Better late then never… happy Yule and happy lockdown… and happy next year… and for the rest… no comment… M.
Author: djM
Slow news…
Most of the time I forget to post any news here… this as most of it is posted at my Instagram page… but quiet a lot is happening… three new records are at the pressing plant: FOQL and 4Cantons (both Gooiland Elektro) and the Ô Paradis & Nový Svět LP (Vrystaete). Then there will be a special edition of the last 35 copies of the Hero Wouters LP. This in “Vrystaete style”…
After that I planned a LP by R A D K O (Enfant Terrible) and EP’s by Auva Duhr and Monocorpse (both Gooiland Elektro)… and also a Vrystaete record by Taro… and more Vrystaete releases are already imagined and planned…
Also today I started working on a new Gooiland Elektro compilation EP… more on that when the concept is ready and the artists confirmed…
As you might guess in these time… no parties and no concerts… there are plans for this but times need to be different to realise that in a responsible way…
So… hang in there… and furthur!
M.
Guestmix for Meta Moto
Meta Moto is a platform from London… they run a label and a podcast series for dark beats like dark techno, EBM, elektro, and more… I did a guest mix for their podcast series with a focus on Gooiland Elektro and Enfant Terrible releases… your can find it here…
In this mix you will find tunes by Silver Age People, Monocorpse, Roberto Auser, Max Dahlhaus, FOQL, LCN, Ian Martin, Savage Grounds and Neugeborene Nachtmusik…
There was an interview with the mix but on Soundcloud only a part of it was published… so I decided to publish it here…
- Your inspiration
The obvious inspiration is of course the original post-punk scene from the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s. There was a lot of creativity and open mindedness back then. Also it was in a creative way very “anti”… anti rock, anti commercial, anti establishment… this showed itself in a major DIY scene with a true independent way of working.
Musically not everything is evidently an influence on my label activity… it is mainly the early electronic (pop) music, first wave of industrial music and the darker side of guitar music from back then which is a reference point for my label work…
Also on the “business” side of things this is the era that inspired me a lot for my label… it is this already mentioned DIY, independent and anti commercial attitude that is also my own modus operandi. Factory Records is in that point a major influence. I just adore their way of working and thinking… and you have to give them the credits for being spot on several times… I mean Joy Division, Happy Mondays and the Hacienda club/dance music culture have all had a major influence on music culture…
Factory Records took their name from the early 1960’s art scene around Andy Warhol… an ecosystem on their own that I am fascinated with for many years too… his Factory workspace/living space/art space is legendary of course… and I always listen a lot to the Velvet Underground… for years and years and years… and then there is of course Nico… her music is something like true love to me… influences of her work can be traced back in some of the releases I did on my Vrystaete label…
What is beneath all of this is what you could call radical pop culture or extreme pop culture… pop culture which is neither true pop culture nor high culture… it is against high culture and it is against pop culture… it is in-between… it is against a dogmatic view on culture and against a dogmatic view on reality if you wish… but it is also in some ways an elitist endeavor… a playground for bohemians, artists, intellectuals… I am quite aware of this… and I like contradictions and things that are not clear… that can be everything and nothing… things that are in-between… but that are never a concession or conformation… “not playing their game” as Ken Kesey put it quite right…
My elitist pop culture idea is born from this… the Elitepop Manifesto I wrote is the basis of my label activities… always… but often in different ways…
- Your gear
You mean as dj? I am totally against the standard… so I do not own two SL1200’s… Many wannabe dj’s have these but they do not have a taste of music of their own… what is more important?
What I have are two old turntables… that are not meant for nor are very useful for dj’ing… but I never have aimed at being a star dj/dj star… I am a selecter… selecting outstanding tracks and interesting moods… this way you can tell stories instead of just entertaining people… even when I play for a live audience I do my best to add some “unfitting” stuff and at least you can expect some tracks nobody else plays…
Music I do not produce a lot these days so I sold almost everything I had like my synth module, guitars, effect pedals…
- Your religion
Any religion is dogmatic I think… but if we could see “religion” as a sort of feeling deep inside you and an attitude towards life then it would be misanthropy. Not that I am totally against people but I have a certain dislike for human beings on a macro-level… which does dominate my feelings in everyday life… without making it impossible for me to operate in daily life… The reason for this feeling and attitude is that I am disgusted with mediocrity… and human beings in general and life in general I experience as mediocre…
Books (bibles?) I read… and that confirms my worldview and equally fuels it… are by writers like Huysmans, Céline andHouellebecq for example…
- What is silence for you
Being away from other people, without the noise pollution they create and without the visual pollution which comes with this “modern” world… impossible to find in this era as the world is overcrowded and people are flying all over the planet whenever they can… so I have to settle with a temporary spot whenever possible to find one and/or create a bubble from time to time for myself to at least experience a sort of temporary “silence”…
A bit of delay…
The upcoming records by Leroy Se Meurt and Futuro de Hierro are delayed a bit… which should be no surprise taking the current situation in account… There is some delay at the pressing plant and I have to see if the workspaces where I print the artwork usually are opening up soon… I am not eager to compromise on the way I make the records for Enfant Terrible… I like to print all myself… this is an essential part of the process… I want every single record to go through my hands… meaning I print the artwork and do the assembling of the records and the artwork… I like to be connected in this way to the artefacts I put out…
So… I hope you have a little bit of patience… I aim for the end of May for these two records to be ready… which probably is better anyway as hopefully most record shops will be open again… so it makes more sense to have the records ready then anyway…
Various Artists – Reality As A Stage Set
I decided to do a digital (yes, digital!) release to bring some nice tunes to peoples homes … So this free digital and downloadable compilation was curated for this specific moment, during which COVID-19 goes around the world…
The compilation is called “Reality As A Stage Set”… it has a catalogue number and all and you can find it here…
I selected some (but not including all!) of my personal favourite tracks taken from vinyl records I released in the last few years on my labels… Several of the artists on this compilation have a bandcamp page where you can get the complete release the track featured here is taken from. Please support these artists if you can…
If you look for the download go here…
Cancelled
I was working on a really cool event with / at Kapitaal Utrecht for May… but this had to be cancelled now because of the regulations around the world-wide virus…
What was being prepared was an evening with Leroy Se Meurt live, and AV installation by Roel Weerdenburg and a dj set by Silver Age People…
When it is announced events are possible again I will look into the possibilities to do this evening anyway… but I expect I will not be able to realise an event until after summer… this due to other obligations / projects / travel plans…
Keep safe + see you on the other side!