Music / In the Know
In the Know: Beth Roberts, Cuculi Records – ‘An alternative to hedonism’
DIY alt-folk label Cuculi Records operate under the maxim “it takes a village to make an album”.
As the collective celebrates its fifth birthday, co-founder Beth Roberts reflects on the emergence of the label, the realities of being women-led in a male-dominated industry and why they’ll continue quietly shaking up the live music space.
Roberts also recommends three unmissable gigs coming up in Bristol in December.
How did you get involved in the Bristol music scene?
Beth Roberts and the rest of her collective pitch in with every aspect of the label’s work, from writing, recording, releasing and sharing music to organising and compering their gigs that aim to provide a different sort of space for enjoying live music – photo: Cuculi
“In 2013 I was helping run Bristol Uni’s Jazz Funk Soul Society nights at the Big Chill Bar. It was a formative space for a lot of Bristol musicians like Holysseus Fly, James Vine (Waldo’s Gift) and some of Twat Union. There was so much appetite for live music, with queues down the street to hear local bands doing interesting original stuff, and big collective jams.
“I ended up working for grassroots promoters, venues and festivals while starting to perform my own music. I realised I wanted to create a space for music like mine – folk-adjacent, with influences from jazz, contemporary classical and experimental forms – which led to our gig series Cuculi Presents.
“We put on gigs in quiet spaces but with the kind of charged atmosphere of bigger, louder gigs. Our audiences come expecting to hear something unusual and to give it their full attention.”
How did the label emerge?
“Cuculi Records came together in 2020 as a platform for my psychfolk band Hands of the Heron to release our second album during the pandemic. We wanted to have more control of our narrative, and also to release our adjacent solo projects, collaborations and albums from the wider community.
Cuculi’s recent double album release show for Anna Ling and Aellin at Circomedia was a step up for their live event series – photo: Sander Lootus
“Cuculi means ‘cocoon’ in Greek (κουκούλι), a reflection of my Greek Cypriot heritage and a pretty good metaphor for how it feels to make and release music ourselves: messy, transformative, and the subsequent emergence of something new.
“We’re all interested in teaching ourselves and each other the different elements of making and sharing music. Bristol is an incredible place to build this kind of project because there’s such a strong DIY culture.”
What sort of music do you put out?
“We like music with layers! Music that has a personality and story to it, that’s clearly from a deep place in someone, with intimacy and immediacy in the sound and emotional intensity at the centre.
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“A lot of the music we release has roots in traditional music with elements of experimentation or reimagining, like Claire Vine and Hedera.
“Some of our artists do amazing world-building with production that’s aligned with psychfolk, creating a sonic landscape that the listener can escape into, like Louis Alberry, Fritillaries and Suzi MacGregor – but they all sound totally different to each other.
“We’re lucky to have such wildly imaginative and determined artists on the label.”
How does a female-led project differ?
“Cuculi has given me a belief in what people might be able to do if they’re given the right help when sharing new music, especially women and gender minority artists making music that falls between genre brackets.
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“Hands of the Heron is a woman-led band, and in our early days we sometimes found it hard to be taken seriously by venues and promoters. We had to work hard to understand the landscape of releasing and gigging so we could advocate for ourselves. It’s given us a good level of understanding.
“We’re able to provide solidarity in the process of releasing music, which can be extremely lonely and confusing. Sharing knowledge makes it easier for everyone and directly counters the industry gatekeeping we’ve witnessed, particularly among male-dominated recording and performance spaces where attitudes can be reductive and out of date.”
As you reflect on five years of the label, where would you like to see Cuculi go?
“We’re a tiny team mostly doing this for love. We’d like the word to spread about the label so our artists’ releases go further and our gigs feel less risky.
“We want to keep building a culture where people can be quiet together in community as these amazing artists share the fruits of their work.
“We also want to provide an alternative for the music scene, beyond hedonism and escape: sometimes gigs can be a place of gentle, communal presence, where we acknowledge what’s hard and find joy and solidarity together. Come to a gig and find out what we mean!”
Beth recommends:
Saffron Emerging Artist Showcase – December 3, Rough Trade Bristol
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Olive Grinter – December 4, Bristol Folk House
Cuculi Presents: Laurie Torres + James Gow – December 14, the Greenbank pub
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What Cuculi have coming up:
- Louis Alberry releases Milk Teeth on December 5; launch gig on January 27
- Hedera release Sterretjie on 16 December from debut album Hedera (out February 20); launch gig at the Mount Without on February 5
- Claire Vine releases Let No Man Steal Your Thyme on January 20 from debut album We Carve Our Path (March 13)
Main image: Cuculi
Read next:
- Crowdfunder for album celebrating ‘complexity, found joy and community’ in disability
- Review: The Last Dinner Party, The Prospect Building – ‘Theatricality, fun and frolics’
- Bristol’s month in world music – December 2025
- Bristol’s month in Folk and Roots – December 2025
- Bristol’s month in jazz – December 2025
- Bristol’s Month in Metal and Prog: December 2025
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