A Newsletter from Los Campesinos!

Hey. Gareth here, on behalf of our band Los Campesinos!, writing to you for the first time in what feels like a long time.

I used to enjoy writing these sort of broadcasts, but these days I just feel like a self-aggrandising dickhead the moment I solicit attention (and then feel even worse for explaining that). For the most part we stopped posting online, because the places we used to do so in stopped being even slightly enjoyable, but we miss being able to communicate with you, and a newsletter on a platform like this feels like a good option for bringing that back.

This news letter will be the first place we announce significant news, re-hash old news, where we tell you about merch drops, and also hopefully where we share ideas, interests and can answer questions.

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New Drop on the Store

A couple reprints back available for the first time in a while. On the left, Neil crowdsurfs circa 2010, and on the right, a shirt that was only available very briefly, at the release of ‘Whole Damn Body’, before there was a world-wide shortage of off-white shirts.

After more than a decade of merch being posted out from LC!HQ’s garage/spare bedroom we’re now working with a third party seller. In many ways this is a shame, but in far more ways it’s an absolute relief, and means my house isn’t covered in fluff and thread anymore. The real plus is it allows us to have way more designs available at once, and to sell in greater volume, so if you’re after a DOOMED sweatshirt, or a Hello Sadness long sleeve for example, we’ve got you covered. Art prints, stickers, totes, patches, badges, the works.

And finally, we’ve reduced a couple of low stock items to clear, this Death Rattle long sleeve and these Romance Is Boring shirts won’t be back any time soon.

As always, there’s the option to buy our merch at a lower price for those of you that are low waged, or just struggling for cash right now.

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Sparky Deathcap Pop Superstar

A really fun development in the past few months is that Rob’s song ‘September’, written and recorded close to 15 years ago has become a TikTok sensation. You might think you’ve not heard it, but have a listen, you’ll definitely recall the first 10 seconds being played off someone’s phone on the bus.

Rob tells the story of how this bonkers situation occurred on this twitter thread:

R N Taylor @sparkydeathcap

So kind of a funny story behind this. This song originally came from an EP I put out in 2009, called Tear Jerky, which I wrote and recorded in my bedroom when I was like 22/23. It was a super personal sad boy labour of love about a breakup I'd just gone through.

• If you wanna learn more about this rags to riches tale, peep this interview with Clash magazine.

• Listen to September the song, or September the instrumental.

• Or listen to September NIGHTCORED, or September the instrumental NIGHTCORED.

More coming from Rob soon, with a music video, and the eventual re-release of his Tear Jerky EP.

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Mass Projection #1

Here’s something from Matt.

Matt and I are going to trade playlists back and forth on this newsletter, and Matt’s up first with this ambient/downtempo mix. Some old, some new, some faves.

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Call Out For Writers

These days it appears to be harder and harder for a band like ours to get significant/any coverage from your traditional online and printed media platforms. No hard feelings, we get it, it’s okay. But we want to continue to foster this community of ours outside of social media, and somehow all evidence suggests that our ‘fanbase’ is continuing to grow, and wants more LC! content.

I’ve spoken to plenty of talented writers who feel restricted within the now traditional format too, having to write “for clicks” rather than in a way that fully showcases them as a writer, and then ultimately having to wait months to be paid. The current norm doesn’t seem to work perfectly for musicians, journos or fans.

That’s why it’s our plan to begin to work directly with writers, to publish, initially via this newsletter, in-depth writing on and around Los Campesinos!. To be enjoyed by people who are already fans, independent of the restrictive ‘album cycle’ and PR pattern. In turn, writers will be paid fairly and promptly for their work.

If you’re such a writer that would be interested in this idea, then please hit us up on band@loscampesinos.com with a brief bit of info about yourself and your writing, and we’ll keep you in the loop.

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That’s it for now! Just a little broadcast to ease us all back in, but there will be more to come next month. In the next instalment we’ll be glad to answer a couple of your questions so if there’s anything you’re curious about, get asking in the comments. Please no silly stuff, I’m 37 years old dammit.

All the best, lots of love, and we’ll see you soon. LC!x