We Declare Emergency - July 2019 Copper Feast Blog

This month's blog was written to the sounds of 'Anxious Ghosts', the new EP from US doom/sludge outfit LowFlyingHawks. After offering a taster with their performance of 'The Thin Ice' from Magnetic Eye's redux version of The Wall, they're back with an EP which brings together new sounds and old into a hard-hitting cacophany of stoner pleasure. Listen to it here, and if you're in the EU/UK, pick up one of the gold/black swirl vinyl variants from our webstore - these are going fast!

We Declare Emergency

Welcome back to the Copper Feast Blog. It's July and the temperatures here in London are distressingly high. You folks in Australia or even the US with the big old fucker of a heatwave to deal with may cast a wry smile, but let me tell ya, 33 degrees in London is pure shite (Edit: It was then 39 degrees on Thursday - WTF?!). Which actually leads me nicely onto the topic of this month's blog, but I'll get onto that in a moment. First it's time for an update.

Things are ticking along nicely here at Copper Feast HQ. As you guys may have caught a glimpse at, we received our final shipment of our deluxe repress of Pseudo Mind Hive's 'From Elsewhere' on the 12th July. You may have seen some pictures already, but let me direct you to the below. Bloody gorgeous aren't they! Honestly, I am astounded as to how well these have come out. Never in a million years did I expect to have this stunning an LP come out of our original specification to Breed Media. They've really pulled out all the stops. Not to blow my own trumpet, but show me a better looking LP to come out this year ;)

Our pressing of Pseudo Mind Hive's 'From Elsewhere'

Anyhow, with those now in hand, the long, arduous process of packing all your orders into mailers is well underway, with the first batch set to hit the postal system this coming Saturday. It will take us a few weeks to get everybody's orders out, but rest assured, they're coming. Everything should be in the system by mid-August.

We also had the London edition of the Independent Label Market last month and what great day it was too. We had some great responses to our releases as well as some awesome comments on our logo, which is now available in T-shirt form up on the web store in very limited quantities, both in black and white.

I expect that next month will well and truly be the month of School Disco, plus there'll be some very exciting label news which will very much change the landscape of things here at Copper Feast, but is a change I cannot wait for and to share.

Now, back onto this month's blog. As a result of their presence at ILM 10 days ago, I am delighted to announce that Copper Feast has now signed up to Music Declares Emergency (MDE). These guys are a charity based here in the UK that, on the back of the Extinction Rebellion protests, are pushing the music industry to join them in declaring a climate emergency that we well and truly find ourselves in, as a means of lobbying government to make more of an effort to tackle the major issues the planet faces. You can find out more about MDE (and even add your name to the list of signatories) here.

Some twitter-warriors out there might think I'm talking shite, but to level with those of you, I have a master's degree in Chemical Engineering and spent the best part of a year researching and writing a paper on solar energy - trust me, I'm qualified to speak.

The cold, hard fact is that human activity has well and truly fucked this planet up, from plastics in our oceans, drugs in our rivers, toxic pollution in our atmospheres and a hole in the ozone layer big enough that our polar ice caps are melting faster than ever before. But you guys already know this.

The real question I'm trying to ask and answer here is "What are Copper Feast doing about it?" and "What can you, our amazing supporters do about this?"

Well the simple answer to both questions is that we all need to be so much more conscious of our individual footprint on the planet than we are, making sure we are aware of how each action we take will affect the planet, and look to minimise or remove this effect. When it comes down to ourselves in and as supporters of the music industry, MDE have put together a variety of suggestions that will no doubt help us reduce this footprint. For example:

1) We will be using only recyclable packaging for all of your orders going forwards

2) I will be personally making sure that all of our activities will be done in as 'green' a way as possible.

3) We will be discussing with our manufacturers and suppliers further ways to reduce our carbon footprint.

4) All Copper Feast vinyl releases will be pressed onto 140g vinyl - no unnecessary pressing of heavyweight vinyl.

5) We will be looking into carbon offset techniques in our manufacturing processes, such as planting trees after a number of sales.

6) We will be supporting our artists' endeavours to reduce their own footprint too.

This list is by no means exhaustive too, so get in touch if you think there is anything more that we can be doing to reduce our environmental impact - I'm all ears!

For you guys however, there are a number of methods to consider for reducing your own footprint, whether it's bringing a reusable cup to a gig (where allowed) or getting involved in reusable cup deposit schemes at festivals. Maybe you can seek to walk or use public transport to get to your next gig, or maybe, just maybe you can order a big bulk of our records to cut down on the number of shipments in the system ;)

Bundle them up!

Either way, if we all look to make changes to our day to day lives, and of course our musical lives, things will start to get better. But rest assured, we need everybody on board for this.

Have a great month!

Callum

#vinyl #music #stonerrock #psychrock #climatemergency