This isn’t meant to be an all encompassing guide to how to start and run a label (there are some out there on the net) – these are just my personal observations after having owned a couple of labels, helped out behind the scenes on several, and being on the other side of things as an artist. I also don’t think it matters whether you’re running a small commercial label or a netlabel – these are all fairly universal thoughts. Please comment if you think there’s another item that should be there that I didn’t think of – or disagree with me if you don’t like one of them.

I enjoyed writing them a couple weeks ago on twitter, and I’d like to expand on each item a bit further than twitter’s 140 character limit.

101: No matter how polite the rejection is, artists understandably don’t like it, and some hold a grudge.

I’m an artist, I’ve been rejected countless times. The best rejection is one where the label owner at least let you know they listened and you didn’t fit their label. Another good rejection letter is one where the owner takes the time to comment on your music, this is rare, but if the owner takes the time to critique your music or how you approached them – listen! Neither of these feel good in any way to an artist. How could it? You’ve just been rejected for one reason or another. That a label owner took the time to listen and make any comment at all is almost amazing in this day and age. Most labels get tons of demos on a frequent basis. Some labels don’t respond at all – so feel lucky if you get a ‘hello, sorry’ back from the label. On the other hand – some labels go above and beyond.

In my own case – if someone is serious about wanting to be on my label, it’s more than just your music – it’s about your passion for your music, for other people’s music, where you’ve been and where you’re going. You as a person matters to me – because I’m a small label, I don’t plan on working with anyone that isn’t more or less a ‘friend’ of mine – even if you’re a brand new friend. This makes it harder for me – because I do have to say no. Either it’s just not the right fit musically, or maybe it’s not the right fit from a personality perspective. Or maybe you just asked at the wrong time because I just added two artists and I can’t possibly see adding another for a few months (which of course, I’ll say in my email).

Regardless of how it’s said – us creative people are often a bit touchy when someone says “no” to our latest creations – and it’s understandable when people aren’t too happy with me (or other labels). Hopefully, the artist realizes down the road that I wasn’t being evil, but simply trying to be helpful. I do feel I’ve ruffled a few feathers over the years, but there’s just not much I can do about that but move on.

101: Don’t be an island.

To me, this is just amazingly obvious – how can a label be successful if they cut themselves off from the world? I’ve run across labels that do this, they don’t spread the word about their artists and new releases – they don’t engage online – they do little more than put an album up on their website or store and send a note to their mailing list.

To me – this is like being an island and cutting off contact with the world. Virtually all of the potential listeners and hopefully potential *fans* are out there on the internet. They’re on twitter, on facebook, on myspace, on whatever social networking site (old and new), on mailing lists and forums. A label has to reach out. A label has to have their music in places that people will see you, hear about you, and download or buy your music.

101: If the only thing you ever post is spam… people will ignore you very quickly. (See also: Being an Artist 101)

Of course, the flip side to reaching out, not being an island, and finding people… is to not go so far as to be a spam factory. Who wants to read what you post if the *only* thing you ever post is about your label, your music, and your releases. If you’re a label owner and trying to engage with people on social networking sites to spread the word about your artists and releases… you’ve got to have balance. You can’t post 100% about your label otherwise people will tune you out. Even if they still follow you on various sites – your posts may start to become invisible to people.

Best advice I can give is be yourself.

The only exception I can think of is if you have an official “news” feed – on twitter or a blog somewhere where people can grab an rss feed, etc… On that special news feed – you may want to only post the direct news about the label. But make sure people know how to find your personal account.

101: Passion Part 1. If you aren’t passionate about running a label, don’t start.

Oh wow – this is true of everything isn’t it? If starting a label is just a passing thing – something you’ve thought about doing, think it’ll be fun, and won’t take all that much of your time. Don’t do it. It takes a ton of time – a lot of planning – a lot of tedious work. On the other hand, if getting music from other artists into the hands and heads of listeners is a passion of yours – by all means, go for it. I find it very rewarding and I love it, but it’s not for everyone!

If your true passion lies elsewhere… do that! Life is short, do what truly makes you happy in your spare time!

101: Passion Part 2… If prospective artists aren’t passionate about their music and about your label, it’s not a good fit.

This is a little tougher to figure out, and this is why I bug prospective new artists with questions about their music and why and how they write it. What they’ve done before, where they want to go, who their influences are, etc… It’s tougher when someone isn’t very outgoing and here again – we’re talking about creative people – some people are very shy about their music – sometimes you have to kind of drag them out of their shell at least enough to get them to talk…

101: The fine art of teasing label news to build a frenzy among fans is well worth learning. See @kieronjames @clearnotice

This twitter post I put up as Kieron James was posting about being very, very, very excited to potentially have a new artist joining his Clear Notice label. However, he couldn’t say who it was. So while this was partially a tongue and cheek jab at Kieron for getting expectations up and then not being able to say anything about it… it’s also very true. Clear Notice and Public Spaces Lab both recently released compilations – and both labels did a wonderful job of spacing out information… posting new info every day or every hour. Releasing a new video only after x number of people joined the facebook group. Building excitement! This is one of those things that there’s no rule book for – it’s different for every release – creativity is a must. These two labels did it well this time around. I was excited… I got them both.

