COUNTERFEIT SIGN TO XTRA MILE RECORDINGS // NEW TRACK 'ADDICTION' PREMIERED – LISTEN NOW // SPRING 2017 TOUR

Xtra Mile Recordings, are proud to announce the signing of London five-piece, Counterfeit. In celebration, the band have premiered new track 'Addiction', getting its first play on Dan P. Carter's Radio 1 Rock Show.

'Addiction' is a hard-hitting track driven by Jamie Campbell Bower’s raw and honest vocals. It was produced by Thomas Mitchener (Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Dead!) and recorded at Broadfields Studio. 'Addiction' has featured in the band’s live shows, and is a firm fan favourite. You can listen to it below.

Counterfeit will also tour in spring 2017. Tickets are on sale from Wednesday 30 November 2016 here. They kick off their tour in Hamburg on 24 March, and work their way through various cities including Berlin, Rome and Amsterdam, before reaching the UK. The band will then head to Leeds on 18 April and wrap things up in Brighton on 29 April, stopping off along the way to play London’s renowned Underworld, on 26 April.

Speaking of the signing and their 2017 plans, Jamie said: "It is my belief that we can all become addicted to something. Whether it be a substance, feeling, person, place...the list is endless, but ultimately that obsession with, whatever your chosen poison, breaks you down and can leave you empty. 'Addiction' is in some ways about overpowering that need for any form of crutch and accepting things on the world's terms rather than trying to control it on your own. Produced by Thomas Mitchener at Broadfields studio, this song marks a new beginning for Counterfeit and is the first of much more to come.

"We are also pleased to announce that Counterfeit have signed to Xtra Mile. We believe that this will be a good home for us and are in good company. Onwards and upwards and into 2017."

Founder of Xtra Mile Recordings, Charlie Caplowe, said of the signing: “We’re massively excited to have signed Counterfeit. They’ve made an amazing album and their live show is immense. 2017 looks set to be a huge year for the band.”

2016 has been a busy year for Counterfeit. Earlier this year saw the five piece play their first UK headline tour, which included a sell out show at London’s Electric Ballroom. They then toured mainland Europe, and played festivals including Rockcamp in Germany and 2000trees in Cheltenham in the summer. 

facebook.com/therealcounterfeit / Twitter @counterfeitrock 

www.therealcounterfeit.com

XTRA MILE RECORDINGS OUTSIDE BROADCAST TRUCK AVAILABLE FOR HIRE

• LIVE AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING OR STREAMING IN HD

• ACOUSTICALLY DESIGNED FOR AUDIO MIXING 

• RUN BY ENGINEER/DRIVER WITH 25 YEARS OF LIVE AUDIO EXPERIENCE

Xtra Mile Recordings' Outside Broadcast truck is a fully mobile live recording studio capable of capturing and streaming live stage performances at gigs and festivals on video and audio, as well as having room and equipment for acoustic sessions inside. It is now available for hire at reasonable rates bringing an affordable professional quality service to clients and opening up brand new recording and promotional possibilities.

Affectionately known as XMROB1, the ex Hi-Q broadcast truck was rescued from a field before undergoing six months of intricate, accomplished rebuilding and restoration, then fitted with carefully-chosen equipment. The work was carried out by an audio engineer with 25 years of live audio experience whose skills and expertise will be available when hiring the truck.
It has already been fully road-tested by recording every Xtra Mile Recordings artist at 2000trees Festival in July. Ten tracks from these live recordings (one from each artist) has been released as the label’s latest compilation. Entitled Xtra Mile High Club Vol. 7: Truckin', the album takes mastered recordings from the truck’s digital console and delivers a clear, true sound from the festival's live stages. In-truck sessions have also been released as the video series 'Xtra Mile Presents'. Both give evidence of the ability of the truck’s equipment and engineer. Please view the session we did with artist Will Varley from 2000trees Festival.

