Alan McGee and Youth have teamed up to launch a new record label called Creation Youth.
READ MORE: Alan McGee: “The music industry doesn’t want young indie rock’n’roll. The culture is so different”
The Creation Records founder – who famously signed artists like Oasis, Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine – and producer/Killing Joke bassist Martin ‘Youth’ Glover have formed the new label to welcome an “eclectic roster of both legendary and emerging recording artists”.
They have collaborated on the new venture with founder of Cadiz Music, Richard England and founder of BigStar Business Management, Nick Lawrence.
“Looking forward to this! I have been friends with Youth since 1980, he is my friend and also one of my heroes,” said McGee in a press statement. “The first record we have made together for the label is the Forgotten Pharaohs album, which is already record of the year for me.”
New music will be released in both physical and digital formats, along with a a subscription-based singles club curated by McGee.
The first release will be an EP called ‘Ancestors’ from the late punk artist Jamie Reid – known for designing record covers for the Sex Pistols – which is set to arrive on April 26, 2024.
Other initial projects and releases from the label include work from Forgotten Pharaohs, the late Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Bad Fractals and Sonny E, along with future projects in the pipeline from Zoe Devlin, Merry McLeod, Brix Smith and KT Raban.
Youth added that they were “excited and psyched to execute this ambitious and visionary artistic venture”.
He continued: “Working with Alan for decades has always been a great experience. He is unmatched, with a passion and genius for music and bands, management, labels and publishing. He always brings an inspirational connection with artists when he enters the room. It was inevitable we would start a label together, our shared age, taste and passion for music always shines through when we get together.
“Combined with my experience in production and labels, Nick Lawrence’s razor-sharp business acumen and Richard England’s cutting-edge backline label experience make us a formidable team. We will put out great music from late legends, plus new and established artists, all committed to making beautiful noise.”
England said it was a “remarkable honour and privilege” to be part of the new label, while Lawrence said he was “honoured” to be working on an imprint with “musical integrity and diversity at its very core”.
McGee famously put out iconic albums from Oasis, Primal Scream, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Teenage Fanclub and more during his time at Creation Records, which he co-founded in 1983.
He later founded Poptones Records, and now works as a manager with a roster that includes Happy Mondays and Ocean Colour Scene.
In 2021 a biographical film about McGee’s life and work called Creation Stories was released starring Ewen Bremner, written by Dean Cavanagh and Irvine Welsh. NME went behind the scenes on set with McGee during filming.
The film was inspired by McGee’s 2014 memoir Creation Stories: Riots, Raves and Running a Label, which Welsh read and adapted for a screenplay.
In 2020 NME also heard all about his latest label venture Creation 23, describing it as a side “hobby”. “I’m not doing Creation 23 for the money, and that’s when it happens,” he said. “When I’m not thinking about cash is when I walk in and find Oasis or My Bloody Valentine. I’m not overthinking it.”
Youth meanwhile, notably collaborated with Paul McCartney under their moniker The Fireman for a series of experimental releases in the ’90s and again on 2008’s ‘Electric Arguments’.
Along with an extensive career as a producer working with artists like Pink Floyd and Boy George, he’s also been a member of The Orb, Brilliant, Blue Pearl and remixed for the likes of U2, Siouxsie & The Banshees and De La Soul over the years.
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