'Lethbridge Defy The Odds and Beat The Majors'
June 1st, 2004 - Paul Cashmere - Undercover Media
Queensland band Lethbridge has defied all odds this week beating the power
marketing ploys of the major labels and scoring a number one single in
Queensland with their song 'In My Room' on their own terms.
The highest profile member of the group is Levi Kereama, an Australian Idol
contestant who made it through to the final ten. Despite his profile as the
Number 6 place getter, he held back from major label offers to stay with
Lethbridge, his family band. "The main reason I went in there was for some
recognition and some exposure" he tells Undercover News. "I just wanted to get
my name out there so I could push the group".
They took the Indie route after Darren McVean, a radio executive from Bundaberg,
Queensland started F8 Records and included Lethbridge as shareholders in the new
company. "In a way we are control freaks" Darren tells Undercover News. "Levi
wanted to be a group, not an individual so we formed a company around them."
F8 produced 35,000 units of the 'In My Room' single and started work
distributing them into stores. "All of Sanity and HMV have it now as of last
week" Darren says. "It was released on May 16 and we got it into Sanity stores
in Queensland and South Australia. It has now had about 60 adds on radio and is
receiving airplay through Austereo, Nova and RG Capital".
That is a success story any major label would love to have. 'In My Room' sold
3524 units last week in Australia but sales came mostly from Queensland. In
Queensland, the single outsold Spiderbait's 'Black Betty by almost two to one.
Nationally, it is at number 12.
As a top 10 contestant in Australian Idol, Levi was offered deals from major
labels but knocked them all back. "We got a few offers but they weren't that
great for us" he says. "The deal with the Independent is better. There is a lot
of hard work but the rewards at the end will be better. The percentages didn't
work out for me".
'In My Room' is an original, new recording. "We recorded that about three months
ago in Sydney" he says. "It has been a lot of hard work because we aren't on a
major but it is out there now. We had problems getting it into Melbourne and
Sydney. We have just released the single there this week".
McVean gave Lethbridge a career path few majors would consider. "They've hung on
to their publishing and they are shareholders in the label" he says.
F8 also did some smart marketing by dropping 250,000 posters into Queensland
homes to create awareness of the single and it has paid off.
Lethbridge have already recorded their second single and plan to release an
album later this year.