Breakfest: A love letter to Breakfast Records and their annual showcase of DIY music
London may be the capital of the UK, and is often considered to be the cultural epicentre from which new musical trends are constantly emerging, but one thing that it lacks is an overall sense of artistic community.
Everything is cordoned off into small subsections that cater to different scenes, and you’ve got to put in a lot of legwork in order to find yourself crossing over if you want to infiltrate the jazz scene if you’re playing in a punk outfit. There are designated scenes for lots of different genres across the country’s largest city, and they’re scattered throughout its urban sprawl in various different pockets, but there’s also very little opportunity for them to collide, given how dispersed they are.
In a smaller city, this is less of a phenomenon, and the overlap between different areas is something that doesn’t deter artists from delving into different corners, whether it be close to the scene they already operate within or totally removed from their comfort zones. Bristol has plenty of this going on, but one of the finest exponents of this is the work that the indie label, Breakfast Records, has been doing for almost a decade, and this is exemplified not only by the output of their roster, but also their annual showcase, Breakfest.
With a lineup that is split between their own artists, personal favourites and close friends, what Breakfest, and for that matter, Breakfast Records, have established is a sense of community, and a chance for acts to find overlap. Started in 2016 by Josh Jarman and Dan Anthony of Langkamer, alongside now departed co-founder Jasmine Cruickshank (aka jasmine.4.t), they’ve gradually worked their way up to becoming one of the most talked about DIY labels in the country, and since their formation, have always held their annual event as a simultaneous celebration of their community.
Currently releasing music from the likes of Getdown Services, Mumble Tide and Eades, from within the city’s local scene and beyond, there’s a definite buzz about the projects they work with, but it’s hardly a case of carefully curating things based on a single specific aesthetic. The case here is that they’re clearly more interested in whether it’s A) good, and B) adheres to their ethos of being staunchly DIY, giving their artists complete creative freedom and nurturing them as they embark on their artistic journeys.
That DIY tag doesn’t mean it’s a closed-off network, though. New artists continue to emerge through the label, with power pop aficionados The Cindys and the Dylanesque singer-songwriter Zach Thompson being two of the main acts from the label to feature at this year’s jamboree. On top of this, you’ve got mainstays and newcomers from within Bristol on board, with hardcore punks Gimic and local cult superstar Oliver Wilde also making appearances at the most recent all-dayer. To see all of these acts on the same bill anywhere else would feel like a clash of interests, but to Breakfast Records, this merger of scenes is the only natural way forward.
This year also saw Australian dance-punks Gut Health pass through, as well as Cardiff jangle pop outfit The Tubs, just as the likes of Lambrini Girls and Melin Melyn have done in the past on their respective journeys to notoriety. It should be noted that performing at Breakfest is not necessarily an indication that a band will make it big, but an indicator that the label knows exactly what they’re doing when it comes to booking acts that are likely to make an impression on their audience, and deliver nothing less than vivid audiovisual entertainment.
It’s the sort of event that Bristol’s entire music scene congregates for every year, with everyone returning home having discovered something from a scene they’re not usually a part of, and not only that, but it also offers an opportunity to network. Their now-established base at local venue Strange Brew is teeming with avid enjoyers of what they’re showcasing, but equally, there are people there each year who travel from abroad on a whim, and there are people who rarely go to gigs within the city who are there without fail every year, and this is all down to Breakfest’s complete open-arms policy. No person (within reason) is made to feel unwelcome here, and that’s one of their strongest attractions.
Breakfest is a truly special event run by people who are integral to the survival of a local scene, and who care about facilitating events for everyone, and on top of that, Breakfast Records are the sort of label that will keep DIY music alive within their local scene for years to come. At a time like this, when all of the above is continually under threat, they’re a beacon of hope, and that’s all you can really ask for.
