Mr Fleay apologised for being poorly and not at his rocking best. Mr Whitaker apologised for the possible presence of poo on his shoe.
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
Passed as VALID, but for Mr Hibbett's repeated misspelling of Wigwam and the Beef People.
MATTERS ARISING
Reports were heard on the following items: GIGS
There was discussion of the recent Stumble/Lazer Guided launch gig at the Garage, which all agreed had been well worth it as a promotional evening, although there were Lessons To Be Learnt, not least of which was the fact that Coaches are a Right Hassle. It was hoped that we would move on, as we had done with issuing vinyl, growing and learning in a beautiful stylee.
WEBPAGES
Mr Fleay expressed his intention to set up a page for Stumble, and Mr Hibbett spoke freely of his dream of all bands having links from the main homepage in a smashing utopia of linkage, which lead on to the idea that, if we are to make full use of our Web Presence, we ought to get ourselves linked up a bit so that wandering web citizens might chance upon us, and rejoice. Messrs Fleay and Hibbett to investigate this further.
UMBRELLA ORGANISATION
Mr Hibbett had rung and written to them to no avail, though he stressed that he'd not been particularly forceful about it. Mr Whitaker stated that he was entirely dissatisfied with the fact that we had sent them 25 quid plus VAT, and they had done precisely sod all, to which the rest of the board agreed. He pledged to contact them and see whether there was indeed any point in being part of their organisation, and, if not, to try and get our money back. He then looked dead tough, and the meeting quivered.
PLUGGERS
Mr Hibbett produced the first progress reports for the AAS012 and AAS014 campaigns, which showed very good early reports. He agreed to contact Overground to ascertain details of sessions requested by various stations.
SHELLSHOCK
Mr Whitaker had been in touch with Shellshock, and produced current sales figures. AAS012 had sold 133 copies (with, according to Mr Fleay, another 50 being ordered in Derby), making it our bestseller so far, whilst AAS014 had only sold 70. Mr Hibbett looked sad, but the rest of the board reassured him that it was only early days yet, and he smiled a little. Mr Whitaker had also asked about getting back copies of AAS011, and the meeting agreed that it would be reasonable to ask for the return of a boxful (i.e. 40 records) for sale at gigs, which Mr Whitaker would sort out, having copies sent to Mr Hibbett at his work.
A&R
STUMBLE
Mr Fleay was pleased to announce that he and Neil Cooper, manager of pop combo Twinkie, had forged a partnership to manage Stumble. His first appearance in said capacity would be at the Mansun support gig on October 12th, where he would be handing out flyers advertising the single (which he displayed to much joy), and if at all possible flogging a few copies on the merchandise stall. He also reported that Tom from WayAhead records was planning to put out a Stumble single, with which they were going along, in order to see whether it would happen. It was agreed that there was little chance of AAS being able to fund a Stumble single in the near future, and that this was probably Quite A Good Idea.
LAZER GUIDED
Not much was happening with Lazer Guided at the moment, as they were getting a new guitarist sorted, although there was possibility of a Tom single sometime. The board agreed that The Guided were standing a little in the shadow of Stumble as regards current affairs, and that we should make every effort to impress upon them that we think they're GRATE (especially after their ROCKING performance at the launch gig). It was agreed generally that we should be feeding back information to bands, such as the positive LG reports on the campaign report, and Mr Fleay agreed to speak to them a.s.a.p., to be nice to them, and to keep them on board with the Continuing Artists Against Success Mission.
MJ HIBBETT
Mr Hibbett reported that the Album Sessions were gradually moving closer, and that he hoped to get something sorted out soon. He also put it to the board that he might try and get someone else to put out the next single, in order to be able to afford to do the album on AAS, which was agreed as VALID.
PALA
Mr Whitaker presented the board with copies of mixes of the new Pala single. He stated that the band had been involved in the mixing of the lead track, which had not really come out too well. For the remaining two tracks they had left the room, and these had come out much better, so the band were deciding whether to remix, or even re-record. Mr Whitaker was being Proactive in his A&R role and would be offering his own input when required.