* Public Spaces Lab – PS020 – The Future Lab – free netlabel download
* Clear Notice – Enter Calico – commercial (affordable) release

101: It’s not done until it’s done! Better to miss a release date than release a bad album. Wait until it’s right.

This is my main statement to everyone. Whenever an artist worries about not gettting an album done by a certain month they’d picked out as when they thought they’d be done… to me – there’s nothing to worry about. We’re not surgeons saving lives here – here musicians writing music – if an album releases two months later than planned because we needed to make sure everything was just right (with the music, mastering, artwork, press release, website, etc. etc. etc… there are a ton of things!) – than delay the release.

I like to keep a rough list of what albums are probably going to be done in what months. It helps with planning, but ultimately – that list is throwing darts at a calendar – and the world just won’t end. I’d much rather have something be right and the best we can possibly release – than hurry up to hit an arbitrary deadline.

Curious about Relaxed Machinery’s calendar? None of these are set in stone… in fact my “08.09.10″ was planned for August and definitely won’t be out for several more months yet. Beta Cloud’s album has been finished and mastered since June, but we’re waiting on artwork. It’s ok – good music, good releases… they take time!

Scheduled:

rM_0002 John Koch-Northrup – Temporal Arc [Sep 2010]
rM_0007 Beta Cloud – The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) [tbd]
rM_0008 Chris Russell / Disturbed Earth – The Approaching Armada [10.10.10]
rM_0009 Relaxed Machinery Compilation – Sleep Mode [11.16.10]
rM_0010 I’ve Lost – title tbd [tbd Nov/Dec 2010]
rM_0011 Nettless – title tbd [tbd Dec 2010]
rM_0005 John Koch-Northrup – 08.09.10 [tbd]
rM_000x Bob Ohrum – Subliminal Listening [Jan 2011]

Released:

rM_0001 Steve Brand – Circular Scriptures [Jan 2010]
rM_0003 Chris Russell – Frozen [Jul 2010]
rM_0004 Bob Ohrum – Elevated [Jun 2010]
rM_0006 Steve Brand – Coniunctio [Aug 3 2010]

Future:

rM_000x Bob Ohrum – Subliminal Listening
rM_000x Chris Russell – Home
rM_000x åpne sinn – espiritista
rM_000x Beed and Fascia -
rM_000x Chris Russell – Neon
rM_000x John Koch-Northrup – Mercury Drop
rM_000x John Koch-Northrup – Kinetoscope
rM_000x Matt Hillier (Ishq? Elve? tbd?) –

101: a) have a website with all info about label b) make sure it’s readable / easy to find stuff c) keep up to date

This is a subjective thing… but at the very least – have a central website with information on your artist and releases and make it easy to navigate. Post your news there.

Labels have a lot of different approaches to this… but I think a good rule of thumb is have someone look at your website and ask them to find an album, or find an artist – and if they struggle to find it… you may need to do some more tweaking.

101: Don’t trust a twit on twitter looking down at his camera standing under his wife’s birthday tree on how to run a label.
101: In other words, what works for me may not work for you. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and ignore advise.

I’ll put these two together… the message here is basically hey, what do I know? It’s your label, follow your own gut! The joke about the picture is my twitter profile picture which I took one day while taking photos of our fruitless weeping mulberry tree which I bought for my wife on her 30th birthday. I jokingly took a couple of photos of myself and I liked one of them. Here’s the full size shot on flickr. Yeah – I needed to shave that day.

101: Everything takes a lot longer than you think it will. Have patience.

I can’t stress this enough – everything takes time. A lot of time. More time than you ever think it will. Even if you plan for everything to take a long time, trust me, it’ll take longer. Try not to get frustrated, do what you can to facilitate whatever is taking time, and move on.

101: Start small and let things grow organically. You can’t do it all at once.

This works best for me – it might not for you. But the gist is don’t bite off more than you can chew. Start small, and build gradually. Another nice cliché is Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes a lot of time to build websites, to get releases ready to release, to upload those releases wherever they need to go.

It takes a lot of time to build a reputation as a label, for people to trust in the music you release. Ironically – it takes almost no time at all for people to lose that trust…

101: You need friends who’ll tell you their true thoughts. People who aren’t afraid to disagree with you.
101: Listen carefully to advice from your close friends and peers, know when to take advice and when to go with your gut.
101: Because above all, it’s *your* label and your name on the door. Sometimes you have to do things your own way.

