Getting To Know....
Big Scary Monsters & Big Scary Monsters Social Club
Label owner and founder of Big Scary Monsters Kev Douch set out start a record label when he was a teenager in 2001, burning CDs his bedroom and distributing them among friends. Skip forward 20 years and the label has grown to a team of five and has worked with bands from all over the world, while stepping into the label’s second decade came with a new venture in the form of a craft beer and record shop, Big Scary Monsters Social Club, in the heart of Oxford’s cultural hub - Cowley Road. Big Scary Monsters Social Club has been in the planning stages for a very long time. Like lots of record collectors I used to dream of one day opening a record shop and, similarly, like lots of drinkers I fantasised about running a bar. The Social Club is the meeting of those two thoughts. Part bottle shop, part record store, it’s a place to meet friends, discover new music and drink nice beers in a welcoming, inclusive environment.
moshpit only to emerge grinning and claiming this to be “the best gig ever” feels as right as it does wrong. What we do For those who aren’t aware, Big Scary Monsters Recording Company is a record label based out of a small office just round the corner from the shop on Cave Street. Now 20 years young, the label has worked with bands from all around the world including Modern Baseball, Jamie Lenman, American Football, The Get Up Kids, TTNG, Delta Sleep, Pedro The Lion, Martha, Kevin Devine, We Were Promised Jetpacks and so many more. The Social Club stocks all of these along with our favourite alternative, punk, math rock, indie and basically any other record we like (and yes that includes Parachutes by Coldplay).
We spent a long time searching for locations around Oxford and when 98 Cowley Road came up, we immediately knew it was the one. Situated opposite Big Society, which fellow old people will remember used to be The Elm Tree, a venue I frequented as a teenager to watch tiny punk bands and ultimately give birth to the idea of starting a record label. The fact I can now look out of our window straight into the room I saw my friend have his eyebrow ring unceremoniously ripped from his face during a Stampin’ Ground
On the beer side we have a rotating cast of 200 different cans and bottles in stock at any one time. 6
