It’s been a strange year, something that (very likely) none of us have seen the likes of before. I don’t think that a year has gone by since I was fourteen (thirty-one years ago!) that I haven’t seen a live band or artist performance. That hurts, and I’m sure that I’m not the only person who feels this way. That being said, the global situation has done nothing to stifle creativity. Artists have found new ways to share their output, and whilst no substitute for the atmosphere of a live show, streamed events have certainly taken a front seat in the past few months and have managed to take the edge off what has been a pretty grim time for everybody.

If anything, lockdowns and the like have fuelled artists and this has been reflected in the sheer quantity of absolutely mind-blowing releases that we’ve been treated to this year. As someone who co-runs a small independent label, I’ve been astonished by the amount of quality demos and submissions that we’ve received over the past twelve months. Whatever genre of music floats your boat, you can’t deny that 2020 has probably been one of the best years for recorded output in recent times. The number of DIY labels is growing steadily and this is in no small way attributable to the amount of fantastic music out there that is begging for a physical release. All we need are people with a passion for sharing new music and the desire to bring unknown bands a little recognition for their efforts.

About four years back, I started the Psych Lovers Facebook group. It started off as a group chat with about ten to fifteen people sharing new and forthcoming releases and generally discussing our current favourite records. When the group got a bit larger, I decided to start a page on Facebook where people could do the same but on a slightly larger scale. We’re currently sitting at just over 2,000 members, something way beyond what I originally saw as a small members' club. The group is a truly global community and there is not a day that goes by without new or even long forgotten gems being shared that without fail will take you down a rabbit hole of discovery.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the generosity of the community. Last year, when we heard the sad news that the wife of one of our founding members had been diagnosed with cancer, a few of us got together and decided that we would like to raise some money for a charity of the couple's choosing. The chosen beneficiary was Macmillan Cancer Support. Bands and labels, many of whom had their own experiences of cancer, duly responded by supplying us with bundles of rarities, test pressings, long out of print LPs, original artwork and lots of other choice merchandise that was auctioned off and helped raise a significant amount of money for the charity. We weren’t happy with that however, and hit upon the idea of a benefit compilation where all proceeds could be donated on an irregular basis. Psych Against Cancer was born and the compilation (consisting of around eighty-six tracks) was uploaded to Bandcamp. Sales were phenomenal and raised several thousand pounds.

After the release of the comp, we were constantly getting asked if there would be a second volume so we decided to oblige and once again put out the call to as many bands and labels as we knew. The response was staggering, over 160 tracks were submitted that necessitated us splitting this second edition into two parts. Psych Against Cancer Vol II went live on the last Bandcamp Friday of the year; if you’re not aware of what that is, it was an initiative whereby once a month, Bandcamp would forego their revenue share in order to help artists who were struggling during lockdown by not being able to play live. Sales on that day alone eclipsed what we had raised over the previous twelve months with Volume I. To date, just under £13,500 has been raised for Macmillan through the generosity of our community; it really does restore your faith in human nature to see things like this happen. If you’d like to check out what is truly the cream of contemporary psychedelia (and maybe stick a few quid in the pot) head over to Bandcamp and have a look.

It’s also been a very successful year for Weird Beard. Five LPs, a live CD (a Macmillan fundraiser by Carlton Melton) and seven tape releases all sold out really quickly. It’s great to see people really enjoying the stuff that Al and myself feel is deserving of a wider audience.

So, what will 2021 bring? Hopefully we’ll see a return to live music in the not too distant future, even though the UK's exit from Europe (don’t get me started on that) is going to make things a hell of a lot harder for bands to tour on the continent and for European groups to visit our shores. Not to mention the increased costs of both sending and receiving records from overseas. It is imperative that as music fans, we support our local grass roots venues when we are able to do so and continue to support the small independent labels that enrich our lives on a daily basis.

Here’s to a great year of new music and a return to normality.

Big thanks to: Adam for giving me the opportunity to waffle on for a bit and his ongoing support of Weird Beard, we’re very grateful.

Al Wyatt, my partner in crime at Weird Beard.

Ian McGlynn, the other admin on Psych Lovers who continually goes above and beyond.

Andy Uzzell, for his work in compiling, downloading and uploading all the compilation tracks.

All the bands and artists who contributed and people who’ve supported the compilations.

Everyone who has bought a Weird Beard release, we couldn’t do what we do without you.