Summerhouse Records
Welcome to Summerhouse Records, home to some of the most exquisite and memorable British (and European) indiepop since the late 1980s – a whole wealth of great sounds, and still growing today.
Summerhouse Records was formed in 1986 in Stockton-on-Tees, north east England, initially to release records by local bands Friends and Whirlpool Guest House and the avant-garde funk band 4,000,000 Telephones. The label grew to sign Rumblefish, Quinn The Eskimo, Showstar, Skinner and Southbeach before contracting again to focus on label founder William Jones’ band Friends. Several albums have been licensed to overseas labels, particularly in Japan, and the label has recently signed Italian/English band La Porta Nuova.
La Porta Nuova
NEW ARTIST
La Porta Nuova is an Italian/English band, formed in June 2021 by William Jones, the former singer and songwriter of Friends, and based in Turin. The band are: William Jones (voice, guitar), Ivano Gruarin (guitar), Francesco Vecchia (bass) and Alex Bonacci (drums).
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Friends
FEATURED ARTIST
Friends formed in 1986 in Stockton-on-Tees, north east England. Singer, guitarist and songwriter William Jones was the constant factor in the band, which released 12 albums and seven singles before finishing in 2021.
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Elisa
The Zen House
Single Friends
Spangleland
Late Night Early Morning
Beautiful You
NEWS
New La Porta Nuova single - Road To Gold
October 2024
The new four-track single La Porta Nuova is out now. Produced by Alessandro Ciola in Turin, the single features four songs: Road To Gold, Tell Tell Tell, Bad Place and Red Turns Blue. As always, it’s a digital-only release and is available on all the principal downloads and streaming sites. Title track Road To Gold is an extended funky workout around the unusual theme of prospecting for precious metals. Closing number Red Turns Blue is unusual for the band as it features only the two singers and piano accompaniment from Paolo Gambino.
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William Jones 1995 Solo Concert in Japan
September 2024
A video has emerged of Friends frontman William Jones’ solo concert in Tokyo in April 1995. The concert coincided with a business trip to Japan, and an enterprising promoter decided to line up a one-off concert. William Jones was accompanied by percussionist Masako Ogawa for the ten-song set, and by the promoter’s own band for the encore You’ll Never See That Summertime Again. An extract from the concert (the Friends song Every Summer) is on Facebook, and the whole show will appear later on YouTube. For Friends completists there’s one song, Something On My Mind (no relation to the Pale Fountains song of the same name) which was never recorded or performed by the band.
Watch the videoNEWS
William Jones Interview On Pale Blooms And Beyond
August 2024
La Porta Nuova singer, guitarist and songwriter William Jones was recently interviewed by Greg Shanks for the Pale Blooms And Beyond channel on YouTube. The hour-long-plus interview covers William’s origins, childhood and long musical career, taking in the 35 years of Friends and the three years so far with his current band.
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Out now! Torino – The Double Vinyl Album By La Porta Nuova
August 2024
The two La Porta Nuova singles, Elisa and Glorious Day, are brought together in physical form in a double album on beautiful 140g black vinyl, spinning at 33rpm.
The sumptuous packaging features photos of the band in their native Turin (get the title?) with an insert sheet including lyrics and performance and production credits. The vinyl was cut by legendary mastering engineer Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road Studios, London.
Torino Album RequestNEWS
La Porta Nuova second single
August 2023
The second single by La Porta Nuova was released in August 2023. The Italian/English band, formed by former Friends singer, guitarist and songwriter William Jones, recorded the first songs at Imagina Studios in Turin, where they were produced and mixed by Alessandro Ciola. The title track, Glorious Day, features the magnificent London Community Gospel Choir, who bring the song to a momentous climax with several minutes of unaccompanied singing. Where Did It Go? features a string quartet, and all four songs display the band’s range of instrumentation and voices in songs ranging from pure pop to raw rock. Glorious Day is available from all downloads and streaming sites.
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La Porta Nuova first single
May 2022
The first single by new band La Porta Nuova was released at the end of May. The Italian/English band, formed by former Friends singer, guitarist and songwriter William Jones, recorded the four songs at Imagina Studios in Turin early in 2022, and the title track includes a mix of English and Italian lyrics. The other three songs showcase different aspects of the band’s style, and the single, available digitally only, will be the first in a series of four-track singles. It’s available from all downloads and streaming outlets.
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Friends call it a day
May 2021
Friends, the band that started the Summerhouse label, along with Whirlpool Guest House and 4,000,000 Telephones, have decided to call it a day. Founder member William Jones said: “The challenges of keeping it going when part of the band is in Italy and part in the UK, proved too much, and we weren’t making any progress in developing new songs. Of course you can do a lot on the internet, but for me it’s not as good as working together as a band, three or four people in the same room, and developing songs organically.”
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