There was a chance that the cover for said single might be done at the same time as the next Twinkie single, although this would have to be done extremely quickly. Mr Hibbett stated that it was best not to hurry such things, and agreed to coordinate operations on sleeve design and corporate branding with whichsoever member of Pala was deemed to be in charge of it.
SIENNA
Mr Fleay reported that the first practice with Ollie De Guided had gone well, and that they would play their forthcoming gig and see what occurred, though he doubted much would happen in the near future due to his many other current commitments, making nothing likely until at least February/March time. This led to a discussion of the wisdom of a Temporary Cessation of A&R - Mr Hibbett suggested that, though we have never actively sought bands, it would be wise not to start doing so as we have quite enough on the schedules at present. Instead we ought to direct our efforts to keeping all the current artistes on board and interested, propagating the delightful family of rock which we have fostered, and the meeting passed this as VALID.
JOHNNY DOMINO
The Meeting agreed that Johnny Domino had been ace, and there was some discussion of percussion. Mr Fleay stated that he would probably be contributing money to this project, and produced costings for the CD, which amounted to œ720, including covers and boxes, though not the cost of mastering, which had to be looked into. Mr Hibbett agreed to consult Overground about the possibility for radio plugging, and it was agreed all round that it would be sensible to hold the next meeting prior to the putative release date of November 9th to consider any issues arising.
Mr Fleay stated that he would be on holiday during part of the run-up to release, and might thus require other board members to help out, to which they readily ascented. Mr Fleay to advise other board members about this.
WIGWAM AND THE BEEF PEOPLE
This project is still very much pending, with Mr Whitaker in contact with the band and poised to report as soon as anything was ready.
EUROPA
Mr Whitaker stated that he intended to place the song "Supermodels" on the impending compilation, which was passed as VALID. He and his Europa Partner would soon be commencing work on the proper recording of "Four States Of Being", and were considering a means of redoing the sample so that they didn't have to pay anyone anything, i.e. just saying it. He stated that they hoped to release it as a split single, at which point Mr Hibbett reminded him of the WORDS he had used against AAS014 being a split-single, took the piss slightly, then relented as Mr Whitaker looked upset. He then suggested that the ongoing FPV possibility might be a Good Idea for the other side, which the board agreed as a possibility, with Mr Hibbett pursuing the idea with FPV. Mr Whitaker also raised the possibility of doing a short run of CD's to help with plugging, which the board would consider nearer the time. In short, it was agreed that Europa (or, indeed, whatever else they decide to call themselves) record the track in question and then evaluate the position from there.
GERMANS
Mr Hibbett had written back to them, explaining AAS policy and enclosing a copy of the contract, but had yet to hear back from them. He presented the meeting with a copy of the tape he had received, which contained a special treat on the other side, being the Brian & The Teenagers CD, which was GRATE.
COMPILATION ALBUM
Messrs Fleay and Whitaker stated that all the bands with whom they liaised were well up for this, and it was decided that work should commence in earnest on this in the new year. For this reason the importance of Palliative Care and keeping everyone on board was stressed, and indeed validated.
