As everyone has heard overnight, the BBC may be cutting some of it’s services, one of which is the digital station 6 Music. Let’s be honest and straight up on this one, it would really hurt new music if this is the case.

Over the last few years we have seen Radio 1 sink into a state of ‘celebrity DJ’ over actual music fan so people flocked to 6 Music. For all of Jo Whiley’s annoyances, at least she wasn’t Fearne Cotton and anyone choosing ’Grimmy’ over Lamacq is clearly a fool.  But at 6 Music you could hear people like Steve Lamacq, Marc Riley, Lauren Laverne all playing music because they love and understand it. Guy Garvey’s radio show was absolutely brilliant but who else would have given him the slot to do it?  6 Music also gave us the Saturday morning perfection of Adam and Joe, now being nicely run by Collins and Herring. It was broadcasting that was not aimed at everyone but from the ground swell of outcry today, it clearly meant a lot to some.  Indeed, the station boasts a listener-ship of 700k people a week, taking £10 of these people’s yearly license fee would save the station. I think we all agree that this money is better spent here than on Chris Moyles or Graham Norton’s wages.

For a small label, like ours, 6 Music is somewhere you could actually aspire to get your music played and heard by some real music fans. I don’t think we would have ever got The Answering Machine as the breakfast show song of the week on Radio 1, but it was something attainable on 6 Music.  As James Yuill Tweeted earlier ‘We have to save 6 Music, who else will play my records’.  It gave us hope that we could really connect with people, where as without 6 Music, there would be no point in even trying for Radio 1 plays. We would never have the profile or the money to get close.

The BBC are looking at quality over quantity in the future and this is actually something I would agree with. 6 Music is the quality that should be saved. So should amazing imported shows like Heroes and Mad Men. Their website also might be cut which again is madness. The BBC is something this country should be very proud of but it seems they are just wanting to run it into the ground so we are left with characterless radio DJs and TV that is beyond dull.

I hope we can look back on this blog and realise that it wasn’t needed; that the truth was that 6 Music was always safe but until it is, people who really care for new exciting music need to speak out.

Recently Martin from The Answering Machine has been doing some amazing remixes. He’s put them here for you to check out - http://www.myspace.com/theansweringmachineremix. His LoveLikeFire mix went up yesterday and is a fresh take on a song we all love here.

It got us to thinking that if people want to remix our tracks then they should be able to easily, so if you fancy having a bash at the Answering Machine track ‘Emergency’ drop us an email to pete[at]heistorhitrecords.com and we’ll send you a link to download the stems of the track right away. Then it’s entirely up to you how you re-work the song.

Keep checking the site for new tracks and downloads soon!

At Heist Towers, we find ourselves in a sombre and reflective mood this weekend. We share offices in Ashford with a cargo company where a wonderful man called Richard used to work as a messenger. Sadly, Richard passed away suddenly last Friday.

Whilst his main time was spent working with the cargo company, on many occasions, Richard had cause to get involved in assistance for Heist and our bands. Richard was an absolutely lovely man with a generous spirit. Whilst being born in the late 30’s, Richard still took a amazingly keen interest in the progress of the Heist bands and used to play The Answering Machine and LoveLikeFire albums as he went about his work in his cherished Viano messenger vehicle. He will very sadly missed by all in the Heist family.

The weekend was spent visiting my Grandma who was 90 on Sunday. Considering I feel like 25 is going to be a major milestone next May, I probably needed some perspective. Being 90, she is not all that healthy and has been in hospital for a few months now. We had nice chats about her life and she told us stories between telling us just how happy she was we had come to see her. The main thing that perked my Gran up was listening to a CD of Josef Locke we had bought her for her birthday. As my father put it “music’s one of the last things we lose”

The whole trip made me realise some lessons. Firstly you really should value your family and enjoy them whilst they are here. Go give them a ring now. You’ll be suprised how happy they are to hear from you. Secondly music speaks to us like very few other things in this world. It reminds us of our memories and helps direct us in the future.

I’ll leave you with a quote from George Eliot (1819 – 1880) :

“I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music”

A charity close to all those at Heist Or Hit is looking to win a grant from Chase Community Giving and we’d ask you to spend 30seconds of your time to vote for them. The Pablove Foundation is a charity set up by the parents of Pablo Castelaz who sadly died of cancer in 2009 aged just six years old. The charity raises money for children suffering with cancer and their parents who have to cope with this tragic situation. Pablo’s father Jeff has recently completed a bike ride across America raising money and awareness for the charity.

More info here but please click on the link below. Your vote could help many many lives.