Get To Know: Terra-Cotta Records
We chat with Terra-Cotta Records founder Hamish Gibson-Smith about his label and how it all started.
According to Terra-Cotta Records founder Hamish Gibson-Smith, if you want to see something happen in Adelaide, more often than not you’ve got to do it yourself.
Some may take that statement as a negative thing, but it’s not. For the 28-year-old creative, it means he’s always finding new ways to be involved in the local music scene.
“There’s space to start your own thing and see it come to fruition,” he says. “I’m a bit sporadic with my enthusiasm for the scene and projects. I started Terra-Cotta Records to have a somewhere to operate how I wanted when I wanted.”
Hamish got his start in the industry in 2015 when he joined friends Tom Matheson and Gerry Bain in running independent label Swirl Records. He also lent his time and talent playing in bands like Dead Roo for several years. Then, in 2021, he joined his four mates – Colby Robertson, Jess Johns, Jack Bird and Matt Schultz – in opening Interim Studios before launching Terra-Cotta Records a year and a bit later in October 2022. This side project of sorts is why we find ourselves chatting on the phone one Thursday afternoon.
“The idea is to work with artists who are pretty much by themselves through the whole process of their music creation. There’s a more unique and defined sound in music when it comes from one mind and space. I get more of a vision from that. It changed my perspective on how I wanted to be involved in the scene.”
In part, Terra-Cotta’s ethos is grounded on Hamish’s desire to break free from the formula bands are encouraged to follow: write, record, release a single, tour, write some more, get press, release an album, tour, and repeat. “I wanted it to be more about fostering specific artists that I’m working with, giving them incentives to make music and build a catalogue that doesn’t necessarily have to be followed,” he explains. “It gives them freedom to do whatever.”
Hamish describes the label’s sound as music that’s ‘not polished or perfect’. “It has a bit of character to it,” he says. However, he’s happy to stray from Terra-Cotta’s sonic roots, if the work “has the right story and structure behind it.”
That structure Hamish is searching for emerges from artists making music in their homes, often in their bedrooms. One thing that excites Hamish the most, he says, is how an environment – and its limitations – inherently impact the end product. At home, time constraints that artists feel in-studio dissolve; the only boundary present is one’s creative state. Ultimately, it results in an entirely different record.
Since launching, Terra-Cotta has released music for experimental multi-instrumentalist Marcello (Noah Marcello Bevan-Parrella) and DIY indie-slacker Cult Nonsense, the pseudonym for producer/engineer, Colby Robertson. “I think they sit well together,” he says. “Noah’s stuff is crazy. And Colby and I have very similar ideas about what sound and aesthetic we want music to give.”
While, for now, the main focus is physical releases, Hamish has also started to host events under the Terra-Cotta name. ‘Live in the Lobby’ is an extension of the sound he’s captured through the label, hosted on the stairwell and in the foyer of his creative home, Interim Studios. Supported by Workhorse, the first show was for Melbourne-based artist Snowy, who Hamish connected previously after opening for him. “It was lovely,” he says. “Everyone sat on the floor and was very attentive. Both artists were captivating.”
Then in August, Live in the Lobby hosted Elena Dakota, who Hamish says has the ‘Terra-Cotta quality’ – “unpolished, DIY and just beautiful.” Purr (Katie Schilling) opened the gig, joined by her violinist husband, Tom. Together, they played to the crowd via the stairs, their young baby propped up between their legs. “It was incredibly wholesome,” Hamish muses.
We ask Hamish how he finds running a small business like Interim and an independent record label from South Australia. His answer is honest. “[Interim] Studios is tricky. The culture we create through that space is more important than being successful as a small business. And then, in a paradoxical way, you’ve got a record label like Terra-Cotta being a champion of artists who record at home. It can be stressful, but it’s great. I love it. And I enjoy having [Terra- Cotta] as an outlet for when I want to do something.”
Having a project that he can pour his energy into is where Hamish feels most comfortable. “I’m not very good at sitting still. I like to have something to think about to keep me moving forward. I’m driven by ideas.”
It’s this connection to creativity that’ll see Terra-Cotta ever-evolving. And while Hamish remains tight-lipped on what we can expect next from the label, he’s not worried about what shape it’ll take. Terra-Cotta will always occupy its own niche.
“I’m happy for it to grow into whatever. I’ve left it open [so it] gives me the flexibility to dive into [what] I feel like,” he says. “It’s nice to have that opportunity.”
Stay up to date with Hamish and Terra-Cotta Records at @terracotta.rcds
