In the second part of our interview with one half of Fruits de Mer Records, Andy Bracken, we find out, among other things, what keeps them doing what they do and what the future holds for this truly unique, yet slightly demented, label.

HFoS – You only release the singles on limited edition, coloured vinyl (which, incidentally, look good enough to eat). What made you choose this particular format over, say, a compilation CD?

AB – Now, now, don’t get me started. I’m not a fan of CDs, and downloads don’t actually exist.

Thanks for liking our vinyl – that’s grand. We just choose colour combinations that feel right at the time. You never really know what they’re going to look like till they arrive at the door.

7” vinyl is what us “over 35s” grew up with, so I suppose there’s a certain nostalgic affection there from our viewpoint. But aurally and aesthetically, there’s no comparison between a CD and a vinyl record.

Essentially, though, we’re releasing music in a format that we like to buy in.

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feature, prog rock, psychedelic rock, psychedelic spotlight

Andy Bracken and Keith Jones, the combined minds behind unique indie label Fruits de Mer Records, are skipping merrily along a polychromatic highway armed only with a handful of coloured vinyl and an off-the-wall, ready wit, as anybody who’s read one of their press releases will surely agree.

Our love of the label is well documented already, so as part of the occasional Psychedelic Spotlight series, Head Full of Snow imposed itself on one half of the team, Andy Bracken, to find out what makes them tick.

HFoS – For those that don’t already know, can you tell us what Fruits de Mer Records do and what makes you different from the rest?

Andy Bracken – We release limited edition vinyl records of songs originating in the late 1960s/early 1970s, in a psych, kraut, folk, prog vein, covered and reinterpreted by contemporary artists… Sounds quite complex when you write it down like that.

What makes us different from the rest is that we don’t really have a clue what we’re doing, but do it anyway. With smiles on our faces. And it works!

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If you’ve checked out the ‘Groovy Cats’ tab on this site, you may have already tried out the recommendations thereon. Each one, naturally, is a winner, else they wouldn’t be listed at this altar to outstanding quality.

Trip Inside This House, is one such site. A cornucopia of psychedelic goodness, taking its name from The 13th Floor Elevators track ‘Slip Inside This House’ and overseen by the encyclopaedic mind gone high that is valis Hertel. A fairly regular series on the Trip Inside This House site is Ten Questions, where valis grills someone currently active on the psych music scene (playing, writing, bloody great fan), so the rest of us can discover what makes these polychromatic peoples tick.

Being the crusading force of originality that HFoS is, we decided to nick this idea wholesale and turn the technicolour tables on the man who poses the questions, valis himself.

The man knows his stuff and isn’t afraid to wax lyrical on all things mind-expandingly musical. One of the many thoroughly interesting, kaleidoscopic troubadours writing on the genre today.

Those adverse to infectious enthusiasm and the desire to share it with others need not apply.

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