Spinny Nights on experimentation, curation and supporting an artists vision

Spinny Nights is the Bristol based record label representing the likes of Robbie & Mona, Grove and Bingo Fury, the label is one of the go to places to find new, fresh and upcoming artists.

Run by two friends, Arthur and Rafi, the label began as an event at The Old England, before taking their first steps into being a label after meeting artist Lynks.

“We did our first, kind of, DIY release with Lynks and then putting on his first event, which was cool,” Arthur tells Bristol24/7.

“After the Lynks release, we kind of got a feel for that and enjoyed the idea of doing something quite tangible, in a different way that wasn’t so ephemeral like a night out is.”

Focusing on artists who are experimenting with genre is a key aspect of the label, event organisers and management.

“When will people always ask me what kind of music is it? I guess I say it’s like alternative electronic tinged music, but it’s not dance music,” Arthur explains. “Songs with singing most of the time and the kind of thing that would be played on the radio, but it’s more on the experimental fringes of that.”

It’s no surprise then that Spinny Nights have had artists such as Park Motive and Tyla X A release music under their label.

Juggling jobs alongside running the label, both Arthur and Rafi credit COVID for giving them the time they needed to focus on Spinny Nights.

” I think it was good to have the time. It was helpful having that space and time and everything kind of slowing down just so we could learn and listen and figure out exactly what we wanted to do,” Rafi tells us.

“And also I felt like maybe we had a captive audience to a certain extent, people who were interested in listening to new stuff because there wasn’t any events going on. Now I feel like it’s a little bit more tricky to get through to people just in terms of that attention.”

The label is aware that they’re often an artists first experience with the music industry, acknowledging that the most important role they play is having faith and confidence in an artists project.

What separates Spinny Nights from other labels?

“A lot of the time, it’s giving artists confidence and directing them towards something that they already are going to do or want to do and we’re just giving them the means to be able to do it,” Arthur says.

“And then once you’ve helped them get to that point with their artistic vision, it’s all about creating the biggest impact you can for an artist because we really think they do deserve it as much as possible.”

The label looks to expansion in 2023 with curating stages and events at festivals such as Ritual Union. The all day festival returns later this month after a successful debut last October.

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“Ritual Union is great, we did that last year and it was really nice being able to highlight all the different amazing artists in Bristol, and just around the UK,” explains Arthur.

“And then this year is also gonna be similar, just bringing some experimental artists that people might not have listened to.

“We’re also doing one in Manchester for Fair Play Festival so we’ve got Scalping and Grove playing and then we’re bringing up Robbie Mona and other Bristol people that we’re not directly affiliated with, but we’re fans of like Minor Conflict.”

Curating stages at festivals is something the two aim to do more of: “It’s best of both worlds because we get to choose lineups but then the event organizers have to deal with any issues,” Rafi laughs.

“You get to pick a lineup and then go enjoy it on the day. So we’d love to do more of that, that’d be amazing.”

Despite the label being georgraphically placed in Bristol, this isn’t something that both Arthur and Rafi are bound to.

“It’s nice to keep it within that community that started what we’re doing but I think it’d be stupid to be exclusive. It’s mainly about the music.”

And about the music it is with Spinny Nights taking some Bristol artists to other festivals and events around the UK and vice versa.

“Why does something have to be geographically confined. It’s good that you’ve got artists from Manchester, coming down and playing in Bristol, and Bristol coming up to Manchester and the same with London. It’s just about everyone connecting.”

The label is aware that they’re often an artists first experience with the music industry, acknowledging that the most important role they play is having faith and confidence in an artists project.

“A lot of the time, it’s giving artists confidence and directing them towards something that they already are going to do or want to do and we’re just giving them the means to be able to do it,” Arthur says.

“And then once you’ve helped them get to that point with their artistic vision, it’s all about creating the biggest impact you can for an artist because we really think they do deserve it as much as possible.”

You can catch Spinny Nights at this year’s Ritual Union. Tickets are on sale now at https://www.seetickets.com/event/ritual-union-2023/various-bristol-venues/2429612

Main photo: Spinny Nights

Read next: 

• Spotlight: Bingo Fury
• Review: Ritual Union – ‘A welcome addition to the city, we can only hope it returns again soon’

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