Keith Cullen (born 1968 in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

, south of Dublin in Ireland), is the founder of

Setanta Records Setanta Records was a British independent record label led by founder Keith Cullen. Setanta published UK and Irish indie music in the late 1980s and in the 1990s. History Setanta Records was started in a Camberwell, London squat by former bicyc ...

, an artist manager and the author of the novel '' God Save The Village Green''.

History

Cullen moved to London in 1985, squatting in the

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

area, and worked as a bicycle courier before establishing Setanta in 1990: "From my mid teens, running a record label had been my only ambition," he recalls. Albums by

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Long ...

Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in 1985, Collins started a so ...

and

The Frank and Walters The Frank and Walters are an alternative pop band from Cork city in Ireland. The band was founded in 1989 and named in honour of two eccentric Cork characters. Members The original band line-up included Paul Linehan (vocalist and bassist), his ...

were issued on his label before its decline and Cullen's gradual disenchantment with the music scene in the early 2000s. The last issue by the label came in 2012 when it released a compilation of covers called ''Orchestral Variations V.01 by The Separate'' featuring, among others,

Ed Harcourt Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith (born 14 August 1977) is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released ten studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, '' Here Be Monsters'', was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Pr ...

Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age ...

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III and the younger si ...

Patrick Wolf Patrick Wolf (born Patrick Denis Apps; 30 June 1983) is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Wolf uses a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano, and viola. He is known for combining electronic samp ...

and

Joan As Police Woman Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Anohni and the Johnsons, ...

covering songs by artists including OMD,

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...

and

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

. At the suggestion of an artist's manager, Cullen enrolled in a creative writing evening course. He self-published his first novel ''God Save The Village Green'' in May 2009 under the Setanta banner. In keeping with the Anglo-Irish nature of much of the label's output, the novel narrates the fictional story of a London Irish family in 1960s-'80s

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

, falling apart under various forms of abuse. Cullen described it as "a very grim and gritty book, not mainstream at all," in an interview with

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

. In 2012 Cullen announced that he was closing Setanta. (subscription required) At present he is working on another novel and a stage play inspired by the music of

The Pogues The Pogues are an English Celtic punk band founded in King's Cross, London, in 1982, by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and Jem Finer. Originally named Pogue Mahone—an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish phrase :wikt:póg mo thóin, ''p� ...

. He is also Artist Representative for My Bloody Valentine. In 2017 he revived the Setanta name as an online bookseller specialising in photography books and rare fiction based in London.

Books

* (Hardcover, Softcover, download)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Keith 1968 births People from Dún Laoghaire Living people Music industry executives