Words: Michael Rabinowitz 

If I were to describe a UK band that were just released from their major label contract, who now intend to go out it alone, to record and distribute their album themselves, I’d be talking about Radiohead, right? Only a band with creative muscle to pull off OK Computer could do this, right?  Wrong. Thom Yorke isn’t the only one taking advantage of the digital age. The Futureheads, of Sunderland, England are the latest act to eschew the very system that crowned them conquerors only four years ago.

After their eponymous LP on the Warner Bros. imprint 679 Records, which mixed a capella choruses into post-punk revival anthems, The Futureheads were hailed for connecting pop machinations with wry social commentary a la The Clash, and celebrated as having more substance than the Killers and Braverys of the major-label universe. Yet when their follow-up, the uneven News And Tributes, wasn’t greeted with the same fanfare (and market tastes shifted from bass-heavy minimalism to the baroque pop of Arcade Fire and The Shins), Warner Bros. unceremoniously dumped The Futureheads. The band used the rejection as an opportunity, launching their own label Nul Records to release their newest album, This Is Not The World – a fitting title. considering their biography.

Lead singer Barry Hyde, who views The Futureheads as “music industry vigilantes,” admits that, had the band stayed with Warner Bros., the boys would likely have split up from the pressures of being under a major contract.

“Right now, the industry is ground to a halt and people are getting stressed out,” he says. “I feel like we were in one of the cars in the traffic jam, and then along comes a helicopter to throw us down some ropes and we grabbed onto the ropes and we’re looking at the traffic jam from above and it doesn’t seem so stressful anymore.”

But with freedom comes responsibility, like recording overhead, scheduling tour support, and picking the first single. This Is Not A World is a rapid-fire effort – anger at Warner Bros., ironically, serving as fuel – with coming-out single “Beginning Of The Twist” reflective of the excitement and creative freedom The Futureheads found themselves enjoying. For Hyde, “Twist” is the “massive size 11 boot to your face” the group needs to reintroduce themselves.

“The reason why we chose ‘Twist’ first is because we are trying to break into the castle of the music business,” says Hyde, adding in pure Braveheart manner, “and the best way to start off your campaign is to use a battering ram, smash the door in.”

Smashing down the door includes giving control back to The Futureheads' audience, a premise the labels have to yet to embrace. There is a reason for the uptick in vinyl's popularity, and it’s not just among audiophiles. Hyde recognizes that offering more than digital downloads is the key to success.

“There is nothing more gratifying than getting your album out on vinyl,” he admits. “We’re still very much into making physical albums, but we completely appreciate that most people buy music through downloads. But there is no reason why we can’t please both sides of the market. We are in it for everyone’s needs, and our own.”

This artist- and consumer-centric mentality at Nul Records is sure to attract other bands seeking more independence. This is what Detroit garage rockers The Von Bondies thought when they approached Hyde. But being someone else’s slave master wasn’t what Nul Records was about.

“That would go against what we are trying to do,” Hyde says. “We are trying to prove that you don’t need the record label, that you can be the record label. That would make us hypocrites. It would make us into what we are trying to get away from.”

The fact remains that the reason for Warner Bros.' abandonment of The Futureheads was the shifting of listeners' tastes toward more layered pop arrangements. It’s only natural to question whether these market preferences seep into Hyde’s mind when writing music.

“I am always a believer in that a good song is a good song, no matter the style or the arrangement,” he counters. “We’ve got our own path now, so we need to spend more time about where we’re going than what’s around us.”

thefutureheads.co.uk