Edinburgh label Song, by Toad unveils grand plans for Record Store Day 2013
The DIY label is involved in some live performances plus a Beer vs Music experiment...
As beloved music emporia like Monorail, VoxBox, LOVEmusic and Avalanche hatch plans for Record Store Day 2013, Matthew Young of homegrown Edinburgh indie label Song, by Toad is flogging beer for a song. ‘On Record Store Day, we’ll be releasing our Beer vs Records project. It’s a lighthearted jab at the fact that people will happily spend £12 on a round of beer, but won’t spend it on a record.’
The label will be releasing eight songs on a split 12” and eight different songs from the same sessions as download codes with a four-pack of beer made by Scottish micro-brewery Barney’s (you can listen to some of the tracks below). The goal is to see which sells out first. ‘I wanted to ask several questions,’ notes Young. ‘Do people really care about physical products anymore? Can the music industry learn from the locally-sourced, small-batch revival in the food industry? Should independent shops and labels let HMV and Amazon turn themselves into Asda and Tesco and compete with them by refusing to compete?’
Song, by Toad is also teaming up with VoxBox for live music at Edinburgh’s Summerhall on Record Store Day (including Mike Heron, Rob St John, Girl Canaveral, eagleowl, Adam Stafford and Honeyblood). ‘What we’re trying to do is to get all parts of the music community together, to break the barriers down and to help make the fan feel a crucial part of the same ecosystem.’
Record Store Day takes place on Sat 20 Apr.