Miscellaneous - Interview with Jason White

by Olga Sladeckova

published: 16 / 10 / 2002

Miscellaneous - Interview with Jason White

First established in 1989, Too Pure, which includes Hefner, Rothko and M cCluskey on its roster, is one of Britain's leading independent labels . Olga Sladeckova speaks to label manager boss about recent changes at Too Pure and his plans for its future

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The London based record label Too Pure has over the course of the 13 years, since it was first established in 1989, developed a much respected position in the music world. Now with over 200 releases in its catalogue, its past and present artists have included PJ Harvey, Stereolab, Hefner, Rothko, Billy Mahonie and Jack , and it has become one of the leading labels in British independent music. At the beginning there were 2 people, Paul Cox and his friend Richard, who came up with the most simple idea - “Why don't we put out some music....” The first ever release on Too Pure was a compilation called 'Now That's Disgusting Music'. It featured bands that played The Sausage Machine club which Paul and Richard ran. It also included a band called the Unbelievers that Paul was in. From complilations and small releases, the label gradually built its way forward to putting out more and more albums. Too Pure is one of the labels under the Beggars Banquet umbrella, which also includes Mantra Recordings (Delgados, Six by Seven, Dot Allison), XL Recordings (the White Stripes, Super Furry Animals, Prodigy) and 4AD (the Pixies, Cocteau Twins, Mojave 3 ). There have been many changes and developments at the label. Paul Cox passed the management of it on to Jason White, who is the present head of the label. Even though Too Pure is seen asa well established label, it keeps a relatively modest status. Pennyblackmusic talked to Jason in an interview about some of the changes at Too Pure and its future plans. PB: Before you started running Too Pure what other music business related jobs have you had ? JW: Prior to joining Too Pure to take care of press and some A&R duties in 2000, I was a promoter for some years at the Mean Fiddler. I booked shows for the Garage and later at various venues across London, which is how I ended up at Too Pure after promoting shows for several bands on the label. I was also running my own label at the time, Foundry Recordings, which I've stopped now but I released various EP's and albums-Electric Sound of Joy, Zan Lyons and the like. I'd say it was that overall experience of working with bands that led to my increased role at Too Pure. PB: Why did Paul Cox stop running the label and what is he doing now? JW: Paul still has an involvement from afar with Too Pure, but his new project, Artrocker, which is more focused on the rock and roll side of things takes up most of his time at present. In addition to records, there is a weekly mail out zine and new website, www.artrocker.co.uk and a weekly club night in Islington. PB: How many people work at Too Pure at the moment? JW: The specific day to day stuff, keeping in touch with the bands and that kind of stuff is mostly myself but like other Beggars labels I rely on shared staff for taking care of press, promotion and so on.. PB: How much do you get involved with bands? Do you manage them, do bookings, or anything else? JW: Too much. But seriously, it varies from band to band and is guided largely by what the individual act is comfortable with,. At present only one of the bands has a manager, so I do frequently get quite involved by necessity, but it's all the more satisfying for it much of the time. PB: Too Pure also collaborates with Aveck Indie Radio. How did that come about and what does it involve? JW: Again, Aveck deck is a resource available to us as part of the Beggars Group. We now have a proper studio with a live room for recording bands and interviews, and it's very similar to how something like the radio station XFM would work in that respect. PB: Are you still looking for new artists and what are your criteria when you are deciding whether to sign a band or not? JW: In one sense you could say that we're always keeping an eye out for suitable bands to collaborate with but of course the practicality of getting everything done has a bearing. For example, next year we're looking to be busier with album releases than we've been for some years, and that will naturally impose it's own limits on just how much we can work with. PB: Could you tell me briefly how you have found the current artists on your roster- Mclusky, Rothko, Ill Ease, Laika? JW: This year the busiest act publicly has been Mclusky, The band released their album in April ,and they have been touring all year in Europe and soon embark on their frist tour of America, which isn't to say the rest of our artists haven’t been busy. Next year should see new albums from Ill Ease, Mclusky, Laika, The Keys, Rothko and a few other things I'm working on at present. PB: Thank you!