Reflections on ten tremendous years of Clay Pipe Music, with founder Frances Castle, through ten totemic releases
Over the past decade, Frances Castle has gradually established the London-based Clay Pipe Music as one of the most imaginative, industrious and inimitable record labels on the planet, operating both within its own bubble and through close connections with other like-minded creators and curators.
Bringing together artists with shared philosophies but divergent modus operandi through the binding agent of Castle’s own illustrious artwork and discrete A&R skills, almost every Clay Pipe release feels like a familial event around which devotees can mark the months of the year.
Following a steady ‘less is more’ approach, Clay Pipe has bequeathed the boutique-league music world with intertwined strands of bucolic ruminations, enigmatic historical narratives, psychogeographical journeying, insomniac visions and niche nostalgia, through sounds that have blurred the sonic boundaries between the acoustic and the electronic to multiple degrees.
Rather than take a traditional biographical look back at the Clay Pipe story so far, we instead conversed with Frances Castle around a team-chosen selection of ten key releases from the discography – visually represented below by their first physical incarnations – beginning with adorable albums from The Hardy Tree and Thalassing that have just been beautifully repackaged and remastered for first-time-on-vinyl reissues, as part of tenth anniversary celebrations.
The Hardy Tree – The Fields Lie Sleeping Underneath (2010)
This first Clay Pipe release – as a beautiful hand-assembled CD bundle – showcased your own musical project The Hardy Tree. Did this release display a desire to do something entirely wrapped in your own creative sound and vision or was it more a case of ‘necessity being the mother of invention’ to find a home for it?
A bit of both probably, I didn’t look for another label for it, I just thought I’d try doing it myself and see how that worked out. I’d previously done music under a different name, and various small labels had put things out for me, but I thought maybe I could do it better myself. Also, I’d recently got something called a Print Gocco – which is like a tiny Japanese screen-printing machine, it prints postcard size images, so I wanted to try doing something with that.
At what point before, during or after the release of The Fields Lie Sleeping Underneath did you realise that The Hardy Tree’s debut was only the start of it and that Clay Pipe could become a home for other like-minded souls?
I’ve been trying to work this out and I can’t really remember, all I can say is that I gave The Fields Lie Sleeping Underneath the catalogue number ‘Pipe_001’ so I think I was definitely open to the idea. After Jarvis Cocker played it on his Sunday Service show it sold quite well, and I guess I probably saw that I had a small audience who might like something else.
Where did Clay Pipe take its name from?
It came from walking along the Thames and picking up clay pipes – mud larking. My boyfriend and I used to do that a lot around this time. When you pick up a piece of clay pipe from the foreshore the last person to have held it in their hands could have been a Victorian docker or Regency dandy – it’s a direct connection to London’s past and there is something really amazing about that.
With hindsight, do you think that the moods, concepts, aesthetics and eclecticism of this first Clay Pipe release somewhat unintentionally mapped-out many of the directions that subsequent signings have followed and expanded upon over the last ten years?
Yes, because it was an album about a place – my neighbourhood – and what I imagined that place had been like in the past. However, I think my production on it is quite naive and clumsy, and the aesthetic decisions I made would be different now, so it feels like a starting point for the label but I think the direction has been refined a lot since then. Also, I sung on a couple of tracks, and I’m much more interested in making, and putting out instrumental music now. Having said that I think the ideas on it are good, and I know lots of people like it, so I’m pleased it’s available again, and really happy with how the repackaging worked out.
Might you eventually find a way to reissue Sketches In D Minor on vinyl? It’s possibly my personal favourite from The Hardy Tree…
I like that record as well, it was very enjoyable to make because I just went for it, I didn’t have to think about structure or anything, it was free form! The brief [for the original CD release on Where It’s At Is Where Your Are] was that it had to be one track that was 77.7 mins long. Also, I recorded and mixed it at home myself. Usually I do a final mix in the studio, and really, I don’t think it sounds too bad, because of its length it would have to be a double LP, but I don’t have plans for a reissue, at the moment. I’m hoping to have a new Hardy Tree LP out at the end of the year.
