New Adelaide record label captures the soul of live music
A record label specialising in live recordings has launched, with a new ‘witchy’ track out next month.
The idea for Consoul Records came about in April, when Nick Pipe and Joe Mueller held a Soul Music festival of five artists at 10 Gallon Hat in Port Adelaide. They recorded the entire gig.
When they had the recording in the bag, Pipe and Mueller thought to themselves, “What if we actually started a label to release this kind of stuff? And from there, Consoul was born,” Nick Pipe tells CityMag.
Consoul, founded by musicians Nick Pipe and Joe Mueller of Adelaide band Jupiter Saloon, with creative collaboration from former entertainment journalist Bella Fowler, aims to capture the raw energy of live performances in the city’s local music scene, with a focus on Soul and R&B.h
Pipe and Mueller launched Consoul Records in late August with their debut single ‘MELODIES’, from Adelaide musician Meena De Silva, and today, they have announced their second single ‘Materialise’ by Leticia Lee, out November 13.
Nick Pipe says the genuine and immersive qualities of live recordings are major aspects of why they created Consoul.
“The main thing is the authenticity. It’s very easy these days with studio recordings to “fix things,” get the perfect take, manipulate things to make it sound exactly how you want,” he says.
“There’s less and less ability to hear the raw, authentic performance of musicians, which is what you get at a live gig. If there are a few rough edges in there, they stay in, and that’s what it’s about.”
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For Consoul, the live recordings also capture the community surrounding live gigs in the city.
“Live music is about being there with other people. We’re not just capturing music, but the atmosphere of the room. How was the crowd responding to it in that moment?” Pipe explains.
Pipe hopes that introducing live recordings of musicians around Adelaide will encourage musos around the city to get out and go to more gigs.
"“At a time when things are tough for live music as fewer people are going out to gigs, and many music venues in Adelaide are finding it tough to stay open, part of the aim of this is to remind people what the experience is like of being in that room, and sharing that with people,” he says."
The label’s focus on Soul, R&B, and Hip Hop goes hand-in-hand with the live recording aspect, with the genres leaning heavily on storytelling, self-expression, strong musicianship, and authenticity.
For Leticia Lee, Soul in particular, ignites with live performance.
“When you’re doing a live performance specifically in soul, there’s a lot of opportunity to improvise over the melody, and include little riffs and runs and things that you might not necessarily include on a studio recording,” she says.
Meena De Silva says that when she first started performing around Adelaide, Hip Hop was not a popular genre in Adelaide.
“I don’t think there’s much of a spotlight on genres like R&B and Soul in Adelaide,” she says.
“10 years ago, I didn’t see any of the Hip Hop gigs. But now I know about them because of Instagram. I guess the internet is really nice, being able to find other artists through TikTok, rather than band lineups, particularly in the city venues. I’m seeing there is more Hip Hop, R&B, Soul, that kind of thing. So I think, seeing more of that live is becoming more prevalent, within the city at least,” she says.
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Consoul’s first single release, ‘MELODIES’ by De Silva, featuring BOUSTA, was a special opportunity for the local artist.
“It just feels really different, and it feels really uplifting, because I’ve never worked with a label before. It just feels like a partnership,” says De Silva.
In classic soul fashion, the song, which was recorded as part of the 10 Gallon Hutt gig, features improvisational qualities, even if they were unintentional.
“With this song ‘MELODIES’, it’s so crazy because BOUSTA and I had the keys down, and he’d done some drums, and we were both trying to figure out lyrics. And then I was like, “Hey, I have this gig coming up. Do you wanna step up for a rap? We could try and finish that song,” she says.
“During the song, I mess up my lyrics, and no one knows. We could hear that in the recording, but to us, it feels fresh compared to other songs we played.”
For Consoul’s next release, Leticia Lee describes her new song ‘Materialise’ as “witchy,” and about “trying to bring out something or someone, manifesting it, and trying to have it materialise in front of you”.
She had only performed the song once before the 10 Gallon Hutt gig, and says the live recording picks up the freshness of the song.
“Consoul’s focus on live music is really great. There is so much overproduced stuff out there these days. I think it’s really good to get that raw live sound, hearing it as it was at that point in time. It’s like a little timestamp, which I think is really cool,” says Lee.
For Consoul, the plan is to release single by single, and have a pressed compilation album at the end of each year, featuring a few bonus tracks.
“Hopefully, that becomes a collectible item. It’s like that’s the Consoul Vol. 2027, and then there’s a physical product there as well,” Pipe explains.
With their live recording mode, Consoult is increasing the accessibility of releasing music for local musicians.
“The traditional path is for bands to save up their money, go into a studio, book that time, book the mixing, book the mastering, do all that, and come out with the product,” he says.
“What we’re also doing with the label, is we’re investing in that process of production for the artists. Joe and I have this shared passion of giving a platform to musicians. We really want to give artists that opportunity to have a professionally produced product out there, remove a bit of that financial barrier, and encourage them to have more of their music out there”.
Consoul is planning a launch event for ‘Materialise’, so stay tuned to their socials for any upcoming dates.
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