Fence Records was a Scottish independent record label based in Anstruther and Crail, Fife, Scotland, founded by musician King Creosote, and run by The Pictish Trail until 2013. Fence Records released records by James Yorkston, Rozi Plain, Lone Pigeon, U.N.P.O.C., Kid Canaveral, eagleowl, Randolph's Leap, Deaf Mutes, Withered Hand, Delifinger, Barbarossa, The Shivers and FOUND amongst others. The Fence Collective is the name given to artists on or associated with the label. [1]
Fence was founded in 1997 by Kenny Anderson, who performs under the name King Creosote, who, after the record shop he was working in went bust, began to record and sell the music of his friends. [2] The label side of Fence grew steadily in size, in terms of audience and artist roster, boasting a variety of musical styles beyond its initial folk slant and geographical focus. [3] Fence organised a number of festivals including Homegame, Haarfest, Hott Loggz and Eye o' the Dug which took place in Anstruther, Cellardyke and St. Andrews, and Away Game which took place on the Isle of Eigg. Various festivals have also hosted Fence Nights/showcases including Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Glasgow's West End Festival.
The label became a limited company during 2012, but Kenny Anderson increasingly distanced himself from the label early in the partnership, feeling that the label and collective had strayed into territory where he was less comfortable. The limited company ceased operations in August 2013, due to differences between Kenny Anderson and The Pictish Trail [4] who had been handling most of the organisation of releases and events since 2003. The announcement that the limited company would cease operations was followed by a statement from Anderson, saying that he will continue to use the Fence Records name with new projects to be announced in January 2014. [5]
Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.
Crail is a former royal burgh, parish and community council area in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland.
Domino Recording Company, or simply Domino, is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Domino Deutschland and a French division called Domino France. In addition, Stephen Pastel presides over the subsidiary label Geographic Music, which releases more 'unusual' music from Britain and outside of the Western world. In 2011, the company announced that it was beginning a book publishing division, The Domino Press.
Pittenweem ( ) is a fishing village and civil parish in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,747.
James Yorkston is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist, he has released music with his backing band the Athletes, as part of the Fence Collective, and as a member of the trio Yorkston/Thorne/Khan. He has also written fiction and non-fiction books.
Lone Pigeon is the working name of Gordon Anderson, a Scottish musician and co-founder of The Beta Band. Later he was a member of The Aliens with John Maclean and Robin Jones from The Beta Band.
Kingsbarns is a village and parish in Scotland lies near the eastern coast of Fife, in an area known as the East Neuk, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southeast of St Andrews and 3.6 miles (5.8 km) north of Crail. The name derives from the area being the location of the barns used to store grain before being transported to the Palace at Falkland.
Kenny Anderson, known primarily by his stage name King Creosote, is an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. To date, Anderson has released over forty albums, with his latest full length, I DES, released in 2023. Anderson is also a member of Scottish-Canadian band The Burns Unit. In 2011, Anderson's collaborative album with Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine, was nominated for the Mercury Prize and the Scottish Album of the Year Award. Astronaut Meets Appleman was also longlisted for the Scottish Album of the Year Award.
Rocket D.I.Y. is a studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter King Creosote, released on 4 April 2005 on Fence Records and Domino.
Moving Up Country is an album by James Yorkston and the Athletes.
Tom Bauchop, best known by his stage name U.N.P.O.C., is a Scottish musician and member of the Fence Collective. He has released two albums on Domino Records, Fifth Column and the limited edition Live at King Tut's. Fifth Column featured only two musicians: Bauchop, and drummer Stu Bastiman.
Flick the Vs is a studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter King Creosote, released on 20 April 2009 on Domino Records and Fence Records.
Johnny Lynch is a Scottish musician who performs under the pseudonym The Pictish Trail. After graduation from the University of St Andrews, Lynch ran Fence Records from 2003 until 2013 and has since been running Lost Map Records. Lynch has attended and played every Green Man Festival since its inception in 2003. He's also played as band member with other musicians, including James Yorkston and Malcolm Middleton. In 2010 he released an album and toured with Adem Ilhan under the name Silver Columns.
Kid Canaveral was a Scottish alternative pop band that formed in St Andrews in Fife, Scotland, but are now based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since 2007 the band have released a number of well received singles, an E.P. and an album on their own label, Straight to Video Records, and in 2011 they signed with Scottish independent label Fence Records. The band left Fence Records to join Johnny Lynch on his new label Lost Map Records in August 2013. The band have received praise for their pop hooks and melodies, and their energetic and engaging live performances. Their second record Now That You Are a Dancer was nominated for the 2014 Scottish Album of the Year Award. The group released their third record Faulty Inner Dialogue, via Lost Map Records, on 29 July 2016.
Cold Seeds is a musical collaboration between Kenny Anderson, Frances Donnelly, and Neil Pennycook and Peter Harvey of Meursault.
Diamond Mine is a collaborative studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter King Creosote and English electronica musician Jon Hopkins, released on 28 March 2011 through Domino Records. Inspired by the East Neuk of Fife, the album combines Creosote's songs with field recordings by Hopkins. Upon release, Creosote stated: "I really don't know what to do next, because, in some ways, I'm at that peak. I don't know where to go from here." The album was subsequently followed by the EP, Honest Words in September 2011, and the double a-side single, "John Taylor's Month Away"/"Missionary" in February 2012. A deluxe version of the album, titled Diamond Mine , was released in 2012.
That Might Be It, Darling is a limited edition studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter King Creosote, released in the winter of 2010 on Fence Records. The album was only available to purchase at Creosote's live shows, and is a vinyl-only release. Frequent collaborator, The Pictish Trail, describes the album as "another secret album." A full-band re-recording of the album was released in 2013, entitled That Might Well Be It, Darling.
That Might Well Be It, Darling is a studio album by Scottish indie folk musician King Creosote, released on 21 April 2013 on Domino Records. Produced by Paul Savage, and released in conjunction with Record Store Day 2013, the album is a full-band re-recording of Creosote's limited edition vinyl release, That Might Be It, Darling (2010), and was initially released as three EPs: I Learned from the Gaels (2012), To Deal With Things (2012) and It Turned Out for the Best (2012).
Lost Map is a British independent record label set up in 2013 by Johnny Lynch. The label was established following the dissolution of Fence Records Limited in August 2013.
Dan Willson, also known by his stage name Withered Hand, is an Edinburgh-based indie rock musician.