Label Focus: Sonic Cathedral
"Shoegaze was the starting point for this whole thing. Everything we release obviously comes from that place and is linked to it in some way. That allows us to release a wide variety of things from noisy indie-rock to psych to folk and ambient electronica. You could say that Sonic Cathedral is a broad church!"
Home to an exceptional array of innovative artists pushing forward both the 'shoegaze sound' and alternative music on the whole, Sonic Cathedral evolved out of sincere intentions which all good labels should start with: a desire to discover, nurture and share quality music to real fans. This all started with one club night, run by former NME journalist turned Sonic Cathedral founder Nat Cramp, whose passion for shoegaze sounds inspired the bringing together of artists, DJs and dancers who also adored this music.
Under the label of 'Sonic Cathedral - The night that celebrates itself', what was meant to be a one-off night in Old Street, London, quickly gained momentum with the likes of The Radio Department, Telescopes, Andrew Weatherall, Sonic Boom, Mark Gardener of RIDE, Erol Alkan, Emma Anderson and more playing DJ slots, live or acoustic sets, to popular fan demand.
Recognising there was a real appetite for the new and experimental sounds which fell under the umbrella of shoegaze, Nat decided to broaden the horizons of what Sonic Cathedral could be, first looking to support Ride's Mark Gardener's solo career, then releasing a first 7" single, Sally O'Gannon, by Brazilian/British trio The Tamborines in October 2006 (which Mark Gardener provided backing vocals for). Now, 20 years on from that club night the label have released a number of successful full-length projects with a well-earned reputation as a trusted destination for 'nu-gazers', today's generation of new bands operating within or inspired by the shoegaze sound.
Looking to broaden your shoegaze knowledge?
The term "shoegaze" was created by the British music press referring to the bands' performing habits, the supposed tendency of the performers to look down (especially in order to operate guitar effects pedals) rather than at the audience.
Read more about the genre in our Rough Trade Essential Shoegaze piece.
20 years at the forefront. We celebrate Sonic Cathedral's impressive position at the helm of the shoegaze scene with several new exclusive pressings, limited vinyl markdowns and limited edition merch...
Sonic Cathedral Exclusives
bdrmm - Bedroom
A modern-day shoe gaze essential. Hull / Leeds-based five-piece bdrmm's debut Bedroom was an Album of the Year title in 2020, a hugely accomplished debut with echoes of krautrock and post-punk, from The Chameleons to Protomartyr, plus the proto shoegaze of the Pale Saints' The Comforts Of Madness.
deary - Aurelia
London-based dreampop duo deary follow their acclaimed self-titled debut with a six-track EP, Aurelia. A display of versatile production slow-building wall of noise, perfect pop melodies and Portishead style trip-hop. On Rough Trade Exclusive moth wing vinyl.
Emma Anderson - Spiralée: Pearlies Rearranged
Lush and Sing-Sing co-founder Emma Anderson releases Spiralée: Pearlies Rearranged. It consists of new versions of all 10 tracks from her debut solo album, Pearlies, reimagined by Julia Holter, LoneLady, The Orielles, deary, Daniel Hunt (Ladytron), Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, MEMORIALS, Concretism, Masal and original album producer James Chapman, aka Maps. Rough Trade Exclusive orange and purple swirl vinyl.
Rough Trade x Sonic Cathedral - 20th Anniversary
100% organic cotton versions with a woven Rough Trade logo hem. Don't miss these very limited edition of Sonic Cathedral's classic Shoegazer t-shirt to celebrate 20 years of the label.
Sonic Cathedral Markdowns
We have special pricing (for a limited time only) across select titles in the label's catalogue in-store and online. Titles from Whitelands, Mildred Maude, Pye Corner Audio, Three-Quarter Skies, Lorelle Meets the Obsolete and more with up to 30% off.
From Andy Bell and Emma Anderson to bdrmm, Whitelands and deary, Sonic Cathedral continues to be the number one destination for the enduring success of the shoegaze genre. We go behind the scenes of its success story with founder Nat Cramp himself, in celebration of the label's 20 years.
Sonic Cathedral supports an inspiring roster of artists and bands which can be described as real trailblazers of our independent scene. The label has famously been characterised by its focus on supporting shoegaze or shoegaze-influenced artists. Was this the vision for the label's identity from the beginning and has this changed at all when reflecting on the sound of the roster today?
The label grew out of a club night, which was supposed to be a one-off celebration of shoegaze and all its influences and inspirations. The first night (which took place at The Legion in Old Street, London on October 23, 2004) proved more popular than I’d ever imagined, so I arranged another one, and another, and so on. Shoegaze was the starting point for this whole thing, and everything we release obviously comes from that place and is linked to it in some way, but that allows us to release a wide variety of things from noisy indie-rock to psych to folk and ambient electronica. You could say that Sonic Cathedral is a broad church!
We have been lucky enough to discover a new generation of 'gazers' via Sonic Cathedral's signings in recent years, introducing artists such as Mildred Maude, Bdrmm, MOLLY, Whitelands and deary to our racks. What inspires you about the artists being signed to Sonic Cathedral and what do you look for when finding a good fit for the label?
