Aberdeen based music label Ice Cream For Crow Records is delivering a platform for exciting young bands via cassette releases and ingenious DIY lo-fi videos.
Musician Casper Heyzeus set up the label as both a ‘passion project’ and route to release his own music – because he didn’t think anyone else would.
To promote his own music on the label Casper produces ingenious, hilarious home made videos- many with toys from his childhood.
Some of the videos stars stuffed toy Splinter, the mutant rat from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Casper, along with his band, is set to release a new album next month on Ice Cream For Crow Records.
Casper explained: “At at my age it is really difficult to convince your pals to be in a music video.
“Luckily I still have all the toys I had when I was a kid… and they don’t talk back.
“The last video I released was probably the longest one to do because I hand drew the lyrics and coloured them in with rubbish crayons.
“That’s what took all the time.
“It took nearly a whole day to draw the lyrics, colour them in and then photoshop them off the page and then stick them up on the video.
“After that it took a whole day to film the shots with the splinter toy from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
“I had one idea for that music video and had been putting off making it for two days.
“Then when I started shooting it I instantly had about 50 ideas and there is a lot of stuff that didn’t make the video in the end.
“I’m quite happy with how that video turned out.
“However I think people will be disappointed with the next one because it is a song called Robocop Goes to Magaluf.
“It is just all clips from Robocop movies.”
‘The label is a passion project’
Ice Cream For Crow Records release albums and EP’s on cassette, primarily because they are easier to make and a less expensive format.
There have been key releases by Casper Heyzeus, Depeche Choad, Before Stories, Peter Cat, Blue Hills and S.R. Woodward.
Casper said: “I hadn’t been making music for about 10 years then one day decided I wanted to start doing it again.
“I managed to get together an album’s worth of material but wanted to put it out on physical media.
“Cassette tapes are fairly easy to make and I knew no-one would put my music out.
“So I started my own label as a front and it grew from there as I then started putting out other peoples’ music.
“The label is a passion project that doesn’t make any money.”
Inspired by legend Captain Beefheart
Ice Cream For Crow is named after the final studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, released in 1982.
Captain Beefheart was renowned for his completely unique music with off-kilter time sequences and abstract lyrical imagery.
Listening to Captain Beefheart was an epiphany for teenage Casper – a realisation that there should be no rules in music.
It is a philosophy that is at the heart of the Ice Cream For Crow label and Casper Heyzeus’s music.
Casper said: “I used to be into metal and goth music but then heard Captain Beefheart when I was 15.
“I bought Ice Cream For Crow when I was 16 and it changed the way I looked at music.
“Just hearing the song Ice Cream For Crow, I was so confused and didn’t understand what was going on.
“That song wouldn’t leave my mind until I bought the album.
“Then I ended up having more questions than answers when I listened to the rest of it.
“I didn’t really appreciate it as I do now.
“As a kid I thought if this guy is making this music and people are buying it there are no rules.
“You can do whatever you want.”
New cassette releases on the horizon
Ice Cream For Crow Records also put on gig nights with a recent triple header at The Blue Lamp featuring Peter Cat, Casper Heyzeus and Vibrator.
There are also plans for cassette releases from rising Aberdeen bands Cow Catcher and Vibrator.
Casper said: “Kev on bass from the band has been championing the gigs and I have been a helping hand looking for bands from around Scotland.
“We are in talks about our next one which will be in August.
“It is a good way to get bands from other parts of Scotland up to Aberdeen and get local bands to mingle as well.
“I have plans for two releases from local bands and hopefully they will go through.
“We are recording a local band called Vibrator who we have put on at gigs and played gigs with.
“They are brilliant. A young band. Hopefully that will come out on tape on the label.
“Another great local band I love is Cow Catcher.
“They have already released their new album.
“Fingers crossed we can secure the funds to get that put out on tape as well.”
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