While Record Weekly enjoys a good natter with artists, it’s always a joy to speak to those who work in the industry and make things happen for the outfits releasing the music. One such company I’m in awe of is Blood Records, so without further ado…

RECORD WEEKLY’S INTERVIEW WITH BLOOD RECORDS

Hi Craig, I’m such a big fan of everything you do at Blood Records, so I’m delighted I can introduce our readers to you and your company. Talk us through your ethos and how it all came to be.

Thanks very much. Back in 2015, I started a record club which manufactured exclusive 7” records for emerging artists. I was spending a lot of time with artists and hearing the same gripes and issues people were having with their debut albums. So I started to design a system that would make the whole process of selling records easier for the artists and the idea kind of built from there.

It’s become a global community of people who want to buy the wildest records, and we’ve been trying to push the boundaries of art direction as much as possible to create things that no-one else has. 

Where are you based, and what’s your local music scene like?

I’m based outside London, so the vast majority of live music I see is either in London or Birmingham. I may be biased but I think London’s the music capital of the world; we’re very lucky in that regard, given that the UK is this tiny little island.

I think as well that London doesn’t have one single scene as much as lots of individual movements that happen. When I started in music, Camden felt like the centre of the world, then Hooton became a thing. 

For those who don’t know much about vinyl pressing, what’s the process?

A metal lacquer is cut in a studio using the studio masters, and metal stampers are then created from these discs and these are loaded into presses. PVC is headed and then placed between these two stampers which press the grooves onto the record and trim them, because they’re dried for around 48 hours.

It’s a fascinating process we share quite a bit of on our social channels. What’s amazing is that people often assume that technology now does most of this work but, although there have been advancements, the process is not much different than it was in the ’50s. 

Now, you’ve worked with some insane artists over the years, and produced some stunning vinyl. Two of my favourites being the latest albums from Strange Bones and The Amazons. If you could pick a top three, which would they be?

It’s tough for me because these records are kind of like children; I’m not really allowed favourites. Each one means something different.

Some stand-out campaigns I think were the ‘Songs for the National Health Service’ compilation we put out with a group of artists like Foals and Wolf Alice. That record means a lot because it funded ventilation equipment for seven UK hospitals during the pandemic, so there was a greater cause behind it.

Working with both Liam and Noel Gallagher was special, as was working with Elton John earlier this year — especially because he’s just played his last run of shows, so it feels like quite an honour to have collaborated.

But honestly, there are so many records we’ve put out that I’m so proud of. And they’re not always the records with the biggest names attached — it’s often that we put out the debut from, for example, Inhaler. Then you watch the journey the artist has been on and you were there to make this snapshot moment in time with them. 

If you could choose one classic album from decades gone by to reissue in a cool Blood Records style, what would you go for?

I think probably ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ by Pink Floyd. It was the first thing I brought on wax when I started collecting and I think you could make the most amazing holographic LP that plays with light, and die-cut the triangle on the sleeve to reflect the light. That’s one of my dream projects. 

That sounds incredible. Can you tease any upcoming projects while you’re here?

To be honest, I can’t. We have some mind-blowing projects coming up that I can’t quite believe we’re working on but have to keep everything quiet until they’re announced. So stay tuned!

***

You can stay up to date with all the immense Blood Records projects coming up and in the works on their website, where you can find social links, too.