D-I-Y: Do It Yourself

VINYL FORMAT. Do It Yourself charts the rise of the independent music industry after punk -- from the hundreds of bands and tiny labels that sprung up with like-minded ideals, to the network of shops, manufacturers, studios, printers etc, all connected via a loose network of record distributors that would help define independent music over the following thirty years. Beginning with The Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP released in early 1977, on the newly formed New Hormones label, in Manchester, it soon seemed that every town in Britain had its own music scene complete with bands, small labels, record shops and studios.

Directly influenced by the ideals of punk -- self-determination, freedom of expression, etc -- as much as the music meant that these bands were interested in alternatives to the status quo in managing their careers. This meant finding new ways of getting their music heard outside of the mainstream music industry. It also meant new ways of making music away from the traditional guitar, bass, drums and vocals line-up of rock bands. The reasons for these two factors would be sometimes practical (they couldn't get signed/they couldn't play) and sometimes ideological.