Transgressive celebrates it's 10 year anniversary

As part of Transgressive’s ongoing 10th birthday celebrations for 2014, today we announce that from Monday 1st through until Tuesday Sept 30th September, the label will be giving away a free track, every day, from their website. Each track will be something rare or previously unreleased, spanning a cross section of the Transgressive roster past and present.

Amongst the free tracks will be hidden gems from The Shins, Foals, Flume, The Antlers, Alvvays, At The Drive-In, Neon Indian, Africa Express (previously unreleased / unheard tracks from the Damon Albarn and Brian Eno produced album).

Each track will be kept secret until it’s made available that day. Fans should head to www.transgressiverecords.com at 10am, daily, for the opportunity to access each one.

The daily giveaway is a warm up for Transgressive’s big birthday show at London’s Barbican Centre on Sept 30th. The show will be compered by Radio 1’s Huw Stephens and welcomes label favourites Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, Mystery Jets, Marika Hackman and Dry The River playing live with further guests TBA. Tickets are 17.50, 20 and 25 and went on general sale Friday 6th June here: http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=16658

Throughout September and October, the label’s two co-founders Tim and Toby will feature on a number of radio shows as part of the birthday celebrations: On 18th September Transgressive will co-host John Kennedy’s XFM show, whilst 1st October sees the duo guesting on Huw Stephens’ BBC Radio 1 show, with more announced soon.

2014 marks a triumphant milestone for Transgressive music. 10 years ago two music enthusiasts Tim Dellow and Toby L, both 19 years old, were introduced at a small 50 person London gig, by Kele from Bloc Party. Tim was obsessing over bands, running a fanzine and releasing Bloc Party’s debut single, Toby was running reputable website rockfeedback.com, which he set up aged 15 from his bedroom, whilst making shows for MTV and – promoting a Bloc Party gig. One thing led to another and within two months the newly befriended duo had set up their indie label Transgressive Records, on a shoestring, from their respective bedrooms.

They worked out how a label works. They signed some good music. They proved themselves to be passionate, clever, and likeable. Seymour Stein, music industry figurehead who famously founded Sire Records and the Billboard chart, discovering the likes of Madonna, Talking Heads and The Ramones in the process, heard about the talented duo and invited them to New York. A baptism of fire for the two teenagers who found themselves being plied with alcohol to the point they were both throwing up at the end of night one, wondering what had happened, lost on the streets of the Big Apple. Stein became an early mentor for the boys and remains in regular contact.

Fast forward 10 years, now at the grand old age of 29, Tim Dellow and Toby L still own the same record label, now with a third partner, the ambitious young female Lilas Bourboulon – who joined as an employee of the company in 2006. Things are different now, though. They have added a management company, a publishing company and most recently Tim and Toby have become Founding Partners and joint Creative Directors of LoveLive, the TV production and digital media company responsible for live streaming Rihanna’s infamous 777 tour, as well as filming Eminem, Madonna, Adele, and beyond.

There seems to be no stopping them. Between the three of them they have signed and worked with diverse artists including Foals, Flume, At The Drive-In, Two Door Cinema Club, Graham Coxon, Regina Spektor, The Shins, The Antlers, Neon Indian, Africa Express, Noisettes, Iron & Wine, Johnny Flynn, plus many more.

At a time where classically independent record labels have struggled and become shrouded in gloom, their independent company has scored chart success around the globe, received three Mercury Prize nominations in nine years and accumulatively sold millions of records worldwide. How so? They say their philosophy is simple: the Transgressive brand marks a stamp of quality, no matter what the genre; old-school ethics with a pro-artist policy, always aiming to surprise.