City Walls 2 sent for production
September 1, 2021
Artwork and CD masters have now been sent to Rush Media for production, ready for the launch event 3rd October.
Latest News
White Elephant commissions badges to celebrate the 40th Anniversary
August 18, 2021
Based from the White Elephant logo, draw 40 years ago in Glen Eyre bar by Kate! We will hopefully have them by 17th September. Thanks
Final Art Work for City Walls 2
August 12, 2021
The CD cover for City Walls 2 is complete.It is a riff on the original album, using Southamptons colours and an updated view through a
81+40=21: City Walls 2 Studio 128 Revisited
July 7, 2021
With the line up of artists for City Walls 2, (81+40=21) having been finalised by White Elephant we’ve been back in the studio to sort
UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON SOUTHAMPTON’S CREATIVE MUSIC PERFORMERS
June 24, 2021
White Elephant are proud to be helping local musicians in the Southampton area develop outlets and opportunities for the promotion of their music and performance.
Ampshire Podcast
June 7, 2021
White Elephant Records and City Walls 2 are pleased to be working with local musicians across the SO postcode area and have done a little
81+40=21: City Walls 2 Up and Running
In the first post on the new City Walls 2 website White Elephant Records are proud to announce that their first release for 40 years, City Walls 2, is on the way to the production studio.
The album will be a double CD with a re-mastered version of the original release plus extra unreleased demo tracks from some of the bands on the album added to it. The second CD will be of 2021 functioning artists and contain a selection of what the ‘SO’ post code area has to offer today.
As a first taster for the release of CW2 White Elephant are really pleased to announce that a trio of three pieces are the first artists to be confirmed for the 2021 CD of the album.
Broken Links
May 3, 2021
The first three piece to be confirmed on the 2021 CD are Eastleigh’s Broken Links, who released a new single on the net just a few weeks ago. Replicas is available to view now in video form, and be prepared to be wowed by its sounds and more than a
Inferior Complex
May 3, 2021
Secondly, it would be unthinkable if at least one of the bands from the original City Walls album from 1981 didn’t feature on the new release, and Inferior Complex, also based in Eastleigh, are already ‘ticking that box’. As a first for the CW2 web site please check out this
The Slack 5
May 3, 2021
The third three-piece to be confirmed on CW2 are Southampton’s own The Slack 5. Drummer in the band, Dr. Flavio, has been working hard with White Elephant to sort out a track for the release, and they can be checked out on Bandcamp at anytime. Listen to one of their
The Second Set of Bands
White Elephant is really pleased to announce that a further four bands from the ‘SO’ post code area are now confirmed as having tracks on the ‘new’ CD of City Walls (2021).
Continental Liaison
May 16, 2021
Continental Liaison hail from Lymington, down the Solent overlooking the west end of the Isle of Wight. CW2 is pleased to be having a couple of tracks from the band and to get
Brash Bullets
May 16, 2021
Photograph courtesy of Rhona Murphy Brash Bullets are a Southampton band that have a high profile and a strong following. The band is a four-piece and have released material on Spotify already. Check
Blind Falcon
May 16, 2021
Photograph courtesy of Rhona Murphy Blind Falcon are an alternative rock band with a loyal following in the Southampton area for their indie guitar based sound and have been gigging for a number
Bitter Self Exploitment
May 16, 2021
Photograph courtesy of Rhona Murphy The fourth new band to be confirmed in this announcement are the Southampton punk band Bitter Self Exploitment. They’ve been part of the Sofa City bands collective for
White Elephant Announces the Third Tranche of Bands for City Walls 2
White Elephant is really pleased to announce the third set of bands who will feature on City Walls 2, which is due for release later this year. The line up is nearly complete now with only one or two slots left before the CD reaches its capacity!
