A MARKET FOR MUTTON

Rip It Up, Issue 218, 1 October 1995, Page 13

A MARKET FOR MUTTON

British newspaper reviews of the Mutton Birds’ recent UK gigs have compared the band to XTC, the Byrds, and early Jefferson Airplane, while singer Don McGlashan was described as < ‘a visual mix of Robert Redford and Roger Daltry’. The band’s first Northern Hemisphere jaunt began in Canada on May 1, and hit Europe in early September. They’ll play six shows a week until the completion of the tour on November 26, then return home to write a third album. In the new year, they’ll be back overseas almost immediately. The fast pace is being set by the Mutton Birds’ manager, Daniel Keighley. “It’s imperative the momentum be kept up. We’ll have spent nine months of this year on the road, and we’ll be back in the UK and Europe, and probably North America, by February next year. If a band is unwilling to spend two or three years on the road in overseas territories, no record label is going to be even slightly interested in releasing them. Touring is the only way of keeping people excited if they are excited, and raising enthusiasm if they’re not." Keighley assumed the managerial role six months after the Mutton Birds delivered their self-titled (and self-financed) debut in August 1992. The Mutton Birds was released on the band’s own label, Bag Records, so Keighley’s first task was to shop around for a recording deal. While the band were recording their fol-low-up album, Salty, he nailed a deal with EMI Australia, and made the first of several exploratory overseas trips, including a visit to the Pop Komm trade fair in Germany. Although the Mutton Birds were under contract to EMI, Keighley met with representatives from all the major labels in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia, on the basis that if EMI or its affiliate labels wouldn’t

commit to an international release, the band would have other options.

Salty was released in New Zealand and Australia by EMI-owned label Virgin, in April 1994. Five months later, Robert Brookes, the head of the A&R (artist and repertoire) division of EMI Canada, visited New Zealand to attend a label conference, saw the Mutton Birds live, and returned home to convince his superiors to release the album. After a year of negotiations, Salty was delivered to the Canadian market on September 20, 1995. “Getting a release overseas is largely about gaining a champion in a record company organisation. If you have no champion you’ve got more of an uphill battle. In Canada we have four or five champions.” EMI Canada’s deal with the band gives the label the option to release another album, and with current sales in the region in excess of 12,000 copies, that looks likely. In early August the Mutton Birds arrived in London, after touring throughout Canada, while negotiations to release the album in the UK and Europe were continuing. The band set about building a profile through live gigs and media, coverage, and played several festivals including Glastonbury and T in the Park in Glasgow. They picked up airplay on Greater London Radio, and performed live-to-air on Radio One. But their biggest break by far came when an MTV Europe programmer attended

one of the first London gigs. “They were then selected for MTV’s Most Wanted, which is their highest rating show. The band goes on and performs several tracks live to 48 million people in Europe. That kick started a lot of things in terms of public response, that otherwise would have been quite difficult to achieve.”

On September 5, Virgin Records released the album Nature (selected tracks from Mutton Birds and Salty) simultaneously in the UK and 16 major territories throughout Europe. At present the Mutton Birds are winding their way through Europe accompanied by Keighley, who is also negotiating a North American release for the band in March 1996.