(logotype from Firestations homepage, see link below)


Interview with Uwe Weigmann of the Germany recordlabel Firestation Records

1. Could you please tell us a bit about the start of the label and where you have taken it from there.

We started back in 1998. it was me, my then girlfriend Annikki and Jan. All of us worked in the musicbusiness before. I have wrote for musicmagsduring the mid 90s and organised gigs in Berlin, so I made some fine contacts to many bands during this time. When we start the label back in 1998 the first idea was to release acompilation with 80s indiepopbands from the UK, so the idea for the Sound Of Leamington Spa-serie was born. We teamed up for this with Peter Hahndorf of twee.net fame. It took a long time to collect enough material for the first part of the serie so we decided to release records by bands which we enjoyfirstly instead. Our first release was "Viele Grüße" by Bazooka Cain back in 1999. While looking back I can say honest, that this was the best thing which could happens for us and our label. We received lot's of orders for this from abroad and made contacts to shops and mailorders all around theworld. When we start the label, we originally called Firestation Tower Records. We took that name from the Close Lobsters which had a song called FirestationTowers. The Close Lobsters were always a big influence for all of us three. In 2001 we had to cut the Tower from our name, because of Tower Records which didn't seems to enjoy to find out about another label which uses the word Tower in their name. Never understand it, but after all these years, I didn't care anymore about it.

2. Personally I really like "With You" on the new Bodines re-release. In your opinion, what would be the greatest songs that Firestation have released? and what is your proudest moment with the label so far?

Glad to hear that you enjoy the song. Yeah, to release the cd by The Bodines was one of the proudest moments in the history of Firestation Records. I was a big fan of the band since I first "Hear It All" back in 1986 and I never had thought that I would have the pleasure to release some of the band's recordings. The same goes for"Yesterday Things Got Worse" by Sensation. This band blows my ears away when I first heard them in the early 90s. Their album "Burger Habbit" should have sold a million copies and it is still one of my favourite lp's ever. I'm proud of all our release but of course there are some "key-songs" in our history. My personal faves are as follows:

Bazooka Cain - Annahmeschluss

Arvidson - Wake Up

Seaside Stars - Good Timing

Goldstoned - Wherever

The Nivens - Christine Norden

If you asked me about our proudest moment, then I can say honest that it wasour 5 years anniversary-party back in 2003. Edwyn Collins came over for it and played a fantastic gig. I will never forget this night.

3. What do you think of the present pop-scene in Germany? Does independent labels get any coverage in press and such or is it kind of hard getting exposure?

To be honest, I don't care about the present pop-scene in germany that much. For sure there are some great new bands around in Germany but I don´t have the time to listen to them. I'm very much into new bands from the UK or Scandinavia, so I spend all of my free time to listen to them. Yeah, I think that German independent labels get some press in the mags. It's much more easier for an indielabel to sell their records now than it was around 15 years ago. If your label work well you can reach lot's of people. There was no chance for it back in the 80s or early 90s, when the music-scene was dominated by the major-labels.

4. I have found a lot of nice songs on the compilations The Sound of Leamington Spa. What was it like travelling around in England gathering all those songs, and how did you find out about all those bands in the first place?

Yeah, I visited some of the bands feat. on Sound Of Leamington Spa while travelling in England. It was great fun to meet them. I made most of the contacts while writing letters to the old homeaddresses which were shown onthe band's recordsleeves. Apart from that many bands contact us while finding out about the compilation-serie. These days, myspace is also a wonderful place to find out about some great obscure bands from the past. I was very glad to came across such bands as Endless Bob Brown or The Irony Board that way. Both bands will be feat. on The Sound Of Leamington Spa 7.

5. Is there any future plans made for the label that you can share with us?

Yeah, we just started a 7" singlesclub. From now on there will be a new 7"single out each month. First up there is a great new band from Birmingham called The Scarlet Harlots. Every release will be limited to 300 copies. There will be releases from berlin-based Sternbuschweg and Cloudberry Jam from Sweden coming out in June and July. Then there will be the next part in the Sound Of Leamington Spa serie. It should be ready in July. I have already start to work on part 7 ! There will be another great re-release out this month by a band called the Company Of Cowards. Please feel free to check them out via: http://www.companyofcowards.co.uk/

More re-releases will be follow until the end of the year.

My favorite:

English town: Bath (for hanging out), Liverpool (for going out), Brighton(for recordshopping)

Film: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

German band: The New Colours

Label: Creation

Book: Songs That Saved Your Life

Homepage: http://www.firestation-records.de/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/firestationrecords