Fort Evil Fruit is a new Dublin-based label set up by Paul Condon, of Irish experimental folk group United Bible Studies.

The label’s focus will be on an ‘eclectic selection’ of underground music, which, if the current release schedule is anything to go by, will include everything from sound art, to doom metal, to organ improvisations. The label will release music on cassette, and in small runs of about 100 copies.

Condon’s aim in establishing Fort Evil Fruit, ‘is to provide an outlet for underground music (both from Ireland and abroad) that (he is) passionate about’. And whilst each release will be limited in size, Condon also expresses the hope that ‘the releases might have a life beyond their small editions, and be brought to the attention of people who might not otherwise be aware of them’.

On the issue of persevering with physical media in a context of an almost total digital media ecology, Condon has the following to say: ‘Like many children of the analogue era, I appreciate the benefits of recent music technology, but ultimately think of albums as (two-sided) physical entities. Producing vinyl is prohibitively expensive and CDs often feel like landfill nowadays. The cassette format is a low-cost means of presenting albums as beautiful physical artifacts when they might otherwise only exist as downloads’.

In keeping with Condon’s desire to produce ‘beautiful physical artifacts’, Fort Evil Fruit has cultivated a house style for its art work, with design and layout by Danielle Smith and front cover art usually provided by the artist being released.

The first two releases on the label come from United Bible Studies and Raising Holy Sparks. The Dreamlike States of United Bible Studies features recordings taken from the band’s 2008 tour of America, whilst Raising Holy Sparks’ (David Colohan) Beyond the Unnamed Bay deploys field recordings, shape note singing and loops and synths, and features contributions from Vicky Langan and Declan Q. Kelly. The latter album is available for streaming in full on SoundCloud, with some tracks from the former also being available for streaming on the same site.

Future releases are scheduled from Wreck of the Hesperus, Woven Skull, Wölflinge, Áine O’Dwyer and an album of Jandek covers by Naythen Wilson.

Fort Evil Fruit’s tapes are stocked by Into the Void Records, Loki Records and Elastic Witch in Dublin, and Plugd in Cork. They are priced at €5.

fortevilfruit [at] gmail.com

Fort Evil Fruit logo by Danielle Smith