Technical specifications:

•    32 channel X32 digital console with live real-time mix and simultaneous 32 track recording The X32 desk can be substituted for a Digico SD8 or 9 for larger channel counts and up to 48 track recording if required by the client.
•    Multitrack recording to custom-built rack mount PC running Reaper. 
•    Stage rack: 32 channels of transformer ISO mic splits feeding digital stage boxes, isolated from the PA. 
•    75m tactical cat5 cable from stage rack to truck. This can be doubled to 150m using a Klark Teknik re-clocking box midway.
•    The truck control room is acoustically designed for mixing, making it ideal for audio. 
•    Blackmagic Design ATEM video switcher. 
•    For basic live streaming three or four fixed cams are available, or for more demanding applications, an experienced Camera crew with broadcast grade cameras can be provided. 
•    Live streaming is via either a Teradek Vidiu encoder or from MX Light software.
•    For streaming and data upload: a 4G/LTE system and ViaSat KA band satellite rig. 4G system uses high gain antenna mounted on 7m mast. Satellite system uses NewsSpotter service which allows for uncontended bandwith to be pre-booked.
•    Truck can be powered from a single 32a socket, two 16a sockets or even two 13 amp sockets. The truck features a substantial uninterrupted power supply which provides power temporarily should the incoming supply fail.

Costs: 
•    Each job is quoted in detail depending on requirements and logistics, with an affordable price including one engineer/driver, fuel, broadband and more. One engineer may be sufficient for a simple audio-only job provided there is someone onsite to assist with running cables during setup. Additional techs will be required if the job involves live streaming, video or multiple bands eg. at a festival. 

Contact: info@xtramilerecordings.com

CHRIS T-T 'LOVE ME, I'M A LIBERAL' FULL-BAND SINGLE OUT 25 NOVEMBER 2016 // TOUR WITH CARTER USM'S JIM BOB NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Xtra Mile laureate Chris T-T will see out our annus horribilis with an autumn and winter of touring 'Love Me I'm A Liberal' and supporting good friend and national treasure Jim Bob. 

'Love Me I'm A Liberal' is the second single from Chris's tenth studio album 9 Green Songs which you can buy now from our web shop on CD and download. Inspired by the classic satire by US protest singer Phil Ochs, the song raises an iPad selfie to the safe-and-sound set quite happy to finger point, jeer and slacktivise for change from the internet and for the benefit of their right-on friends. The single version is full-band (the album cut is a solo piano ballad), giving it a cheeky Britpop jangle, as if playing along with the smug. The track is accompanied by a vicious, warped cut-and-paste Chris T-T vs Gypo Buggane remix of acapella poem 'Cutting A Longbow', and Elliott Smith cover 'Cupid's Trick', capturing the sparse original in electric guitar drones and hi-hat hesitation. 

9 Green Songs refuses to toady up to expectations, from its title to its targets, its mood or even its musical genre. It's the album we deserve for the times we've come to expect at the moment we've realised we've become complacent.

Chris's enormous stack of songs, whether playing solo or with his accomplished fireb(r)and the Hoodrats, chart the last 16 years of British folly with bold storytelling, an incisive wit, and a little bit of good ole' English crass. Whether brewing storms with piano chords, cutting folk songs from acoustic strings, or throwing the audience ire-laced sentences accompanied only by silence or pounding drums, the T-T live experience is a journey that never takes the same turns and always finds a way to the heart and the head.

Chris will join old friend and ex-Carter USM singer Jim Bob on Jim's first solo tour of the UK in five years. Chris will perform before the duo play songs from the album Jim Bob Sings Again, a collection of hits and fan favourites re-recorded with new vocal arrangements and piano provided by Chris, the sole instrumentalist on the record.

Chris T-T on the 'Jim Bob Sings Again' UK tour:

NOVEMBER
24 Leeds @ Brudenell Social Club (SOLD OUT)
25 Middlesbrough @ Westgarth Social Club (20 tickets left)
26 Manchester @ Deaf Institute (SOLD OUT)
27 Devizes @ The Lamb (SOLD OUT)
29 Cambridge @ Portland Arms (SOLD OUT)
30 Leicester @ Musician

DECEMBER
01 Darwen @ Theatre Library
02 Glasgow @ Stereo
03 Birmingham @ Mama Roux (<10 tickets left)
04 Reading Purple Turtle (SOLD OUT)
06 Cardiff @ The Globe
07 Bristol @ Thunderbolt (SOLD OUT)
08 Brighton @ The Haunt
09 London @ 100 Club (SOLD OUT) 

facebook.com/christt / Twitter @christt / www.christt.com 
 

WILL VARLEY NEW VIDEO 'FEBRUARY SNOW' // HEADLINE SHEPHERD'S BUSH EMPIRE 25 NOVEMBER 2017 // ALBUM 'KINGSDOWN SUNDOWN' OUT NOW

Hot on the heels of Will Varley's incredible new album Kingsdown Sundown out today (Friday 4 November 2016 - buy it on CD, vinyl or download from us, Banquet Records, Amazon or download only from iTunes), Will has a brand new video to share for the track 'February Snow'. watch below.

