FROM Mercury-nominated indie darlings to DIY pioneers, Young Knives are certainly taking a novel approach to the music business.
 

After shedding themselves of label, manager and booking agent, the Oxfordshire three-piece took to crowdfunding website Kickstarter to raise £12,000 for their acclaimed fourth album ‘Sick Octave’.
 

After being left ‘financially ruined’ by their third record, the group created ‘Sick Octave’ in a home studio using second-hand kit from eBay and even some instruments they made themselves with a soldering kit.
 

“We’re making a stand and showing that there’s more than one way to do things,” said vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Henry Dartnell.
 

“We wanted to prove that we could make it happen on our own – it’s a bit risky and a lot of hard work, but so much more fun.”
 

Young Knives – Henry, his brother Thomas on bass and Oliver Askew on drums – gained national recognition in 2005 with their single ‘The Decision’.
 

Their debut album ‘Voices of Animals and Men’ gained them a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize and reached No.21 in the UK Album Charts.
 

But the band wanted to flex their creative muscles more than mainstream success would allow.
 

“People were starting to think of us as quite a big indie band,” explained Henry, “but with commercial indie music it’s harder for labels to take risks.
 

“I didn’t want to listen to people telling us what was good and bad – I wanted to make a record as bonkers and joyous as I was capable of doing.”
 

Other than mixing, the band did everything on the album – down to the artwork – themselves.
 

They set up a Kickstarter campaign with a target of £10,000 and exceeded this with 413 backers in total raising £12,135.
 

On the decision to use crowdfunding, Henry said: “I just thought it would be interesting and a good way to engage with people so I thought I would give it a whirl.
 

“We treated it as a pre-ordering system – people pledged their money and eight months later they got an album.”
 

The band have already started work on the follow-up to ‘Sick Octave’, which Henry predicts will be “a continuation of what we’ve done with this album, but maybe a little less swamped and a little more industrial.”
 

Young Knives play at 53 Degrees, Preston, on March 23.