Graham Ashton talks No Man's Woman
For the uninitiated, Dew Process is an independent record label based in Brisbane, home to such Aussie gems as Bernard Fanning, Sarah Blasko, The Grates and Expatriate. They’ve also gained huge international licenses like Dropkick Murphys and Tokyo Police Club, and are currently setting up bases in the US and UK. Most recently, however, you may notice the Dew Process magic at work with the No Man’s Woman compilation CD, on which Aussie male artists re-jigger and rework classics by influential female singers and songwriters. And, boy, are there some gems. If nothing else, it’s beyond brilliant to hear Tex Perkins give “I Am Woman” a belt. Anyway, I spoke to Graham Ashton, the marketing manager of Dew Process about women, the future, and manslaughter.
“We pride ourselves on diversity and sign artists just because they are great and not subject to genre”; if Graham Ashton were a major motion picture, this would be his tagline. He is also “stoked I noticed it”. But the No Man’s Woman record has certainly skyrocketed DP into the limelight; so how did Dew Process come about having such a hefty artist line-up for the release? “We started off with our dream-list and even suggested songs to each of them, making it clear that we were happy for them to choose. The artist community’s response to this album has been has made it really special. They have all chosen really cleverly and have put in great effort to all recordings”. So what does Graham hope to achieve with the record? “Firstly, we hope the album is really interesting to both the fans of the great songs that were originally made famous by woman, but also the Australian male artists new interpretations”.
I’m interested to see what Graham’s views on woman in the music industry are. Clearly complimentary, but is there anything detrimental to being a woman in such a competitive industry as so many hardcore feminists would have us believe? “Probably less so now than in the past. I’m sure it [discrimination, etc] still exists at some levels…you would have to ask some women that question to get a clearer picture”.
Fair enough, but onto the meat questions: Graham runs a record label. His advice for up-and-coming bands looking to strike gold in the rock and roll plains would be the best of anyone’s- so listen closely, future pop stars: “Don’t think about it in terms of a career. Do it because it is in your heart and you can’t do anything else. If you are good enough, the rest will look after itself”. You heard it here first, kids- go forth and rock!
Despite his jovial threat of having to kill me if he told me which artists to watch out for in the near future, I can’t help but ask what the future holds for a lil’ ol’ Dew Process; “We have a really exciting year ahead for 2008 with albums scheduled from The Grates, Tokyo Police Club, Tilly and the Wall and Dr Dog, and we also hope to announce some exciting new signings very soon. As I mentioned earlier, we are in the process of expanding internationally and we are also starting a publishing company in ’08. It is wonderful to be at an organization in this day and age of the music industry that is still so full of optimism”.
