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Stray
Dog Army is a label focusing on processed acoustic tones, multilayered
instrumental textures and organic melodic structures. It was started
in late 2004 in Bristol, UK by James Brewster, primarily in order
to release his own recordings as Mole Harness. He had previously
released on (among others) Bristol labels Float and Silent Age,
both of which flourished on a collaborative ethos, and provided
independent artists with a supportive framework to help promote
and distribute their music. Working with these labels (especially
Float) allowed him to gain the knowledge and confidence necessary
to gradually take control of every aspect of the releasing process
himself. As a result starting his own label seemed like a natural
progression, and Stray Dog Army took on many values, methods and
contacts from these previous relationships.
The first release on the label - in November 2004 - was the ‘Stray
Dog Army’ EP by Mole Harness, which had previously only been
available in Japan via the Universal Frequencies label. By this
point James’ brother Jonathan Brewster had also started making
music, and it soon seemed an obvious step to help him release something
as well. His debut EP (under the Jasper Leyland alias) came out
in August 2005, with Jonathan funding the release himself as well
as making up and sending out all the copies. James merely provided
a guiding hand and overall framework – updating the website,
writing the press release and compiling a list of contacts to send
the EP to. It was satisfying to help another artist in exactly the
same collaborative manner that other labels had supported him in
the past, and this way of working together set the template for
future releases.
Early 2006 saw album releases from both Mole Harness and Jasper
Leyland, together with an attempt to promote the label on a slightly
wider scale. As a result both releases received wide critical acclaim
as well as extensive radio play around the world.
In June 2006 James moved to Malmö in Sweden, and from this
point on Jonathan become more involved in the overall running of
the label. Still based in the UK, he took over the process of putting
together and dispatching all website orders, promotional copies
and stock for shops.
With each Stray Dog Army release the maximum care and attention
to detail is put into every aspect of the finished product, especially
the packaging, and the CDs are sold through the website and at live
shows, as well as being distributed independently to a handful of
shops.
All CDs produced by the label come in black card sleeves, and each
release has a different cover photograph taken by Cecilia Ek (who
is also responsible for the pictures on this website). In addition
to providing consistent quality, the ultimate aim for the label
is to have a coherent aesthetic – both musically and design-wise
– spanning all the releases.
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