Thalassing – Thalassing (2011)
This was the first of several things you have put out involving the very talented – and apparently now-retired-from-recording Michael Tanner. How did you connect-up with Michael in the first place and why do you think he has fitted the Clay Pipe mould so well at various points during its first decade?
I think I first came across Michael’s work on MySpace, and when I heard it I pretty much decided that I wanted to put it out. I thought Thalassing would make a great second LP for the label, and luckily he was looking for a home for it.
Musically, Thalassing has become somewhat of a belated revelation to these ears through the new lovingly re-presented vinyl reissue. To me though, it seems to stand apart from the rest of Michael’s work in the Clay Pipe catalogue but not jarringly so. It’s reminiscent of the most meditative output of American instrumental guitar explorers like Loren Mazzacane Connors and David Pajo, albeit still tinged by something indefinably bucolically British. What do you hear in it now and where do you consider it fits into the Clay Pipe chronicles?
I think it acts as a starting point for the other releases of Michael’s I’ve done. I see it as more abstract and ambient than his later releases on Clay Pipe which have a more of a narrative.
Had Covid-19 not curtailed things, would you have tried to have put on a live event with some of the still-active Clay Pipe contributors and/or put on an exhibition of your sleeve artwork to celebrate the first ten years, in addition to the two vinyl reissues?
Yes, just before Covid hit I booked a Saturday night at Café Oto in Dalston in December 2020 for the tenth anniversary bash. At that point it was so far ahead that I hadn’t worked out who was going to play. I think when things get back to normal it’s something I want to do more of. When you can’t do these things, you realise how much you miss them – just going out and having a drink and listening to music. I now have quite a few artists on the label who play live so it will be easier to do than it was in the past.
Tyneham House – Tyneham House (2012)
This was an elaborately-packaged co-release with Second Language Records on its first CD run, ahead of your more recent 10” vinyl reissue. How significant has your kinship with that label been, especially given that several Clay Pipe artists have spread themselves across both creative homes in different manifestations?
Second Language were a big influence on Clay Pipe when I started. I loved the packaging and the music they were putting out. I’m pretty sure I came across them on MySpace but I think I found their CDs at Rough Trade. Glen put on a Second Language night in Clerkenwell. Michael played that night and I think that was the first time I met them both. Later I also met Oliver Cherer through Glen. I’m glad that Second Language are active again after being quiet for a while. I wanted to put out Tyneham House out as soon as I heard it – I thought it was great, I loved the whole thing, the music and the concept but it was already promised to Second Language so we ended up doing a joint release, I did the artwork and Glen did everything else. We did a few runs of the CD and then I did a 10” vinyl version.
The release also firmly embeds the historical and psychogeographical thread that runs through many Clay Pipe wares. Is this something that you have actively encouraged or has it happened more by happy accident?
I’d say I followed my own interests; I’m drawn to music that touches on these kinds of themes. I think the main thing I want to do with Clay Pipe is to put the listener somewhere before they put the record on, set up a space in their imagination for the music to play out.
Are you now willing and able to reveal the secret identity or identities behind Tyneham House?!
I think it may have been accidentally revealed recently, so you may be able to Google it, but my lips are sealed.
Shapwick seems central to the whole Clay Pipe Music story so far, with it being a mutual favourite of many fans and champions of the label. How do you personally account for its special status?
It’s a magical record and I think because of the reputation of The Advisory Circle it brought Clay Pipe to the attention of more people. It was the first thing I put out that sold really quickly, and the first record I pressed on vinyl. My partner John made the video, it was a very happy time.
Clay Pipe shares ‘joint custody’ of Jon Brooks work with Ghost Box, where he trades as The Advisory Circle. Although your methodologies are distinctively different, what do you think Clay Pipe shares with Ghost Box, other than Jon Brooks?
