For 30 years now, the name Rough Trade has acted as a beacon for music fans. In the same way that John Peel did the job of a DJ the way true music fans think it should be done (first, love music; second, play the music you love), in a world in which most DJs seem to have entirely different motivations, so Rough Trade has operated the way we think a record label should operate (first, love music; second, release the music you love), in a world populated by record labels that so often seem to have other things on their mind.

The first Rough Trade shop opened in 1976, and the record label sprang to life in 1978, first becoming associated with postpunk bands, then diversifying to take in talent that included the Raincoats, Young Marble Giants, the Fall, Pere Ubu, Robert Wyatt, Scritti Politti and the Smiths. Following financial problems, the label lay dormant for much of the 1990s, but it reemerged at the turn of the new millennium, building a roster that has been as critically admired and as influential as the bands it first worked with. If you think I’m exaggerating, just take a look at – or, better still, listen to – your free CD.

Since its revival, Rough Trade has provided the platform for three of the most influential bands of the decade so far – the Strokes, the Libertines and Arcade Fire – and two of the most critically adored singer-songwriters, Antony and the Johnsons and Sufjan Stevens. The label has also provided a new home for some much-loved artists, including Jarvis (né Cocker), Super Furry Animals, Glasgow’s Belle and Sebastian, and the returning, reenergised Scritti Politti.

Rough Trade is just a few weeks into a new relationship with the Beggars group, which Rough Trade’s founder, Geoff Travis, describes as “the beginning of a new adventure”. The new deal seemed like a good time, Travis says, “to show people we’re still here and still doing things we’re proud of”.

Rough Trade very nearly wasn’t still here. After the financial troubles, Travis busied himself with his Blanco Y Negro label, in conjunction with Warners, and with band management. “Rough Trade had been successful beyond our wildest dreams – in our own terms, not in City terms,” Travis says, “but I thought perhaps it had run its course.” Three factors combined to change his mind.

First, Travis’s relationship with Warners started to deteriorate following the departure of label boss Rob Dickins. “Things just weren’t the same. They wanted to approve all my decisions, which rather defeated the fundamental point,” Travis remembers. “We wanted to sign the Strokes and were told we had to go and get permission from Warners in the States. That’s not our way of doing business. We wanted to sign the White Stripes and were told the same thing. We weren’t allowed flexibility. I thought, if we can’t sign the best bands, the whole point has disappeared.”

Then, the other Rough Trade, the record store (for many years now, it has been a separate business from the label), celebrated its 25th anniversary. “At the party, Jeanette and I DJ’d, and there was just so much goodwill for Rough Trade in the air. We thought, are we being a bit naive in not keeping this going?” Jeanette is Jeanette Lee, Travis’s business partner since 1987. Although her previous career included working with the film-maker Don Letts and a stint in Public Image Ltd, Lee remains comparatively low-profile, leaving Travis as the public face of the company.

Finally, the former Stranglers manager Dai Davies tempted Travis and Lee to meet Sanctuary founders Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor. “We fell for Andy’s gruff Newcastle charm, the cigar smoke, the feet up on the desk,” Travis recalls. And so, with backing from Sanctuary, Rough Trade returned to life, and promptly signed the Strokes.

This relationship worked at first, but Sanctuary’s own well-documented financial troubles affected Rough Trade’s ability to invest in new bands. Industry observers are intrigued to see how the new relationship with the Beggars group will pan out. In theory, Beggars should prove an empathetic home. Like Travis, its founder, Martin Mills, started out with a record store (Beggars Banquet), then launched a similarly named label in the immediate aftermath of punk. Mills has proved himself a shrewd businessman, but, while he is likely to keep a close eye on costs and cashflow, he is unlikely to interfere with Travis’s main area of expertise: finding “the next big thing”.

To be more accurate, Travis’s talent is for finding “the next good thing”; or, even more precisely, “the thing that points to the next big thing”. The Strokes, the Libertines and Arcade Fire all inspired a wave of soundalike bands, some of whom have gone on to greater commercial success. Travis knows he is never going to sign the biggest band in the land. “If it was bland enough to be a huge smash, we wouldn’t like it any more,” he admits. “That’s not stupid idealism, it’s just our taste in music.”

This doesn’t mean, however, that Travis likes “difficult” music. “Anyone who heard Sufjan Stevens’s music would like it – but radio won’t play it,” he says, referring to the songwriter who has set out to release one album for each American state (and has so far done Michigan and Illinois, both to rapturous acclaim).

Nor does it mean that Travis doesn’t know how to help bands find their audience. Morrissey, notoriously, thought this might be the case, that a major label might make his band much bigger, and moved the Smiths off Rough Trade; instead of doubling their sales, the band quickly fell apart.

With the relationship with Beggars now in place, Travis is keen to move Rough Trade forward again. “We’re hungry to sign new artists. We’re on the lookout. Every single day, we hear a new band who sound like the Strokes, a new band who sound like the Libertines and a new band who sound like Arcade Fire. We’re looking for a new model, for the next band who will point the way forwards.”

While Travis keeps his ears open for his next signing, the existing Rough Trade roster is keeping busy. Travis outlines the forthcoming schedule, starting off with an unexpected treat. “We’ve got the first solo album from [the former Cocteau Twins vocalist] Elizabeth Fraser, new work from the Strokes and Belle and Sebastian; Antony is making a new album, Green [Gartside] is working hard on a new Scritti Politti record and Sufjan is making a new record. Which state? He hasn’t revealed that yet.”

While we wait for this new work to emerge, our free CD offers you a handy summary of the story so far.

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