Director Guy Ritchie Goes into Music

It’s not uncommon for singers to start record labels to support acts that would otherwise stand no chance in the industry, as neither is uncommon for singers to want to be actors and the other way around. However, it’s rather surprising for movie people to start a record label, which is precisely why Guy Ritchie’s announcement has come as a shock to many, as ContactMusic can confirm.

The British director generally makes niche movies inspired from the British underground / gangster scene, so it’s easy for an outsider to overlook his work. His latest effort, though, “Sherlock Holmes,” has not only managed to get critics’ approval, but the highest recommendations of audiences too. Breaking into mainstream seems to have done wonders for Ritchie’s self esteem, since the director is now thinking of going into music as well, it has recently emerged.

As fans would know, Ritchie is already the owner of a London pub called The Punchbowl. It’s here that he’s come to be familiar with the music of a band that goes by the name of The Punchbowl Band, whose career in the music industry the director plans to oversee. Of course, there’s no better way to do that than by launching a record label to sign said band and other artists worthy of a chance as well.

“It’s exciting to venture into the music industry. It’s a tough place but I’ve seen this band connect with people. They have every chance of being embraced by a wider audience,” Ritchie says of what led to the decision to start a music label. The Punchbowl Band is truly worth this shot, ContactMusic goes on to say, already having fans like pop star Justin Timberlake, who listened to them perform a couple of times and branded the experience “the most fun [he] had without a woman.”

“The Punchbowl Band – made up of Willy Barr, Brendan McAuley, Steve Mulhern and Daniel Gott – will release their debut album ‘Journey’ on March 1 through Punchbowl Records, which is a subsidiary of Universal Records. The record label is not Guy’s only new venture for 2010. The ‘Sherlock Holmes’ director is also planning his own brewery and has even registered the names of a number of ales in preparation for the business, including Bitta Ritchie, Punch Bowl Beers, Punch Bowl Ales and Ashcombe Ales, which is named after his mansion,” ContactMusic further mentions.