Interview: Dave Cambridge from Cardinal Fuzz (+ 2 exclusive tracks from upcoming releases!)

Regular readers of this blog will already now of my abiding love of all things released by Cardinal Fuzz. It is, without doubt, one of THE very best labels out there. There are many reasons for this: the releases are all top quality, both in the music sense and as 'products', but mainly because Dave (The Cardinal) Cambridge, owner/founder of the label, has an overwhelming love for music. It is this love and enthusiasm that shines through. Dave is a man driven by music and the need to get good tunes 'out there', a refreshing change in this era of money-grabbing middlemen and corporate hegemony. It is via Cardinal Fuzz that I first heard what have now become firm favourites - Dead Sea Apes, The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol and You're Smiling Now But We'll All Turn Into Demons to name but 3. Dave very kindly spared some time to answer some questions and also allowed me to share 2 exclusive tracks from Nudity and The Band Whose Name Is a Symbol from upcoming releases.....cheers Dave!

Hi Dave, thanks for doing this, how's life treating you at the mo.?

Hi Andy – I’m well thanks – Stressed to the max as always but I wouldn’t have it any other way 

Can you give us a potted history of Cardinal Fuzz.

Best brew yourself a drink all. A lot is starting to fade now Andy and I think I start to make things up or at least remember things differently from how they really happened. I started Optical Sounds Fanzine back in the Summer of 2010 when I just couldn’t believe the amount of good new music I was hearing that was getting totally overlooked by the mainstream press and blogs and it just started to annoy me. I’m an Indie Kid at heart and grew up on fanzines (87/88 when I was 13/14 years old Red Rhino in York had a great selection of fanzines that opened up so many bands to me). I just thought that cannot be hard – write about bands that are exciting you and interview a few of them…bang in a few articles etc. I bought a colour printer because I thought it would make it affordable (WRONG!) – The Print Cartridges ran out after printing 25 issues and after buying one set of new Cartridges (about £250 – please don’t laugh it wasn’t funny at the time) I realised id have to buy another printer (Black and White) to be able to continue. Somehow Optical Sounds took off and I started building up really good friendships that have lasted with loads of people (but not all!) . I was interviewing a lot of bands I loved and would be asking “when was the LP going to come out” (as most bands had digital releases) – just expecting that these bands would obviously have a good few offers on the table…They didn’t and a few said why didn’t I start a label as for sure they would love me to release said LPs. That’s what started it all rolling because id never ever thought of doing a record label up until that point. Asking and getting permission from The Heads (I don’t even need to mention how much I love them anymore do i!!! I do lots) to let me put out 2 side long jams and Simon Keeler at Forte helped massively as well. From then on it’s been a rollercoaster – quite a few times I’ve wanted to get off for my own sanity and for the sake of the family but I just cannot do it – there is always one more band to help get a release out.

Where did your musical journey begin? What bands rocked your world when you were younger?

Let’s gloss over Simple Minds (they were the first band I got into) But they did lead me to Echo and the Bunnymen which let to Julian Cope and then seeing The Jesus and Mary Chain doing Some Candy Talking on Television that leads into the Pistols/Buzzcocks/Clash (I was way way late to the game on the best of them all – The Damned). Another massive thing was seeing Joy Division doing the famous Something Else slot on the Television – A real realgoose bump moment that sent chills down your spine – even having seen clips of the Pistols on Tele id never seen anything as intense and that captured me like that Joy Division performance. Id have been around 13 at the time and from then on it was a short hop to getting the NME/MM/Sounds and been opened to a whole load of music I never knew existed. When Spacemen 3 seemed to be in all the mags around the time of Revolution (and seeing the promo close an episode of Snub TV (was it Snub that was on BBC2 at 6pm – I had to watch it on the a shitty portable B&W telly that must have been 12” big as my parents would always watch the news!) that along with hearing My Bloody Valentine and “You Made Me Realise” on Peel – That’s when I found my bands as a now 14 year old.

As I'm sure many people know, the name 'Cardinal Fuzz' is taken from the Heads track of the same name, The Heads are obviously very important to you personally and the label with The Heads being the first release.

I heard John Peel playing Energy from “Undersided” – I'd never heard of The Heads but man I picked up straight away on the Spacemen/Mudhoney vibe of that track – I loved it. I wrote down the name of the band and the next day I was in Jumbo in Leeds and there was the record staring me straight in the face . Man that sleeve just sucked me in straight away and I couldn’t get home quick enough to play it – what an experience. By the end of the year I was travelling down to Bristol to watch them on their own turf (having seen a support slot a few months earlier with Mudhoney in Manchester). But that gig in Bristol, holy shit, I'd never experienced a gig like that before – it blew my mind…I couldn’t understand why people didn’t seem to know about them and they were not better known because to me and my musical education they opened up so so much to me that I’m forever grateful for.



Considering CF has 'only' been up and running for 3 or 4 years, it has gained a fantastic reputation (deservedly so) and a faithful following - did you imagine this when you started?

