We’re catching up today with our Music Business student Chris Blackmore.

Chris is no ordinary student as he’s been running the folk & roots record label Holy Smokes Records since 2013.

We’re discussing the early days of Holy Smokes Records, the Music Business course and the live stream trend which came with lockdown.

Big thanks to Chris for answering our questions, we hope it will inspire you to start a career in the music industry too!

You founded Holy Smokes Records in 2013. What inspired you to start your own record label?

I’ve never had much of a natural flair with musicianship but I’d always been a huge music lover and long been drawn to live music. And lots of it. When I was a wee guy, a lot of my friends were either promoting gigs or playing in a smattering of caterwauling guitar bands so I’d often find myself…

If you haven’t heard of Forglow yet, stay tuned!

The talented 5 piece alternative/rock band recently joined the Electric Honey family and we’re looking forward to supporting them on their journey.

“We all aim to put ourselves out there and bring our talents together to create the best music we can.“

Forglow formed back in 2016 during the Behind The Noise project.

Behind The Noise is a music and business education programme developed by Scotland’s Music Hall Of Fame and Doghouse Studios which gives the students a real life experience within the music industry.

Young artists get valuable advice to grow and develop their talent and they learn how to play and communicate as a band to build a strong team spirit. Behind The Noise was a great start to Forglow’s career as it gave them the encouragement and experience they needed to move forward.

The inspiration behind…

We had the chance to work with Nicol & Elliott last year.

We put out their debut single “Wish You’d Stayed Away” in March 2019 and the follow-up single “Sweet Downfall” in autumn 2019.

The new year came with new opportunities for Nicol & Elliott and they became the first band to release music on the brand new Last Night From Glasgow subsidiary Hive. Their beautiful EP “My Heart Will Wait” has been out since January 2020.

Nicol & Elliott are not only fantastic musicians but they are also the kindest people and they will always be part of the Electric Honey family, that is why we are delighted that they agreed to catch up!

How did Electric Honey help you in your career?

Rachel: Electric Honey gave us a platform to release our debut single. Doing this with the support of a…