The Importance of Being Indie

If you've picked up the April/May issue of the zine you will have found some words of wisdom from Gary Anderson, Cardiff promoter, dj, and the man behind Twisted by Design. Gary gave us such ace answers to our oft clumsy questions it seemed cruel not to print them in full, so here they are!

-Hi Gary! Could you tell our lovely readers a little bit about who you are and what you do?

I’m generally known as Gary Twisted (despite years of trying to avoid pseudonyms) and I primarily run and DJ at an indie disco in Cardiff called Twisted by Design. It’s been running now for nearly 9 years, always upstairs at Dempsey’s, and was voted second in the Ultimate Indie Disco of All Time by listeners to 6Music. In addition to this I DJ a couple of nights a week at Clwb Ifor Bach and have a second Twisted night every Thursday, again at Dempsey’s.

So what kinda started out as a hobby has pretty much ended up as a full time job, which is cool. I’m also a promoter and sound engineer and general supporter of the local scene.

-So. How did you get started with this? Were there any particular inspirations?

Before ATP took over Camber Sands, there was a festival organised by Belle and Sebastian called the Bowlie Weekender. This literally changed my life by introducing me to a whole world of new music and bands I’d never heard of before. Not only the bands who played but also from the numerous new friends I made that weekend. I spent pretty much every other weekend for the following two years travelling to London and staying with people I’d met at Bowlie, and seeing loads of new bands and discovering the delights of London’s indie pop scene.

One night in particular was the very first Track and Field indie disco upstairs at the Betsy Trotwood, which I loved so much. It made me think why Cardiff didn’t have any nights like this and whether it might work there.You have to remember that at that time there really wasn’t much going on in Cardiff. The indie nights there were full of Charlatans, Stone Roses and Stereophonics. Certainly stuff like Belle and Sebastian and Stereolab would never be played anywhere. So I found a pub with an upstairs room and decided to have a go myself, fully expecting it to last no more than a couple of months. I’m blown away that it’s still going strong nine years later.

-Do you think people appreciate a more independent approach to creativity?

I hope so, I know I do

-Has it been difficult to maintain this approach? Sometimes you must feel like you're putting yourself on the line a lot.

Absolutely. Twisted is completely run by myself. I have a lot of help from friends along the way but at the end of the day I am Twisted by Design. It’s me up there all on my own. Anything I do reflects on the night and everything that happens at Twisted reflects on me. For someone who is actually quite shy and not exactly a natural extrovert it can be quite stressful and scary. It can also be a lot of fun of course.

-There seem to be a lot of like-minded individuals in Cardiff, and it's certainly been a positive influence on us. How much does this kind of camaraderie keep you going?

Without help and support from friends and like minded people there would be no Twisted. Cardiff is a small city and the indie scene is obviously even smaller. There can sometimes be a little bit of complacency because Cardiff has had it so good for so long and people naturally think it will always be like this.

Twisted has been under threat ever since it started from breweries or venue managers not understanding what you are trying to achieve and how much of a niche market you are catering for. Without the fantastic support I get nights like mine would either die or have to become something totally different to appeal to a larger audience. Personally I’d rather DJ to a hundred Kenickie fans than a thousand Oasis fans any day!

There’s a definite trend recently for people to go out to clubs later and later. This is a problem when the venue is concerned with bar takings (they are a business after all). A solution came from a couple of local promoters (who are also in bands I absolutely love), Graf from Gindrinker and Adam from Last Partisan. They both run a monthly band night under the banner Freakshow. They suggested that maybe they could do an extra Freakshow a month at Twisted by Design. This has been a huge success and resulted in people coming out much earlier to the gigs and staying for Twisted afterwards.

-How did you make the jump from club/gig nights to releasing This Town Ain't Big Enough? Are there any plans to follow it up?

