Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Aly Gillani aka DJ Gilla (First Word / Bandcamp) speaks to Robert Luis about his journey as an independent label owner, A&R, DJ, and working at Bandcamp. With advice and anecdotes being shared about various aspects of the music industry and aiming to maintain the balance between creative music and the business side after recently celebrating the 20th anniversary of the label.
0.00 Intro
2.00 Aly’s start in the music industry
4.30 Running nights including a launch for an artist’s website
5.00 Funky Mule nights in Leeds and Aly’s involvement in 2001. The fun of running. A weekly club night.
6.30 Building contacts through running the club night New Bohemia in the 2000’s.
10.00 The advantage of not being in London initially
11.00 The start of First Word records with Andy H
15.00 Sharing information with other labels
17.00 Personal background
18.00 Releasing the first 12” which featured Corrine Bailey Rae before she was famous. Mistakes with artwork.
22.00 Distribution then and now. Barriers to entry in the music industry then and now.
26.00 Advice for someone starting a record label today. Bigging up Brighter Days. The importance of label identity initially like Ninja Tune, Mo Wax, Tru Thoughts and others.
27.30 Finding the sound and identity of First Word over the years.
30.30 Starting to work at Bandcamp and the influence of that on First Word.
31.30 Business model of a label and cultural importance of a label.
33.40 DJing decisions at gigs and music style.
35.00 Being addicted to earning a little bit of money may not be helpful as a DJ.
37.00 Reality of DJing
39.00 Decoding social media posts and the world of being a DJ via socials.
40.20 The games of socials. Giving up the day job too early.
41.20 The mental impact of being an artist
43.55 The numbers are not as motivating as good music
45.00 Streaming numbers do not tell the full picture of an artist as seen by Children Of Zeus in the early days.
45.30 The story behind the signing of Children Of Zeus
47.00 The importance of putting time aside to speak to artists properly before working together.
48.00 The vinyl releases of Children Of Zeus doing well
50.00 The decision to work at Bandcamp
51.00 The releases on First Word in the early to mid period of the label.
55.35 Good intentions with signing music tends to work best
56.20 Story telling a s part of a release is important
58.00 The A&R process of First Word and the set up of the label with BobaFatt
1.00.00 Release schedule for an eclectic label should be like a good DJ set
1.02.00 Quiet Dawn’s music journey
1.04.00 Discussion about class within the music industry.
1.12.00 Functioning as a label today
1.14.30 Questions to artists in early discussions to make sure you are signing artists who can work with your set up
1.16.00 Discussing racism and being Brown
1.19.00 The inspiration of Daytimers and Dialled In recently
1.21.00 Importance of acknowledging when you are releasing tunes influenced by Black music and culture
1.23.00 The need to have more open and honest conversations about identity and wage structure within the music industry
1.25.00 Arts Emergency charity
1.26.30 Advice on sending demos
1.28.50 Aly summing up his advice for setting up a label and being an A&R
1.32.40 Discussing the Love & Purpose : A Celebration Of British Soul Music that Aly compiled on First Word.
Aly Gillani / DJ Gilla online:
instagram.com/djgillaldn
Substack djgilla.substack.com
instagram.com/firstwordrecords
firstwordrecords.bandcamp.com
Robert Luis online:
instagram.com/robertluis
facebook.com/robert.luis.5203
twitter.com/ROBERTLUIS
tiktok.com/@robertluisdj
robertluis.com
Tru Thoughts Online:
facebook.com/truthoughts
instagram.com/tru_thoughts
soundcloud.com/tru-thoughts
twitter.com/tru_thoughts
https://bsky.app/profile/truthoughts.bsky.social
Aly Gillani aka DJ Gilla (First Word / Bandcamp) speaks to Robert Luis about his journey as an independent label owner, A&R, DJ, and working at Bandcamp. With advice and anecdotes being shared about various aspects of the music industry and aiming to maintain the balance between creative music and the business side after recently celebrating the 20th anniversary of the label.
0.00 Intro
2.00 Aly’s start in the music industry
4.30 Running nights including a launch for an artist’s website
5.00 Funky Mule nights in Leeds and Aly’s involvement in 2001. The fun of running. A weekly club night.
6.30 Building contacts through running the club night New Bohemia in the 2000’s.
10.00 The advantage of not being in London initially
11.00 The start of First Word records with Andy H
15.00 Sharing information with other labels
17.00 Personal background
18.00 Releasing the first 12” which featured Corrine Bailey Rae before she was famous. Mistakes with artwork.
22.00 Distribution then and now. Barriers to entry in the music industry then and now.
26.00 Advice for someone starting a record label today. Bigging up Brighter Days. The importance of label identity initially like Ninja Tune, Mo Wax, Tru Thoughts and others.
27.30 Finding the sound and identity of First Word over the years.
30.30 Starting to work at Bandcamp and the influence of that on First Word.
31.30 Business model of a label and cultural importance of a label.
33.40 DJing decisions at gigs and music style.
35.00 Being addicted to earning a little bit of money may not be helpful as a DJ.
37.00 Reality of DJing
39.00 Decoding social media posts and the world of being a DJ via socials.
40.20 The games of socials. Giving up the day job too early.
41.20 The mental impact of being an artist
43.55 The numbers are not as motivating as good music
45.00 Streaming numbers do not tell the full picture of an artist as seen by Children Of Zeus in the early days.
45.30 The story behind the signing of Children Of Zeus
47.00 The importance of putting time aside to speak to artists properly before working together.
48.00 The vinyl releases of Children Of Zeus doing well
50.00 The decision to work at Bandcamp
51.00 The releases on First Word in the early to mid period of the label.
55.35 Good intentions with signing music tends to work best
56.20 Story telling a s part of a release is important
58.00 The A&R process of First Word and the set up of the label with BobaFatt
1.00.00 Release schedule for an eclectic label should be like a good DJ set
1.02.00 Quiet Dawn’s music journey
1.04.00 Discussion about class within the music industry.
1.12.00 Functioning as a label today
1.14.30 Questions to artists in early discussions to make sure you are signing artists who can work with your set up
1.16.00 Discussing racism and being Brown
1.19.00 The inspiration of Daytimers and Dialled In recently
1.21.00 Importance of acknowledging when you are releasing tunes influenced by Black music and culture
1.23.00 The need to have more open and honest conversations about identity and wage structure within the music industry
1.25.00 Arts Emergency charity
1.26.30 Advice on sending demos
1.28.50 Aly summing up his advice for setting up a label and being an A&R
1.32.40 Discussing the Love & Purpose : A Celebration Of British Soul Music that Aly compiled on First Word.
Aly Gillani / DJ Gilla online:
instagram.com/djgillaldn
Substack djgilla.substack.com
instagram.com/firstwordrecords
firstwordrecords.bandcamp.com
Robert Luis online:
instagram.com/robertluis
facebook.com/robert.luis.5203
twitter.com/ROBERTLUIS
tiktok.com/@robertluisdj
robertluis.com
Tru Thoughts Online:
facebook.com/truthoughts
instagram.com/tru_thoughts
soundcloud.com/tru-thoughts
twitter.com/tru_thoughts
https://bsky.app/profile/truthoughts.bsky.social