Another tough one to put in to words and my thoughts may not match your own – and that’s ok. Some people are brilliant and now a lot about everything. I’m not one of those people. I need friends who know things I don’t. I’m not afraid to say that.

I’m really pretty good at certain things, but I trust Steve Brand on anything regarding graphic design. And I trust Geoff Small when it comes to general business advice. I trust Mike Griffin on many issues with running a label and dealing with various issues – because he’s run Hypnos for over a decade – he’s been there. I trust a lot of friend’s ears.

And then there are times when everyone is telling you something and you know in your heart it needs to be your way. And that’s when you go with your gut and do it. Everyone I asked told me I was nuts for wanting to run a label where I as the owner don’t make any money off the artist’s releases. Actually I still do have people tell me I’m nuts… However, I feel it’s the best way for me to run the label – and as far as I’m concerned. I made the right decision. I love running it this way. I went with my gut and was right.

I’ve gone with my gut and been wrong as well… hey, I’m not perfect.

101: Label owners tend to spend time releasing other artist’s music a lot more than time recording their own music.

This is so true – and you almost have to run a label to understand this one. I got several private messages from label owners going “yep – no kidding!” after I posted this on twitter. This is something you have to factor into your decision on whether you want to run a label or not.

101: Have someone (that’s not you) proofread press releases, album notes, etc. (I’ve been bitten by this one!)

Oh my have I tossed some bad typos out there. And where we are today … texting, IM chats, twitter, everyone abbreviating everything… writing something that makes grammatical sense with everything spelled right gets harder and harder for me to do! So I run things through spell check – and then have someone else not directly involved with whatever the project is read and proof it. They always find something. If you’re sending a promo pack out to a ton of radio and reviewers… the last thing you want is to look unprofessional due to a string of typos…

101: When you least expect it, all those quotes and apostrophes in your press release will be turned into ? marks in email.

This one I added about a week after the other posts. I’d just finished doing the press release for our latest album and we were having a special listening party on StillStream.com … I wanted to try and spread the word and I posted the press release to the Ambient Mailing list and Ambient Landscape list – and of course – my entire press release had all the quotes and apostrophes switch to question marks. For example… Steve?s album ?Coniunctio?

How frustrating! This had to do with copy/pasting out of my text editor. Next time – I’ll email myself first and make sure it works.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts on running a label. I hope you enjoyed it! Please comment below if you’d like to add something, disagree, or discuss.

John

p.s. If you’d like to read some past blogs on my running Relaxed Machinery…

* Kinetoscope .: 025 :. A Great Day! – a lot of random label news
* Kinetoscope .: 023 :. New rM Release – details on how an rM album is released
* Kinetoscope .: 021 :. rM World View – a look into the various websites and tools we use for Relaxed Machinery

Image: Lines 1 taken by me.

.: Steve Brand – Brief Bio

Steve Brand has been making music in the experimental realm since the early 90′s under the name, “Augur,” with more than 20 limited edition releases on various independent labels. In 2003, Steve began creating in the “ambient” genre under his own name. He describes this change in moniker and musical expression as, “Part of the process of moving out of my head and more into my heart.” Since then, Brand has issued a number of self-released disks, as well as a number of solo and collaborative releases on the U.S. labels, Hypnos, AtmoWorks, Relaxed Machinery, and the Italian label, Afe.

In addition to his sound work, Steve is a Reiki Master, trained energy healer and visual artist who is: “Committed to the idea that art/music, more than being just an object for sale, is actually a fluid and transformative process that opens us up to new possibilities that create the potential for healing spiritually and physically, and connects us via itís roots in our common ancient past with itís wellspring in the depths of our larger selves.”

If you’d like to read more about Steve and view his extensive discography, please visit his bio page on the Relaxed Machinery website.

.:

jkn: Let’s discuss your “early days” a bit. Did you take lessons on an instrument early on? Play or sing in school? Any early bands? Or did you discover playing music a little later in life?

sb: I’ve always been around music and had some kind of musical instrument. My family listened to all kinds of music from pop to classical to jazz, and I’m told I would have the record player cranked up late at night in my bedroom late at night. I always had a eclectic collection of records, and it remains that way today, although I’ve really cut back and sold a lot. I’m not a joiner at all, so I was never in band, choir or art club at school. A great uncle bought me my first acoustic guitar when I was about 8 or 9. It was really cheap with extremely high action, but I picked it up pretty fast. By the time I was 15 or 16, my part time jobs had bought me 2-3 guitars and a huge Fender amp. I was in a garage band or two with various configurations of friends, mostly just pissing off their parents. We played all the usual rock stuff, but there was always an experimental side to it all that took us off into weird tangents. I took lessons about that time as well, but for some reason, at that time, learning to read music just didn’t stick. Music was, and remains, a more intuitive thing for me. I became fascinated with flutes about 5-6 years ago, and my wife commented one day that it wasn’t so much like I was learning to play, but more like I was remembering how to play. I like that idea.

jkn: I love the comment about “remembering how to play” – and it certainly fits as your flute playing is very instinctual from what I hear on your albums.

sb: Thanks, jkn. By “instinctual,” I hope you mean soulful and feeling!

jkn: I mean that it sounds like you were born to play. Yes, soulful and feeling!

