d both harboured aspirations individually to run a label but when we got together to start putting on shows it was one of the things we thought we might do eventually. It all came about rather sooner than expected, and when we started it was almost by accident. It was certainly a reckless yes (saying yes to something just outside your comfort zone or which you don’t feel 100% ready for) to that first release.
Pete: I’d been signed to a major label subsidiary in the ‘90s and there were things about that deal that were great and things about it that were typically corporate music business stuff that as an artist I felt was very wrong. I’d always thought ‘If I was running a record label, I would do things differently to this - starting with treating the artists like artists, not a commodity.’ So it had always been a ‘one day’ type thing in the back of my head.
How would you describe the style and vision of your Label?
Sarah: At our core is the need to be as fair as possible to artists, and to be not just a label who churns out music but works as a force for social good. We wanted to be a space for under-represented musicians, and give them the opportunities so readily available to white males in the industry, and we wanted to be a community. We operate as a not-for-profit, are supported by a membership, and our roster is incredibly supportive of each other as artists. We actively work on things like knowledge sharing and upskilling with monthly sessions for the roster, as well as on environmental and social commitments. The Reckless Yes vision is ethical, independent, and about making a difference while having a good time.
Pete: We’re also big fans of collaboration - the bands look out for each other on the roster and share opportunities - we actively encourage that. We also collaborate with other labels on releases and regularly share what we’ve learned about running a record label on social media - we like to feel that we’re contributing to a world wide community of musicians and music fans. We also support good causes and every month a portion of our label profits goes to charities we believe in.
Where do you find hungry and ambitious artists?
Sarah: Ambition is an interesting concept. It feels like it comes loaded with this idea that success relates to commercialisation, and growth. Some of our artists want that traditional success trajectory; play increasingly bigger stages, sell increasingly large amounts, hit streaming figures, getting covered by bigger publications and airplay on national stations. But we don’t see that as the only way - I think it’s just as ambitious to want to make a sustainable career from your music, or to have a small but engaged fanbase, or be the person making music (or any art) for themselves only, creativity for creativity’s sake. That seems just as ambitious to me in a society which undervalues art, and systems which often undermine artists. When it comes to what we look for we have to both absolutely love the music - we’re going to spend at least a year working on it in some way so we have to be genuinely enthusiastic about it. Then we look for artists who are clear on what success looks like to them, but need some support to get there, and who have that work ethic. If they’re looking to hand over the music and have someone else deliver them back success without feeling they need to make efforts themselves, we’re probably not the right label for them. Most of our roster we’ve found through artists we’ve covered as journalists, or who have played on bills with our existing artists, or who are making a space for themselves in some way. We rarely pick up bands from demo submissions - and those we do, we usually already have on our radar in some way.
Pete: The guy that signed my band way back in the early 90s said ‘If you’re sending out demos to record labels, you’re not ready for a record deal’ and that’s entirely true.Whatever their ambitions are as an artist, they have worked hard already to make themselves visible on the music scene and while they might not have a grand 5 year plan, you can easily join the dots to see that they’re working hard already on getting their music to the ears of the people they think would want to listen to them.
Who's in your Team?
Sarah: There’s just the two of us running and managing the label. Between us we do everything from A&R to admin.
Pete: Yep, it’s just us two at the moment, but I think we’ve reached the point where the team needs to get bigger if we’re going to continue to grow. My son helps us out from time to time with stuff - he’s 19 and very tech-savvy so he’s done things like built our Discord server and all its channels and he transcodes our music files into all the formats we make it available in, embeds the meta data, cover art etc. It’s the sort of thing I’d have to do one track at a time, but he’ll write powershell scripts so that he can press one button and instantly an entire album is now available in our vault as flac and mp3 etc.
What is the release of which you are most proud of? Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Sarah: We’re proud of every single release we’ve done whether it’s been a big multi-format release distributed worldwide or a niche digital single. We really feel it’s a privilege to be trusted to work on someone’s art and so every release comes with that care, consideration and pride built in. I’d love to collaborate with some international labels, especially if they shared our environmental and social values, or pair up with a festival or promoter when live music is back to curate some stages, and we’re starting to put plans for a new imprint into place and it would be nice to collaborate with some publications around that.
Pete: It sounds like we’re being polite, but because our roster is so diverse in so many ways, not just musically, every release is something new and challenging to get your teeth into. As for who would we like to collaborate with - well we’ve got some great stuff in the pipeline artist-wise, but we’re keeping that under wraps at the moment. As for labels - I love what Jack at Alcopop is doing - he’s quite a way down the line compared to us, so it’s probably not something he would consider, but I’d like to do a joint release with him one day.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Sarah: To start with, everything. The idea that there is only one way to be successful, the structures which undermine the artists on which they depend, the suppression of minority voices, the ignorance of the environmental impact, and more broadly the ideas that great art comes from suffering and culture exists separately to the economy.
Pete: All the things Sarah mentions - but streaming gets a special mention from me. The amount they pay to artists is criminal and there should be legislation it adheres to in terms of its transparency and payments.
What's next for you?
Sarah: This year is our biggest yet in terms of number and scale of releases so there’s a packed schedule for the rest of 2021. We’ve already released albums by Nervous Twitch and The Other Ones, as well as an EP from Hannah Rose Kessler and we’ve releases from Fightmilk, Paper Birch, The Crystal Furs, Hearts Beating in Time, Bitch Hunt, th’sheridans, Piney Gir, Japan Review, Grawl!x and more still to come.
Pete: We’re already starting to map out 2022 now, as well. And when live music comes back eventually, I think we should get some kind of Reckless Fest organised - a bunch of our bands should hit the road together - that would be a great way to welcome live music back into our lives, I think!
