AED - In Their Own Words
In the depths of a Highland winter in 2010, as the snow fell steadily from the night sky, James Endeacott and Edwyn Collins settled comfortably into their armchairs, gazing into the roaring fire as they toasted each other with generous tumblers of 12 year old Clynelish single malt.
Eyes a-sparkling and cheeks a-glowing, the lovable doyens of pop considered their next move. But music was their first love, and it would be their last. Music of the future and music of the past.
As they talked and laughed, an idea took hold. They would go into cahoots. Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more…
Edwyn Collins’ first label was Postcard Records of Scotland, formed with Alan Horne in 1980 in Glasgow. It quickly gained a lot of attention from the London movers and shakers. People still talk about it, quite a lot.
Some of the bands on the label were: Orange Juice (Edwyn’s band), Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens, Josef K. After Orange Juice became defunct, Edwyn has had a sometimes flourishing career as a solo artist, songwriter and producer, working from his base at West Heath Studios in London.
James Endeacott is a legendary talent spotter, having A&R’d The Strokes and The Libertines at Rough Trade while he was there. His own label, 1965 Records, named after the year he was born and his favourite year in history, was and is one of the most eclectic around, and included, The View, The Draytones, Toddla T and the last record from the late, great Larry Jon Wilson. James also does a spot of radio broadcasting and is a very famous London gadfly, which he does with tremendous aplomb.
AED, Analogue Enhanced Digital, was dreamt up some years ago by Edwyn and Sebastian Lewsley, co-producer at West Heath Studios. They had the whole thing worked out, the artwork, the logo, the strapline –Today’s Technology Now – and even some jingles. A label waiting to happen, it has emerged from the shadows of their weird brains. But we envisage AED as more than record label. Books, art, films, we’ve got lots of stuff lurking in the back of the wardrobe, as well as ideas for new things. We’ll work very hard to present it in the most beautiful of ways. This will take a bit of planning from our crack team of two office girls - and they are just getting started - but we’ll get there. We’ll never rip you off, ask you for too much profile information, DNA samples etc or to sign up for anything you don’t fancy. We considered calling the label The Artisans, after the Orange Juice song, and because it reflects our modus operandum, but decided it made us sound too much like a bakery stall at a farmer’s market. But you get the idea.
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