.:

jkn: Why do you write music?

sb: Technically, I don’t! (See answer above!) I have passions and interests in a number of areas…music, photography, writing, painting, drawing, sculpture. I have two masters degrees in painting and drawing. In the early 90′s, I decided that I could incorporate all of my interests, after working in hybrid forms of art for about a decade, and being heavily influenced by groups like Zoviet France. I could see that music, art, performance, philosophy could be melded together into one powerful expression. This was perfect for me. Even though I work more or less in ambient music these days, my approach is still to the experimental side. For me, music is one of the purest forms of expression there is. Once all the intellectual crap is pushed out of the way, and you can access and express what you’re feeling on a number of levels, I feel that you can reach a place that speaks to people in a very personal and yet almost universal way. For me, anything we do creatively is about intent, and that is my intent, to reach out to people in a very personal way with my music. For some artists, music is a very intellectual process, and they have strong opinions that music is just about entertainment and arrangements of notes, tones, harmonies. I actually feel that we’re just beginning to re-discover the power that music/sound has for a number of purposes. At one point, I felt that music actually had the capacity to heal, and I haven’t given that up, but more to the point now, I feel that it can create a space or state of mind where many possibilities exist that did not exist before. This is a deep subject for me that I could write pages about.

jkn: I love that you feel you don’t write music. To me it’s just a terminology thing… In my mind you write, and you write beautifully and fully.

I feel very similar about the power of music. Expressing joy and happiness, anger and sadness, remembrance and looking forward. Music is a universal language. Not everyone taps into it in the same way, and that’s part of it’s wonder to me.

When I sit and play or write… I’m happiest when I shut off part of my brain and let everything flow. There’s a certain level of shutting down my thinking and letting the feeling take over. Maybe that’s similar to what you’ve mentioned in our past conversations – from my heart instead of head? Thinking too much in music tends to bog the ideas down and not let them connect and flow as freely as they do when I’m not thinking. It’s a bit of an “auto-pilot” for me. That’s not to say I’m not thinking – maybe it’s better to say I’ve shifted into a bit of a different plane of thought when I play.

I like your thoughts that your music can create a space or state of mind where many possibilities exist that didn’t before.

sb: I doubt that any studied musician would call what I do writing! I have no delusions about that aspect.

jkn: Steve, I think you’re a wonderfully humble man. No, you don’t write from a perspective of writing on staff paper or utilizing specific music theory techniques, but you do play and record music from the heart. And to me, that’s just as much, and possibly more important to me as a listener.

.:

jkn: Could you talk a bit about how you record? We’ve talked before about how you sometimes set the mood of the room, have certain things for inspiration for particular songs or albums you’re working on. I believe you mentioned you refer to your studio as ‘the treehouse’ – how’d that name come about?

sb: Usually, the process begins with an impetus which might be a feeling or mood. The individual songs for an album (and the art) are like a package of information that forms around that feeling or mood. In order to support that feeling or mood, I practice what Andrew Weill called, “set and setting”: I create a certain setting or environment with lights, incense, meaningful objects, which supports and helps create a particular mind set that is conducive for me. I usually clear the space energetically, as well. Many times, the creation of music has a much more elusive urgency to it, and I have to sit down right at the moment and capture the idea. Usually, I begin with what I refer to as sketches, which are improvisations inspired by a target feeling. Sometimes these feelings and improvisations can be woven together or not, and usually I elaborate, refine, add additional levels of complexity and richness that add other layers of feeling and meaning. Later in the process comes further refining which is a more technical process of just making sure levels, eq, etc., are working as I want them to, and don’t detract from the initial feeling I was going for.

Lately, I’ve really been making an intuitive effort to incorporate more binaural content in my music, building in sounds that move from right to left and back again, with the intent of activating both sides of the brain and facilitating them in working in concert with one another.

