On the back of running their Little Num Num Club acoustic nights over the past few years, York musicians Andy Gaines and Chris Helme are setting up a new record label, PR, management and promotional company, Little Num Num Music.

The success of the club nights and the wealth of roots, folk and acoustic talent in York, together with Chris’s increasingly busy solo career, acted as the catalyst for starting the business.

This week, the label releases folk/Americana collective Boss Caine’s debut album, The Ship That Sailed, and the official launch party for both the album and the label will be held at 41 Monkgate on May 8. Helme, blues singer-songwriter Mark Wynn and headline act Boss Caine will play that night, with further support acts.

Andy and Chris reveal their plans to CHARLES HUTCHINSON.

What prompted you to take this next step in the Num Num story, Andy?

“It’s summat we’ve always talked about after the Little Num Num Club nights; we’ve always wanted to take it out on tour because there are so many talented musicians in York.

“Setting up the label and management company is a formalisation of the things I’ve been doing, Chris has been doing and the club’s been doing, and it’s a logical progression to start releasing albums by musicians who’ve been playing at the club.”

How is the record label progressing, Andy?

“We put Mark Wynn’s album out at Christmas time and now we have the Boss Caine one coming out on download and as a limited-edition digipack CD, and we’ll be doing Chris’s second solo album next. On the horizon for us as well is a Num Num compilation of live and studio tracks from past Num Num club appearances.”

How is the album developing, Chris?

“I’m writing it at the moment and got a big kick up the backside from Stuart Fletcher [his former fellow band member in The Yards] the other night to get on with it.”

How will you keep a check on running costs, Andy?

“By being tight. There are so many people who are able to help out in York – which is why the music scene is great here – but also by doing it all myself, we keep the costs down. No one is looking for a quick buck. Everyone’s doing it because they like doing it.”

Is it a brave step, Chris?

“We’ve built up a healthy relationship with the people we’ve worked with, so it should all pan out.

“The thing is, if you don’t stick your neck out, nothing will happen, and we’re clever enough not to let costs spiral.

“You’d be amazed how many people are jumping on to this because they’re willing it to happen. There doesn’t seem to be any cynicism or jealousy. Everyone’s willing to help everyone out.

“You see the Simon Cowells of this world, and it’s a lot easier to break it than make it, but people are getting sick of that, so there’s a lot of positivity for us because you get what you put in.”

What are the practical benefits, Andy?

“We’re all reasonably talented [he says this with a smile], and that means we can keep it in-house and not pay for producers or photographers or distributors, so you’re not paying the middle man.

Anyone can make records now and put them out, but it’s a question of making good records and getting them out, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Will Little Num Num Music boost York’s rock music profile?

Chris: “York has an inferiority complex but there’s more music here than there is in other towns, often bigger than York.”

Andy: “In a way, York is its own worst enemy; there’s a small-town mentality but you could equally argue there’s a little village mentality that works, producing the Little Num Num Club and Desert Mine Music. I hope we can take that and expose the good things.”

Chris: “There’s a psychological wall that people think they can’t break… …Andy: “But we’re not just doing this for York’s sake but because there really are good musicians here.”

Chris: “And it’s better for us to all help each other out rather than have in-fighting. We’re musicians ourselves and we know what we want from it. The experience from touring is that people are crying out for our stuff but couldn’t get it until now, though the live scene is thriving.”

• Andy Gaines and Mark Wynn play The Habit, Goodramgate, York, on April 9 at 9pm.