With a collaborative, DIY ethos, Bingo Records is run by local boys Zac Barfoot and Ben Hall and Mancunian Lloyd Bent, who have taken advantage of the buzzing creative scene that’s sprung up in Lancaster. Their first EP, featuring bands Mr Ben and the Bens and Sun Drift, sold out quickly earlier this year. Think young, bright, indie-pop sounds, carefully curated and beautifully presented. 

We spoke to Lloyd Bent about setting up a label, working with emerging artists and what makes Lancaster great.

How did Bingo Records come about? It sounds like such an excellent little project – especially the community-based aspect of it.

I’m not from Lancaster, I’m from Manchester originally. I’d moved up to the area for work, and I’d always been interested in record labels, it’s always fascinated me the way that labels can curate certain types of music and serve as an avenue to find new music. I was essentially a bit bored, I knew of Zac and Ben through mutual friends.

I contacted them because we realised that we had the combination of myself with my journalistic background, for all the PR and the radio coverage, Zac as a sound engineer could make all the records, and on that basis Ben as an artist could do all the design. We realised we kind of had everything in house, we wouldn’t need to spend money outsourcing. We just thought it would be a fun project, and it is, and it takes up all our spare time.

And what was the process of setting it up? Was it difficult to try and get it sorted as a business?

No, not really – I think what a record label actually is can vary, but what we do essentially is we organise. All a label’s for is for a band to make a record, digital distribution, everything like that.  All that really means is that you need to find bands that you want to have and then it’s just loads of admin really. My role at Bingo Records is essentially just a glorified secretary. In terms of setting it up, I don’t think it’s particularly difficult.

At the moment we don’t have an office, we’re just operating out of people’s bedrooms. We’ve only been going about 6 months or so, so over time I think we’ll graduate to being fancy, contract bound and all sorts - at the moment it’s all very backroom based, which is nice. There’s this level of desire for people around this age to not have to siphon off all the roles down to London, for stuff to stop being so London-centric.

Especially in Lancashire, there isn’t much outside of Manchester, so it’s a good way to get all the bands in Lancaster out there, and to bring people into Lancaster.

There seems like there’s the demand for it in Lancaster – there’s a few good little bands, it looks like there’s quite a scene going on.

I’m a relative newbie, but the two people who featured on our first EP, Mr Ben and the Bens and Sun Drift, are from Lancaster. Ben’s been playing here for quite some time – I mean he’s still young but very productive. There’s lots of good bands, and other good promoters as well.

It was just a case of there being all these underground bands who hadn’t been put out on record. An analogy I thought about that describes it quite well is that there was this music scene in Lancaster, almost like loads of fireworks waiting to be lit, and then we just run around with a cigarette lighter.

So, you think there’s maybe that kind of potential all over the place?

I think people get priced out of big cities -  having spent a lot of time in Manchester, obviously there’s loads going on. In Lancaster everyone knows each other so it’s a lot nicer in that sense. There’s only one or two people doing each thing, so everyone has space to operate and do what they want without treading on each other’s toes or being unnecessarily competitive.

Lancaster’s a good place to live, there’s lots of interesting arty people living together and making good stuff. It’s the way it always works – somewhere in Manchester or Bristol for example became trendy when people originally moved there because they couldn’t afford to live anywhere else, then it gets made fancy and people move on to another place.

I think it’s always the case that somewhere springs up as a bit of a hotspot, then things will eventually move on, I don’t know. But it’s nice to be involved in this little hotbed, with bands like The Lovely Eggs, I think they’re probably Lancaster’s most well-known at the moment.

They’re on tour at the moment, right?

Yes – they toured in February. But later we’ve got our label tour, and that’s another thing as well. I think nowadays it’s so easy for bands to operate without a label, which is why I think a lot of them now prefer to go on independent ones and get a contract that’s far more beneficial for the artist.

When we make contracts, we sit down with the artist and decide it with them from a blank sheet of paper, giving them as much profit as we can, so that all the money we make goes back into the band’s pocket or into the next record they want to make. What we offer really is just like a gang of friends, all utilising their individual skills to help each other out, but under the brand and the name of a record label.

I think for me personally that’s what a record label should be, an umbrella term for a specific artistic movement I suppose.

More like a support network than a way to make profit then?

Yeah - the label takes a cut of the profit to reinvest in the band, make new records etc. It’s an expensive process but the label can fund that because the label is three people’s money rather than just one bloke who wants to get his music out there. So yeah, it does provide financial support, and it’s also a little bit of an extra vetting process for a band.

If you were to approach a radio station with your own music they’re probably less likely to listen to you. I guess it’s like an author having an agent, it’s an extra person who doesn’t have to have said you’re good - they genuinely think you’re worth investing in. It’s in the back of everyone’s mind - it’s probably a bit old fashioned, but you do think, oh they’re signed.

Ultimately the role of the label is to provide a bit of a platform for the band.

So, you have the split EP with Mr Ben and the Bens and Sun Drift, then I also saw that Family Selection Box would be bringing out a cassette - why is it important for you guys to produce analogue media?

I think fundamentally the three of us that run the label all love records. The analogue side of things is important to those involved with art and design. I think it’s quite a big deal - I remember when the EP arrived - to see our packaging and our bands on it… I think at the end of the day people just like holding stuff, it’s a physical artefact and if they’re in control of the artwork etcetera it makes it extra special and personal I suppose.

A lot of the people we’ve got involved in the bands are also very artistic, so if they want to produce art alongside their music, why not?

Did you see it getting this big at all or has it come as a bit of a surprise?

Yes, it’s come as a surprise, but I’d be tentative about describing it as big… I didn’t anticipate it being as exciting. I think there’s load of things we’d like to change or improve in the future but right now we’re really happy with it.

And where do you see it going in the next few years?

Well we’ve got five albums planned for this year - some more from Mr Ben and the Bens but there’s other bands like Dog Daisies putting stuff out as well. We’re working on getting some bands from abroad, though we haven’t really got too far with that.

I would like to retain a gender balance in terms of who’s putting out records - that’s something that I’ve got in mind, though we’re not quite there yet, but that would be a good thing to aim for. Just carrying on what we’re doing I guess - right now we’re happy and making stuff we’re proud of.

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