PSB crew & friends fundraiser
I hope you are all well and looking after each other, especially those who need the most help. These are very worrying times but all we can try to do is offer comfort and kindness to each other.
As a band, we are in the very fortunate position of being ok financially for the next few months - most bands larger than us are probably in the same boat. One group of people who aren’t as fortunate, though, are touring crew members and musicians; they don’t have the benefit of PRS and PPL payments, streaming income, record sales income, advances against future records and so on.
Even though we had no gigs announced for this year we’d like to do our best to help those we work most regularly with, a group of around 10 to 15 people. All of the below items are being sold by me personally and any funds raised will be placed into an emergency PSB crew and musician fund, to enable anyone who needs help to take advantage of any available money. In the absence of any help from the government (as at lunchtime on March 17, anyway) it seems the least we could do. One of our most regular crew members has lost 14 weeks of work, already; clearly that is going to have a devastating impact, which is why we are doing what we can to help. (We have also made various behind-the-scenes efforts, too, to the extent to which we are able to afford to.)
In the event that none of our crew or session players needs assistance, we will find a suitable charity to donate this money to. Either way it will all end up going to a good cause, and none of it is for the band.
Obviously an unprecedented number of people are going to struggle financially over the coming months - to those with uncertain short-term financial futures who, in normal circumstances, would dearly love some of these items, we can only apologise. It’s not a competition - one group of struggling people isn’t more important than another, but these are people with whom we regularly work and communicate and who are part of our broader family, and we feel obliged to try to help them.
To try to accommodate those without the financial resources to buy these items off the bat, we’re running a raffle for one of the copies of EP One. See below for more details.
If you’re interested in any item, please email [email protected], clearly stating which item(s) you’d like to buy. I am doing all of this manually so there is a chance the item will be gone by the time you email - apologies if so. I will try to respond as quickly as possible.
Some of the prices may seem high, but they are for the most part very rare PSB items and they are also the last that I have of most of them, so I am trying to get the most out of what I have in order to help others.
The sealed auction will run as an email auction until Sunday, March 22. I will hopefully be able to post the record on Monday, March 23. To place a bid, please email [email protected], clearly stating that it’s for the sealed auction and the amount you’re offering.
The raffle will run until Sunday, March 22 too. Tickets are virtual and are £5 each, to enable those with less disposable income to bid on an extremely rare item (after this fundraiser I will only have 2 left, from an original 250, and they won’t be re-pressed). You can buy more than one ticket but please do so in multiples of £5. If you are interested in taking part, please email [email protected] and clearly state the number of tickets you’d like to buy. You will be emailed further instructions.
Again, I am doing all of this myself, so please do bear with me if demand is higher than I anticipate.
First off - a word about test pressings! They are exactly what they sound like they are, ie pressings sent from the vinyl plant to us for approval or, indeed, rejection. They are often slightly poorer quality than the final version, for various boring reasons, and in some cases some of these have actually been rejected by us for being poor quality. But the value in these items doesn’t lie in their fidelity, rather their scarcity, so hopefully you won’t be expecting a pristine listen, rather an extremely rare edition of a cherished record.
This is the first PSB vinyl release ever, pressed on 10″ in only 250 copies. After this fundraiser I have 2 more, forever, so they are extremely rare. They regularly go for upwards of £150 on eBay.
One will run as a sealed auction - please send your name and your highest bid to [email protected]. The auction will close on Sunday at 7pm GMT.
The other, to allow those with less disposable income to take part, will be a virtual raffle. Tickets £5 each. You can buy more than one ticket but please do so in multiples of £5. If you are interested in taking part, please email [email protected] and clearly state the number of tickets you’d like to buy. You will be emailed further instructions.
NB - both items have ever-so-slight damage to the covers so they are not pristine! They’ve been in a cardboard box that was taken to numerous gigs and festivals in 2010 and 2011 with me desperately trying to flog them to uninterested parties, before The War Room came out and they started selling online!
