In the winter of 2016, a lone commuter was stranded by yet another late night cancellation of the connecting service from Westbury to Frome. A distinct lack of a back up plan and an absence of any taxis outside the station left this disgruntled commuter well and truly up the creek without the proverbial paddle. Step forward a kind stranger who provided a solution to the current problem…a lift back to Frome.
The stranded commuter was a dear friend of mine and her story of the kindness of this stranger further strengthened my belief that Frome is populated with a better than average human being. Kristian Davis-Downs, is a Stoke on Trent born and raised man who landed in Frome via a circuitous route which took in London, Brighton, Laverton and London again, before finally settling in our lovely town.
Today Kristian lives in Frome with his family (and extended family) and has knocked his weekly commute on the head in favour of a life working from home. January 2017, saw the launch of Kristian’s brainchild ‘MonoKrome’ a new music industry services company.
It’s a brave new business model in an industry landscape that is ever-changing. When many major record companies are struggling to embrace change, some even disappearing completely (eg. EMI ) it is important for those in the industry to look at news ways of working. Enter Kristian, a music industry veteran and his pioneering ways.
Following a period of business college study, the young Stoke on Trent native landed himself a stock control job with JCB. This job served mainly to develop his brain for logistics and to further support his vinyl collecting habit, a habit which saw him visiting favourite music shops everywhere in a wide radius of the area. It was also at this time that he started playing bass in bands and touring the UK.
Eventually a move to London landed him a job with BMW and also connected him with his band called Monochrome. Playing venues such as Borderline in London’s West End they were supported by growing audiences which counted Muse (yes the stadium headline band) members amongst their numbers. Despite steadfast yet failed efforts to secure a music industry job, a determined Kristian continued to submit CVs to relevant companies until he spotted a pretty modest advert in the Evening Standard for a stock controller in an anonymous record company.
Beggars Banquet employed him in the stock room and eventually promoted him to operations manager. In his time there, he managed the production and distribution side of some of the biggest selling albums of all time, including the record-selling Adele’s ’21’ – not bad going for someone who cut their logistics teeth on JCB parts. Following Beggars Banquet, Kristian moved to the Name label in Salisbury where he delved more deeply into the creative side of the industry and being one of a very small team, had the benefit of learning all facets of the business on the front line.
A chance meeting in London introduced his partner Rowan into his life. Then resident in Laverton, Rowan was visited at weekends by Kristian who quickly began to love the area. Invested in his life in London at the time however, he persuaded his little family to move to London. They lasted all of two years and as soon as they could they moved lock, stock and barrel back to Frome where they now live very happily with their small family.
Kristian speaks of how much they love living here, and the importance to him of working with as many Frome-based businesses and services as possible. He stresses that one of the major differences of MonoKrome to other music industry services companies is that they are completely inclusive. Many other companies have an elitist approach where they go out and find/sign bands that they believe are right for their label.
MonoKrome on the other hand can do this too (and are huge music fans themselves) but also invite artists to approach them, they are as open to established artists as they are to new up and coming ones who don’t have the know-how, the contacts or the ability to do it all themselves. Through his new business model, music artists have full access to all the services that they might need from PR, radio plugging, playlist plugging, production, manufacture, legal services, royalty collection, publishing, neighbouring rights collections and many more essential support services too, without the need to sign over any of their own rights.
As a music industry worker myself (over a decade at EMI Records) and now working in music management and owning my own record label, I can advocate the DIY approach to the industry. I, for one am thrilled that companies such as Kristian’s means that the music business no longer needs to be an ‘elitist’ club, with a closed address book, nor does it have to be a mysterious complex world that’s impossible to navigate without encountering the odd shark or two.
Being your own artist with complete creative control and a strong team around you, along with drive, passion and determination is all you need to make a success of your music career…forward thinking people such as Kristian and the MonoKrome team can help guide you along that path.
Here’s wishing Kristian and the MonoKrome crew all the success in the world ….it’s a business with its heart in the right place and is yet another inclusive and pioneering Frome-based business to be proud of!
For more information about MonoKrome contact hello@monokromemusic .com
