It’s a good question. One we refer back to often, too. (By we, I mean the four people who were initially involved in this venture. More on that later.)
While there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to genre, every Unspun Hero is an album or artist who is under-appreciated – at the very least. Usually, their albums are not available on vinyl or have not been reissued previously. Like all rules, there are exceptions.
Everyone has an Unspun Hero in their playlist, or (if you’re of a certain vintage) on their mixtape.
The thing that we’ve discovered about sharing our own Unspun Heroes is that other people are unlikely to have heard these artists and albums, or been aware of later releases but not the seminal slab of plastic (or magnetic tape, if you can get a slab of it).
The other thing that has come out of our own discussions is that one person’s Unspun Hero is also someone else’s, so there is a mutual love of a specific album or particular track.
Who is this ‘we’?
There were four of us involved in kickstarting Unspun Heroes. Simon, Danny, Mark and Tom.
Three of us are from south London, one from the Midlands, here in the UK. We share a lot in common, but we’re also very different. Aside from music, the thing that bonds us is our openness to new things. Oh, and vinyl.
However, it’s now just Simon here running the label day-to-day, and financially supporting its releases. The others cheer loudly from the back and provide much needed encouragement. Without them, it would’ve stopped long ago.
What is Unspun Heroes?
Now we know what an Unspun Hero is, what is Unspun Heroes about?
It started as an idea for a listening party, bringing people together to listen to music that might have been forgotten. A way to find new music to enjoy without relying on an algorithm for discovery. Like vinyl, it’s the old skool way of finding new music.
When the ringleader of this merry band of vinyl-loving music fans (that’s Simon, the one writing this) turned 50, so he realised the idea of it just being a meet-up wasn’t bringing enough joy. That’s when he uttered the words that brought us to where we are right now: “Is it possible to find under-appreciated albums and reissue them on vinyl?”
Three other people said the magic word that kickstarts something that should will bring joy to other people: YES!
Unspun Heroes became a thing.
This site…
Bringing our own Unspun Heroes to the world is the easy bit. Write some words about an album, link to somewhere so others can listen to it. Rinse, repeat. We’ll aim for once a week, but occasionally it might be more, and sometimes it’ll be fewer posts.
…the community…
Finding other people to bring their Unspun Heroes and sit around the campfire we’re looking to build, to chat and share, well that takes time. We hope it’ll be virtual and in-person. We hope it’ll become a vibrant Unspun Heroes community.
We’ve started in the usual social media places – follow us on Instagram and Twitter and Mastodon
…the records
The big thing for us is reissuing albums – or even issuing the first vinyl pressing of an album. We want to do this in conjunction with the artists themselves, to go on that journey together. This is the reason we wanted to do this, to spread the joy. And while we don’t want to lose money, we’re not here to make profits at the expense of those who create the music we love. The money we do make will finance the next release.
We also want this to be as eco-friendly as it can be, bearing in mind that we are making things out of plastic and all that entails.
Who knows where this might go? What’s important is that we’ve put the needle on the record.
Welcome to Unspun Heroes.
