“Ten years ago, friends of ours were just starting to put together the idea of a record label, and the story of Transgressive is in many ways tied completely to, and a mirror image of, the story of Bloc Party.” – Gordon Moakes
In 2002 Bloc Party as we know it – Kele, Russell, Matt and Gordon – were meeting up twice-weekly at a subterranean rehearsal room in Acton. Their first show together as a band was put on by one of Kele’s university friends, Tim Dellow. The pair had bonded over a love of obscure post-rock band Billy Mahonie and in-turn Tim invited Bloc Party to play his night alongside his own band. In the crowd that evening to witness the youngsters show was Transgressive other half Toby L.
Fast forward to 2004
“Slowly, our band found its feet, as did Tim’s idea for a record label, and in 2004 our very first release, and also his, was unleashed: a three track vinyl 7-inch single, recorded in our rehearsal space, mixed by us on an eight-track recorder, with a sleeve I put together on an old PC in my lunch hours as a graphic designer.”
‘She’s Hearing Voices’marked the moment Bloc Party found their voice and truly began as a band. The single was released on 7” through Trash Aesthetics, a nascent form of Tim and Toby’s Transgressive that Tim ran with his former bandmate Rob Fawkes.
2012 marks 10 years since the inception of these two stalwarts of the British indie music scene. To mark the anniversary “as much an act of love, to rejoin with our old friends, as it is plain common sense” Trangressive will be re-releasing that very first single, in it’s original glory and back on vinyl for Record Store Day 2012.
The 7”is going to be limited to 500 copies (as was the original pressing) on ‘Reign in Blood’ Red Vinyl (the original Trash Aesthetics vinyl was clear). It will feature rare original recordings of ‘She’s Hearing Voices’, ‘The Marshals are Dead’ and ‘The Answer’ which was an early live favourite not featured on any other release.
Bloc Party have released 3 full length albums including the Mercury nominated debut ‘Silent Alarm’, toured extensively and headlined festivals throughout the UK, Europe and the World and helped shape the sound of modern British Guitar music. As they gear up for a very special 2012 starting with the re-release of ‘She’s Hearing Voices’, Gordon summarises the history of the band’s association with Transgressive, “It’s a reminder that even though our stories are long and entwined, Bloc Party and Transgressive both continue to go from strength to strength.”
Many happy returns.
