Morton Valence, hailing out of London and named after a town in England, are a pop band in the best sense of the word. Singer Robert Jesset takes the view that “The word ‘Pop’ has become sullied by boy bands, girl bands and Simon Cowell etc… but beautiful pop is magical, escapist music that gives you a larger than life feeling” and this shines through in their unique style of music.
The band were previously signed to an independent label but after being forced to use artwork they didnt like and feeling they were losing control over what they were doing, decided to go it alone in the big bad world of music. They decided to sell shares in their album directly to their fans via their myspace page and have raised over £20,000 to date. Robert states that “Fans are the lifeblood of any band, We’ve been gigging for a long time, we’ve built up a solid group of fans and we are collaborating with them”, a view we here at Record Union could not agree with more. The band has proved that through hard work and innovative use of internet services, an artist can fund their records and make a living doing what they love without sacrificing any control.
“For the first time since the inception of recorded music the pendulum of power has swung away from faceless corporations and towards the people who matter the most in the industry, the fans and artists”
The band have been receiving a lot of media attention and are using this to their advantage to book gigs and build their following further. The boxed version of their album comes with a 100 plus page story book as the album (Bob & Veronica Ride Again) is a 40 minute musical narrative about the coupling of Bob and Veronica after a chance meeting; another chance for fans to own something unique and getting away from the standard jewel case releases that labels still push in peoples faces and expect to pay unrealistic prices for. Making a unique product and offering it directly to your fans, allowing them to in essence become a part of the band is a great idea, and in todays musical climate it makes more sense than ever to distinguish your releases from others and make them interesting.
The band have now released the single ‘Chandelier‘ via Record Union, which was recently featured as BBC Radio 2’s Single of the Week. MV were also selected as music chain Fopp’s most promising newcomers of 2006 and were tipped by UK newspaper The Guardian in 2007. A lot has happened since then and now is the time for you to fall in love with their country influenced pop for yourself. Give them a listen over at their myspace. You will find their music on most major online music stores. They will be playing gigs all over Germany in October.
“After listening to this album several times I’m convinced that nothing else as moving, charming and wonderful will be released in 2009. Neither will there be another release financed by fans through selling shares of the album. 4.5/5″ - shakenstir
“It’s an album that redefines pop opera… Financed by the band’s fans, the Londoners’ debut is a sound investment.”
- Fatea Records
