Rusted Rail is an independent Galway-based label and home to a diverse bunch of artists. This innovative label was founded by Keith Wallace, who acted on a notion that was born during his days working in the college radio station at NUIG.

“It started in 2006 but it had been in my head since 1995, when Flirt FM started,” he recalls. “We started writing off to labels to get promos in, to build up the music library. I realised there was so many cool labels out there and it was like ‘I want to do this’.”

Rather than setting up a label that was obsessed with the bottom line, Keith sought to create something that would foster and encourage local talent.

“You can do this on your own terms without having to conform to any type of model that somebody else thinks is the way to go,” he says. “There’s a label in Canada called Constellation. Their whole idea is to work within their community. A guy down the road might be good at taking pictures, someone else might be good at designing the sleeves, or they might be printers.”

Once Rusted Rail was up and running, Keith wasted no time in getting music out there.

“The first two releases were two batches of three. So I had six records out in six months, which looks good! Technically the first one was Agitated Radio Pilot, a chap from Longford who I knew from college back in the day. He’d been making music on cassette for years and years.”

Rusted Rail also takes a DIY approach to recording, eschewing expensive studios for a more organic, home-grown sound.

“Home recording, that’s another thing that I’m really interested in,” Keith explains. “The fact that you can now make records at home in the comfort of your own sitting room or whatever, is really good. You can work at your own pace and things can percolate more easily than when people are looking at a clock on the wall.

“I’ve never been to a recording studio,” he adds. “I can only imagine that I’d break into a cold sweat.”

So does Keith go about selecting the acts for Rusted Rail?
“I kind of commission stuff, but I don’t like that word,” he says. “I’ll get on to someone or they’ll approach me. In general, they’d be people I know. You meet people without ever meeting them in real life, from emailing and message boards and various things. Sometimes people – out of the ether – would get in touch. One or two are people who would’ve bought stuff on the label, and then emailed me and said ‘hey, here’s my stuff, will you give it a listen?’.

“In terms of the recording, most people would do it themselves,” he continues. “A lot of times I would record with them, with a laptop set up. People pitch in and do what they can– they might take a picture for the sleeve, or somebody else will master the record. It’s just really organic, the way it evolves.

“There’s a lot of crossover between different bands on the label working with each other. They’ll end up playing gigs together – going back to that community idea.”

Rusted Rail has 21 releases to its name, so far. This includes music by talented artists like Brigid Power Ryce, Music For Dead Birds and So Cow. Most of the albums are released on the rarely seen three-inch CD format.

“When I first saw them a few years ago I nearly fell over, they were so cute,” Keith recalls. “They hold about 22 minutes of music. The idea then was to do an EP, or a mini-album.”

As well as being eye-catching, the three-inch CD format has another advantage in a world full of distractions.

“People’s attention span, unfortunately, has been kind of crushed by the internet and by the accelerated culture,” Keith laments. “I think albums are too long any way – an album doesn’t need to be 80 minutes long just because there’s 80 minutes on a CD.”

There are many stories of independent labels – like Manchester Factory Records –that got swallowed up by the music business. Does Keith believe it’s possible to succeed without selling out your ideals?
“How do I put this – the answer is yes! If things tick over and pay for themselves then that’s a success. If you don’t have insane ambitions then you can do alright.”

Getting a song into to an ad, TV show or movie is a lucrative income source for many bands. There are companies who specialise in finding hip music to push products but Rusted Rail is unlikely to court any of them.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.