About the studio name… Formerly, I called my studio “The Kiva,” because it was in the stone basement of my 60 year old house. A kiva, as most people know, was a ceremonial space that the Native American’s we call, the Anasazi, used in the American Southwest. About 5-6 years ago, I moved into a space upstairs which is surrounded by trees and much higher than street level…The Treehouse. For me, a tree house is a place for fun, imagination and play…which is what creativity is all about for me. I have to say, when we use the word “studio,” that is used loosely here. It’s not an acoustically tuned environment, lined with speakers and equipment, dedicated entirely to the making of music. Our house is very small, and it this room serves many purposes as an office, sewing room and entertaining room. After years of managing wires and mountains of stuff, I prefer now to keep my set-up small and mobile. I’m no longer a gear hound.

jkn: I always find it fascinating to find how different artists approach their craft. While I don’t set a mood in my studio for specific tracks or projects, I do have an overall mood… I love the dark orange paint on the walls, and the Metropolis poster framed on the wall. A bell hangs off my keyboard rack – simple things, but they feel right. I also find the “need” to record and do it quickly, because sometimes chasing the idea can be very fleeting… a wisp of smoke and it’s gone.

Starting with sketches and improvisations is exactly how I approach writing. Finding a melody, block of chords, or soundscape and rolling with it. I’ll continue exploring and hit record – and put down a few takes of these improvs. Eventually finding the right balance of pure emotion, feeling, improvisation… balanced with planning and techniques that are working for this take. I then usually take it multiple steps further until I’ve shifted into something often very unrelated to what I started with. I’ll blend and merge these sometimes, but often – I pick out roughly the 4th or 5th take and keep it as is… leaving in “mistakes”. Perfection just doesn’t feel right to me with music.

And yes, later in the process I also go into technician mode tweaking levels and panning, etc.

I love that you call your studio The Treehouse and why. No, my space isn’t acoustic in any way either… I make do with what I have on the budget I have and I also have a very small house. My studio also doubles as several other “rooms”. It’s cool you’ve dropped the hardware gear mostly and reduced the wires. I still love my synths and effects and can’t bring myself to get rid of them just yet.

.:

jkn: I’ve noticed on your recent work that most tracks tend to take you a year or more to record and refine to the right point for release…

sb: …and sometimes afterwards, if I feel like it! Well, that timing is ballpark of course and you’re referring to my upcoming release, Coniunctio, which consists of two longform pieces that I’ve been working on for a while. I think what’s usually responsible for that is that fact that I almost always have several things going at once. I’ve never been the sort of person to work on one thing at a time until completion. I almost never work on one thing intensively to the exclusion of other things. I have too many ideas for that. Each one is usually began with a distinct inspiration of it’s own, as I explained above, and since I often have several cooking at once, they all sort of inform each other as well. I find that I’m always learning some new technique or trick that I can go back and apply to things I might’ve thought were “done.” It’s a fun process. By the way, some tracks can almost create themselves in short periods of time and require very little refining, others can evolve over time. Since I find that pieces can go off track when I depart from the original impetus, I’m not at all hesitant to start peeling off and throwing away layers until that feeling returns again. The true north is always the feeling for me. This is sort of a hold-over from my education in fine art: I had a professor that engendered a conviction in the idea that if you have the feeling right, all else will fall in line. For me, this has proved to be true over and over again…true for me, anyway. I don’t record for the approval of audiophiles, I guess.

jkn: Yes, I was specifically thinking of Coniunctio.

When I’m writing, I also have multiple projects going at once. I don’t know if this is common across a lot of musicians, but quite a few I know work this way. Very few people seem to work “straight through” – end to end on an album.

I find it cool that when you find you’ve gone off track, you’ll correct course, peel off layers, and get back to the original idea. If I go off course and explore new territory from what I’d originally planned – I’ll go with the flow and let the music take me where it wants to go. I’ll sometimes end up with a completely different idea than planned.

sb: Oh, I’m not at all suggesting that “happy accidents” are excluded, quite the opposite. Accident and change are king at the Treehouse. I’m specifically referring to instances where the thread of the feeling may be lost that initiated the track (and feeling comes first for me), so it can feel off. If the piece I’m working doesn’t resonate, it’s because it lost the feeling…music always points back to the feeling for me. “Mistakes” or misdirections are almost always saved and might show up somewhere else, as well!

Working the way I do, I have no idea what a typical time span is for working on a piece for me. It takes what as long as it takes.

jkn: I totally agree, “it’s done when it’s done!”

.:

jkn: What’s in your studio? What do you use to record with? Instruments, etc…

sb: As I wrote above, it’s minimal. I record on a iMac. I use a Yamaha Audiogram3 interface, an Audio Technica mic, an older small Mackie mixer, and a M-Audio controller/keyboard. I have an array of flutes, various percussion, and other assorted weird objects like cans with metal coils and springs soldered to them, etc., that I extract sound from. My 25 pound black cat, Nadja, is almost always my production assistant. I feel the need combine acoustic sounds with the more pure electronic ones, so there will almost always be some acoustic allusion or element. Even when I use only electronic sounds, I am urged to make them earthy in some way.

jkn: You achieve such a rich full sound with the gear you use. I’m a big fan of “tools are just tools” – people should use the tools or instruments that work best for them and not worry about what everyone else is using. Of course, I also love to know what people are using, so I guess I’m a little confusing!

