SINGER/songwriter and DIY musician, Julian Pugsley from Melksham, has signed a deal with independent record label, Subjangle.

A double CD containing 40 of his songs is being released in November.

The South Africa-based indie label signed Julian, who records his music under the moniker Blake, following the release of his album 1971, home-recorded during Covid-19 lockdown.

The new CD, entitled HMS Blake, will feature a mixture of newly-composed songs and older material stretching back to the days of Julian’s former band, Karma Truffle, who were signed to the Ecto Music label in the '00s.

Mr Pugsley said: “I am absolutely delighted to be signed to Subjangle.

"The label has some fantastic acts on its roster, including The Hannah Barberas, The Crystal Furs, The Alpine Subs and Night Heron.

"HMS Blake is a mixture of the old and the new. It features my latest songs but also serves as a career retrospective.”

Album highlights include Vinyl Junkie, which was featured in the 2018 British crime film Dragonflies Only Live For 24 Hours, and which appears on the CD sampler of the current issue of Relix music magazine, and the Paul McCartney tribute song, Pepper Man.

Of the latter, Mr Pugsley said: “I’ve been playing the role of John Lennon in a Beatles tribute band for ten years, but I felt it was time for Paul McCartney to receive some recognition for being a musical genius too.”

The CD also features a tribute to legendary Fleetwood Mac founder and lead guitarist, Peter Green, who passed away in July.

Mr Pugsley added: “I’ve been a fan of Peter since I was at school.

"I’ve covered a couple of songs by the original line-up of Fleetwood Mac in the past but I was moved to write a song for Peter after the tribute concert to him that Mick Fleetwood organised at the Albert Hall earlier this year.”

Julian is booked to appear at The Pound Arts Centre in Corsham on Saturday, March 13 next year.

HMS Blake is available to pre-order on CD for £8 from Julian’s Bandcamp page: www.thisisblake.bandcamp.com/

For further information about Julian’s music, visit his website www.thisisblake.com/