(Credits: Far Out / Melodic Records)

How do you keep an independent record label going for 25 years? Well, you take inspiration from the stylings of your city’s most iconic predecessor (but definitely not from their finances), set up a label management arm to sustain the business, sign a roster of artists that you really, truly believe in, and celebrate them at the turn of a quarter century with an all-dayer, a Pad Thai and a pint at a beloved Yorkshire pub-turned-venue. This is the story of Manchester’s Melodic Records.

The label was formed in 1999 with David Cooper. After finding his way into the industry through PR company Pomona, the soon-to-be Melodic founder stumbled upon and quickly fell in love with the glistening, downtempo trip-hop of a colleague’s solo project called Pedro. “He just loved it so much,” label assistant Dylan Leggett tells me, “He was like, ‘I’m going to start a label now’.” This love seems to have driven the label ever since.

Melodic initially worked release by release, Leggett tells me, with the aim of “selling enough of the last record to pay for the next one”. But they found success through bands like Working For A Nuclear Free City, whose twisting mix of electronic and alternative on ‘Dead Fingers Talking’ landed them a spot in the Breaking Bad pilot. It was successes like these that allowed Melodic to become more of a “proper thing”.

Cooper’s one-man project gradually became more collaborative as day-to-day label manager Andy Moss joined the team while working at IKEA. “It’s grown quite slowly like that,” Leggett explains, “Adding another staff member every now and then.” Now, Melodic has a full team and a full roster. The latest addition is Jos, who took up an internship at Melodic before taking up more hours as a label assistant last autumn.

Along the way, the record has continued to traverse electronic and indie genres, working with the likes of The Cool Greenhouse, who turn off-kilter observations into oblique collages of synths and twangs, W.H. Lung, who forge slick synth-pop, and Strawberry Guy, who makes subdued bedroom pop. More recent signees include newcomers Formal Sppeadwear, who just released their debut EP on the label.

“We’re very independent and do as much as we can ourselves,” Leggett explains, “We just want to work with as much music we love as possible.” It’s a goal that would leave many independent labels in the red, but Melodic have found a way to sustain itself through services for overseas labels.

Back in the 2000s, Leggett tells me, Cooper was looking to license the first Beach House record from Carpark Records. “Failed,” he shrugs, “Bella Union had already sorted it”. But even though they had missed out on working with the dream-pop connoisseurs, the encounter sparked an idea. What if Melodic could offer their skills in press and distribution to be the “person on the ground” for other labels?

A decade or so later, Melodic executed this idea perfectly. They work with New York-based soul label Daptone and with indie labels like Fire Talk and Carpark. “It makes the releases really nice because that almost pays to keep the company going,” Leggett explains, “We don’t have the pressure to sign something that has to make money. We can do it a bit more naturally, find records we all love.”

Still, the modern landscape for labels is tricky to navigate, and it has completely changed since the inception of Melodic. Artists can emerge without the backing of labels, many of them finding their own success through social media, while audiences are consuming music in a completely different way. “All a label has always been is trying to get as many people to listen to your music as possible,” Leggett comments, “But now, with the internet, that can happen just on your own.”

Melodic certainly hasn’t lost sight of that central goal, but they look to work much more closely with artists than most major labels. “It’s important to make sure you give every release as much care as possible,” Leggett explains, though he admits that the traditional methods of promotion – press coverage, for example – have lost their shine in the modern industry.

It’s an impact he sees as extending beyond the work and wallets of just artists and labels and into the industry as a whole. “Before, if you were a label taking out adverts, you’d be taking out adverts in music magazines,” he explains, “The music magazines are plugging your records. The money is being passed around in the same circles and growing. It was a bit more sustainable, rather than everyone advertising on Instagram who aren’t putting any money back into the music business or artists.”

The landscape is changing in person, too. Melodic, which was once surrounded by indie labels, now occupies a much lonelier space in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. “Dave was talking today about how when he first started the label there was Twisted Nerve,” Leggett explains, “Which was Andy Votel’s label with Badly Drawn Boy, and a couple of other ones. Grand Central. A few Manchester labels had offices in the northern quarter and everyone would go for pints, exchange ideas and stuff. It’s a bit less like that now.”

Scruff of the Neck are still just around the corner, but Leggett suggests that that’s “about it”. The band community in the city is still thriving, though, and it’s ripe for new signee pickings. Melodic has been on a “finding frenzy,” according to Leggett. One artist he’s particularly excited about is Lili Holland-Fricke, who will be playing Melodic’s 25-year celebration in Todmorden at the weekend.

A cellist from the Royal Northern College of Music, Holland-Fricke is the only student who has taken on the pop songwriting course with the instrument. “They had to check she could do it,” Leggett explains, “Everyone normally does it with voice or guitar, but she was like, ‘Nah. I’m doing it on a cello.’” Her sound certainly veers beyond the realm of pop, infusing it with electronics and an experimental approach to the cello while maintaining a melodic (pun intended) focus.

She’s also the first signing Melodic has ever taken up on a cold email. “She actually emailed a few labels, so I’m really glad no one else got in there first,” Leggett enthuses, “A lot of cool experimental labels I think would have snapped that up quite quickly.” She’s joined on the party lineup by fellow new signing Shaking Hand, who Leggett first stumbled upon at a gig, a much more common way for Melodic to find new artists.

Seeing a band live is imperative to the signing process, says Leggett, but not all of them make the impact Shaking Hand did. “You go to a lot of gigs to have a pint and a chat with a mate,” he shrugs, “But I was like, ‘Wait a minute. What the hell is this?’” Sonically, they’re comparable to post-rockers like Slint and The American Analogue Set, a far cry from the electronic roots of the label, but Melodic has never felt the pressure to constrain themselves.

“I think the best part of working at Melodic for me is the range of projects and genres we work on,” label assistant Jos explains, “We aren’t restricted by any one genre; we release music we like listening to, and we think other people will like, and I think that’s where a large part of our long-term success comes from. We also do everything in-house, including press, radio, and marketing, so all the campaigns feel very personal to me.”

Leggett’s favourite release from his time with the label comes from Abracadabra, a spacey, psychedelic band from California. They released their sophomore record, shapes & colors, on Melodic last year, and the label assistant accompanied them on tour with The Go! Team. “That was just a real, ‘Woah, this is my job. This is mad.’ kind of moment,” he remembers, “Signed some California band, managed to get those to the UK and now they’re staying in my house. It’s almost like a terrible HBO show about the music industry.”

His other pick is the debut record from W.H. Lung, which was released back in 2019. Five years later, the band is still with Melodic and is set to headline at The Golden Lion this weekend. “We’ve got a real span of the 25 years and the next year or two on the lineup, which is very fun,” Leggett explains. The choice of venue also means a lot to the label.

While Melodic finds its home in Manchester, it has many of its roots in Todmorden. Leggett is from the town, and founder Cooper lives there now. “We thought about doing the party in Manchester, but it just seemed to make so much more sense to do it at The Golden Lion,” Leggett explains before promising that they’re working on a screening of England vs. Switzerland. There’s also the promise of party bags and Pad Thai.

Though Melodic clearly has an exciting year of new projects ahead, Leggett divulges his dream signing as our conversation draws to a close. In an ode to the city and the label that inspired Melodic, he picks out Manchester staples New Order. “The whole start of the label was very inspired by Factory on Dave’s end,” he explains, “The simplicity of the artwork. And W.H. Lung are definitely very heavily New Order influenced.”

Luckily, that’s where the comparisons stop, as Melodic seem set to enjoy a much less chaotic future than Factory. “Here’s to 25 more!” concludes Jos.