Even though I knew they would only use a snippet from this I promised not to post it until the article was published.

Interview with Robert Ham for Noisey/VICE

What something like this can do though is help raise an artist’s profile and it is a shame that in an attempt to make sure all genres are represented the smaller indie bands with the great albums are often squeezed out. Bottom line however is a great album won last year even if the publicity afterwards was pish poor so until it goes to Emeli Sande and we all demand a recount it should be given another chance.

Quality wise I can hardly complain as 10 of Avalanche’s top 30 for 2012 appear and while it is a bit “last year” for us many of these albums are still good sellers for us. If anything the problem is that it tips off HMV and FOPP to things we sell every month.  

This has to be about reaching new listeners and not simply preaching to the converted and sales will be the judge of that. We have had a good run selling many of these so much as it pains me I have to hope they now sell in large quantities elsewhere be that physically or as a download. So come this weekend spend a little time investigating the albums in the long list and then hope that a select few huddled in a darkened room “do the right thing”. Who would I pick ? No one can ever know. 

I don’t have all the details yet but there will definitely be free pony rides in the Grassmarket on Saturday 25th May. After the successful trial before Christmas when people were happy just to have their photos taken with the ponies the Greater Grassmarket BID organisers have managed to get permission for pony rides in the Grassmarket. Not only that but they will be funded with BID money hopefully attracting enough people to the area that they will continue to be free in the future.

I don’t have a starting time yet but I would expect it will be either a noon or 1pm start and last three hours. This won’t by any means be the only thing planned and there will be regular markets and events most weekends. A full list will be published soon I’m told.

You don’t have to be Mary Portas to improve the experience of high street shopping and luckily the Grassmarket has far more going for it than most. While visitors to Edinburgh always make sure to visit years of tram works have stopped people from surrounding areas coming into Edinburgh to shop. Hopefully that can now change and nowhere will you find as many independent traders as you will in the Greater Grassmarket area.

Sadly my slogan was deemed to be unsuitable. I went with

“Don’t go to shopping centres they are even worse than Princes Street. Come to the Grassmarket for great independent retailers”  

Not a great slogan I admit but to the point !

I reckon once we work out how kids can have their photo taken on a pony in front of the castle we’ll be onto a complete winner. 

Some of you may remember the Grassmarket Music Festival just over two years ago which was meant to be a trial run for something much larger given Edinburgh Council had claimed to have put in enough power for a U2 concert when they had pedestrianised the Grassmarket.

However this was part of the BID (Business Improvement District) application and that was delayed a year. That went through in February and they are now ready for that U2 concert or something similar this September. More news to follow. Our Mark E Smith lookalike may return but this time he will need a ticket !  

With locations in New York and Edinburgh the promotional opportunities are many and it goes without saying this would seal the Grasmarket’s claim to be the place to head for with so many amazing independent shops including the legendary Armstrongs for vintage clothing and Red Dog for musical instruments. At the moment we are still working out the details but are very interested to hear other people’s ideas. We would really like to get things going as soon as possible so may well have the Cake Shop as a pop up while we finalise the details to make the move permanent.

Clearly this would be fantastic news for those more ambitious bands looking beyond the Edinburgh/Scottish scene and I’m sure our good friends in Glasgow and beyond would benefit too. Much more on this as soon as things are finalised.

manhattan – lower east side

When I first mooted the idea of moving to the Grassmarket the immediate response from every band who had either been to the Cake Shop in New York or had ambition to play there was that we should look to them for inspiration. It seemed a little ambitious given they were a cake shop, record shop venue and bar but I certainly understood what they meant.

Fast forward two years and the comparison was starting to take shape. We had had a couple of successful “proper” gigs in the shop and the overwhelming vote for what we did with the shop’s space at the front was for a “proper” cafe. I’d realised that if we were to go down that route it had to be done as almost a separate venture rather than simply as an extra for customers as we had tried.  

So you can imagine my surprise when who walks into the shop a month ago but Nick Bodor one of the owners of the Cake Shop and over here for a wedding with his Scottish wife. When he then says they are keen to work with Avalanche and he doesn’t even know our plans it seems just too good to be true !

So how will it work ? First of all to celebrate our new partnership there will be a split single with more to come on a regular basis. With a Cake Shop band on one side and an Avalanche band on the other it will immediately give any band chosen an international profile. Kept realistically limited it will be sure to be a success.

Nick was keen to have Avalanche nights in the Cake Shop and we will be looking at how we can get bands over to New York for this at a reasonable cost. Certainly with their extensive contacts Nick will make sure bands have a series of gigs to play once they make it over. Of course I will be happy to help New York bands coming over here. I’ve already had offers of sponsorship for free hotel accommodation so we just need to get the free flights !

Avalanche will provide the Cake Shop with sampler CDs of our favourite bands to play in the bar/shop and again with sponsorship these could be made available to their customers for free. On top of this Avalanche will have an area in the Cake Shop to promote and sell our best albums. It will give bands a genuine chance to put themselves in front of people looking for new music in one of the best places in New York for new music. I’ve long said that what bands need is new people to hear their music and then be able to buy it and this of course ticks both those boxes. We have other exciting ideas but I think you will agree that is enough for now !    

Next – Cake Shop in Edinburgh   

After a lengthy gap caused by there being no good music at all (this isn’t twitter so everybody gets that’s a joke right ?) the album club returns with an album worthy of the wait. I had the first Public Service Broadcasting 10″ dropped off in the shop and was asked to give it to customers I thought might be interested. A couple returned this week to thank me.

Clearly with many bands now very keen to try to go directly to customers from the start and with the vinyl resurgence something new is needed but everybody with outstanding subscriptions will have them fulfilled with a bonus !  

More on all that later but members can pop in from tomorrow and emails will go out next week if I can find an uncorrupted spreadsheet (and even if I can’t) to those who both collect and those who receive their packages mail order. Thanks to everybody for their patience. It will be rewarded !