The last twelve months has seen a new wave of cracking regional independent labels that have kickstarted local music scenes. None are finer than SPC, the heart and noisy soul of the Steel City. We quizzed Darren of the label...

SoundsXP: You’re busy people… performing in bands, running a label, a zine, a radio station… do you lot ever sleep?

SPC: Well, it's midnight now and i've just got to reply to some emails, package some mail order stuff, update the website...It'll be about 2am before I go to bed. Sleep's for wimps anyway! Yeah, the label can be all consuming at times, but we love it. And let’s not forget that we all have proper, grown-up, full time jobs to do as well. We do try and have slack periods to recover, though.

SoundsXP: Have you been surprised by the reaction of Arctic Monkeys fans towards the Mardy Bums?

SPC: God, where do I start? It's been an eye-opener of a project that is for sure. Ok, lets get things straight first. The Mardy Bums do not exist. Another band, who will remain nameless, recorded the songs for fun while they were recording an album. We thought it was interesting, in a way similar to The Rutles parody of Beatlemania. It appealed to our sense of humour. We created a virtual band on MySpace. We thought we'd made it a completely obvious spoof. How could anyone believe there was a Sheffield band called The Mardy Bums with band members called Tarquin and Quentin singing (and not even remotely in a Sheffield accent) about flat caps & whippets? We posted up links to the songs on forums for Arctic Monkeys / Milburn / Bromheads Jacket / Little Man Tate, and sat back to see what would happen. We were gobsmacked that so many people thought the band were real. It turns out that you actually have to put up a neon sign with "THIS IS A SKIT" before people cotton on. But we got a fair amount of positive comment, as well an abundance of negative, and that's what made us decide it was worth releasing the record.

However, the bigger surprise has been in the promotion. We deliberately created an incredulous press release and the artwork is daft, full of vicious (and mostly true) comments from Arctics fans. It's called "Who The Chuff Are The Mardy Bums" and it's got a big picture of Sean Bean as Sharpe on the label ferchristsake! How less subtle could we be? We though the reviews would be OK, mostly 'yeah, silly parody, bit of a laugh, nice tune." We especially thought the underground indie reviewers would see the spoof, maybe mention Chris Morris, The Rutles, Spinal Tap, perhaps even comment on bandwaggoning in popular music and give it some cultural context. Nah. It's provoked widespread, utter contempt. I'm struggling to see why, to be honest. Was it that reviewers couldn't see it was a parody? Or were they all humourless? Far be it for me to say that your average indie kid can be a tad dour, but are people so jaded by the constant hype of the music industry that they'd think The Mardy Bums were a serious band? I could understand if they all just thought it was a bit shit, but reviewers have been outraged rather than just bored or unimpressed. Even your own Sounds XP review was over the top: "Only a bunch of shameless chancers do piss-weak pastiches of the current band du jour..pointless toss." I genuinely feel that we'd have got less of a reaction if we'd released a record extolling the virtues of anal rape! It's a strange state of affairs. Then again, an odd kind of fun can be derived from negative reviews. It's certainly got people talking.

SoundsXP: What do you think has been SPC’s finest three moments on vinyl to date?

SPC: We've only done done eight 7" singles so far and I love them all. I think I'd probably say that my favourite is "Kermit Song" by Smokers Die Younger, but it's too close to call for 2nd and 3rd.

SoundsXP: Sell Sheffield to us…

SPC: The old cliche is that it's more like a village than a city. There's an element of truth in that, though. I love the way you can regularly bump into people you know around the relatively small city centre. It's a far cry from the anonymous sprawl of London for instance. The hills give a great sense of geography and identity, it's hard to get lost. Plus it is such a green city with lots of parks. And we've got the Peak District on our doorstep too. I'd heartily recommend you all to read the fanzine Go!Sheffield, It's far more eloquent on the subject than I'll ever be. See www.dontgo.co.uk

SoundsXP: Does Tiffin make good tea?

SPC: Indubitably.

SoundsXP: What non-SPC label stuff has rocked the SPC decks recently?

SPC: I'm listening to a lot of Sheffield/Leeds bands: Situationists, Rotary Ten, The Yell, Laura Groves, O Fracas, Stoney, Long Blondes, Forward Russia, The Lodger. I've also been rearranging my records recently, so lots of old and contrasting stuff has been getting an airing: Stooges, Bert Jansch, 13th Floor Elevators, Cardigans, John Inman, Ornette Coleman, Sonic Youth, Adam Ant.

SoundsXP: Is scary hick songster Charles Cullen real, and if so how did you do with getting his films over to Sheffield?

SPC: You couldn't make up Charles Cullen. You know when you see one of those John Waters films, like Desperate Living or Pink Flamingoes, and you can't take your eyes of it? It seem absurd, yet almost believable. He's a musical equivalent. There's a pathos to his songs, whether they are about disease or weird drugs or trailer trash, which I find endearing. For example, one of his songs has the line "My house burnt down and my best friend said he hates me." Genius. Missy from Thee SPC found him on the internet while researching independent media. Cullen does all kinda of DIY stuff - art, comics, movies, radio, public access television.

SoundsXP: Smokers Die Younger - what was it with the Dexys too-ray-aye-ing on X wants the Meat? Are they fans or were they taking the piss?

SPC: No, I don't think they are taking the piss. But I don't think they're big Dexys fans either. I think they just thought it fitted nicely. It's a great album and full of unexpected touches like that. They're an ace band. Better still, they're also a bunch of grouchy curmudgeons, more than happy to set the world to rights after a few drinks. They'd make great subjects for an MTV reality show.

SoundsXP: Is it true that, despite their mild mannered exteriors, Monkey Swallows the Universe have a secret lair in that big concrete building on the Moore St roundabout, from where they nightly plot to take over the world?

SPC: Yes it's completely true. You wouldn't think it of such a slender and softly spoken girl, but Nat rules the band with an iron fist so ruthless it would make Stalin shudder. Think Pinky And The Brain, but more so. They're doing some more recording soon, which i'm very excited about. Their album is easily the most popular record we've released, and deservedly so.

SoundsXP: Champion Kickboxer - the musical equivalent of the Spaceman in King Arthur's Court - discuss.

SPC: Yeah, thats quite a good analogy! I struggle to describe Champion Kickboxer, I really do. Someone coined the phrase "chamberpop" , which is sort of appropriate. When I first heard them, they were all Pavement and Super Furries, but over time they've found the essence of their sound, and become more measure, quieter. I think they are a fantastic band, incredibly underrated. When they do get some press they get such a lazy response. It's frustrating. Comparisons to theFutureheads is common, solely based on the fact that they sing harmonies and scat vocals.

SoundsXP: Warnock - c**t or genius?

SPC: It's fair to say a lot of Blades despaired when he was made manager of United. But Warnock's done the business for them.I'm particularly looking forward to some daft soundbytes on Match Of The Day. He's the Richard Madely of football management.

Interview by Paul M and Matt H.

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