South Coast-based Summers are inviting the audience to become part of a special music video during an evening of great classic rock, including numbers from their debut album, as the event is filmed by national TV and radio production crews. The Southampton gig will form part of their musical history, recorded to chart the rapid musical success story being closely followed by the music media.

Summers’ adrenaline-fuelled rock songs have seen capacity venues along the South Coast while rock fans across the UK have been spreading the word about their hard-hitting, no compromise rock and roll. Former music critic of Sounds Magazine and now journalist for The People newspaper, Gary Bushell says: “You will believe Classic Rock is alive and well, you will sing the songs all the way home….Summers’ debut album could well have as many hit singles as Def Leppard’s Hysteria.”

More band info at:
www.summersrock.com
www.myspace.com/crashsummers
www.facebook.com/officialsummers

Well in my opinion the answer to this question undoubtedly has to be yes, but then I would say that wouldn’t I, after all, I run a record label!

However, I am constantly asking myself another question; “what does a record label actually do?” This question pops into my head almost on a daily basis, which might sound a bit worrying - running a business and apparently not understanding what the heck it is we are supposed to be doing! But I actually believe this is quite healthy, in an industry turned upside down by digital media, recession and greed questioning your very existence and being prepared to adapt your business model to keep up with the changes is possibly one of the keys to survival.

Talking Junk
Having said all that, I now feel the need to provide you with some kind of solid proof to back up my theory that there is still a place in the music industry for record labels. So I’ve had a chat with the team and convinced them (over a few glasses of wine) that it would be a great idea if we took you behind the scenes of our tiny record label and shared some of our past and future experiences, whether they be good, bad or ugly!

I did have to dish out rather a lot of booze to convince everyone (including our artists) that this is a good plan.  At first glance it may seem a little crazy giving out back stage passes so people can see how bad we really are at running a record label, or potentially proving myself to be completely wrong about the need for record labels at all, but here’s a few reasons why we think this could work for all of us:-

1. We are contacted by many solo artists and bands who are looking for a recording contract and seeking advice on how to progress their careers. So if you are a creator of music, our journey may just provide you with a few useful gems of information along the way which may help you to make some decisions about your own way forward.
2. If you are in the music industry or are considering starting up your own record label, we hope that sharing our experiences will help you to avoid some of the pitfalls and problems we have encountered, and you never know, we may even be able to help each other out at some point? But above all hopefully we can have a bit of a laugh about it all.
3. If you are a music lover, this may well turn out to be a fascinating journey for you to become involved with. We can certainly guarantee plenty of ups and downs, successes and failures and a few tears and tantrums. And you never know, perhaps you will fall in love with one of our artists along the way and become a fan!

We will be Twittering most days at www.twitter.com/thejunklabel and posting regular updates on this website. If you would like us to let you know when the next post is up then please just leave us your email address below. 

The twin guitar led riffs and intelligently crafted melodies are influenced by such greats as Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, Kiss and Van Halen.  The band finished recording of their debut album in Cyprus in December and are now back in the UK russling up some gigs while the album is mixed down in Germany.

Watch out for more info on Summers coming to The Junk Label website soon.  Check out some amusing behind the scenes footage of the recording sessions in Cyprus (its a hard life!) by clicking here Summers can also be found on Myspace and Facebook

Apparently the contest was designed to encourage adults to improve ‘literacy skills’ and the winner (a tribute to a 35 year old striker who plays for League one team Southend United) is something along the lines of the classic theme tune to the Wombles TV program (if your young enough to remember that far back like me!).