I would say Andy it's good that I went in with no master plan – I think at the time I just though it was crazy that bands like The Dead Sea Apes, The Janitors, The Cosmic Dead, The Cult Of Dom Keller didn’t have any vinyl releases out – That was just crazy and it seemed obvious that if anyone put them out they would sell because they are fucking AMAZING bands. It seemed easy to me. Little did I know of the inner working of the Record Industry though or I think I might have run a thousand miles away from it! Glad I didn’t and I was blind and totally oblivious to all that side of it.

Do you have an ultimate goal for the label?

That is an easy answer and quite simple – To help a band / artist I love release a record. There is always one more!

I know personally I have discovered some now favourite bands via CF, Kikagaku Moyo and Lumerians to name but 2, and of course DSA and TBWNIAS. How do you go about finding and choosing artists to release?

I’ve always got a really great buzz out of finding something and sharing it about to friends. Myspace was so fantastic for that going back 6/7 years ago as it suddenly seemed to open the whole world up to me for music. All of a sudden you could find things for yourself rather than waiting to be told about it. Sometimes you seem to find a little scene and it opens a whole load of bands unknown to you – that’s so exciting when that happens. So for the most part I find bands just through searching myself and finding or listening to a good group of friends. Ripley from Shjips/Moon Duo sent the Kikagaku Moyo S/T my way and just as they came I had put in 2 vinyl pressings (Lantern and Vision Fortune) so quite simply I had no money but was lucky enough to be off the mark when Mammatus Clouds came out on Nik Rayne (The Myrrors) Sky Lantern Tapes Label. One think I will tell you is you have to be in love with the band/artist because the costs involved for someone like me are huge.

As a 'one man band' it must be very time consuming and, at times, incredibly frustrating? I've always thought that turning a lifetime's love of something into a full time job must have a detrimental effect on that love - have you found that to be the case?

Ill always love the music but Yep think I speak for a lot of smaller labels who go through the process of thinking “right that’s it no more” after getting fucked over/stitched up one more time. I cannot emphasise the stress it can put on you when you are paying out huge sums for a vinyl pressing in the belief that what you are doing is a great release and the world needs to hear it and then a sudden realisation hits you the night before its going on sale that you might only sell 10 copies. Looking back I think I must have been crazy – The Cosmic Dead cost the equivalent of nearly half a year’s wages (working 3 nights a week at Asda 10pm-6am!) – And I did 4 double LPs in my first year. I wish I could tell you I’m a trust funded kid but I’m not – I’mjust an idiot who will drive a 3 1/2 hour round trip by myself to watch a band for 40 mins (and face the wrath of my wife!) Ive done that loads of times (you will quite often see me with a recorder in hand taping a band live – I do think you need to see bands live and feel the intensity a great band can bring in the live setting). But there is always so much stuff to get excited about. The MCPS nearly ruined me last year and hence why I work as Record Distribution now helping bands get their releases out there. But I LOVE been involved in music and if I can help get a band’s music out there and get them noticed that’s amazing. The bigger labels are not interested unless they know they can shift upwards of 10,000 units…otherwise the costs of PR, Radio Promoters (yep you do have to pay them to have a chance of getting Radio 1 plays I’m afraid) Advertisementsetc. will not make them enough. One thing is for sure - I am so glad I’m cut off from it all up here as sometimes it feels like it’s all about how much money can we make. One things for sure it never seems its the bands that are making the money(for the most part).

As is constantly reported, the demand for vinyl has grown exponentially in recent years - this must be a double-edged sword for a label like CF: increased sales of vinyl but at the mercy of pressing plants who have increased demand due to the majors jumping on the bandwagon?

I don’t think the increase in demand for vinyl has much, if any, bearing on smaller labels as the people we are serving are a vinyl obsessive crowd anyways and always have been (ive not noticed any increase or tail off since I started that is.) I’msure there is a huge difference for a newer vinyl market as can be seen by the difference in titles that are coming through on RSD 2016 to say compared to RSD 2012? (is 2016 more mass market and 2012 more eclectic?)

How important is social media to the label with regard to promotion?

Its just so bloody easy to get your word out there. Like most I scoffed at Facebook when the wife was on it and also felt annoyed as myspace died and Facebook took over as I loved myspace so much. I just feel that through Facebook I’ve meet so many people that I doubt I ever would’ve meet and I do really enjoy this scene and the people around it – It’s a pleasure to be involved and social media is a huge part of that. Mind I'm the worst now for when I get back in checking facebook etc just in case some ltd edition release is about to go on sale…people will still be glad to know I've still not got a mobile phone!

All things fuzzy and psychedelic are currently en vogue which must be heartening for CF. Do you see musical trends as cyclical or a bit deeper i.e. a reflection of zeitgeist, and maybe rooted in the socioeconomic/political situation?

