Tag: handmade

Out now: 2 x new Vrystaete

It took me some time but the two new Vrystaete releases are ready and will be on there way to people and (web)shops from later this week onwards…

So both Lend Me Your Underbelly and Ô Paradis can be enjoyed during your Xmas dinner…

I always miscalculate the amount of time needed to complete the Vrystaete records… next to printing the artwork and the info sheet there is the numbering of the artwork and the applying of stamps on the record labels (4 on each record) and on the info sheet (1 on each info sheet)… then there is the assembling of it all… so well… if I would include my hours spend on this in the price of the records they would become too expensive to sell…

So… think about that when you have in your hands sooner or later… these records are quite priceless… 😉 And… I saw in Discogs lately that at least one is already a real collector piece but I am quite sure a few more will become that too shortly… most titles are sold out or low in stock at most places…

Brannten SchnĂźre

The printing work for the Brannten SchnĂźre record in the Vrystaete series is nearing completion… but it is definitely more work as expected and the most labor-intensive record I ever did until now… I would not even start to calculate what this record would really cost if I would sell it for a reasonable price related to all the hours put in it…

BUT… it is absolute nice to see how great the result is… and that is the only thing that counts: how it turns out in the end…

Shipping of the private pre-orders and to shops will start next week… and you can also still order the record directly through me…

Not For Sale

13636236_1336271646388111_701108624_nAll my releases come in small editions but from time to time I like to create something really special and obscure… like I did for example with the 20 copies of the Neugeborene Nachtmusik LP… that came with different artwork…

Right now I am printing the artwork for the next three releases at Kapitaal in Utrecht… For the new Monocorpse EP the musician and I have imagined a special edition of 10 copies next the “regular” edition… this special edition also comes in a handprinted sleeve… just like the regular edition but with a different design (see photo)… also for this special edition the labels will be hand stamped…

All copies will be given away to friends and collaborators of Monocorpse and Enfant Terrible… meaning this one is not for sale but just made for fun of creating something really special… still the regular edition is super nice too and this EP is a killer record… you can pre-order a copy here…

Printed matters

This weekend I have been printing the art prints for the upcoming Neurobit record on Vrystaete and the sleeves for the new Gooiland Elektro compilation… both records are expected late March…

The art prints for the Neurobit record are designed by Sasj and are geometric patterns… originally the design was intended to have 3 layers but in the end I decided to only go for 2 layers… less is more and as the third layer was a big square with patterns in it this would have been quite hard to do with silk screen printing…

The design is printed in three color variations… so 50 prints of each variation… see above… when (pre)ordering the record you can state your wish for a specific color combination…

As always these prints where done at the printing facilities of Kapitaal in Utrecht…

A post with photos of the Gooiland Elekro sleeves will follow in the next days…

Perfect vs. imperfect

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Even though I go for perfection this does not mean my idea of perfection is the same as for all people… since a very long time I cherish the imperfect… something flawless is often without a soul to me… a little imperfection is what makes a record perfect from my point of view… so somethings can be perfectly imperfect…

Recently I incorporated two imperfections  for the upcoming Gooiland Elektro compilation “Noblesse Oblige”… first thing was a little glitch in one track… this track was recorded in one take as a jam… so the energy in it is pure and raw… so not to be copied in a new recording session… for this reason I decided to include this version of the track…

Next to that I was working on a stamp for the insert which comes with this record… not a handmade like the Vrystaete stuff but designed on a computer… when the design was sent to the company which I asked to produce the stamp I got a message it was not possible to make a stamp out of the design… it was not clear enough and would become a bit blurry they said… what they meant was that is was not clear like the other designs they get and they did not know what this would mean for the final product… I just told them to continue and I would pay whatever the end result would be… so they did… and when I got the stamp I was just very happy with it… being a bit imperfect as it is…

Some people simply do not understand the charm and (aesthetic) value of things being just not perfect… and some others are uncertain of taking  a little risk with small imperfections in the production process… for me imperfection is what sets something apart from other things… it is what makes a record daring and edgy… and it is simply fun to not know exactly what will be the end result until you hold it in your hands… just perfect!

 

Assembly line

petitEurop_assemblingAlways when new records arrive from the pressing plant it takes a few days before I can start to ship records to private orders and shops. This because the records have to be assembled… sometimes it involves more work (more parts) as other times…

Right now I have quite some work to do… the Sololust and Staatseinde sleeves need to be folded… and I do this by hand… one sleeve at the time… after that I need to put them in a plastic outer sleeve and put the vinyl record also in this plastic sleeve.

The Europ Europ is another story… I made 200 small stickers by hand… one for each sleeve… so I also need to put the stickers on the sleeves… also a black inlay card I cut in the right size has to be put in the sleeve and after that the vinyl record and the silk screen printed inlay card also have to put in the plastic outer sleeve… so lots of parts have to be added before I have one ready to send out into the world…

Still… in the end the more work involved in a record the more satisfaction it gives me when I see the end result…

So… I am busy right now to get all records ready so I can start shipping soon…