Wow! if only they had come to us before blowing all that cash..we have the perfect song for the terraces..’Did you see it (Arsene Wenger)‘ which is out now on The Junk Label. We could have saved them a few quid for sure! Yet another insult to the Great British Public and to Wombles everywhere! Check out the article on The Sun’s website here

You can see video footage from the event which shows Summers performing oneof their own compositions called ‘Sometimes’ and a cover of Duran Duran’s ‘Hungry like the Wolf’ Check it out here

More info about the band can be found on the Summers biog or hook up with the guys on Facebook or Myspace

The Brook is the best 600 Capacity live music venue in the South, hosting national and international Blues, Rock, R’n'B, Funk, Punk, DJs, Indie and many other things including Tributes.  More info on the venue at www.the-brook.com

This is a song about a guy who can’t (or refuses to) see that his girlfriend is cheating on him. The lyrics in the chorus mention the great Arsenal football manager Arsene Wenger, who (like the guy in this song) sometimes says he can’t (or refuses to) see some of the things his players get up to on and off the pitch.

This humorous view on all things to do with life, love and football has made ‘Did you see it (Arsene Wenger)’ a favourite with many football fans, the track is currently being played in soccer stadiums up and down the country before the game and during the half time interval. Radio airplay is now also increasing and the track is fast becoming a fav with some of the sports oriented radio stations.

So far the single has been described by Hawksbee & Jacobs on TalkSport radio as ‘a tribute to the great Arsenal football club manager’. Garry Bushell (Bushell on the box, Bushell biz) says ‘What a fine tribute to the great man’. Paul Jiggins (the Sun sport) comments ‘This has made my week’ and Piers Morgan (Britains got talent judge and Arsenal football fan) simply says ‘Hilarious!’

‘Did you see it (Arsene Wenger)’ was also used as a live case study at a recent seminar by the Association of Independent Music (AIM). Top music industry professionals analysed the song and commented that the combination of the great lyrics and top quality musical production make for a very well crafted pop song, and something refreshingly different.

Available to download from The Junk Label shop and from all leading online stores Worlwide including iTunes HMV and Tunetribe

1. Radio edit (03:03) youtube

For more info on Joe Ward please check out our artist biogs Joe can also be found on www.myspace.com/joewardaka and www.facebook.com/joewardmusic  More info on Arsene Wengers blinkered vision here

This popular reworking of the classic summer anthem originally made famous by the Underdog Project reached number 6 in the Music Week commercial club charts in August 2008 (voted for by club DJ’s across the UK), thanks to Jase’s cool vocals and Alexi’s rhythmic rapping (ex So Solid Crew). 

The remix package includes a fabulous Wideboys bassline mix plus a cool Funky House mix from Cyanide, a full on club remix by Seed and the original readio edit.

Summer Jam is available to download from The Junk Label Shop all leading online stores Worldwide including iTunes HMV and Tunetribe

1. Radio edit (02:57) youtube

2. Wideboys bassline (05:42) youtube

3. Cyanide funky house (06:38)

4. Wlll club mix (04:52)

Also you check out the full length track with lyrics on youtube and soon we will be announcing an exciting video competition!  More info on Joe Ward can be found on our artists page or on Facebook or Myspace

Ringtone terms and conditions: UK Only, Texts cost £1 + standard network charge. For help call: 08443511191, download is unavailable to Virgin and iPhone users.

Ken wins an iTunes Gift Certificate worth £10 redeemable in the UK iTunes store, some of which he may decide to spend on Rage against the Machine to help to get them that  Christmas number one slot  Thanks to all who entered, watch out for another Junk competition coming soon..

Recording is now complete and the album is currently being mixed down while Summers prepare for a series of gigs in the run up to Christmas.

The first of these is an appearance at the popular Christmas Extravaganza which takes place at Talking Heads in Southampton on 11 December.

Summers will be opening the show on stage at 7:25pm. Tickets are £6 in advance and a limited number of tickets are available on the door at £7, so it’s advisable to book your tickets in advance so you don’t miss the chance to catch the fabulous new Summers live set (and their sun tans!).

More info at www.thetalkingheads.co.uk or check out the Summers Facebook page where you can also see some video footage of Summers in Cyprus performing a live acoustic session at Zenith radio. You can also see the boys singing for their supper at the Stone Grill restaurant!