Ah, the Twisted compilation CD. Well, a few years ago Cardiff seemed to have far more than its fair share of amazing artists. It’s always been an ambition of mine to release a compilation CD of local artists and this seemed like just the right time. Harri (from local band Little My) had a similar idea and it seemed a good plan to combine forces and together I feel we produced a seriously great CD. We were very lucky to catch Los Campesinos! just as they were on the rise and their track on the CD was, strictly speaking, their first release. As for a follow up, maybe when the time feels right again. Although twisted is ten years old next year so maybe it might be nice to do something to commemorate this.

-How does it make you feel to see bands like LC! really moving into 'stardom'?

It’s always nice when friends’ bands do well, particularly when they’re as great as Los Campesinos! It’s also a little strange to see your mates up there on stage playing to thousands of people at festivals and their videos on MTV2. I count Neil Campesinos! as one of my closest friends and miss him loads at the moment with them spending half a year in America, but obviously I’m really pleased for them.

To have a band of that quality write a song about your night is the most flattering thing ever I think. You! Me! Dancing! will always be very special to me.

-What advice would you give someone wanting to start their own night?

All I can say is that if you are passionate about starting a night then just do it. You’ll never know until you try. But just be prepared for a lot of hard work as well as a lot of fun.

-What, to you, is the real importance of being indie?

This probably sounds patronising but I really believe that in an industry increasingly dominated by corporations and chains, independence is so important. Whenever the indie scene goes through a peak you always get the big players moving in trying to get their piece of the pie. However, major labels no longer seem to want to invest in new talent and it’s up to independent labels and promoters who genuinely believe in these artists to support them.

Indie is all about the people who love the music scene and are passionate about it, and continue to promote and support music regardless of whether it is currently trendy or not. In return people should support the indie labels, shops, venues and promoters as much as possible in order for them to continue.

For more information about Twisted By Design nights visit twistedbydesign.co.uk

Just because I'm on your side...

As you are probably aware, we at Pull Yourself Together are big fans of The Answering Machine. We were there when they played their first few gigs, and even back then we kind of knew that things were going to happen for them. They were in that great wave of Manchester bands a few years back, alongside Modernaire, The Search Map, Former Bullies and Julian Donkey Boy, and are now getting the attention which they deserve.

Signing to ace new label Heist or Hit Records last year meant that they had the backing to go on and record a shithot debut LP, and this week sees the release of first single Cliffer.  

The single has already won BBC 6Music's Rebel Playlist, and rightly so. It also has a great music video (just up there ^) directed by Dan Parrott, who also made the somewhat disturbing promo for Dutch Uncles' Face In. NB - If you are of a nervous disposition then you might want to watch the video in the company of friends, as Cliffer the dummy is terrifying. One half of PYT spent an afternoon in the company of it, and can vouch for the fact that those eyes follow you everywhere. 

The band have just finished touring with Casiokids and Flashguns, and have recently been on both the radio and telly boxes, so there is a good chance that this one is going to fly out. Head down to your local recorded music emporium or log onto the Heist or Hit shop to get yrself a copy.

Absent Friends

Hello and welcome to 2009! Ok, we admit you’ve had a while to become acquainted. It is March after all. But here at PYT we’ve been successfully playing out our resolution to see more bands, buy more records, and generally make ’09 a good’un. Here’s how we’ve gone about it.

January
Barely a week of the new year had gone by when we poked our noses out into the cold to sniff out what ’09 had to offer. This initial offering was The Miserable Rich at Dulcimer, courtesy of the Red Deer Club (who don’t put gigs on anymore apparently…ahem). I hadn’t really listened to the band since they played in Fuel last year, but they’re instantly recognisable and the warmth of the vocals was enough to thaw out those January blues. In fact, I bought their debut album the very next day, lest I forgot.

Other highlights of the month included Animal Collective playing an amazing set at Club Academy which included a twenty minute version of Fireworks (incredible scenes especially with the visuals), the first outing for Asparagus Next Left (which happened to be the most fun we’d had at a club night for an age. It was like the first time you go to Smile, only better) and a set from Sky Larkin at Night n Day which cemented their place in our hearts and minds.