The following are rare test pressings of various albums, EPs and so on. There are a very limited number of copies available and it’s first come, first served. Please also read the disclaimer on audio quality above. I will try to update this list as they sell, but please don’t be disappointed if you email me and they’re already sold.
Dispatch will probably happen sometime next week (March 23 onwards) provided the postal service is still working; if it isn’t, I will post them as soon as is feasible.
THE RACE FOR SPACE - PLASTIC INNER SOLD OUT!
SOLD OUT!
£100 each + p&p
THE RACE FOR SPACE - REPRESS, PROPER SLEEVE 3 of 4 SOLD OUT!
SOLD OUT!
£100 each + p&p
We had to get TRFS re-pressed from a different master in 2018 so had new test pressings. I have 4 of these newer versions, 3 of which have proper, sealed sleeves.
INFORM - EDUCATE - ENTERTAIN SOLD OUT!
SOLD OUT!
£100 each + p&p
WHITE STAR LINER SOLD OUT
SOLD OUT!
£75 each + p&p
To buy, email [email protected] - also let me know if you’d like it signed. NB - this test pressing was rejected so it is not great quality, but it is extremely rare!
PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS NEED COAL (RSD 2018 REMIX RELEASE) - SOLD OUT!
THE RACE FOR SPACE - REMIXES SOLD OUT!
These are all, with the exception of the TRFS remix release, limited editions that have sold out (I think!). I am happy to sign any of them.
SIGNAL 30 RSD 2013 7″ SOLD OUT!
Extremely rare. Orange vinyl, backed with New Dimensions in Sound.
SOLD OUT!
£100 + p&p
ELFSTEDENTOCHT PARTS 1 & 2 RSD 2014 7″ SOLD OUT!
Very rare.
SOLD OUT!
£80 each + p&p
THE OTHER SIDE PICTURE DISC - RSD 2016 7″ SOLD OUT!
NB because this is a picture disc, the audio quality isn’t great - that’s the nature of the medium. It looks amazing though! Backed with the Datassette remix.
SOLD OUT!
£50 + p&p
Backed with the Errors remix.
SOLD OUT!
£50 each + p&p
THEME FROM PSB 7″ SOLD OUT!
ROYGBIV (FIRST OFFICIAL SINGLE) SOLD OUT!
Backed with a different version of Lit Up, not the album version. Rare.
SOLD OUT!
£50 each + p&p
THE WAR ROOM (ORIGINAL RELEASE) SOLD OUT!
From back before we had a distributor so I was still selling and posting these myself - relatively rare although a few hundred were made up. In a plastic CD wallet.
SOLD OUT!
£50 each + p&p
ORIGINAL / RARE STOCK OF PSB VINYL
EVERY VALLEY (CLEAR INDIES VERSION) SOLD OUT!
Still sealed, limited numbers were pressed up and these are 2 of the last 3 I have.
SOLD OUT!
£50 each + p&p
THE RACE FOR SPACE - REMIXES SOLD OUT!
On orange vinyl. One has slight damage to the shrinkwrap. Price is based on being expected to be asked to sign them!
SOLD OUT!
£25 each + p&p
To buy, email [email protected] - also let me know if you’d like it signed.
GREEN MAN 2018 TRIPTYCH SCREENPRINT SOLD!
NB - this has different text to the image above - instead of ‘Informing...’ it has Green Man Festival and the date of the show (I can’t find the original image). It was a limited edition run.
SOLD!
£50 + p&p
THE RACE FOR SPACE DOUBLE SIDED A2 POSTERS SOLD OUT!
No image, sorry, but we have a handful of these left. They’re on decent, thick paper, A2 size, one side has the USA cover and one side the Soviet cover. Happy to sign as required.
SOLD OUT!
£30 each + p&p
To buy, email [email protected].
That’s it for now - thanks a lot for any support you can help us extend to our folks.