“NO MORE SITTING ON THE FENCE”
Deep in the heart of Fife, there’s something happening. Hidden amongst the quaint fishing villages of the East Neuk, lurks the golden future of the British music scene. The collective in question has already spawned a band that has supported Radiohead on the American leg of their world tour, and also had a song featured in a top Hollywood movie. Original collective member, James Yorkston, is also being tipped as Scotland’s next big export by the U.K. music press. But more of that later.
Interestingly, Britain’s musical inspirations certainly seem to be regional; the 60’s belonged to the Liverpool “Beat” scene encapsulated by The Beatles; the 70’s were dominated by the revolutionary London punk explosion and there’s no escaping Manchester’s influence over the 80’s and 90’s, from Joy Division, The Smiths and The Stone Roses to those would-be rock gods, Oasis. Even Bristol got in on the act with the stoned trip-hop sound of Massive Attack and Portishead. Now it’s Scotland’s turn.
Tucked away in the sleepy fishing village of Crail, are the headquarters of the fast emerging record label, Fence. Set up at the tail end of 1994 by local musical legend Kenny Anderson, the label has slowly been building a reputation for eccentric but ultimately, gloriously harmonic music. The Fence collective are rag-tag bunch of local musicians who are about to set the world alight with their brand of …Well this is the tricky part. How do you sum up the Fence sound? I’ve heard it described as country hip-hop, hippy electronica and even trip-hop jazz! Whatever that is! What is fair to say is, that the artists who make up the collective are as eclectic as anything you’ll have heard before. Think of early 70’s Can, mix it up with The Beta Band, throw in a bit of Woody Guthrie and finish off with a slice of Massive Attack and you’re half way there.
From the dying embers of local band The Skuobhie Dubh Orchestra, who recorded four albums for the Klub label, Kenny decided to set out on his own. His solo project needed a label and a name; as Kenny says himself, “ The label name, Fence, came first, and the most obvious thing to put on Fence, second.” hence, his pseudonym, King Creosote. For the first couple of years, bands came and went. Eventually, they all drifted off leaving Kenny with plenty of unreleased, but badly recorded material, an undemanding job and too much time on his hands to think. In 1997 redundancy brought a new lease of life for Kenny. He saved his cash, bought a decent 8-track and made friends with the local record shop in St. Andrews in an effort to get his music out to the public. Slowly but surely, word got out; Creosote was releasing mail-order only albums full of hypnotic, heart-wrenching, but ultimately, magnificent lo-fi music. Local bands started to befriend the label, and soon, “ the fans of the tunes, became the tunes of the fans”. Local bands such as Gomez influenced The Jose, blues aficionados Super Sh*tbox and the ethereal beauty of Immigrant and HMS Ginafore, jumped on board the Fence movement. Suddenly Fence was up and running.
Since 1996, Kenny had also been recording the musical genius of his brothers Gordon and Een. Gordon Anderson, who records under the name of The Lone Pigeon, is Fence’s own jewel in the crown. A prolific multi-instrumentalist, The Lone Pigeon has released two limited edition albums on Fence, as well as the critically acclaimed 2001 album, “Concubine Rice” which was released in partnership with independent U.K. label, Sketchbook. At the last count, “Concubine Rice” had sold over 10,000 copies. The Lone Pigeon was an integral part in the recording of the near mythical demo that resulted in the signing to Regal/EMI of one of the most influential bands of recent times, The Beta Band.
In the summer ’96, The Beta Band, at that time The Pigeons, headed to London in search of fame and fortune with their now infamous demo. Unfortunately, just as London was welcoming them with open arms, Gordon quit the band and headed home to the comfort and relative anonymity of East Fife. The reasons for his departure are still unclear, and as The Lone Pigeon is a private and complicated character, we might never find out the real reasons for his sudden departure. The Beta Band have of course, gone on to greater things. They’ve become a regular at Scotland’s prime music event, T in the Park, their last album, Hot Shots II, has just reached the magic sales figure of 100,000 and in 2001, they supported Oxford prog-rockers Radiohead on their stadium tour of the United States, playing to audiences of over 25,000. That’s not to mention a pivotal role in the Hollywood movie, High Fidelity. From the fabled demo that catapulted the Beta’s to fame, came the song “Dry The Rain”. Largely written by Gordon, the track was used in the now famous record shop scene. From Inner Crail to Outer Los Angeles in one small step.
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Third brother Een Anderson completes the Fife triumvirate. By no means less talented than his prolific brothers, Een releases his music under the guise of Pip Dylan. He has produced two stunning flamenco influenced bluegrass C.D’s on the Fence label, “Classical Pieces” and “Of All The Things I Can Eat, I'm Always Pleased With A Piece Of Cheese”. Due to his travels to northern Spain, to work and play local festivals, Pip has acquired a beautiful flamenco technique and blended this with his obvious folk and bluegrass influences. His vocal style is, at times, eerily reminiscent of his more famous namesake, but Pip is intelligent and talented enough to drop the fake “Okie” accent when he has to. After all, Bob’s accent was fake too! This let’s the listener concentrate on his Spanish guitar and electric banjo sojourns through life. Lester and Earl would certainly approve.
Around the same time, friend and fellow musician James Wright, who was sending his demo’s off to U.K. labels, agreed to put some King Creosote and Lone Pigeon on the end of them. Suddenly, independent label Bad Jazz wanted a Lone Pigeon single and from there everything fell into place. Obviously, some things are just meant to be. Wright has, of course, gone on to bigger and better things since those halcyon days. Re-naming himself James Yorkston, the one-time bass player with Edinburgh punksters Huckleberry produced last years critically acclaimed classic, “Moving Up Country”. With his band The Athletes, Yorkston has produced ten songs of lush, luxurious Celtic-tinged Americana.
Recently, Fence has grown by forging links with larger independent labels, Domino and Twisted Nerve. This summer sees U.K. releases of material by King Creosote and a re-mastered, re-packaged version of Pip Dylan’s second Fence album, “…Cheese” in conjunction with Domino. The collective have just released the spellbinding compilation, “Let’s Get This Ship On The Road”. An album of collaborations, covers and remixes of each other’s material; the collective’s style ranges seamlessly from funky electronica to Gram Parson-like country rock. Radio Scotland, and sometime Radio One, presenter Vic Galloway confesses, “I love the Fence label, I do. With people like this, the past, present and future of music and art is safe.”
In the current climate of production line pop stars, overrated 80’s icons and a veritable ocean of teen-pop punk acts, the intelligent music lover has to dig deep to discover gold. Fence are proving to be 24 ct. with their humour, attitude and above all their unique brand of 21st century folk music. But as folk legend Big Bill Broonzy famously quipped, “Isn’t all music, folk music? I ain’t never heard no horse sing!” For further information regarding everything Fence, contact www.fencerecords.com. This time, believe the hype.
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