Modern Sky: the record label taking artists to China as the UK music industry faces challenges at home

While Brexit and venue closures are weighing on the UK music industry, one label is building links with China

Red Rum Club signed with Modern Sky UK in 2018

It was the summer of 2015 and Joe Corby had just finished his music degree. One night he was drinking in the Crosby, a pub with the same name as the town just outside Liverpool, wondering what he was going to do next. “You have to stick with music,” his friend urged him over a pint. No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a chance encounter would change the course of Corby’s life.

Michael McDermott and Simon Hepworth were feeling similarly disheartened in the Crosby that night. They had just had a meeting with the manager of their band Red Rum Club. He had told them they needed something a bit different to make them stand out, like a brass section. Corby spotted them drinking over the other side of the bar and, on hearing this, reminded them that he played trumpet. Moments later he was invited to try out for the band.