ANY OTHER A&R
Mr Fleay had received a tape of some Americans, but it had not been very good. It was agreed that this filtering policy was most VALID, and board members should continue in their action of not inflicting others with demo tapes unless they were Any Good. FINANCE
INVOICE
Payment was now due for the NME advert. Unfortunately Mr Hibbett had stupidly forgotten to bring the cheque book, dur, so this would unfortunately have to wait. This raised the FACT that Mr Whitaker is still not included as a signatory, which was a bit rum, and so Mr Hibbett resolved to get this SORTED. GUESTLIST/STUFF
Mr Hibbett proposed that we have some POLICY with regards to gigs. It was entirely CORRECT that we have rigorous financial guidelines elsewhere as it ensures that everyone knows where they stand and that there is no room for disgruntlement to grow, but from past experienced he feared that issues involving money and guestlists at gigs were just as likely to engender disunity. There was a lengthy and STERN conversation with regards to this, during which many thoughts were thought and ideas verbalised, until finally it was agreed as policy that members of the board would receive two guestlist places, with each band member getting one place each. Mr Fleay suggested this be open to negotiation under special circumstances, and everyone said Oh Yes, But Of Course. Furthermore, although the Garage gig had been a success and still lost œ29.11, the grisly spectre of Actually Making A Profit next time could be glimpsed in the misty spookiness of the future. Again, there was lengthy discussion, until it was finally agreed that any profits would be split 50/50 between AAS and the bands - after all, the organisation would be coughing up for all losses, so should morally be able to claim back half of any proceeds. As with all other financial discussions, this made everyone sweat a bit, but it was agreed that Speaking in an Open and a Forthright manner about such things and getting them SORTED was what makes AAS such a smashing thing, and on this note there was much agreement and joy.
OTHER FINANCE
Mr Hibbett proposed that each member of the board set up a Standing Order/Direct Debit Thingy, paying a set sum of money into AAS each month. This would enable us to pay for items specific to the organisation itself, such as Promotional Items (bags, badges etc) and printing of the newsletter. To his surprise this was approved as a Good Idea and, after some discussion, it was agreed that the sum be œ10 per month, which shouldn't hurt too much and would easily cover necessary expenditure. Members of the board agreed that they would get it sorted out, ready for the first payment to go through at the start of November. LOLLOPALEICESTER
This had changed somewhat since the last meeting - the plan to have a Leicester Festival thing had been abandoned, as it looked like being a lot of hassle, and the hoped for inter-label cooperation looked unviable due to the many different agendas which were being imposed. Instead, he had been in talks with Mr Dixey of Sorted Records, with whom a plan had been devised to set up some sort of regular gig, utilising the Good Name, at which Sorted and AAS bands could play, thus enabling showcases and launch gigs to be set up locally. This idea was VALIDATED, and Mr Hibbett promised to keep hassling the Spreadeagle (the proposed venue) to find out when they would have a performance licence, and thus when the entire venture would be able to set sail upon the sea of ROCK.
CORRESPONDENCE
Not much this time. Mr Hibbett had heard further from that Welsh record seller place, and it was agreed that he would send them 10 copies of each record, for flogging. Mr Fleay had heard from Glamour Puss fanzine. who were organising a London gig. In Reading. Hmm... anyway, they wanted Stumble to play, which is GOOD, although further details were awaited. COMPANY SONG
It was agreed that the basic backing track be recorded during Mr Hibbett's Album Sessions, and that he would finally get round to finishing the lyrics, moulding the verses contributed by all into a valid whole. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
NEWSLETTER
It was agreed that the newsletter had been a Valid Exercise, to be repeated in January, to coincide with new releases, or at Christmas, to coincide with Christmas. Mr Whitaker requested a few more copies to send out, and it was agreed that printing costs in future be taken from Company Funds. MUSIC WEEK
Mr Whitaker passed a cutting from Music Week to Mr Hibbett, who agreed to send them our details for inclusion in the new Music Week directory. WE ARE COOL
Many of the pluggers' responses had commented on us being a Cool Label, and it was agreed that yes indeed we are DEAD COOL, but of course. It was felt to be important that we thus maintain quality control, but also that we plug the label whenever given the chance, to continue the cycle of bands doing well being good for the label, and the label doing well being good for the bands. Thus CONSTANT VIGILANCE was required to ensure that the Corporate Logo was displayed whenever possible (e.g. on Posters and stuff). It was agreed that being DEAD COOL is GRATE, and that it was all very beautiful. And on that happy note the meeting drew to a close.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be at 7pm on November 4th in The Spreadeagle, in Leicester.