Because I run the label single-handedly, it very much represents my own tastes. I always look for bands or artists who have something different about them, some sort of indefinable quality. I certainly don’t want to release records for soundalikes or people who are clearly just copying a style. There has to be something more, something new, or a twist. A band like Whitelands are a good example of this – their approach to shoegaze is from a refreshingly different angle and so, from the first second I heard them, I knew they were operating on a different level. And I like to think that all the bands you’ve mentioned put their own unique spin on things.
We are excited to celebrate Sonic Cathedral's rising artists and their new releases on vinyl, announcing several special exclusive pressings alongside this label focus. The forthcoming deary 12" not only arrives on a beautiful moth wing vinyl but also including exclusive artwork and a signed zine. How significant are features like this to the listening experience and the enthusiasm of fans collecting records?
Absolutely vital. I’ve been an avid record collector since I was a teenager, and a bit of a trainspotter too, so I’ve always appreciated the smaller details and extra bits and pieces that take a release to the next level. When planning releases, the physical formats are always the first consideration. I’ve always loved labels that have a strong design aesthetic, and I feel that – thanks to the work of Marc and Stuart Jones - Sonic Cathedral does have that. We’ve always enjoyed coming up with ideas like 3D or glow-in-the-dark records, but things like the deary zine are fun to do and add value. It’s important to maintain a focus on the art over the business side of things.
"Just continuing to exist is a good thing to aim for, and I’ll keep doing this until I can’t!"
The story of Sonic Cathedral began with a one-off club night, on October 23rd 2004. Can you tell us a bit about what went down? Do you think a night like this would work for today's musical landscape as a way of supporting or introducing artists?
It was just a ridiculous, legendary, messy night. It was just supposed to be a one-off, for fun, celebrating this music I’d loved since I was a teenager. The Radio Dept played live and The Telescopes DJed. I met Andrew Weatherall, got his number, and he ended up DJing for us loads of times over the years. Hordes of people came out, some still wearing original Chapterhouse, Moose and Catherine Wheel T-shirts like they’d had nowhere to go for at least a decade. The Legion was supposed to hold 300 people, but we stopped counting at 400. It didn’t feel like a one-off, it felt like the start of something, and it was like a public service to arrange another one early the next year. I’m not sure how it would work now, because people have access to music from all eras and something like shoegaze is a very well-known quantity. That musical tribalism has gone – and that is not necessarily a bad thing. In terms of running an indie label now, compared to the 2000s, there are always challenges of some sort, and always have been. Every time a record comes out there’s a new hurdle to face.
In two decades, we’ve seen the vinyl revival, Covid, Brexit and numerous other peaks and troughs (mainly troughs), but we’re still here. Just continuing to exist is a good thing to aim for, and I’ll keep doing this until I can’t!
Shoegaze has evolved to become a pretty well-documented phenomenon with 80s/90s bands and artists like Slowdive, Ride or Lush's Emma Anderson making exciting returns in 2024. In addition to these renowned luminaries are there any names you would highlight as having gone under the radar in the history of shoegaze and all its 'revival periods'?
It’s incredible that shoegaze is such a phenomenon right now - post-TikTok and Covid it seems to have become a good way of expressing emotion, especially on social media. That’s no bad thing, though, and it’s great that new generations are falling in love with this music - it’s proof of how good it really is. I’d say some underrated bands and records from the original era are Chapterhouse (who reformed a bit too early, in 2009), the first Boo Radleys album Everything’s Alright Forever, then from the early 2000s I feel Engineers were always underrated - we’ve since released two solo albums for their co-founder and songwriter Mark Peters.
The Sonic Cathedral slogan is 'the label that celebrates itself' echoing the same slogan critics and journalists assigned to shoegaze in the early 90s: "the scene that celebrates itself". Why did you decide to adopt this slogan and what did it mean to you?
The name Sonic Cathedral was a joke. It was inspired by a character on Steve Wright in the Afternoon (on Radio 1) called Pretentious Music Journalist (played by Phil Cornwell) who was always going on about “sonic cathedrals of sound”. So, to go with this joke, we added another one! We were originally ‘the night that celebrates itself’, then ‘the label that celebrates itself’. Like shoegazing, 'The Scene That Celebrates Itself' tag was a classic music press put-down because these bands had the audacity to live in the same city and go to each others’ gigs.
In my mind that’s a healthy music community rather than something to be sneered at, so we’ve reclaimed it and now use it in a more positive sense. It’s the same with the term ‘SHOEGAZER’ which we’ve been loudly and proudly displaying on our T-shirts for over a decade now. None of this is anything to be ashamed of anymore!
The 20th anniversary was celebrated this autumn with four special shows in London, bringing together shoegaze veterans like Slowdive, Ride and A Place To Bury Strangers with newer bands such as Whitelands, deary, Bdrmm and Moon Diagrams. Does it feel like a full-circle moment to be able to bring the roster together like this?
Honestly, those four shows felt like a dream come true. It was something I would never have dared imagine back in 2004, but here we were celebrating ourselves with reformed legends and our favourite new bands alike. It was a real moment to look around and realise the two decades of hard work and hassle have been worth it!
Further reading...
Where I Am Now: Andy Bell
Ahead of the release of their seventh album, Ride's Andy Bell explores formative music and the bands, records and moments that punctuate his 30+ year career.
Rough Trade Essential Shoegaze
From proto-shoegaze to the genre's most defining albums, we pull from our Rough Trade Essentials range to celebrate shoegaze's enduring success.