Beans on Toast, Badly Drawn Boy, Skinny Lister, 3 Daft Monkeys, K.O.G, Gecko, and Nuala

The accepted norm when it comes to music is that if you want to do it yourself, you start the band first, before you start the label. Damon Gough turned that all on its head when he put together his Twisted Nerve Records with his friend Andy Votel in 1995, and after putting out a couple of other artists' records over the next two years, Gough debuted as Badly Drawn Boy with “EP1”, a limited release kept to only 500 copies in circulation, despite the fact it was one of the most critically acclaimed debut releases of the year. The EP and Gough's first singles put him on the radar of the hip-hop project UNKLE, who had him feature on their 1997 album “Psyence Fiction”, and due to that exposure, Gough's 1999 single “Once Around The Block” found its way on to the UK charts soon after its release.

Because of this, XL Recordings got in contact and signed Gough, releasing his debut album “The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast” a year later. The album was a huge critical success, which turned into a similarly huge commercial hit when it won the 2000 Mercury Music Award. The follow up to this album was an esoteric move, but one that was no less successful as a result. The directors of the film adaptation of Nick Hornby's About A Boy got in touch while Gough was enjoying some downtime from music and asked him to score the film. The resulting soundtrack album was another critical hit, and ever since then, Gough has remained one of the most fascinating and talented songwriters that this country has produced in a very long time. For that, he comes highly recommended.