we’ve still got a whole bunch of merch available on our Bandcamp! 
there’s tote bags, T-shirts and even tapes available from michael webster and The Cosmonaut Cassettes (UK distribution!) but sadly we ran out of the Anyone’s Ghost merch ages ago. 
head on over to https://breadrecords.bandcamp.com/merch to find it all – there’ll be more coming soon so keep your eyes peeled 
in case you missed it, we put out our latest Knead To Know interview last week, this time with the amazing Emily Mercer Music!
we chatted about a whole bunch, including her latest single “Maybe Then”, her inspirations for creativity, the work she does with Manchester Women Songwriters and even old school emo and rock genres of music 
head on over to our website at https://breadrecords.co.uk/…/knead-to-know-emily-mercer/ to find it in full – give it a read and let us know what you think!
only a month to go til we’re down at Lions Den Manchester for the Manchester date of Harrison Rimmer and Sally Pepper‘s co-headline tour! 
it’s gonna be absolutely huge, we can’t wait for this one. these guys are some of the hardest working musicians we know, plus we’ve got support from Olivia Browse IsaacNeilson and michael webster!
keep the 19th August free for this one, it’s gonna be belting. only a fiver in to catch 6 artists doing their thing – make sure you’re free for it! find tickets at https://fatso.ma/VV4d
in case you missed it, our latest edition of The Wrap was absolutely wonderful 
June was full of so many brilliant releases, including music from Rivver Devansh traits_liverpool The Perps Peak Low Velvet The Deep Blue and Hayden J Barlow! amazing to see, what a great one.
you can find all of our reviews on the feature over on our website at https://breadrecords.co.uk/2022/07/08/the-wrap-june-2022/
our feature for today’s Just The Crust is the brand new single from Walter Kocays “Observe, Don’t Try.” 
we’ve caught this fella perform a whole bunch of times on the Manchester scene now, frequenting bars and playing a few of our gigs too – he’s been making waves with his unique style of alternative-folk, blending in his Stoke accent and background to create truly lovely and unique songs that not only sound great, but lyrically are brilliant in that they really make you think about the topic he’s singing about.
the song starts off beautifully with his guitar accompanied by a eerie, soft violin lead – before his unique vocal pierces through and garners the listener’s attention. his voice is on point here, you can tell he’s put on his best form for this and sounds brilliant. the build of the track is fantastic too, literally all within his guitar and his vocal – so similar to his live performances! 
there’s even a little touch of what sounds like distortion when he’s belting it out, a real nice touch to enforce the ferocity of his vocal at that point.
the violins are a perfect addition to the track here, the descending melodies really throw so much weight behind it and flesh out the song so well, and as they build at the end, you’re entranced in them, perfectly balancing to Walter’s main vocal harmonising with them – a brilliant debut single from the chap here.
we really can’t wait to hear more after this, if you can, make sure you catch him live – a real force to be reckoned with. you can find the single over on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Z6Xg4jjX5h0JjVpLqFSDm – give it a listen and see what you think!
find all of our features, reviews and more on our website at www.breadrecords.co.uk
another Sunday so that must mean another update to our boss Local Loaf playlist
we’ve got some incredible new additions this week, including music from LARO Venus Grrrls Kar Stanton Music CECIL + Nat James and Harri Larkin! well worth checking out this week, so many bangers
head on over to our Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5FnabVHuYeT9Yp2s7GjeKY to check the playlist out in full – give it a like to keep up to date with any new additions!
only two weeks to go til we welcome Christian Smith Music to the Grafton Arms for the Manchester date of his UK tour!
it’s gonna be a belter, we’re super looking forward to it – plus with support from Mathew Kerry Konna Spencer and Matt Fryers, there’s so much talent to be admired that night. definitely not one to miss out on!
come on down on the Saturday 30th July to catch it all, we’ll be starting up around 7:30pm, quality drinks on offer and free live music! gonna be boss! find out more at our event Christian Smith ‘hope’ UK Tour – MANCHESTER @ The Grafton Arms
we can’t wait for our next Foundry Live this coming Sunday over at the Foundry Project Manchester!
we’ll be joined by the fantastic Tom J Johnson Music as our feature artist, he’s an insane talent here in Manchester and has been wowing audiences with his unique blend of fingerstyle guitar, raw vocal ability and general incredible performances.
it’s gonna be a belter, come on down from 7pm to catch all the action – it’s hosted by our very own michael webster so if you want a slot, get in touch!
we love writing up these interviews, it’s a super special way to connect with an artist and find out a bit more about them, their influences, and what they’ve got coming up. Emily’s a singer-songwriter here in Manchester whose been on the scene for a good while now – we’ve caught her performing a bunch of times now and every single time she only gets better and better!
She’s recently released her single “Maybe Then” – another single in a great discography of music for her, sounding fantastic with intricate melodies, huge production and her band only give the song even more strength to its sound. We’ve been big fans of Emily’s music for a while now and this only solidifies her songwriting ability – find our interview below! ⬇️
Emily, it’s brilliant to get you here for our Knead to Know interview – let’s start by talking a little about your music, and what you’ve been doing lately!
