Art for Blind & Penske Recordings invite you to hug your favourite independent record label at the first Indie Label Day
Indie Label Day is a day-long celebration of DIY music on the island of Ireland, with an afternoon of record stalls and DJs followed by an evening of live music. It’s all happening on Saturday October 14th in Whelan’s.
With the ongoing resurgence of vinyl and popularity in reporting increased sales for the medium, there’s possibly a myth that it’s easy to sell records. For many labels operating at the micro level, out of their bedrooms or shared studio spaces the reality is much different. With long waiting times at pressing plants, ever decreasing windows for launches and the convenience of streaming; the environment for selling music from emerging and underground musicians is challenging. But the labour of love that it is for many a label head is what drives them on, finding new music, fostering relationships with bands and artists and bringing real tangible music artefacts into the world for public consumption.
Brought to you by Art for Blind and Penske and taking place across two rooms, the intention behind the event is to highlight the underground music scene in Ireland through a marketplace, dj sets and live bands. The market will run in the afternoon between 2-6pm with the gig following in the evening from 8pm til late. Entry to the market is free, while there is a door charge of just €5 for the gig.
The afternoon will feature pop-up stalls bringing together a range of independent record labels and distributors operating around the country as well as artists, photographers, zine-makers and book-sellers, soundtracked by sets from live DJs. The market is an opportunity for labels and practitioners to sell physical merch from their rosters direct to the public, connecting with music fans in a social environment. The evening will bring live performances from a curated line-up of bands from some of the participating labels.
Labels confirmed to attend are: Little Gem (Dublin), Touch Sensitive (Belfast), Deserted Village (Galway), Lunar Disko (Dublin), Distro-y (Sligo), Box Emissions (Cork), Sofia (Leitrim), Bluestack (Sligo), Rusted Rail (Galway), Rudimentary (Belfast), Penske (Cork) and Art For Blind (Sligo).
Set to play in the evening are punk trio Alien She, NI experimental solo project Gross Net and newcomers Girlfriend.
