IZIPHO SOUL Records to sponsor Gary Van Den Bussche's Starpoint Radio shows

Commencing on 7th March 2023,  IZIPHO SOUL Records has begun sponsoring Gary Van Den Bussche's weekday lunchtime shows on Starpoint Radio. We thought it would be timely to introduce you to the label if you are not already familiar with it.

Since its inception in 2016, the aim of Surrey (UK) based vinyl label IZIPHO SOUL is to release the finest soul music by independent artists ranging from the unreleased, rare reissues, new music, first time on a 7" vinyl, gospel and few self indulgent 'left field' releases that keep the label's musical palette varied.

The label is 100% independent and owned by Patrick 'The Ear' Biggerstaff. The first two releases were under the name ZIP Promotions (Bryan Austin "What Would Marvin Say?" / "Sunday" and Gregg Jackson "One For The Road" / "Your Love") which is the name of his company, named with the initials of his three sons. By the third release (Melvin Brown "Love Stormy Weather") the name changed to IZIPHO SOUL, which still includes ZIP, but is also inspired by his love for jazz and Pharaoh Sanders in particular and his 1973 album "Izipho Zam". The word Izipho translates in Zulu to 'Gifts' so it seemed appropriate to name the label Izipho Soul as that is the label's gift to the soul world.

The label is artist focussed and rewards them financially. Rather than a standard label design, each artist has their own label artwork, some having unique picture sleeve designs to appeal to collectors. The 86th single has just been released (with #87 and #88 still to be revealed) the label will surpass 100 single releases in 2023. In addition, three CD albums (two from Cornell C.C. Carter and one from Kim Tibbs) and four vinyl LPs (Cornell C.C. Carter, Orpheus (aka Jarrod Lawson), Down To Earth and Kim Tibbs) have been released by the label.

Meaning no disrespect to the many of the other UK based boutique vinyl labels, who also do a fine job in releasing previously unreleased or very hard to find works, IZIPHO SOUL must be regarded as one of the front runners with its range and quality of releases.

Patrick's first exposure to Black Music was as a 13 year old schoolboy in the late 70s/early 80s when the Two Tone movement emerged in the UK (for those not familiar with that scene, it was based on ska and reggae). Gripped by that sound, Patrick explored the Jamaican origins of Ska and then Reggae via David Rodigan's Capital Radio show (London). It wasn't long before he was twiddling the dial on his radio set and finding soul shows by Greg Edwards (Soul Spectrum) and Robbie Vincent on Radio London and he was hooked and his vinyl addiction was born.

The easy part in deciding what to release next is identifying something that passes the personal quality test. Then the long process of tracking down the artist / copyright owner and getting a response and building trust, as let's not forget many of these artists have had bad experiences with unscrupulous label owners in the past and not received a red cent for their work so they are understandably wary. Then the negotiation on licensing begins. Each release is tailored to the artist, whether that be a straight licensing fee or a share in the sales proceeds, but Patrick ensures that the artist is rewarded for their work.

One of the label's three most recent releases is the second single on the label from Australian soul/funk collective The Regime and it was their first single "Never Gonna Stop" in 2021 that, to date, has been one of the most successful releases by the label in terms of sales. I would hazard a guess that they may now have been surpassed by the Kim Tibbs LP and CD "The Science Of Completion" released last year? However, quite rightly, Patrick regards each release as a success as the process of identifying what to release and bringing it to fruition is no mean feat in itself as I am sure that there are many that are pursued that don't end up with a release.

Even though IZIPHO SOUL is seen as just Patrick Biggerstaff, there are many people behind the scenes who's valuable input would not make any of this possible. Mark Allbones at Grand Vinyl Ltd deals with all of the manufacturing logistics and designs the labels along with Roger Williams. Philip Ward masters all tracks and anytime an edit has appeared on vinyl, this is Phil's work, he's the genius of seamless restructuring of tracks, a few fine examples being June Evans' "Sunshine Mix" of "If You Want My Lovin". The extended version of Steve 'Doc' Willoughby's "All My Life" and Jesse Graham's edit of "Love Talk".

Gary Van den Bussche's superb promotional work on selected releases always makes an impact across the radio world and adds a valuable addition to the artist's profile. Mick O'Donnell of Soul Discovery has been a huge influence on shaping Patrick's musical tastes and his contacts across the pond are second to none. Mark Merry and his ground breaking Soul Sermon Starpoint Radio show has supported the label from release number one as has DJ Kool Keith, plus Steve Ripley, Andy Tee and Pete Ratcliffe also provide valuable support, and there are many more including SoulStrutter and SoulAndJazzAndFunk who help promote all releases as they emerge!

The Starpoint Radio sponsorship of Gary Van den Bussche's weekday shows is a very exciting move. Starpoint is Patrick's most listened to station and he feels that as this is a big year for releases it's the ideal vehicle to help spread the word!

IZIPHO SOUL like to keep their release announcements usually until two weeks before they hit the market, the reason for this is to not distract from the current releases wanting to give each record as much time as possible to shine. Although sometimes this doesn't go to plan as they get too excited and reveal something in advance, Carmichael Musiclover's "Bring It Home" as an example.

All label releases (that have not already sold out) can be purchased from the website IZIPHOSOUL.com or from top vinyl dealers such as Simply Soul, Juno and Crazy Beat.

You can explore many of the label's releases on our site HERE

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