See Monkey Do Monkey is fast building a glowing reputation for its roster of fine bands, even gaining comparisons to a certain famous ’60s soul label, as David Owens discovers
IN 1959 Berry Gordy ploughed an $800 loan from his family into setting up his own record label. As returns on investments go it was one of the shrewdest deals in the history of popular music. His label Motown quickly became known as The Hit Factory as it rewrote musical history with a production line of legendary proportions. From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 top 10 hits, and launched the careers of soul icons artists such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Four Tops and The Jackson Five. Fifty years later and a little closer to home, that same spirit of musical entrepreneurship, prolific output and sense of community is ably represented at See Monkey Do Monkey, the Cardiff-based record label set up by dynamic 30-year-old North Walian Aimee Jade Hayes.
As with Motown, the label has its own recording studio and rehearsal rooms, based at Kings Road Arts Studios, a creative hub in Cardiff’s vibrant Canton suburb. A former DJ and club promoter, Aimee launched the label 18 months ago to release music by her husband Richard Hayes’ band The Method. Aimee – who escaped her Bangor home aged 19 to move to Ireland – met Dublin native Richard while working in the Irish capital. The pair moved to Wales and See Monkey Do Monkey came blinking into the sunlight soon after. Sharing a love of all things ’60s and psychedelically-styled, the label is now five strong with The Method joining an impressive roster of joyfully sonic bands that include The Broken Vinyl Club, Houdini Dax, The Keys and The Moles.
Unlike most record labels, however, theirs is a refreshing ideology spun around a collective vision with bands having democratic control of their own destiny. “The label is a shared concern between us and the artists and they have full creative control at every stage of the process, from recording to releasing,” explains Aimee, who also runs Cardiff’s excellent Miniature Music Press magazine. “The business model reflects this ethos of fairness and serves as an outlet to release amazing music which otherwise gets overlooked by the mainstream. There is such a wealth of talent in Cardiff particularly, we just wish we had the capacity to take on more bands.”
And if you’re wondering where the name of the label came from...
“The name came from Emcee Dee from the Dublin hip-hop group The Infomatics, who are an amazing live band,” recalls Aimee. “He was a bit worse for wear after a gig and couldn’t get his words out. He kept pronouncing the saying ‘monkey see, monkey do’ wrongly and it became a running joke and stuck!”
Read the entire article and Aimee's own guide to the label's roster here:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/music-in-wales/2010/0...
