Music

Simon Bish of Pop Noise Records in Exeter (interview)

26th August 2008

Exeter’s Pop Noise Records captures the spirit of old-school indie-pop beautifully.

With a nod to the indie golden era, the bands that feature on its roster will be loved by fans of melody-driven guitar pop, such as Teenage Fanclub, Sarah Records and early Creation Records.

Pop Noise head honcho Simon Bish, pictured, is also the singer and guitarist in Noise Annoys Simon, and a man with more than a casual fondness for indie-pop’s undisputed inventors, Television Personalities.

Simon and his fellow Pop Noise bands record and perform regularly, with recorded output which is available at gigs, on MySpace and selected Exeter shops.

Simon Bish told WOSW: "It's all part of the DIY ethic: to release CDs in small batches with loving care, and to become friends with people who buy them, rather than having faceless fans.

"The future is probably to have free downloads and sell hard copies to those who want the actual CD, like the anorak Pop Noise indie fan."

Also known as Simon Goalpost, Mr Bish has already been around the indie block, with his previous band, Thrilled Skinny, who recorded sessions for the hero of underground music, the late John Peel.

The band also released a number of albums, singles and EPs from the late-Eighties to the mid-Nineties.

One of Thrilled Skinny’s singles was released on Damaged Goods, the label that was once home to a little Welsh band you may have heard of, called Manic Street Preachers.

Simon said: "Thrilled Skinny were lucky, because John Peel played all our singles. John Robb [writer for former music magazines Sounds and Melody Maker] and Steve Lamacq also reviewed a lot of our records. There was a great underground scene in the late Eighties/early Nineties."

Like his fellow band members in Noise Annoys Simon, Bish is always busy recording and gigging with other Pop Noise projects and bands. Does Simon think he may recapture his former indie-pop glory days?

Simon said: "Not unless John Peel comes back to life! He certainly made a difference to us and countless other bands, who would have otherwise been unheard and undiscovered.

"No one can ever have the power John Peel had. The new indie bands have their labels that can throw at today’s DJs and get their songs played. And you have to be the next big thing all the time. Looking at the current music press, you never see an ordinary band. Instead they look like they’ve just stepped out of a high street label store with a personal stylist."

Noise Annoys Simon guitarist Andy Fonda is another very busy man, who has also enjoyed attention, with his former band The Fondas.

Andy is constantly writing and recording, both under his own name and as Some Beans, a well-textured and superbly produced project that is not too dissimilar to Ian Brown and Unkle (but with more superior songwriting). Andy also records the bulk of Pop Noise’s output in his studio, Off The Rails.

In between all these activities, he somehow finds the time to play the drums for indie-pop godfather Phil Wilson, former Creation Records artiste and singer of The June Brides.

For more info about events and upcoming releases, check out www.myspace.com/popnoiserecords and www.myspace.com/somebeansuk

ARASH TORABI

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