Interview: Scott Lewis of Clue Records

Leeds-based label Clue Records have started a new monthly singles club in which some of the proceeds are donated to charity. We caught up with co-founder Scott Lewis over a pint at the Brudenell Social Club to chat porcelain pigs, flying the flag for music outside of London, and why they’re definitely not a dating service… yet.

Suppose we should stop talking about Polish music festivals and talk about why we’re here, do you want to introduce Clue Records a little bit and explain how it all started?
We’re into our fifth year as a label now. I’d been in loads of bands before then and drummers just started to do my head in! So I sacked that off and started doing marketing on Oxjam music festival. We put on a few events in Leeds and I started to meet loads of good bands.

There were labels around who I thought were amazing but they were missing things that I thought maybe I could do, plus nobody was picking up these bands that I loved. So after Oxjam I was just sat in a pub with my mate Ste and we’d always mentioned how cool it would be to run a label so said, ‘Right, let’s have a go then’. That was it really. We didn’t know what we were doing at all which has been a good thing in some ways.

What releases have you been most proud of so far?
We try and keep every release interesting in terms of physical so we’ve done all sorts. There was a track on the new NARCS album called Pig and there’s this weird shop near me that sells all the old stock of old stores like BHS and Woolworths. They had these Christmas crackers with these really nice little porcelain pigs inside so I went back in February and bought loads of them to put a download code inside so we could sell an actual cracker as a release.

We’re really here to talk more about Clue Club, do you want to explain that a little?
So it’s a monthly singles club. A lot of people have been like, ‘You’re starting a dating site?!’. It was a bit weird at first. Some of the lads in the bands, some of their parents would turn up at gigs and be like, ‘What’s all this dating stuff in a singles club?’. It isn’t that. We might do that in the future actually, that sounds quite cool.

It’s a monthly music service where you sign up and get a different zine every month which comes from and related to a band we’ve picked, a track to download from them, and then over the year you’ll get a t-shirt, a tote bag, a CD, discounts and all sorts. There’s no way we’re going to make any money on it, we probably won’t even break even, but there were loads of bands out there that I wanted to work with but we just couldn’t as intensely as we would a band on the label just because we don’t have enough time. So this is like an intense month with the band. Hopefully it will work out for both.

One thing we should mention is that some of the proceeds towards Clue Club are going to charity.
Yeah, so in January and February everybody that signs up, £5 is split between MIND, a mental health charity doing ace stuff, and the other one is Simon On The Streets, which is a Leeds-based charity who help rough sleepers. They’re both charities that are close to me and things that I think should be supported and helped.

Can you shed a little light on what bands you have lined up or are they top secret?
So we had Fighting Caravans (who were one of Gigslutz’s Ones To Watch for 2017) to start with who are ace. NARCS had recommended seeing them live and I’d heard a couple of their tunes and when they started their newer stuff I knew there is proper something there. Colour of Spring are the February band who are a more shoegaze or slacker band and are ace too. March is a fella called T Buckley, which is a totally new project. And from then on we’ve got quite a few lined up which I’m really excited about.

The podcast is really funny. You and Steve manage to have a really good rapport without it getting too Partridge! Had you done anything like that before?
That’s good to hear! When we started the label we didn’t have any releases properly lined up so we started by doing a monthly podcast showing off bands from other labels and around West Yorkshire. We did that for about 18 months. We just do it mine or Ste’s spare room, set up a little recording desk with a couple of mics and just dick about for half an hour or something. There’s going to be points where we do get Partridge and it’s definitely gonna happen but I think I’m alright with that!

As a label do you take a lot of pride in working outside of London? Obviously there’s a lot of amazing stuff going on around the country, but the music industry and I suppose a lot of modern society itself is focused and a bit obsessed with the capital.
I think so, we really proud of the local element to it. I mean, I’m not even from Leeds, I’m from the North East and a place called Stockton. But being a Leeds label and being part of the North – it’s not about Clue in particular but we’ll do things with some of the other label and collaborate and try to show people that not everything has to be focused or centred on London. It still massively is but you don’t have to be in London to make things work.

Are there any other bands or labels in particular – they don’t have to be generally local – that really stand out to you at the minute?
I just found this band called Priests who I think are from Washington, DC. John Kennedy played them the other night and I thought they sounded really cool and the album is class. It’s sort of riot grrrl, not far off Bikini Kill, proper cool. And then the Useless Eaters I’ve been listening to them a lot.

But locally I’ve seen Mush three or four times in the last month…

…Oh yeah, they were on that bill with Goat Girl and Girl Band, right? I caught some of their set, I’d never heard of them before and they were fucking great!
Yeah, they’re absolutely ace. On two of the occasions I’ve seen them they’ve stopped a song halfway through because the singer’s like, ‘Wait, that’s not right’. And I like that thing where they don’t just grit their teeth and get through it, they’d rather stop and do it properly – not in a shit, amateurish way but in a perfectionist way. I see a bit of The Fall in them in some of the singer’s mannerisms. It’s on the good side of Mark E Smith, not just fucking with people’s amps because you’re Mark E Smith.

Do you have any advice or tips to anyone that might want to start a label?
Yeah, take your time with it. Don’t worry about what people might think of it either. But treat the people who are invested in you, and by that I mean fans who are buying your products and releases, treat them well. When I buy something it’s ‘cos I really want to and be kind of part of something. I hate that sort of expectation where you take it for granted that people are going to buy something.

Every time somebody signs up to Clue Club I’m like, ‘That’s class!’. Especially when nobody really knows what we’re releasing and it’s a totally new idea. So yeah, be grateful to people who support you. Just make sure that you’re putting the effort in that the bands deserve. Make sure you’re backing them up and you’re doing everything you can.

Nice one, thanks a lot for your time. Fancy another pint?…

For more information on Clue Club, or to sign up and support some worthy charities, visit here.

Rob Conlon

Rob Conlon

Freelance journalist. Record collector. Yorkshireman. Order subject to change. "You've got good taste, even if you are from fucking Leeds" - Richard Hawley