I think Ghost Box are a great label, one of the best, we share a similar audience and we both have a strong visual aesthetics, and the same distributors in State51. I get sent a lot of Ghost Box influenced music, but what would be the point in me putting it out when Ghost Box do it so well?
Given how many times it has appeared in different physical editions, is it one release that you’re determined to keep in print as much as finances and logistics allow? How important and indeed challenging is it to you to reissue key items of the catalogue as well keep moving forwards with new recordings?
I’ve done CD, tape and three vinyl presses of it so far. I’m keen to keep reissuing records, it seems interest in the label grows a little each year and people are always asking for the releases they missed out on. I want the music to have a legacy, and fans to avoid being ripped off on Discogs. I’m kind of working my way through the back catalogue, I think the first Vic Mars LP will be next, it’s six years since that was released and the music has recently been used in the video game I Am Dead. I also get a lot of requests for Gilroy Mere’s Green Line, so that one is also on the cards. Represses tend to sell slower, but I’m generally happy to have them in stock and ticking over in my shop. Obviously putting out new music is my main concern.
Another Michael Tanner project, reprised from its initial CD edition on Second Language, with arguably one of your most stunning sleeve artworks. Do you think that the shift from a CD-led to a vinyl-led operation – around the first time you brought this out on Clay Pipe, gave you the creative canvas to really put the label into its special place on the map?
Something had to give around that time because the CD cases were all made by hand and I could do maybe 150 at the most in one go. After the Shapwick CD people asked for vinyl, so that was the first vinyl release I did, the second was Michael’s Smalls Lighthouse. Designing for vinyl is great as you have so much space to play with.
Sharron Kraus – Friends and Enemies; Lovers and Strangers (2015)
This album – much like Alasdair Roberts & James Green’s Plaint of Lapwing LP which you also released – follows a more direct though not formulaic folk-singer route. Is this type of approach something that you have deliberately sought to have represented, alongside the more lateral instrumental storytellers?
These are the two more folky records I’ve released. I’m a big folk and traditional music fan but after these two releases I kind of moved away from putting it out.
In terms of your artwork and the narratives of Friends and Enemies; Lovers and Strangers, do you think that it has a strong connection with your illustrations for Kevin Crossley-Holland’s Between Worlds: Folktales of Britain & Ireland?
Walker books who published Between Worlds saw my illustrations for Friends and Enemies; Lovers and Strangers which led to the commission.
Vic Mars – The Land and The Garden (2016)
This is one of several albums in the Clay Pipe catalogue that plugs into a certain English pastoralism and nostalgia without coming anywhere near being tangled up in concerns of nationalism and patriotism. Is this something that you’ve recognised?
I think a there’s a thread of slightly weird psychedelic English pastoralism that goes back to the 60s and beyond. It’s music that’s based in the hills of Herefordshire where Vic grew up, which references old nature documentary soundtracks and Freddy Philips guitar filtered through 80s tracker software. It hadn’t really crossed my mind, but I can’t see that Vic’s music would be of much interest to those trying to stir up nationalism or patriotism.
Vic has switched seamlessly between a more pastoral persona for Clay Pipe and minimalistic synth-pop set-up for Polytechnic Youth and elsewhere. Are you sometimes astounded how people like him manage to be so versatile?
Yes, I think it’s pretty amazing what he does but also I think electronic music can have a very pastoral edge – from Mort Garson’s Plantasia to listening to acid house in a field, electronic music can be very organic and therefore it’s great at describing the natural world.
Gilroy Mere – The Green Line (2017)
Speaking still of versatility, how has it been working with someone as prolific and chameleonic as Oliver Cherer? Do you think that his adopted Gilroy Mere alias for Clay Pipe has been one of his most strongly focused ventures?
Yes, I love the stuff that Oliver has done for Second Language and other labels over the years. Gilroy Mere was pretty much invented for Clay Pipe. He is very easy to work with and good at coming up with concepts and he executes them brilliantly, with both experimentation and heart. It’s been great to see how well received both records have been.