I’m a singer-songwriter and pianist on the Manchester scene. My music fuses indie, jazz, soul and folk so I usually just say ‘alternative/indie’ to save on characters. Lately I have been recording new music and working on building a new full band sound with my amazing band members!
When did you start doing music and what was the main reason for it?
I started playing music when I was around 12 or 13, playing guitar in an emo band believe it or not! As a painfully shy kid I enjoyed the outlet that allowed me to be as dramatic as I felt. I was absolutely obsessed with bands like Green Day and My Chemical Romance and I just wanted to be like them. My reasons are slightly different now haha!
What inspires your sound? Who are some of your favourite artists?
After the emo era my absolute favourite band was The Dresden Dolls, and they are what made me switch to piano and were hugely influential on my writing. I also love Jazz and would listen to singers like Billie Holiday as a teenager. I became obsessed with Fiona Apple’s music while I was at uni and she remains a huge influence along with other fairly experimental songwriters like Weyes Blood and Cate Le Bon. More recently I’m into a lot of R&B and Soul. There’s an artist called Baby Rose who I can’t get enough of and she has really inspired some of my recent writing.
You’ve recently released your single “Maybe Then” – tell us a little bit about it, inspirations and how it came to be about 🙂
Maybe Then started as a really simple, 3 chord demo. I usually go really full on with my chord structures so it was kind of a stripping back, it’s a really simple song. I was then approached by producer Andy Raphael who was up for producing the track and it became the cinematic track it is now! The song is about letting go of perfectionism as an artist, the main hook is ‘I’ve been waiting on a work of art but there’s no such thing’, and I actually ended up finding this to be a really helpful mantra. It’s about how we wait around for things to be perfect but nothing ever will be, the timing will never be ideal so just get out and do what you want to do! My friend Philippa Oliver filmed an amazing music video for the track too. It’s very dramatic!
What would you say are your main inspirations for creating and writing?
Lots of my songs are about the quirks of human behaviour. Whether this is something I’ve observed in someone else or myself. A lot of it is quite self-exploratory at the moment, questioning why I do certain things and think in certain ways.
What’s your process for creating or writing music?
All of my songs start as a little phrase or melody at the piano. It usually takes a long time between an idea appearing and finishing the song, it can be months. I don’t have a set approach other than building on a tiny snippet of an idea over time. I’ll record my ideas in logic and build harmonies over them. Then I send them to my band members and they add their ideas. Since I’ve been working with a band I’ve left a lot more space in my songs. They used to be very dense with piano melodies but now I leave some breathing room for the others. I am loving working with a band, they elevate the music so much and add things I never would have thought of! It’s much more collaborative now.
How did the lockdowns impact you as a musician, or even in general? It’s been nearly two years but they still have a lasting impression on everyone, we find!
The lockdowns are kind of a blur. It did give a lot of writing time and I think I wrote some of my favourite songs to date! What it has done is to make me appreciate everything much more. I hadn’t done loads of collaboration before and now it’s my favourite thing. I feel more a part of the Manchester scene now than I did before actually, and some of the remote collaborations I did have turned into lovely friendships!
We’ve seen you’ve been doing regular nights over at the Art of Tea, and working much more frequently with Manchester Women Songwriters’ Collective – how have you found all of these?
I love running these nights. Above all it’s been a great way to connect with loads of new musicians, and hosting a night where people come especially to listen to great music has been really rewarding. With Manchester Women Songwriters Heidi and I are trying to do a showcase every quarter or so and we’ve been loving it. The reception has been amazing, we sold out our last show and we have another in the pipeline at the end of July so watch this space!
You’ve been performing a whole load with other musicians as well – we’ve seen a lot on the socials! How has this come about?
A lot of this started out as remote lockdown collaborations. That was the case with Canter Semper, Tom Welsh, Tom Poggi (all amazing artists) who have since become regular collaborators and friends. It’s always the case that one thing leads to another so it all started with those and has snowballed into playing with lots of lovely people.
How have your releases been going lately – what response have you got from audiences and fans?
I released Maybe Then back in March and the reception was lovely. It’s always really hard trying to self-market everything, it’s a full-time job in itself really! But everyone has been lovely about it. I learn so much from every release so on to the next!
Do you record in a studio or do you have a personal home studio?
A bit of both. I have recorded in professional studios and friends’ home studios in the past but I was lucky enough to get a grant from the Arts Council last year to build my own home studio. I am loving having the space and equipment to experiment and I am working on improving my production skills.
Have you got anything coming up in 2022 we should know about?
I’m currently working on a couple of singles and a new EP with the band, which is coming along really nicely. I hope to start releasing tracks from it in the Autumn! There will be a full band EP launch show too, date TBC! Aside from that we have filmed some exciting live sessions that will be released soon and I just want to play more shows with the band and keep putting on local nights. It can be easy to get disheartened being an independent musician so I am just trying to appreciate what is in front of me and enjoy the ride!
we had a proper superb one down at the Grafton Arms for our Toasted night on Saturday! 
big big love to BARDS HWY and STRAY WEATHER who all absolutely stormed their sets, what a night great to put something on a touch heavier every so often, and we had a fantastic turnout too which was class to see especially in these quieter summer months!
we’ve got plenty of gigs coming up, plus more to be announced.. keep your eyes peeled on www.breadrecords.co.uk/events/ for all the info!
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