Whenever I’m in my studio, I tend to find that our blind dachshund, Peanut, has snuck in quietly and is snoozing by my feet.

Oh! “urged to make them earthy” – this is exactly why way back at the beginning of my planning the Relaxed Machinery label that I wanted the term “organic” in the tagline “organic .: ambient :. techno”. Even though I use a lot of electronics, or acoustic instruments through an array of effects – I feel my music is very “organic” – from the heart, earthy, grounded – not synthetic or plastic. I get the same feeling from your music and when you were planned as the first release – it made sense to me to get that “organic” word in there. Just some trivia most people probably don’t know.

.:

jkn: Over the brief few years I’ve known you, you’ve mentioned a number of times the works of Kryon, honoring yourself, honoring others, honoring the music. Would you like to discuss these aspects of your view on the yourself and the world – and how they affect your music?

sb: Since this a music blog, I doubt many will find this of interest, but here goes… The concept of “honoring” is central in life for me and has been for some time. My standard for almost everything is: is this situation, thing, action, etc., honoring? If it’s not, I find a way to make it honor, or remove myself without drama or fuss. It sounds simplistic, but so many times in life, the situations we’re in, the people we surround ourselves with, the music we listen to, the environments we’re in, the food we eat, the cloths we wear don’t honor us, don’t honor others, don’t honor or respect much of anything. Underneath the idea of honoring is the conviction that we are each unique and special beings worthy of honor and respect and are each valued and valuable beings. This whole honoring thing isn’t as fluffy as it sounds, because sometimes in order to honor, you need to use your discernment to make tough decisions which can sometimes be unpopular, uncomfortable and make others angry. Honoring can mean establishing and maintaining awareness of your personal integrity and boundaries, which can mean that you clearly delineate where you end and others begin, as well as what you will and won’t accept in terms of your life conditions and behaviors from others. As I said, this can be tough, because we often think that a “good person” is accepting of anything and that “going with the flow” is a good thing, and we as a result we often become embroiled in other people’s emotions and dramas and accept all sort of things that we might not otherwise accept. From my perspective, this doesn’t honor them or you. Honoring has crept into my music in the form of being much more selective in who I work with and what I contribute my creativity to – this is something I wasn’t so discerning about in the past. It also enters my music in the forms and expressions that I choose and the intent with which I make music. As I’ve written above, music for me can be the purest expression of who we are, what existence is, and when we begin with the intent of honoring, amazing things are possible.

About Kryon… Several years ago, a friend introduced me to channeled material, that is, written or spoken matter that comes through a human being from an non-physical source. Sometimes, this outside source is a multi-dimensional non-human entity, and sometimes this information comes from beings that were once human, but now are “on the other side.” This sort of transmission of information was popularized by Edgar Casey and Madam Blavatsky, among others. Channeled information can be highly specific and personal, or pertain to broader issues regarding the nature of time, physicality, history, biology, astronomy, awareness, etc. I’ve always been interested in esoteric subjects, but I always felt there was a certain narrow bias, and many sources contradicted one another because of this. It wasn’t until I discovered channeled information that I felt I was getting unbiased information from a very broad unsentimental perspective, and most of the time, there was a unified voice, even among extremely varied sources. Not to mention that the subject matter was fascinating to me! Those who are unfamiliar with channeling usually see it as something weird or strange, or worse yet, something evil. What they don’t realize is that many great creative works have been channeled and we all channel frequently. It’s an interesting subject, especially when you remove the fear, bias and preconceptions.

jkn: Your sense of honoring a situation, honoring yourself is very interesting – and informs your music. I think people are very interested to read a little deeper than simply about gear and techniques and I’m glad you took the time to elaborate.

.:

>jkn: …if you were a tree.

sb: Wow. I can’t top Kati’s answer on that.

http://relaxedmachinery.ning.com/profiles/blogs/kati-astraeir-relaxed

jkn: Ha! And you’re correct – I don’t think anyone can top that. (note: What our readers don’t know is that before my interview with Kati Astaeir, I asked a few people on the Relaxed Machinery community for question suggestions and Steve said he’d like to see some abstract questions like “…if you were a tree”. I thought it’d be fun to ask him that question.)

sb: Actually, that was a totally tongue in cheek smartass suggestion, but Katie turned it into something enlightening. That’s how it works with fun!

