All good things must come to an end, but knowing when to stop can be the tricky part. Douglas MacIntyre, head honcho of The Creeping Bent Organisation since its List-sponsored launch at Glasgow’s Tramway in December 1994, has chosen to wrap up the indie label which has dominated his life for the past three decades. The farewell is being marked with a live showcase called The End Of Definition and release of The Creeping Bent Box, a limited edition boxset with the pleasingly round catalogue number, BENT100.

‘It’s almost like the mission has been terminated,’ he reflects. That mission, as outlined by MacIntyre in his first ever Creeping Bent interview, conducted by this writer for this very organ, was ‘to do something that was an intersection of music and art’. The Strathaven-based musician was inspired by the mischievous aesthetic of Edinburgh’s legendary punk label Fast Product.

‘It was so much more than the music, it was the packaging, the photography, the way that Bob Last and Hilary Morrison presented these incredible groups. I wanted to recapture the excitement I felt as a teenager going to see Scars and The Fire Engines.’

Creeping Bent went on to release albums by Scottish indie luminaries such as The Secret Goldfish, The Leopards, Adventures In Stereo, Monica Queen, Bills Wells & Isobel Campbell as well as music from a brace of MacIntyre’s all-time musical heroes. He recalls that first List interview: ‘We discussed Suicide, The Pop Group, The Fire Engines and Subway Sect as being primary influences and, by bizarre synchronicity, we ended up releasing music from leading lights in all four of those bands.’

Creeping Bent launched at a fertile time for independent labels, back in the halcyon days when record sales were sufficiently buoyant to fund the next musical manoeuvre. Seeking to keep full artistic control, MacIntyre resisted offers from larger labels to bankroll Creeping Bent but did strike a manufacturing and distribution deal with Rough Trade. More than 20 years later, Creeping Bent entered into a similar relationship with the prolific Last Night From Glasgow team. As MacIntyre notes: ‘They are very good at retail’.

He even enjoyed a Scottish number one album with his Port Sulphur project. ‘You can sell some albums and make some money for the artists and the label, but it’s a different beast altogether now. I don’t know how a label like Creeping Bent or Chemikal Underground could have the same impact starting up now.’

Nevertheless, Creeping Bent has experienced a breathless last lap, releasing albums by The Sexual Objects and Gareth Sager as well as The Secret Goldfish, fronted by MacIntyre’s partner Katy Lironi. ‘While we’ve been dealing with crazy children, we’ve been dealing with crazy artists as well,’ he says. ‘It’s been our life for the last 30 years but it felt like a perfect moment to cease operations. For me, it’s a really positive thing. I’m excited about the fact that we’ve created a 30-year piece of work.’

MacIntyre has documented that ride in a new book, A Leap Into The Void, and really has come full circle with the belated release of the debut album by his first band Article 58 (courtesy of some dusted-off demos and the restorative touch of Sam Smith at Green Door Studio). ‘It’s a strange feeling,’ says MacIntyre, ‘because I feel as excited and positive as I felt in that first interview with you when I was about to start releasing records.’ Going forward, his focus will be on making more Port Sulphur music. ‘But now I’ll need to get another label to release it,’ he says. ‘I’ll have to send some cassettes off to a few people...’

The End Of Definition, Mono, Glasgow, Friday 12 December; Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, Saturday 13 December; A Leap Into The Void is out now published by Last Night From Glasgow; main picture: Les Hoggan.