Check the label: Bedevil

Bedevil founder John Wills has a challenge for bands thinking of approaching his label: bring something new.

"I worked in a record shop in London in the early '80s. Nearly every week, there would be a new band that was totally unlike anything that had gone before," Wills says.

"Think about it - Joy Division, The Fall, The Slits - even in the charts you had the New Romantic stuff. Like it or hate it, it was 100% original. To be innovative was really important to musicians. I really want to encourage that way of thinking again."

With the brand new label, he wants to provide "a resource for bands whose first priority is to be interesting and individual with a community, rather than competitive spirit."

As drummer in Loop from 1987, Wills himself was in a group which sounded like nothing else - and for the last decade he has been working with Pinkie Maclure in the similarly adventurous and critically lauded Pumajaw.



An amicable split with Fire, which put out the band's Favourites retrospective earlier this year, opened the door to set up Bedevil.

"It's been something I have been thinking about for a long time" Wills says. "The whole digital release thing has put the power back in the hands of the musicians and I think large record companies will soon be relevant to just the middle of the road. There are exceptions, but really all the big players want hits and that's it."

But with digital downloads, and plenty of advice for fledgling musicians available online, Wills says the positive is that it's "never been easier" for bands to release their own tracks:

"My advice is to ask questions. Nobody will expect you to know everything. When Rough Trade first started to release singles, the bands would write down all the information about the costs and who they used to make the record on the sleeve. This spurred other bands to release their own music as the whole thing was demystified.

"Helping and talking to other small labels is the answer to making your label a success," Wills adds.

Pumajaw's single 'Featherdown Quilt' - which will be a download-only release on 2 November - was recorded and mixed at home by Wills. He promises "a departure from our last album for sure, but it is much more exciting for us. It's fun and energetic".

Future plans include a follow-up single in the new year, and a Pumajaw album in spring.

In the meantime, anyone interested in joining in the Bedevil revolution can email Wills on info@bedevil.org.uk.

Words: Elaine Liddle