In anticipation of last year's RSDUnsigned winners releasing their debut album, we recently had a quick catch up with the boys of Barbudo regarding vinyl, record store day and visiting the pressing plant to see their work come to life!
“Our favourite record shop has to be Pie and Vinyl in Southsea. Steve keeps a host of new music down there and is always well stocked with great variety. They host some great in-store shows and host a street party on Record Store Day, which is always fun. And you can get a pretty fine pie there too.
There's a certain pleasure in having something tangible when you purchase music, something you miss a bit in the digital age. We've always been big fans of vinyl, due in part to our parents record collection, and have always enjoyed studying the sleeve notes whilst listening to records. We often end up listening to a lot of music whilst on the go or in the background. But listening to music on vinyl is a more interactive experience for the listener. The whole process encourages you to immerse yourself in the music - you have to physically take it out of the sleeve, put it on, turn it over etc. Essentially, records encourage you to pay more attention to the music as you have to listen to it in its entirety
Its been great to see our music be pressed to vinyl. Its something we've always wanted to do and going round the plant was an amazing experience. Seeing each step of the process was really interesting, from the lacquer being cut to the wax being melted in the machine. The record was pressed on the original EMI vinyl pressing machines dating from the 19th Century, which was used to press records by The Beatles and Pink Floyd amongst many others. Its was pretty inspiring seeing them in action and great to know our music was pressed on machines with a rich musical history. “
Check out the boys at the pressing plant:
Barbudo
Barbudo (@barbudoband) the Nu-eyed soul trio from Havant in Portsmouth, have won the first ever #RSDUnsigned competition! They'll be getting their music pressed to vinyl by Sound Performance as well as a one-year distribution deal with Proper Music so you can pick up a copy of from your local record shop!
The #RSDUnsigned competition had hundreds of entries but our judges Tim Burgess (The Charlatans), Chris Marksberry (MD of Sound Performance), Phil Barton (Sister Ray Records) and Sarah Jamieson (Editor of DIY Magazine) picked Barbudo as their winning choice.
So we spoke to Barbudo to find out who they are, and what they plan to do next!
How does it feel to know you’re going to have 500 copies of your music pressed to vinyl?
We are over the moon! We are all vinyl fans and it has been a dream of ours to get our own music pressed to wax for a long time.
Tell us a bit more about you as a band? Where are you from? How long have you been making music?
We are Ben, Harry and Elliot and we are all from a town called Havant, near Portsmouth. We are all friends from school and have been writing together since we were teenagers. Barbudo has been together for about 2 years.
Are there other artists/ bands that have inspired you to get to where you are today?
We have a quite a large melting pot of influences. The Beatles influenced us to become song writers and gave us an ear for melody. We also take a lot of inspiration from acts like Prince, The Isley Brothers, Hall and Oates, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan amongst others.
Are there any record shops that have been particularly supportive to you as a band? Any favourite record shops in the UK?Steve from Pie and Vinyl (in Portsmouth) has been really helpful to us over the past year. They released our EP 'Pleasures' and we have played a lot of shows with them. We love the shop too as it also serves pie and mash!
What’s the dream as a band? What do you want to do next?
We have a few new singles recorded and ready to release out into the world so our next movements will be based around these. The dream would be to release and tour an album and play festivals across the world. Playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury would also be a dream come true.