Monday is rarely a day for splashing the cash about so artslondon found ourselves wondering down to a free talk at King's College.
Geoff Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1978. Over the years, Rough Trade have released music from the likes of The Smiths, The Strokes, The Libertines, British Sea Power, Belle and Sebastian, The Go-Betweens, The Fall and pretty much everyone worth listening to ever. Last night, Geoff came to do a Q and A session with a large group of frighteningly well groomed students.
The event was one of a series of talks set up by the Cultural and Creative Industries programme. Previous speakers have included a certain Mr. Terence Davies. It’s worth keeping an eye on the King’s College website for future talks and more information about upcoming events can be found here.
Geoff’s passion for new music is immediately apparent to anyone who crosses his path. He was asked a series of questions about what he felt the future held for the music industry. His stock response was something along the lines of “I don’t know and I don’t care”. Most amusingly, he called Razorlight “hollow” and described their music as sounding as if it were “almost designed by computer”. He re-iterated his longstanding accusation that the NME fixed its annual album of the year poll a couple of years ago to ensure that the more fashionable, over-hyed Bloc Party took the Number One spot above the Arcade Fire who had not at that time even appeared on the cover of the magazine.
Inevitably, talk later turned to The Smiths and Geoff was asked how he felt about releasing records which, let’s say, weren’t too complimentary about him. He handled the issue with grace saying “you have to have a sense of humour about these things.....They were frustrated. They thought they should be riding in limos and be taking helicopter rides up to Rusholme”. He noted with some satisfaction that Morrissey later expressed a desire to come back to Rough Trade.
Geoff is a man whose love of music appears to know no bounds. He seemed to have no interest in the mythology of the industry or in making himself look cool. If anything, he seemed to revel in his awkward geek status. A man truly worthy of our admiration and a genuine London icon.
The event was one of a series of talks set up by the Cultural and Creative Industries programme. Previous speakers have included a certain Mr. Terence Davies. It’s worth keeping an eye on the King’s College website for future talks and more information about upcoming events can be found here.
Geoff’s passion for new music is immediately apparent to anyone who crosses his path. He was asked a series of questions about what he felt the future held for the music industry. His stock response was something along the lines of “I don’t know and I don’t care”. Most amusingly, he called Razorlight “hollow” and described their music as sounding as if it were “almost designed by computer”. He re-iterated his longstanding accusation that the NME fixed its annual album of the year poll a couple of years ago to ensure that the more fashionable, over-hyed Bloc Party took the Number One spot above the Arcade Fire who had not at that time even appeared on the cover of the magazine.
Inevitably, talk later turned to The Smiths and Geoff was asked how he felt about releasing records which, let’s say, weren’t too complimentary about him. He handled the issue with grace saying “you have to have a sense of humour about these things.....They were frustrated. They thought they should be riding in limos and be taking helicopter rides up to Rusholme”. He noted with some satisfaction that Morrissey later expressed a desire to come back to Rough Trade.
Geoff is a man whose love of music appears to know no bounds. He seemed to have no interest in the mythology of the industry or in making himself look cool. If anything, he seemed to revel in his awkward geek status. A man truly worthy of our admiration and a genuine London icon.
1 comment:
Plausibly.
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