Moshi Moshi Records started off as a hobby in 1998. Set up by three friends who had jobs working for major record labels. It was intended as a way of working with the bands that they loved but which didn’t fit in with the agenda of the day-job taskmasters. Early single releases from Zan Lyons, Kathryn Williams & Pedro and J Xaverre earned the label some plaudits. And sold a few records. Over the next five years Moshi Moshi slowly started to build a reputation for interesting, slightly leftfield, low-key releases. Then in 2004 things changed. For a start Moshi stopped being a hobby and became a fulltime job. Very soon after, Hot Chip and Bloc Party arrived and Moshi Moshi quickly became a name known to more than a few. Chart success followed with Yeti and The Rakes and higher-profile album releases from Architecture In Helsinki and Au Revoir Simone helped lift the label onto a new level. Then from 2006 onwards came artists such as Hot Club De Paris, Tilly And The Wall, The Wave Pictures, Slow Club, James Yuill, The Drums, Summer Camp, the list goes on.

In late 2006 the two remaining Moshi Moshi founders decided they wanted to get back to their one-off 7” release roots and the Moshi Moshi Singles Club was born. The intention was to try and release one 7” each month by a new up-and-coming artist. It would be limited to 1000 and only be available in a select group of indie stores. The artwork would be restricted to one colour and be designed by the bands themselves. Now some 40+ releases later the singles club’s roster makes an impressive list – (including) Kate Nash, Late of The Pier, Friendly Fires, Lykke Li, Florence and The Machine, Kindness, Dananananayckroyd. Disclosure. In 2011 Moshi Moshi expanded its remit by partnering up with some very talented young A&R folk to set up the imprints Tender Age, Not Even, Apricot and Dream Beach. Working under the Moshi Moshi umbrella these new labels have already yielded a clutch of exciting releases by artists from as far afield as Kenya and Seattle.

At the same time as running the record label Moshi Moshi Management has been quietly guiding the career of Metronomy and Slow Club as well as producers Ash Workman and Ollie Bayston. From 2012 this side of the business started to expand dramatically and now features a sizeable roster of emerging artists.

Looking back on the Moshi Moshi roster (particularly since the label ‘went fulltime’ in 2004) it’s a collection that bears comparison with any of its peers. For a label run by two people with no financial backing, it’s nothing short of an inspiration.

Gareth Glyn was born in Machynlleth, mid-Wales, in 1951, but has lived since 1978 on Anglesey, an island whose history, mythology and landscape have been important influences on his work as a composer, as has his Welsh identity.

His works were first broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation while he was studying music at Merton College, Oxford.

His compositions have been commissioned and played by eminent orchestras and ensembles and bands, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, The BBC Scottish Orchestra, the Strasbourg Philharmonic, the Ulster Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, I Musici de Montréal and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, and soloists including Bryn Terfel, Catrin Finch and Charlotte Church.

His many works for choirs of all kinds are sung all over the world, and he is particularly eminent in the field of male voice choirs – his Clychau’r Gog/Bluebells recently went into its 4th printing, and Heriwn, Wynebwn y Wawr/The Future’s Beginning Today is widely regarded as one of the best original Welsh choral pieces of the last fifty years.

His output includes orchestral, chamber, solo instrumental and vocal works, musicals, songs and song-cycles for professionals, amateurs and children, music for brass band and large-scale works for orchestra, narrators, actors and audience-participation; he has worked widely with leading orchestras in many parts of the world providing specialist works like EGAD! and Strings on the Wing, which can be performed by players of many different abilities simultaneously – from absolute beginners to concert soloists.

Gareth Glyn’s work is widely published (Spartan, Gwynn, Curiad, Adlais, Alaw, Chanterelle) and recorded (principally on ASV/Universal, Sain and Laserlight).

Gareth Glyn received an Honorary Fellowship from Bangor University, and the rank of Honorary Druid in the National Eisteddfod’s Gorsedd of Bards, for his services to music in Wales.

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