international news _ Jonty Skrufff _ 14th July 2005

Hed Kandi Founder Turns Japanese

Former Hed Kandi creator Mark Doyle has confirmed he's setting up a new record label called Tokyo Project which is being staffed almost entirely by fellow Hed Kandi people.

"Everything that Hed Kandi achieved was in a completely unconventional manner and I plan to continue that with this new project," Mark said this week.

"I think it may be the first time 90% of a company has all resigned with the same goal in mind. I think we can reinvent the spirit of Hed Kandi under the new name Tokyo Project. The independent control of the company means we can retain the brand values and not over commercialise the company. Their will be no major changes to our music policy or presentation. Tokyo will be Hed Kandi under a new name ...but new and improved Hed Kandi," he promised.

Mark, who launched the brand from zero as a compilation spin off label from Jazz FM, said his decision to leave was 'a long time coming' prompted by structural changes that followed when the Guardian Media Group (GMC) bought Jazz FM several years ago.

"After conceiving the Hed Kandi brand everyone else's perception was that I owned the label or had a share in it. The fact was I was an employee of Jazz FM and I was more than happy to be offered the opportunity of setting up this label even with no actual ownership of the label," he explained.

"As time went by over the past year there were more and more little incidents where commercial, marketing and A&R decisions were made that I felt were not in the best interests of the label," he continued.

"Around 6 months ago I offered to purchase the label from GMG and was given a spectacularly high figure for its purchase. Soon after this my own contract negotiations stalled and my feeling was the company would have preferred my resignation from the label so they could take it forward in their own way without my constant interruptions

At this point I decided that Hed Kandi wasn't a name or a logo but the team of people that all contributed to making it happen. I secured major financial backing from two long term business contacts (and friends) and set about gathering the original team to start a new label," said Mark.

Tokyo Project launches on August 1.(Jonty Skrufff/Skrufff.com)