The Beta Band are reuniting this fall for their first tour in 20 years. Streaming services have made recorded music widely accessible while reducing artist earnings. US visa processes have increased the expense and complexity of touring the United States. Major labels rarely offer massive deals to experimental bands with limited releases anymore. The group formed in Fife, Scotland in 1996 and signed to Parlophone. Early releases like the Champion Versions EP and The Three EPs blended folk, prog, hip hop, trip hop and rave influences and earned international attention, aided by "Dry the Rain" appearing in High Fidelity. Live performances featured instrument-switching, DIY visual design and heavy reinvestment in art, but the band left over £1 million in label debt when they split in 2004.
Formed in Fife, Scotland in 1996, The Beta Band were recipients of one of those mega-major label deals, signing to Parlophone Records, which was then also home of Radiohead and Kylie Minogue. They had immediate early success with their debut, 1997's Champion Versions EP, which mixed folk, prog, hip hop, trip hop and the Manchester rave scene into a unique sound.
Their live shows were ambitious and often amazing, with members switching instruments - Mason regularly took to a second drum kit for very groovy krautrock moments - and inventive DIY lighting, projections and interactive costumes. "None of us owned homes or cars," Mason told me over Zoom in July. "We put everything back into our art." Putting art first also meant when The Beta Band called it quits they were over £1 million in debt to their label.
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