.:

jkn: Not only are you highly creative musically, but you’re a professional graphic designer. Fans of ambient music have seen your designs on your own albums as well as most releases for the last few years on the AtmoWorks label – and you’ve designed the logo and branding and album templates for the new Relaxed Machinery label. I have to take a quick moment and say what a joy it’s been for me to work with you both at AtmoWorks and at Relaxed Machinery and in both cases you brought your creative vision and industry experience to the projects for everyone’s benefit. After a full day of graphic design – what drives you to help out other artists and labels in this way? Is bringing a design to life a similar feeling to completing an album?

sb: I enjoy these forms of creativity and am passionate about them. When you feel that way about what you do, it’s natural and easy to want to share. Plus, there’s a certain freedom in designing for the labels that I don’t experience in my day job, which has many, many more limitations. The creative impetus can be very similar whether it’s music or art/design, although the major difference is, I am usually the final arbiter for my music, but when it comes to design, it’s often a more cooperative, synergistic effort with give and take.

jkn: True, I know you and I have gone back and forth on a number of design elements… Since I’ve worked with you for a few years now, I’ve come to greatly respect your opinions on design and why you suggest things that you do.

I also agree on the passion. There are things I’m very passionate about – music, people, helping artists – and I’m more than happy to share my free time. This is why Relaxed Machinery as a label and artist collective works for me, and it might not work for a different group of people.

.:

jkn:> For years you recorded more experimental music as Augur. What was your feeling for the music during that phase of your musical journey, and what brought about your shift to releasing under your real name?

sb: A sense of mystery and exploration has always been central, but maybe the difference between then and now was that my work as Augur was more cerebral. I wasn’t very concerned about communicating a feeling, or speaking from my heart. The work then was more about ideas, learning about sound, concepts, etc. Experimental music can sometimes be very emotional, but it can also be extremely abstract and cerebral, to the point where it is really a document of sound. Gradually, as time went on, I found that a musicality and emotional quality kept creeping into my work, taking me away from that abstractness. About this time, I had some health problems and general changes in how I view life that facilitated this change, made me want to distill things and my life down to the essences that were most important to me. As this began to increase, as I felt I was speaking more from my heart, I felt that it was necessary to break with the old work completely, drop the faÁade of the moniker, and just be…me. Really felt good to make that delineation for myself. Sometimes, when I listen back to the Augur stuff, it’s sometimes hard to get my mind around how much my work has changed…how much I’ve changed…seems like two different people did the work.

jkn: I can hear this in your music. Your earlier work is creative, interesting, pushes boundaries, and maybe a bit academic at times. Your more recent music under your real name… the emotion shows through like your heart on your sleeve.

My music has also changed over the years, and certain life events have sparked major shifts in how I approach music, what and how I play, and why I play it. I’ve also decided to drop my “Interstitial” pseudonym and work under my real name.

sb: I’m so pleased that my music feels transparent to you. That is my aim in music and in life.

.:

jkn: When not playing music or designing, you…

sb: Read, spend time with my friends and family, enjoy our home, take photos, travel, record source material. For me, it’s important to experience life and to have sources of renewal and inspiration that at least seem to be completely unrelated to my creative outlets…of course, ultimately they’re not.

jkn: Wonderful!

.:

jkn: What’s your favorite place you’ve visited?

sb: That’s tough! We’ve been so many wonderful places! Generally, I love places with big ostentatious displays of nature. My favorite place that’s close to my home is Colorado, in particular, Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs. It’s not as popular as Boulder and Denver, and it has this very funky vibe and history that is palpable. The nature there is so over the top compared to where I live. (Sometimes the biggest display of nature here is the weather!) So many colors, shapes, smells. It feels like home to me. I think it’s in my genes to like those cool, mountainous places. I also like Oregon and Northern California. In general, my direction is West. I’ve been to the east coast a few times now, and it’s very strange to say, but going West just feels more comfortable for me. This is not a “which is better thing” at all. I feel that everyone has their inclinations and predilections, and this is simply one of mine.

.:

jkn: What would you say your biggest influences on your music are now?

sb: Nature, spirituality, freedom, quiet, space, breath, working with other artists of like mind…dare I say, freedom? I’m often inspired by people, places and things that exhibit an air of authenticity and directness.