Varley will be playing his biggest show to date next autumn at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 25 November 2017. Tickets go on sale today. Tickets here.

Speaking about the show, Will says: "I used to play an open mic night across the road from Shepherds Bush Empire. I never thought years later I'd be headlining there.” 

His headline show at London’s Union Chapel later this month on 18 November sold out over a month in advance. Will Varley UK & Ireland headline tour dates can be found on our gigs listings page.

The songs on ‘Kingsdown Sundown’ are more visceral and uneasy than before, with fights in KFC descending into world wars, the all too real plight of refugees and the recent rise in hate crime. A collection of folk songs written over the course of the last year while travelling and touring – written on tour buses and trains, scribbled on the back of set lists and receipts – Will says “these are the most honest songs I've ever written and they represent new ground for me creatively. They may not be radio friendly, or even 'friendly' at all, but I’ve been wanting to make a record like this for a long time."

First track to be lifted from the album ‘To Build A Wall’ – an unnervingly timely indictment of simplistic solutions to incredible complex problems on both sides of the pond – has been added to the Radio X Evening Playlist and is receiving plays and support from Steve Lamacq on 6Music. Watch the simple but provocative video here: 

The rest of the album is hazier, more spectral and a phantom of memories, dreams, and hopes. If there's one song that haunts as much as it heals and warms the soul, it's 'Let Your Guard Down' which sounds like it was sung deeply into the howling wind in defiance, in hope and fear. The most directly political song 'We Want Our Planet Back' feels strongly enough to strap on an electric guitar and strum over Will's patient protest, but it indirectly lends its brooding power to 'Too Late Too Soon' which seems ready to crumple and break, a sandcastle made of a simmering mood. 'Back To Hell' could have come from any period in superstitious folk history, a tale of vague menace, mysticism and the underworld. Finally,  'We'll Keep Making Plans' threatens to build to a crescendo, but instead lets us drift out into a mental sea where the sun is setting on what we knew in favour of the unknown, resolving to carry on, continuing to build our futures on shakier foundations. It’s somehow not dispiriting; it’s more driven by determination to allow sadness not to rule our lives, but be an important part of it. 

‘Kingsdown Sundown’ Tracklisting: 
1.    To Build A Wall
2.    Something Is Breaking
3.    When She Wakes Up
4.    February Snow
5.    Let Your Guard Down
6.    We Want Our Planet Back
7.    Too Late Too Soon
8.    Wild Bird
9.    Back To Hell
10.    One Last Look At The View
11.    We’ll Keep Making Plans

facebook.com/willvarleymusic / Twitter @WillVarleyMusic / www.willvarley.com                                                                            

BEANS ON TOAST'S BIG LONDON PARTY 10 DECEMBER 2016 // PREORDER 'A SPANNER IN THE WORKS' NOW FOR 1 DECEMBER 2016

"It’s Beans on Toast here, your favourite drunk folk singer. I’m here to give you the low down on a big one off party that I’m throwing on Saturday 10 December in London at Omeara.

You’ve probably heard that music venues keep on closing down? It’s a tragedy. So we can all find a bit of solace in the knowledge that new venues are also opening. Omeara is a brand spanking new 320 capacity live music and club space, just a few minutes walk from London Bridge tube station. It’s been lovingly created by my old pal Ben Lovett (who produced my first album Standing on a Chair don’t you know) with no expense spared. A sweet PA, a great shaped room, a decent selection of booze and some lovely bar staff. It’s the perfect place to hold this gathering.

This will be a Beans on Toast gig like no other. I’ll be joined onstage by the many folk who collaborated on my new album A Spanner in the Works (released 1 December on Xtra Mile Recordings – preorder here) and that means doo wop singers, honky tonk piano players, a barber shop quartet and lots of trumpet.

I’ve also invited along some of my favourite musical friends to come and play and the night will cover blues, folk, hip hop, electro, breakbeat, dub and reggae. It’ll be rammed full of collaborations and crossovers with me and my extended musical family. So it’s my pleasure to announce…

SKINNY LISTER

Need no introduction. Label mates, touring partners and family. Skinny will be bringing a stripped down set of drinking tunes and party bangers and yes, we’ll be doing the Christmas tune ('This Christmas' – buy it here). 