Again Andy I don’t think anything has changed with fuzz or psych music’s coverage unless you are signed to a major label – otherwise the press are not interested. I think a few years ago when the press could no longer ignore it, all they did was label whatever current major selling bands were popular as psych (Tame Impala,Toy,Temples etc. and I like some of them bands btw!) but they really didn’t touch on the underground nature of the scene whatsoever. Liverpool Psych Fest is huge and that helps a lot. Quite simply if you cannot afford to pay for Ads and Press agents they (the music industry) believe it’s not in there interest to cover it…hence why for me why most music mags are just so vapid – there is nearly next to nothing to get excited about in them. I do believe there is a different socioeconomic/political situation coming and that’s always exciting for music as anger and energy are always a great mix for music – bring it on quick please.

You started, and are still heavily involved in, the Optical Sounds fanzine - how did that start?

Optical Sounds is still my baby and I am still the owner but I handed the major bulk of the duties to Brett (including paying for it – though that will all change with issue 11 as I’m back full time for that!). When I started that in 2010 there was loads of exciting releases and for the most part they were not seeing any coverage of it (Im thinking here of The Heads, Magic Lantern, Cave, Gnod (who could get zero coverage back then and were totally ignored), White Hills and the Rocket Label…) Id grown up with fanzines and it just seemed like a fun thing to do (little did I know of printing costs!) So I pretty much did the first 6 issues on my own (but with huge help in articles/reviews/interviews from Mark Lascelles, Brett Savage, James McCaig amongst many who were happy to help) And as I mentioned somehow it led to the start of Cardinal Fuzz.

Any releases that slipped through your fingers and you now wish you had put out? Similarly, any bands you would dearly love to release?

The debut Kikagaku Moyo LP as mentioned – but I had no money so nothing I could do (and it got released that’s the main thing) I was gutted that two bands I was working with disbanded (Sri Aurobindo and The Shine Brothers) as I thought both bands were great. But otherwise I’ve counted myself lucky to work with bands I love and to have hopefully helped them in some small way. Id love to do a White Heaven release and its something I’m trying to work on…Pete Kember I’ll always hold him in the highest regard but id rather buy records by him on other labels. I was desperate to work with Watchout! From Chile as I’d been writing about that whole scene from Issue 1 of Optical Sounds – I loved that band loads…but just never happened – they did supply some tracks for a completion LP but I was trying to persuade them to include a few killer garage freak-outs that they were not keen on in place of a couple of vaguely dubby tracks that just didn’t work for me (you can only do a release if you are 100% committed to it otherwise it’s not gonna work for anyone and you can never pay out the money for a release if you yourself were unsure of some of the tracks). The Goat release as well (the band mentioned in a few interviews they would be doing a Cardinal Fuzz release) but then quite simply the world went GOAT crazy and a few big labels got involved that quite understandable since they were paying out lots of money didn’t want releases coming out on other labels. I’m much looking forward to LP number 3 from Goat. I can remember listening to World Music for the first time and just tingling all over with excitement!

You yourself were in a band, do you ever consider rekindling your musical career?

All the time Andy! The simple truth is there is no time and it’s not fair on the family to take up even more of what little time we have together (mind they might tell you it’s most unfair having to listen to me noddling away on the guitar in the living room). I’ve been contemplating a vanity project release of Gas Solari tracks but the release schedule is so full that it’s not gonna happen for a good year or so!

Any exciting plans/releases for the future you can share?

For the back end of 2016 we have The Myrrors – Solar Collector Volume II, Dreamtime, The Janitors and Lamagaia all lined up. Hopefully Dahga Bloom and Buffalo Tooth. LOADS of Dead Sea Apes releases – They are the crown jewels! just simply, what an amazing band. And coming anytime is the Glitter Wizard repress of Solar Hits along with the outstanding double lp from onYou – Recovering The Baseband. The new psych fried desert haze from Jason Simon has just landed. Going to pressing at any moment is Big Naturals / Anthroprophh LP that is simply fucking HUGE and fingers crossed that the bonus LP material for the Hills S/T repress lands soon – People will go crazy for that (I know I am and the anticipation is killing me!) We are still waiting on artwork for an album I've been desperate to get out so people can droll over it – that’s the Nudity 2LP…it will happen! The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol are recording a new LP but just about to go to pressing is a 3LP box Set of their past LPs that will blow people’s minds – Its bloody amazing – and Dreamtime have just finsihed recording their 3rd LP - That band are simply INCREDIBLE .Dahga Bloom and Buffalo Tooth I'd love to be involved with…Its an endless list - Don’t ask if I can even afford it!

OK, predictable 'dinner party' question: you are putting on a festival, which five acts would you book (alive or dead)?

Man that is TOO HARD! I'm gonna go for disbanded bands (and I don’t care if they have reformed I'm on about when these bands were in their prime) Spacemen 3, Can, Parson Sound, 13th Floor Elevators, White Heaven.

Many thanks for your time Dave, and here's to continued success for Cardinal Fuzz

Andy can I just end by thanking yourself for taking the time to send questions my way and to review Cardinal Fuzz titles – It means a lot. An extra thanks to 3 people who make this label work – Brett Savage, Chris Hardman and Sam Giles – Love you 3 and thanks

Many thanks again to Dave for his time. As promised, here are two exclusive tracks from upcoming releases; The Band Whose name Is A Symbol from the forthcoming boxset and Nudity from the upcoming double LP.......enjoy!



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