Neko Roshi
June 10, 2021
Photograph courtesy of Adam Barnes The first band from the ‘third wave’ (nothing to do with COVID-19!) is Neko Roshi. They got their Japanese name from a book about a samurai cat that
Barmy Park
June 10, 2021
Next in this tranche is Barmy Park, based in Southampton and formed in 2019, not long before Lockdown, the band are really looking forward to playing some live gigs and give everyone a
Modtown
June 10, 2021
The third band in this penultimate tranche for CW2 is Mod Town. Ska and mod-influenced and fans of bands like The Ruts Mod Town add more danceable action to CW2. They were formed
81+40=21: City Walls 2 The Last Post
The final tranche of artists to be ‘homed’ on City Walls 2, (81+40=21) have been finalised and White Elephant is really proud that they further reflect the diversity of new music and genres alive and well and to be found across the ‘SO’ post code region:
Nostalgia Deathstar
July 2, 2021
Nostalgia Deathstar is the most extensive project put together so far by Martin James and Sean Albeiz. Their version of Bowie’s ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ will be released as a single in August on streaming
Telemarkk
July 2, 2021
To top and tail CW2 White Elephant are above all about trying to help genuinely ‘young and new’ artists to be ‘seen, heard and talked about’. Just like 40 years ago CW2 has
Sheps
July 2, 2021
Sheps is an up-and-coming DJ and producer of Drum and Bass from the central Southampton area. He takes pride in being an underground artist who fine-tuned his DJing skills throughout the lockdown in
City Walls - 1981
I’ve already been working with some demos by some of the original bands on the album to make a full length (c75 minute) CD and it’s ready now to be re-mastered.
However, what I also want to do is release it with a second CD of ‘new’ material by local bands and artists that are around now in 2021 and haven’t got recording deals and can’t get much exposure because of COVID.
We have announced the launch of an artist and band search for the new ‘City Walls 2’ release (“81+40=21”), timed for later in the year. We’re looking for any new, unsigned bands and artists in the ‘SO’ post code areas who don’t have a publishing deal or a recording contract.
The Story of City Walls - A Curry with John Peel
In 1980 Southampton had a burgeoning independent music scene with a variety of bands spanning the spectrum from post punk through to experimental via the post-industrial ‘Factory’ style of output. Following the release of an independent LP emerging down the M27 in Portsmouth a small group of students decided that they could do it just as well for Southampton.
What transpired was an attempt to put out an album that swerved from avoiding one car crash to another, with the simple, but seemingly impossible goal of getting the music played by John Peel on Radio 1. This story of White Elephant Records, and their album, ‘City Walls’ is told in the book “A Curry With John Peel“.
The whole purpose of the new release is to celebrate the talent in the Solent area today and to commemorate the 40 years since City Walls was originally released.
As with the original City Walls, there will be naff all money in it for anyone. The aim is simply to get music heard and promoted inside and outside the area along the altruistic lines of the original release.
If any band or artist in the area is interested and wants to chat about it, check out the “lowdown” below and get back by any of these methods:
CITY WALLS 2: THE LOWDOWN ON THE DEAL
City Walls 2 is being released on a double CD to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the release of Southampton’s only vinyl LP of indie bands and music back in 1981. The release will comprise of a re-mastered version of the original album with extra demos from some of the bands on it as CD 1 with a second CD of new ‘2021’ playing bands and artists. CD1 is basically ready to go into the studio to be re-mastered and attention is now turning to the ‘new’ CD of bands and artists currently in and around the Southampton area.
The ‘deal’ for all bands and artists on the release is the same as it was back in 1980 – 81, namely:
a) Each band / artist provides master recordings of up to three tracks (in .WAV format) of a previously unreleased and unpublished nature for inclusion on the CD, recorded at their own cost
b) The technical details for the WAV files or similar should be of a quality of at least a minimum of 16bit (preferably 24bit) with a sample rate of at least 44.1khz.
c) Each band / artist provides writing details of those to be credited on the release as the authors of the tracks, and they retain the copyright of the material
d) No payment is made for the material to be included and the sole objective of the release is to get the artists heard on air and by record labels and publishing companies
e) As with City Walls back in 1981 artists can purchase copies of the release at cost price to sell at their gigs / events / via the internet etc. to fans and interested parties. Orders for numbers of copies of the release will be in batches of 25. The total number of copies aimed to be produced (as a minimum) will be 500 with a maximum of 1,000 (like the original City Walls LP).
f) White Elephant Records (the original City Walls record label) will take care of the up-front production costs of the studio mastering and re-mastering of the release along with the costs associated with the artwork and CD production.
g) White Elephant will also undertake promotional activities for the release with existing contacts in the music industry including Radio 6 Music and local BBC and independent radio stations along with music journals etc. Individual bands and artists are also free to do whatever promotional activities with the release they are able to. A list / report of what White Elephant is doing will be made available to all artists and bands to ensure the avoidance of duplication of efforts!
Any other questions / issues / points can be raised directly with Richard Williams, who is curating the release on behalf of White Elephant. Provision of .WAV recordings by artists and bands is the effective signing of the agreement to the terms and conditions referenced above.
Richard Williams
April 2021