How much do you act as creative counsel to artists you work with as the head of Clay Pipe? Do you sometimes become like an arms-length collaborator as much as a curator? Does it help being a musician yourself?
I think it helps being an artist, I know when I start an illustration job it’s always good to talk it through with my agent, and I think it can be helpful for musicians as well. I mainly work with producers who work on their own, and having another set of ears can be useful, as sometimes it’s hard to see the wood for the trees.
D. Rothon – Nightscapes (2018)
This record plays more with a sense of time and mood rather than a setting and a story, do you think that it’s another collection that goes it more alone, albeit without straining to do so? David seems to have a less obvious connection to the Clay Pipe family, how did he come to join the fold?
David handed me a CD at the Independent Label Market – which I sat on for a long time as I was booked up with releases at the time. I liked it, but I didn’t think the production was very good – we talked about it, and he got some new equipment and completely rewrote and recorded the album and made it a hundred times better, and that became Nightscapes. His next record is being pressed at the moment – it’s based on recollections of growing up in the space age – not just the moon landings but inspired by things like the Cybernetics Serendipity show which was on at the ICA in the 60s. It has a lot of library music influences, but it’s very much his own voice, I think it’s something really special, it feels like he has come a long way.
In general, how has your way of enrolling artists changed over time? Are personal recommendations and introductions more important than the mounds of demos I imagine that you must get sent?
I think with each artist it’s been slightly different, with Vic Mars I literally had to track him down because I found one piece of music by him on YouTube and I couldn’t find any contact details! I do get sent a lot of stuff, and usually I can tell by the covering email – or lack of covering email, if it’s something that is worth listening to. I still like to get sent demos because you never know what’s going to show up, who might have found you, the idea of someone completely unknown quietly producing something amazing is really appealing to me – and what small independent labels like mine are for.
David Boulter – Yarmouth (2020)
How did you feel when David reached out to you about working with Clay Pipe, having been impressed by what you do? Were you a Tindersticks fan beforehand?
I knew of Tindersticks, but I wasn’t really familiar with their output – I’ve since caught up and really like their stuff. I think David initially sent me some music from another project, which didn’t feel fully formed, and then a year or so later sent me Yarmouth which I really liked.
Yarmouth has one of my favourite Clay Pipe sleeves to date. Are you able to single out the sleeves that you are personally most proud or fond of?
Some sleeves come really easy and some I battle with. I think the first Vic Mars sleeve with the foxgloves is a particular favourite, I found his second album harder to do. With Yarmouth I had the colours in my head when David was still finishing off the LP. I knew I wanted a bright blue sky; I wanted the album cover to capture that dreamy feeling off lying half asleep on a beach with the sun in your eyes.
What have been your biggest lows and highs of running Clay Pipe over its life-span to date?
There have been lots of highs. I love designing record sleeves, I love working with the musicians to make sure the release is just right. The lows have all been production related, mainly records getting damaged in transit either to me or to shops, or even when someone orders a record and the inner sleeve gets split in the post. Brexit and the ongoing problems at pressing plants are throwing up their own set of problems at the moment.
Where do you think the next one to ten years will take Clay Pipe as an enterprise? Do you have any grand plans or are you content to keep following the apparently comfortable pattern of 2-3 new albums and 1-2 reissues a year, to just see what happens?
I have five new releases planned for this year, which is a lot for me, I’ll have to see how I get on. Vinyl manufacturing is taking ages at the moment so I’m having to think further ahead. The artwork probably takes the most time, it can take two or three weeks of work to get a sleeve right. I sometimes end up throwing away initial ideas that I have spent days on! I’d like to see the music I put out do better in the wider world outside of vinyl. Everyone knows how badly digital streaming pays, but you can’t bury your head in the sand, it’s how most people listen now. I’d like to see the music reach a larger audience in that domain alongside the vinyl.
- Not Turning Off: Volume 53 - March 26, 2024
- Not Turning Off: Volume 52 - February 22, 2024
- Not Turning Off: Volume 51 - February 5, 2024