LIMERICK’S independent record label Out On A Limb Records celebrate ten years of putting out quality releases this weekend.
On Saturday August 10, two venues will host bands from the label’s roster. An afternoon matinee show, run by Seoda Shows, happens in Bourke’s Bar on Catherine Street, featuring Owensie, Hidden Highways, and Peter Delaney.
Later on that evening the party moves to Dolan’s Warehouse featuring current label acts Crayonsmith, Elk, Jogging, and Windings. And in what promises to get the biggest reaction of the day, the label has persuaded Giveamanakick, the first band to release on the label, to reform for one night only to perform on the Warehouse stage. Giveamanakick, Limrock’s ‘odd couple’ trashed, kicked and roared through three groundbreaking albums and for six years brought their ear-splitting double act throughout Ireland, UK, the US and Canada sharing stages with Deftones, Dinosaur Jr, Rocket From The Crypt and many more.
On GAMAK reforming, Steve Ryan from the band told Limerick Post this week, “We figured it’s been 10 yrs since we released our first ever album, and that neatly coincided with the advent of OOAL, so what better time! Also, Keith is home from Dubai around then, so that was handy too. We never ever thought that there’d be a time where myself and Keith wouldn’t play music together again, it’s just great that we can do it at this particular event. OOAL means a lot to us.”
Independent record label, Out On A Limb Records started in Limerick City in 2003. The label was founded by Richard Bourke and Albert Twomey, both prominent members of the since defunct Aspersion Music Collective (AMC) and soon after joined by Ciarán Ryan. To date, the label has released 16 albums, 4 EPs and five 7” singles. And the motivation to do even more with the label is stronger than ever for OOAL’s Ciarán Ryan, “I think it has to be that feeling that you are in some way supporting and facilitating the release of really quality records that may not otherwise see the light of day. Getting to work with some incredibly creative people is very inspiring and continues to be as much of a buzz as it was when we started off with this.”
In this era of diminishing returns for the record industry, Out on a Limb have been more prolific than ever, proving there is a receptive audience for quality, cutting edge new artists. The label in 2012 released LPs from Jogging (‘Take Courage’), Owensie (‘Citizens’) and the Choice-nominated ‘I Am Not The Crow’ from Windings. The Choice Music Prize nomination for Windings gave Out on a Limb a lot of extra media coverage nationally, which was long overdue, but Windings inclusion in the final shortlist did not come as a surprise to label founder Richard Bourke: “It was really nice but I’d be lying if I was saying that it was unexpected. IANTC was in most end-of-year album polls in Ireland, and rightly so. I think the lads deserved the nomination and all that, and it was decent to see a nomination for an OOAL-release. It came at a good time from a label perspective as we’d built up a nice head of steam from late 2012 to the early part of this year, and that was sandwiched in the middle. I think that – along with all the great live shows and the almost universally positive reviews for IANTC – finally gave the band the recognition that anyone who had seen them live in the past few years knew was well due to them.”
This year Out on A Limb released the long awaited second album from Rest (‘I Hold The Wolf’) and the new album from Peter Delaney (‘Witch Bottle’). Two new albums are due for release in the Autumn, the debut album from Hidden Highways and the keenly anticipated follow up to 2008’s ‘White Wonder’ from Crayonsmith. “We may sneak out another release in December and for 2014, we’re really looking forward to putting out the new Elk album,” adds Ciarán.
Steve Ryan, who was on OOAL’s first release with Giveamanakick’s ‘Is it OK to be loud, Jesus?’, and was in the final shake-up for a Choice Music Prize this year with his band Windings, is undoubtedly best placed to reflect on ten years of Out on a Limb record label. “Ireland is a small place, but when OOAL started, the music scene was still predominantly Dublin-centric. The AMC (not for profit music collective responsible for bringing the likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fugazi, Devendra Banhart, and many, many more to Limerick) had done a lot to change that, and made Limerick a viable place for international touring bands to play. So why not an Independent Record Label in Limerick? There were a few indie labels in Dublin at the time, but the South West of Ireland didn’t have much. Ten years later, those labels have come and gone, but OOAL’s still going strong. I like to think that just by the virtue of its very existence, the label is living proof of how local bands and music folk can take matters into their own hands and make things happen for themselves.”
The Out on a Limb 10 Year Party happens this Saturday August 10. Early evening show at Bourke’s with Owensie, Hidden Highways, and Peter Delaney. Later show at Dolan’s with Giveamanakick, Crayonsmith, Elk, Jogging and Windings.
