Claire Pannell aka Furchick is an Australian experimental artist and owner of Dog Park Records.

Born and raised in Perth, she ran away overseas to New Zealand to pursue music; coordinating The Stomach music centre, Valve zine and Yellow Bike Records with Dave White. She also funded a PhD at this time by working as a sound engineer before heading to The Big Apple, playing in many weird and wonderful bands. 

Claire incorporates a DIY and punk attitude into her creations which fuse arts, technology and science with Dog Park aiming to challenge the frontiers of sound and how music is made; from using household items and home made automata as musical instruments to recording live at home with musical collaborators. 

First Pressing is a new RTRFM podcast championing the visionaries behind WA record labels.

Join Mark Neal each fortnight for a deep dive into Perth’s independent music scene and the people that nurture the community.

In a share house full of likeminded, creative types, Rockton Records was founded with the intention of shining more light on the projects of friends and artists around them that often sit on the fringes of the mainstream.

Hiding on hard drives or in SoundCloud aliases, the idea was simple, more people might want to hear this music. 

Ryan Borrett, the brains behind Rockton Records, sits down with Mark Neal to chat about putting on the managerial hat to champion underserved voices and supporting creative friendships within the talented local music and arts community.

First Pressing is a new RTRFM podcast championing the visionaries behind WA record labels.

Join Mark Neal each fortnight for a deep dive into Perth’s independent music scene and the people that nurture the community.

In today’s episode Mark Neal hits the dance floor with Ewan Jansen, founder of Red Ember Records.

Located in Perth, Red Ember Records was founded in late 1996 by Ewan alongside producer and musical confidant Justin Zerbst to celebrate and seek out true underground deep house and electronic sounds in Boorloo.

Since then the duo have taken Perth club sounds around the world, with a global compilation imprint and various collaborations championing Perth’s unique variety of electronic music whilst seeking out true underground sounds.

Ewan joins Mark in the studio to chat about the emergence of the electronic music scene in Perth, how Red Ember Records came to be and the magic of producing independent music.

First Pressing is a new RTRFM podcast championing the visionaries behind WA record labels.

Join Mark Neal each fortnight for a deep dive into Perth’s independent music scene and the people that nurture the community.

Em Burrows is a song writer, educator and producer from Perth who is passionate about gender equity and representation in the arts.

She is also behind Group Therapy Records, a label which started as like minded friends supporting each other in their sonic and creative endeavours. Though no longer running, there is no denying the label is embedded in the local music scene for its role championing independent and diverse sounds.

In this episode of First Pressing Mark Neal speaks with Em about her musical journey – from starting Group Therapy to her philosophy of success and the importance of sustainable creative practice in the increasingly exploitative arts industry.

First Pressing is a new RTRFM podcast championing the visionaries behind WA record labels.

Join Mark Neal each fortnight for a deep dive into Perth’s independent music scene and the people that nurture the community.

Our series begins with Ray Grenfell, the musician and brains behind Stock Records.

You may know Ray from local band Last Quokka but behind the scenes he runs a socially conscious record label providing a hub for musicians making raucous, punk sounds in WA and beyond.

From hosting WA’s biggest backyard party YARDSTOCK, to passionately advocating for social and political issues through their DIY punk sounds, Stock Records are a community built on the values of freedom, cooperation, openness and, of course, far-out music!

Mark Neal sits down with Ray to learn more about his musical beginnings, how Stock Records came to be and activism in the music industry.

First Pressing is a new RTRFM podcast championing the visionaries behind WA record labels.

Join Mark Neal each fortnight for a deep dive into Perth’s independent music scene and the people that nurture the community.