Ross Dines Talks Pizza and PX Records

How did your current role as Music Manager for Pizza Express and now record label manager come about?

I started out as a sound engineer in the PizzaExpress music room in Maidstone and began booking shows there pretty early on. I was eventually offered the chance to programme the historic jazz club and took over as Music Manager in 2008. The record label has been a long-term dream but started to become a reality post-covid lockdown.

Pizza Express has announced that it will launch The PX Records label alongside its established Pizza Express Live part of the company. What is the main thought process/vision behind launching the label?

For us, it’s a natural progression from the live venues to the label. The plan is for PX Records to release only music that was recorded in our venues, and this will be a mixture of legacy recordings that were made before the label existed and recordings of new shows. It’s a chance to get the PizzaExpress Live ‘brand’ and music beyond the walls of our intimate venues and into homes around the world. Also, with my sound engineer hat on, I plan for all recordings, particularly the more recent shows, to have exceptional sound and production.

Can you tell us about any of the planned releases for PX Records and when they are scheduled to be released?

In April 2023 we launch the label with releases by the legendary American saxophonist Scott Hamilton, who has been performing in our jazz club in Soho since the 1970s, and by the great UK funk outfit, Mamas Gun, who we booked in our Holborn venue, with the specific intention of recording a live album. In May we released an album by Native Dancer, which was recorded almost as an afterthought, but then we all fell in love with the music and agreed with the band to make it an album. Next up in June is Edbl, who is a young music producer and guitarist, who really started to attract attention with his self-produced releases during the Covid lockdown. We were delighted with how well his live show went down, with some great vocal performances from guests like Jay Alexander, Tilly Valentine, Alfie Neale and Jarki Monno.

Will each release be just one artist or will you be able to purchase a compilation (perhaps the best of Pizza Express for a particular location from say 2011)?

We have some plans for a few compilations, but it’s likely to be a bit more themed by genre than by year. We’re possibly looking at compiling tracks from our Latin Jazz nights and our ‘Heads Up’ series, which presents up-and-coming artists.

In doing my research, I read that Pizza Express Live now has an archive of over 50,000 recordings in its archive. Firstly, are you able to tease us a bit with some of the artists that you are planning on releasing, and secondly, is it your intention to gradually release most/if not all of them over time?

I think 50,000 might be more like the total number of shows we’ve presented since 1976 (we currently host c. 1500 in a year). Certainly, there is a lot of great stuff. We were lucky that our engineers over the years have often been equally good at recording and live sound. It would be a bit rash to name names when we still have a lot of conversations to have with individual artists, but it does include full shows recorded in the 1970s and 80s from some real jazz legends.

Will this be distributed through a dedicated PX Records website or at the Pizza Express venues and restaurants in addition to usual outlets?

We’re working with Absolute Label Services and Proper on distribution, but the answer will hopefully be ‘all of the above’, including Spotify, Amazon, Apple and local record shops.

Will PX Records release the recordings on various formats such as download, CDs and Vinyl?

The first four albums are certainly available on CD, vinyl and on streaming services.

As the label expands, would PX Records look at potentially signing brand new artists/bands with the plan to record new live shows at Pizza Express venues in addition to the archive material?

Our first four releases were all ‘new’ in the sense that it wasn’t archive material. We have a few exciting new artists we’re recording in the coming months with a view to potentially releasing live albums.

Potentially a difficult question but what are your favourite three courses on the Pizza Express food menu e.g. starter, main course and dessert?

Dough balls are such as classic. I still love them. Followed by Fiorentina pizza, with runny egg. The Honeycomb Cream Slice for dessert is also delicious.

What makes Ross Dines happy and what makes you unhappy?

Impossible to summarise. I was about to say all the cliché happy-life things about time with the family and kids, all of which would be true. I’m generally a happy person, but there’s no doubt music plays a significant role, perhaps as a form of life therapy. I’m no pro-musician, but playing the piano is one of my favourite things to do. What makes me unhappy? – Scrambled eggs microwaved.