Conform To Deform

Along with Factory, Mute, and Creation, Some Bizzare was the vanguard of outsider music in the 1980s, the label’s debut release reads like a who’s who of electronic music, featuring tracks from Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Blancmange, and THE THE, while over the next decade its roster would include artists such as Marc Almond, Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten, Foetus, Swans, Coil, and Psychic TV. 

For a time, Some Bizzare was the most exciting independent record label in the world, but the music is only half the story. Self-styled label boss Stevo Pearce’s unconventional dealings with the industry are legendary. Sometimes they were playful, other times less so; either way, he was a force to be reckoned with. His preternatural ability to spot talent meant that his label was responsible for releasing some of the decade’s most forward-thinking, transgressive, and influential music.

The Some Bizzare story spans the globe: from ecstasy parties in the early 80s New York to video shoots in the Peruvian jungle, from multimedia events in disused tube stations to seedy sex shows in Soho. There are million-selling singles, run-ins with the Vice Squad, destruction to the ICA, death threats, meltdowns, and of course, dwarves. And at the centre of it all is Stevo: DJ, entrepreneur, label boss, manager, art terrorist, disrupter. Conform To Deform is the previously untold story of the music and art he put out into the world, and how a teenager from Dagenham took on the music industry in its pomp and-for a while, at least-beat it at its own game.