SON OF DAVE

One of the last true bluesmen, this beatboxing, foot stomping, harmonica welding rebel is a true one of a kind. I’ve been a huge fan for many years and am so excited to have him here.

TOO MANY T’S

UK hip hop at it’s finest, crazy crazy vocal skills from Standaloft and Leon Rhymes, the nicest guys in hip hop. Guaranteed to blow the roof off and smash the party.

FREEAR

Mike Freear (who produced my 5th album Giving Everything) on the decks and Kathika Rabbit on the mic. Electro swing, breakbeat, genre defying mash ups and incredible lyricism, the two pillars of the greatest festival act Slamboree. Although I’ll be hammered by this time of night I’ll jump up for a turn. The Festival's not dead, after all.

KING YOOF

This breakbeat, dub and reggae legend mixed the new record. Cutting his teeth at the original UK rave scene and still just as relevant today. An honour to have him involved on the record and closing the night off.

This once in a lifetime event will kick off at 8pm and is going through till 2am. It’s Saturday night folks, it’s been a tough year, lets have a fucking party. Everyone is invited (as long as you’re over 18) tickets are limited and are on sale now.

Lots of love,
BEANS
xxx"

SKINNY LISTER UK 2017 SPRING TOUR // SUPPORTING DROPKICK MURPHYS ON EUROPEAN ARENA TOUR

Hot off the heels of a sold out UK tour in support of current album The Devil, The Heart & The Fight – available from our shop right now - Skinny Lister has announced a run of even bigger venues for spring 2017. Having just played to a packed out London Garage, Skinny Lister will return to the capital to conquer the famous Scala venue in Kings Cross, as well as their biggest ever venues across the country. Dates are as follows:

UK HEADLINE TOUR
 
APRIL 2017
27 Sheffield @ Leadmill
28 Manchester @ Gorilla
29 Edinburgh @ Voodoo Rooms

MAY 2017
03 Nottingham @ Rescue Rooms
04 Cambridge @ The Junction
05 Birmingham @ Hare & Hounds
06 Bristol @ The Fleece
09 Southampton @ Talking Heads
10 Brighton @ The Haunt
11 London @ Scala
 
The tour will follow a support slot on an enormous European arena tour with American punk/folk legends Dropkick Murphys which includes shows at London Brixton Academy, Munich’s Zenith venue and the 7,000 capacity hall in Dusseldorf.

SUPPORT TOUR WITH DROPKICK MURPHYS

JANUARY 2017
20 Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer
21 Munich, Germany @ Zenith
23 Berlin, Germany @ Max Schmeling Halle
24 Leipzig, Germany @ Auensee
25 Amsterdam, The Netherlands @ Heineken Music Hall
27 London, UK @ Brixton Academy
28 Paris, France @ Zenith
29 Lille, France @ Aeronef
30 Hamburg, Germany @ Sporthalle

FEBRUARY 2017
01 Hannover, Germany @ Swiss Life Hall
02 Lingen, Germany @ Emsland Arena
03 Dusseldorf, Germany @ Mitsubishi Electri Halle
04 Strasbourg, France @ Zenith
05 Offenbach, Germany @ Stadhalle

These two tours show the massive projection Skinny Lister are on and the formidable year 2016 has been for them. The year has seen them support Frank Turner across Germany, Austria and Switzerland before joining Flogging Molly’s festival Salty Dog Cruise around the Bahamas. They then headed out on their own East Coast headline tour with label pals Beans on Toast and Will Varley in tow where many of the shows were sold out well in advance and signalled a big step up for the band Stateside, with an ever-increasing fanbase begging for more! 

September saw the release of third album The Devil, The Heart & The Fight which has received critical acclaim, including picking up support from 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, and reaching the Top 40 Indie Album Chart in the UK and 38 in the US Americana/Folk Chart. And rounding off the year, the band head back to the US in November for their biggest headline tour to date; the show in Charlotte, NC is already sold out and Boston (the 550 capacity Middle East) is looking likely to sell out very soon. 

With 2017 already looking like yet another incredible year, there’s seemingly no end to what this hard-working, hard-partying, fun-filled band can achieve. 

“…considerably upped their game.” 4/5 Q Magazine
“(a) kaleidoscope of high octane folk punk via Dexy’s and The Pogues.” Louder Than War