February

Warming up with a night involving Kissing Just for Practice, Air Cav, Underachievers Please Try Harder and a Holga camera with a film which turned out to be blank, February was all set to be a busy one. Sadly the Valgeir Sigurdson show at the Cross Street Chapel fell foul of the inclement weather, the irony of Icelandic Valgeir being stuck in London due to snow being lost on no-one.

Snow didn’t stop Manchester though (why would it? It’s just rain but a bit thicker), and PYT spent a lovely evening at West Didsbury’s The Art of Tea. It’s criminal we don’t spend more time there, so when it was announced that there’d be a bit of a do to celebrate new evening opening hours complete with wine and artwork there was no way we’d refuse. The place was packed, and yet the relaxed atmosphere prevailed, especially as we wandered towards the back and lost ourselves in the adjoined Didsbury Bookshop. Both halves of PYT have vowed to return in order to buy books a-plenty, and sit there reading them for the rest of the day.



Sadly we had to leave the folk at Art of Tea to it, as we headed to Retro Bar for our first Wot God Forgot of the year. Ciaran paid the usual attention to detail in the line-up which meant a chance to finally catch local noisesters A Middle Sex (who at times sounded like they were playing underwater, in a good way) and Glissando who were beautiful. They’ve really evolved as a band, and despite the usual technical hitches associated with this venue they seem to have the crowd dumbstruck.

As we’re hopeless romantics (or not as the case may be), Valentine’s night was spent in the company of both Underachievers and Panda Panda; these two actually are a match made in heaven, and it’s great to hear that they’ll be teaming up more regularly from now on. The Answering Machine may not have exorcised their Night n Day demons supporting Ra Ra Riot (how the guitars stopped working we’ll maybe never know), but that didn’t stop the crowd from enjoying every moment, particularly the man behind us who commented on their fantastic energy approximately every two minutes for the duration of the set. Ra Ra Riot themselves were massively impressive; The Rhumb Line is an album which struck a chord with us so quickly and directly, and they’re even better live.



As a slight break from our usual music-related activities we spent a night in the company of Josie Long at XS Malarkey, and she made us quite ridiculously happy. We gave her fanzines, she seemed worried that she only had one to offer us. She knocked Dan’s drink over and felt so guilty she got a friend to come over and offer him another one. She is just that nice. Not to mention bloody hilarious and excited by dinosaurs, museums and space. Three of Dan’s favourite things.


Back to the music the following night over at the Deaf Institute, with the confusing sight of the band we knew as Radio Luxembourg telling the crowd (fairly unconvincingly) “We are Racehorses”. Having been threatened with legal action they had to change their name quick-smart, but this hasn’t changed their take on oddball psych-pop. Napoleon IIIrd offered us his new efforts – less pop but he has gained an extra reel-to-reel, and Wild Beasts who achieved that very impressive feat of making you want more and more new material. If these new songs are anything to go off then the follow up to Limbo, Panto will be even better!


There wasn’t long before we were back at the Deaf Institute, this time for Woodpigeon and The Miserable Rich (I smell a Red Deer again, along with Humble Soul). The crowd, obviously much larger than at Dulcimer, was equally if not more receptive, and you really got the feeling they’ve got a special place in their hearts for our fair city. After giving us their version of Hot Chip’s Over and Over last time round there were more covers, not that Dan was there to see that part of the set. Four tracks into Miserable Rich’s set he upped sticks to go and have his head completely blown away by Titus Andronicus at the Night n Day. The band obviously got into the Manchester spirit, opening with a really scuzzy cover of Champagne Supernova. The end of that TA gig meant jump in the car, blast out a Times New Viking tape at full volume, and back to the Deaf Institute in time for the headline there! Woodpigeon rounded of a very pleasant evening with their delicate folk (they sit at the quieter end of Sufjan), and PYT became increasingly irritated with the large numbers of people talking over them.


February’s PYT at Common, despite not being a fanzine launch, turned out to be the best yet. Thanks go out as always to the friends and strangers who turned up to listen to good records played either smoothly or appallingly depending on how distracted Hannah was.

We won’t desert you for so long next time.

Over and out!

Team PYT xx