Welcome to another edition of the Floorshime Zipper Boot Feature Friday. Today we introduce you to Kool Things PR. Read what the have to say about their business, the artists they work with and the challenges they face.
Kool Things is a PR company, run by Sebastian
Lugli and Laura Iacuzio (both in shoegaze band Rev Rev Rev), offering worldwide
promotion and radio plugging in the independent network. We work for the standard PR results, but we
are a bit different from other PRs because we are focused on shoegaze /
post-punk / indie etc., the kind of music we love and know the most.
Furthermore, we feel that working with music you truly appreciate is a big
asset for getting higher results. In other words, instead of defining ourselves
in terms of geographical borders, we identify ourselves in terms of music
genre.
We started Kool Things in early 2017, so we're
barely one year old, but we've been lucky enough to work with some of our
favourite bands and labels: Saint Marie Records, Secret Shine, Pia Fraus, Lotte
Kestner, Amusement Parks On Fire...
Our “promoting credits” include artists like
Dave Catching (Eagles Of Death Metal), that was featured on Vast Asteroid's
first LP, and Joey Burns (Calexico), on Richard James Simpson's debut solo
album, and both Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie from Cocteau Twins: the first
was featured in Crash City Saints' latest album, while the latter produced the
new EP by Heligoland.
At a certain point of our path, we simply felt
that the indie scene was lacking an affordable, no-nonsense PR capable of
targeting a new record to the right audience, regardless of where it's located.
Also, having faced as a band the issue of living in a country whose music scene
is very self-referential, we felt particularly the need to get across the
borders. Most Italian bands hire national PR agencies which promote the band
only in Italy, while bands who play our kind of music have their potential
followers scattered worldwide. Our goal is to establish a deeper connection
between bands and their audience, through a network of passionate journalists,
bloggers and DJs. Usually artists find us through word of mouth
and recommendations by former customers. We also have ongoing
partnerships with some labels, for which we promote all their new releases.
One of the main challenges we have to face is
of course being competitive with bigger PR companies which have bigger
marketing muscle to get their artists on major media outlets; we try and carve
out our space in the market by focusing on music quality and sending media
targeted submissions, bands they can actually appreciate. Also, we usually work
with indie bands and labels and, like we know from personal experience in the
first place, it's not always possible to be perfectly organized and meet
deadlines. So we have to be flexible and always ready to change our plan when
needed.
BANDS
Secret
Shine
Bristol
outfit Secret Shine, formed in 1991, are considered among the most inspiring
shoegaze / dreampop bands of the first wave, a highlight of their production
being the album 'Untouched', featuring single 'Loveblind', which entered the
Top 20. Out via
Saint Marie Records, the new album has been referred to as "the best thing
Secret Shine has released to date" and has impressed, among others,
Northern Transmissions, Drowned in Sound and Spill Magazine.
Amusement Parks On Fire
Amusement Parks On Fire came
to prominence in 2004 with the release of the eponymous debut album, entirely
written and played by the then-adolescent founder Michael Feerick. On the strength of the recent
'deluxe' reissue of their acclaimed LP 'Road Eyes' (2009), characterised by
Alternative Press as ‘a near-perfect album’, Amusement Parks On Fire are now
set to come back: after the single 'Our Goal To Realise' and an extremely successful
UK tour, the band is currently recording a new EP and gearing up for a European
tour next spring.
Lotte Kestner
Lotte Kestner is the pseudonym
of Anna-Lynne Williams, formerly the singer in folk/dreampop band Trespassers
William and featured on the Chemical Brothers' Grammy winning album Push the
Button; she recently garnered international attention when HBO series The Young
Pope used her version of Beyoncé's “Halo” in a pivotal scene. Her new album Off White, out on Saint Marie Records,
has been praised by influential media outlets including Culture Trip, Les
Inrockuptibles and Popmatters.
Vast Asteroid
Hailing
from Los Angeles, Vast Asteroid is a supergroup of sorts, made up of The
Warlocks former bassist Mimi Star, seminal Mancunian punk-rock band Slaughter
And The Dogs drummer Mark Reback and singer and guitarist James Poulos. Their
debut album, which also features the likes of Dave Catching (Eagles Of Death
Metal) as a special guest, is able to instantly bring together the lovers of
shoegaze, cosmic rock, britpop and heavier stuff like stoner and desert rock.
Pia Fraus
Estonian
dreampop veterans Pia Fraus are back with their first full-length album in
almost a decade. Released on Seksound (Europe), Shelflife (US), and Vinyl
Junkie (Japan), Field Ceremony is a triumphant return for the band, bringing
back their signature dreampop sounds alongside fresh takes on pop structures.
The band is now about to set out for a short tour of Japan and China. 
