The Screwdriver Records Story: London’s Up-And-Coming DIY Label
Logo for North London based record label Screwdriver Records
On a cold autumn Wednesday in Boston, I got to Zoom into an interview with Tom Simcox, founder of Screwdriver Records, who lives halfway across the world—all the way in London. Since this was my first international interview (with a record label founder, no less!), I was eager to ask him all my burning questions about his label and its roster and just how on earth he distributes music, along with managing artists. Thankfully, we can jump right into it since I got some really great answers to share with all of you!
While Screwdriver Records was technically founded two years ago, Simcox told me the “seed was really planted” a bit further back, after he took a trip to the U.S. in 2014 to visit Nashville. Enamored with the music views and culture there, he came back to the U.K. with a newfound inspiration, wanting to get involved with music management. Hustling between temp jobs, music blogging online and booking venues, Simcox worked hard to eventually score a position at British indie and country label, Loose. From there, he knew he wanted to run a label of his own, and founded Screwdriver Records, an Americana DIY label, in 2019. It was a “slow build through experience” that has paid off for him so far.
While the U.S. music business is bigger in scale than the U.K.’s, the U.K. has a much bigger DIY music scene, according to Simcox. The masses ‘across the pond’ are more used to listening to homegrown musical projects than we might be. (Some lesser-known artists Simcox told me to watch out for include Madi Diaz, Stephanie Lambring and Tristen.) Rising to fame is a topic I brought into the conversation, in addition to the recent trend of artists gaining fame through social media virality. While Simcox told me Screwdriver does not have a TikTok account, he recognizes that social media is a great outlet for musicians to get their music out into the world, making things more accessible to consumers. But that way of going about artist promotion isn’t without pitfalls. Actually, Simcox prefers to sign artists he’s a fan of and really prioritizes a warm artist-to-label relationship dynamic—he still believes that artists need their labels. “I don’t sign anyone unless they grab me,” he specifically told me. That’s exactly how Harrison Whitford was signed to Screwdriver.
Screwdriver Records signed singer-songwriter brings exceptional writing and musical talent to the label
Image courtesy of Screwdriver Records on Instragram
Simcox reached out to Whitford on Bandcamp, already a big fan of his 2018 LP “Afraid Of Everything” and wanting to distribute the album physically. Whitford agreed, and the rest was history—history that didn’t come without Simcox’s signature drive of getting Whitford’s record into U.K. media stores, who have connections to U.S. distributors, and also booking Whitford for live dates. Neither artist that Screwdriver manages are touring at the moment, but Simcox has plans to kickstart tours and hopefully sign more artists to the label in the coming new year. Running a label isn’t without its hard moments: unknown income status and fear of failure being the main tough ones, Simcox told me. However, the good moments make it all worth it. Simcox recalled a special moment during one of Whitford’s live shows, where he saw lots of Whiford’s fans emotionally moved by his music. Some were belting out his lyrics, others were even crying. “I was so proud to be involved with an artist that had that effect on people,” he remarked.
All in all, it will be exciting to see where the Screwdriver Records and Tom Simcox take their endeavors in the future.