Music / Art is Hard
Art is Hard: Hard Times
When I ask Art is Hard co-founder Richard when the label began, he starts to answer, “Well, during the Second World War…” and I think he’s joking. But he’s not. It turns out he and co-founder David saw a great opportunity in their hometown of Weymouth due to the number of pubs there that had established there during World War II. “To see a band, you’d have to go to Southampton or something,” he continues. “So we were like, “Why? Let’s start putting on some bands.””
They’re the first to admit that, at first, nobody cared. But after putting on a “really elaborate” festival named Boring By the Sea, they realised that they’d started to build a platform for emerging artists. “We’d extended down the whole of the South coast pretty much,” says David. “But we didn’t actually start the label for two years after the festival – we had a lot of pub chat saying, “We should really get that going.””
is needed now More than ever
Their first release was actually a t-shirt that came complete with a download code – pretty cutting edge for the noughties – and after three years of releasing records and putting on all-dayers, it was a massive gig in London that truly solidified the label as the catalyst for its own scene that had started spreading all over the UK. Joanna Gruesome, Nai Harvest, Best Friends, Black Tambourines, Birdskulls and more appeared. “We sort of cottoned on that we were doing something really fun and there was a scene forming around what we were doing,” explains Richard. “We weren’t really introducing the bands to each other, but we were releasing them. So we were like, “okay, let’s just get all the bands together.” It was really, really fun.”
Now the duo are buzzing to celebrate seven years of the DIY venture with a massive Bristol blowout. David’s looking forward to seeing the hypnotic indie of headliners Beach Fossils, Richard is keen to see lo-fi rockers Girl Ray, and there’s loads more to get excited about – Ultimate Painting, The Spook School and loads more AIH alumni are set to play across four stages over the Bank Holiday Sunday.
After all this – releasing the records of their dreams, reaching more fans than ever, seeing the bands they put on in the past rise to heady heights – what’s next? The team can see a “big event” replacing the label in a few years time. Or maybe, as David dreams, it’ll mature with them. “I’d like to keep doing the label till I’m forty or fifty,” he muses. “I look forward to releasing the Art is Hard country folk compilation when we’re sixty.” And we’ll still be listening.
Art Is Hard: Hardly A Party takes place on Sunday, August 27 across four stages in Thekla, The Louisiana, and Crofter’s Rights. Grab a ticket from www.artishardrecords.co.uk
Photography by Tristan McDonald
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