For some months now I've been sending cheques for undisclosed sums up to an address in Fife. In return I've received some of the most delectable and scintillating of packages that have kept me amused during many a long summers eve.
Now I am talking about music here just in case any one of you thought otherwise and in some instances examples of the finest Scots modern art one has ever seen such is the uniqueness and intracacy of some of the packaging. I am of course talking about Fence Records and the work of Label Founder and all round
main man, Kenny Anderson aka KING CREOSOTE.
We meet up in the bar after his spellbinding King Creosote performance at the Green Man Festival at Craig Y Nos Castle in the lovely Brecon Beacons area of North Wales. Now some people might think that I was taking a chance here, I mean, what if I didn't like the show? You can see the sense in talking to people before the show so that you dont feel awkward when you tell them you didn't like it!.
Not here though, oh no and not that there was much chance of that happening to be honest, not after listening to a preview copy of his forthcoming debut 'proper' release, 'Kenny and Beths Musacal
Boat Rides' ;a spruced up collection of songs gleaned by the folks at Rough Trade and Domino from his many previous outings on mail order only releases from his own Fife- based label.
We leave the bar and embark on a journey towards Kenny's room at Craig Y Nos, accordian in tow. Upon arriving at the room Kenny insists on challenging me to a duel pointing to the brass replica pistols laid out on his bedroom table. Nervously I accept the challenge and thankfully the old Liverpool leg doesn't let me down as I turn on a sixpence whilst lowering to assume a crouching position to claim victory. I later put it to him that I thought he'd let
me win so I could feel good about myself, but he assures me that I won fair and square putting the blame on the shandies. Anyways..
So while Kenny is the 'boss' at Fence he is also KING CREOSOTE and an integral player in the Fence Collective, another player being JAMES YORKSTON, another LONE PIGEON and another PIP DYLAN. Now three of these people are also known as the Anderson brothers and the one remaining is long time compadre James
Wright. I start off our chat by asking Kenny how and why it all began?
Way back in 1991 Kenny ( KC ) drags brother Een ( Pip Dylan, a name which crops up throughout this tale ) into his Skoubhie Dubh Orchestra and they tour the continent. Busking through France, Spain, Belgium, you name it ,they were there, "totally chancin' it through the summers";" playing bluegrass" as Kenny puts it. They end up spending the winter in the Dordogne before returning to
Scotland a bit tired and worn out but ready to re join their contempories on the Scots scene: 'Old Blind Dogs' from Aberdeen, 'Swamptrash' from Edinburgh and 'The Hupff Family' (and you thought he had forgotten yous! )
The year becomes 1992 and SDO sign a 3 album deal with Club Records; the sound is skiffle. The band goes through line up changes, changes its name to the Khartoom Heroes to avoid any problems stateside with Warners and their animated comedy hound character. They play all the 'toilet venues';
Kenny : "I refer to them as toilet venues because that's what other people refer to them as"and put out some good records that despite selling a good amount, fail to get them the attention they felt they deserved. Everyone grew disheartened; they'd lost that folky thing. They got out of the deal after the 3 albums and disbanded.
The clock runs on to 1995 and Kenny decides that he's going to "sit
in Fife, write some songs and play in Fife"; it's the beginnings of Fence and the collective. He starts playing every second weekend in St Andrews at a bar called 'Aikmens', playing under the name of the 'St Andrews Citizens' as well as KC. In the meantime his brother Gordon has left The Beta Band due to illness and
returned from London to Fife. The three brothers ,King Creosote, Lone Pigeon and Pip Dylan are recording profusely during this time and decide to start making their own CDs to put out.
He tells me that the CD's cost £5 each to make, with the colour photocopying for the cover costing a further £3 on top. They sold them for a fiver each at 'CD Outlet' ;a record shop in St Andrews where they knew the manager and lost three quid on each one. Despite this they manage to get a business loan from the Clydesdale Bank and things are looking up.
|
It's about this time that James Wright; an old friend from back in the day of the SDO comes on the scene. He tells Kenny that he's going give it one last go and record some demo's; if it doesn't work then he's goig to get a job. As Kenny says "we were all approaching 30 and things had to move on."
Thankfully for James the demos are played on John Peel's Show picked up by 'Bad Jazz' and 'Moving up Country, Roaring the Gospel' is released. Kenny talks very highly of James who then championed the Fence cause by taking Lone Pigeon to Bad Jazz who in turn release the poignant 'Touched by Tomoko EP' which
sold out and enjoyed a second run in pink/red vinyl.
This was followed by a split single between LP and James of 'St Patrick' and 'Rocks/ You Think That Only Boats Can Sink.' As if that wasn't cool enough Bad Jazz then returned to Fence once more and released 'So Forlorn' by KC himself.
Its after this that James gets into Domino and James Yorkston and the Athletes is born. Not content with just that, he drags the collective with him bringing them to the attention of Domino who take an interest in the goin's on at Fence and a collective which by now includes up to 25 individual folk at any one time who all contribute. Yorkston goes on to release his groundbreaking
album 'Moving up Country'; Lonepigeon releases 'Concubine Rice' that becomes an international hit and now King Creosote is about to release 'Kenny and Beths Musacal Boat Rides' ( Sep 22 ) alongside his other brother Pip Dylan's release 'Of all the things I can eat I'm always pleased with a piece of cheese'.( Sep 1)'
These are exciting times for the people at Fence.
So there we are, we're up to date. Of course there's lots more to tell but maybe over time, more will be revealed. Kenny is clearly someone who loves what he's doing and he's proud of his record; "the big difference was that we got it mastered and that made a big difference". He's quick to point out though that at the same time he doesn't consider his home recordings too lo-fi to listen too and I agree, if it sounds good then it is good; the Dr Johnson ontology: if you can kick it, then it's there....
I ask Kenny to describe what a typical day at Fence is like. He tells me that they've just got a "great new office overlooking the sea". It's situated in 'Cellar Dyke' in what used to be a run down tenement. He cycles to work through Crail a small town of about 700 and Anstruther a small fishing village. Joining him a bit later in the office comes Alan aka Cheezy Pastamasta, Gummi Bako,
who takes care of the web side of things leaving the more practical stuff for Kenny to do. My personal favourite being the KC Squeezebox set which contained little coloured stones and trinket like things that sparkled, the five albums that come inside the handmade wooden box are pretty good too. The Fife Life....
What next depends on what happens with the album, but rest assured there are no shortage of ideas to continue Fence's transcendance into folklore and legend; surpassing the limitations of the material universe. I finish by asking Kenny what flavour crisps he and his daughter are eating at the end of his new record? He tells me that they were 'cheese and onion' but he's quick to point out that's because it's his daughter eating the crisps. His favourites are 'salt and vinegar'. Mine are probably Frazzles.
|
