Mollie Chandler reviews the first ever event hosted by Dubious Jim Records at The Crofters Rights. By the end of the night the venue was over-capacity, so it’s pretty safe to say it went well.
Founded in 2015 by Max Thackray and Ed Willsher, Dubious Jim Records is a Bristol record label for young musicians that focuses on supporting creativity in whatever way they can. Both members of The Dardanelles, they provided a great opening act for the night. Using their experience as young artists and the frustrations they faced, they founded the label to support bands just like them. Student bands are often not taken seriously enough due to a lack of social media presence, releases or gigs. Dubious Jim Records essentially aim to help artists get heard by providing support (such as professional production services, music videos etc.) to encourage bands to shape their own image and sound.
Submit a demo: www.dubiousjimrecords.com
The label say: ‘We see the genuine potential in artists and give them the attention they deserve. We offer a range of services like distribution, marketing, promotion, management, signing, recording and production. We also want artists to be as flexible as possible, so we offer both a fixed signing package and also a release only package, allowing artists to sign elsewhere with a different release. We are still happy to work with artists for gigs and for recording and production even if they are not signed. In terms of music we are looking for, we don’t focus on a genre, but we are looking for young musicians with creativity and music that pushes the boundaries of its genre’.
The second act of the night was Act on Impulse, winners of Bristol University’s Battle of the Bands in 2017. They confidently drew in a big crowd performing their first set of all original material. The headliners were this year’s Battle of the Band champions Locker 88 with members: quiff-tastic Alexander Hewitt (Vocals and Bass), Dan Llewellyn (Lead Guitar), Ben Fongenie (Rhythm Guitar) and Nathan Wong (Drums).
The band confidently opened with two original songs, ‘Down’ and ‘Natural Disaster’. Their covers of Busted’s ‘Year 3000’ and The Chainsmokers’ ‘Paris’ started the dancing, but it was Locker 88’s own catchy pop-punk choruses that got the crowd singing-along, particularly ‘If I Had Money’ and their newest song, ‘I Wish I Could Forget’. The band closed with ‘No One’, proving their place as Battle of the Bands winners.
Featured image: Mollie Chandler
Dubious Jim Records' next event is on the 6th June at The Fleece. Will you be there?
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