.:

jkn: You’ve had a long music career, worked with a lot of labels and artists – what are the big shifts in the music business you’ve experienced and what’s it like releasing music today?

sb: At first it was the availability and affordability of portable recording equipment. That was huge! At the beginning, I couldn’t even find it at my local music stores, so I found my own ways of recording, like a Radio Shack mixer, through a compressor, into a tape deck. Along with this, came the breaking of the strangle hold of having to have a big label produce your work. All kinds of small, eccentric independent labels began to pop up. All sorts of artists began recording on their own, releasing their own material. It was all tremendously creative. The cassette network was influential, as well. People exchanging music in an way that compact and could be done on one’s own. Lots of interesting artists began this way. I believe Vidna Obmana and Zoviet France had several cassette releases earlier on. Later it was the ability to do non-linear editing with digital sound on computers, which for me, was much more closely aligned to my method of working. Of course, the internet and computers have been THE most revolutionary thing…and continues to be. It’s really been a process of democratization from my point of view that is exactly what creativity should be about….freedom for ANYONE to express. Probably the biggest shift for me was the shift in my own awareness and acceptance of who I am and what I want to experience.

jkn: I have to agree with you on your comments. I remember being able to rent a 4-track cassette and how amazing that was, and as prices came down, equipment across the board became more affordable. Now the barriers to recording are the price of a computer and software. The barriers to releasing are literally down to the cost of having a decent internet connection to upload. It’s simply amazing. I think in the future we’ll continue to see new developments in how music is created… the ways controllers work – breaking free from keyboard or midi guitar inputs to the wonderful way audio cubes, motion controllers, touch tables, etc… more intuitive ways of playing. Really – the only barrier left is catching people’s attention to listen to your music.

.:

jkn: I’m not sure what else to ask… what else would you like to discuss?

sb: How about what’s in the future? My typical answer is, “more to come…” New work keeps making itself available all the time. I have 3-4 albums worth of work that is percolating right now. Maybe enough to take me into 2012. I’m sending out feelers for new outlets for my music as well. As you and I have talked about, it’s become my practice to never put all my eggs in one basket. I think having access to a diversity of outlets for my music adds value to all my ventures and allows for different levels and kinds of expression. I’m working on a new project with an esteemed label right now, that I hope will see the light of day by the end of the year…but that’s all top secret right now! Dean Richards (aka Disturbed Earth) and I are trading material back and forth between the US and Australia for a release that is tentatively titled, “What Is Memory?” I sent you some material some time back that you might eventually feel like working with! Of course there will be some Relaxed Machinery releases, if you’ll be kind enough to allow me continue. Although I’ve been doing this for some time, I have this sneaking feeling that really things are just winding up for some really interesting developments and new creative joy rides.

jkn: I have such an excited and happy outlook musically right now. Yes, you and I will certainly be collaborating on an album sometime in the near future, likely 2011 for me and depending on how it works into your schedule. Your previous collaborations with Dean (Disturbed Earth) are stellar works – and I can’t wait to hear more.

I do think your “all eggs not in one basket” approach is a good one and, of course, Relaxed Machinery is always open to releasing future projects from you!

Once again, THANK YOU to Steve Brand for taking the time for this interview and for writing and release his music. I do truly love what he writes – and listen to it frequently. Of course, I love the albums Steve’s released on my label: Circular Scriptures and Coniunctio. Both are beautiful ambient albums. In addition, his works released on Hypnos Secret Sounds and AtmoWorks, his collaborations with Matt Hillier / Ishq and Dean Richards / Disturbed Earth or all great. I don’t own an album from Steve I don’t like. I truly think we’ll be seeing great things from Steve over the next few years!

John

Image is a section of the wallpaper for the Steve Brand – Coniunctio release on Relaxed Machinery. Link goes to full size version on flickr.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

The PublicSpaces Lab team

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This will have to be a “volume 1″ as I didn’t hit all of the artists and releases that I’ve been spinning a lot the last couple of months. Some are free netlabel releases, and some are commercial releases.

adamned.age – whiteout – Label: PublicSpaces Lab

Hanne Adam has written a wonderful album with “whiteout”. It’s gentle minimal beats, static pops, flowing rhythms, bell melodies, interweaving lines… it’s an album I connected with on the first listen and it only grew stronger over time. This album caused me to seek out more of her music, discover her photography, and eventually ask her to do an in-depth interview for the rM Community. Whiteout is like a gently flowing stream. If I had to label it I’d say it’s closer to idm in the early autechre sense, but not dated early 90′s by any means. This is timeless music.

Altus – Coma Cluster – Label: Endless Ascent

This is beatless drift drone ambient at it’s utter finest. Very slowly moving textures. Billowing atmospheres. A soundworld that envelopes my desk at work on many an occasion. If you like your ambient slow drifting beatless… download this.

Bob Ohrum – Elevated – Label: Relaxed Machinery

Ok, disclaimer, this album is released on my label, Relaxed Machinery. But wouldn’t you think there was something a little wrong about me releasing an album I didn’t like? I love this album and I can’t count how many times I’ve listened to it. It’s filled with emotion and you can hear it so plainly on the first track. Bob’s wearing his heart on his sleeve and the music coming out of his bass guitar and effects is pure beauty in sound. That first track was written the day they spread his father’s ashes in the valley you see on the cover art. He came home, plugged in his bass, and that first track came out. The album is dedicated to his father who passed away in 2007. I’m very, very proud to release this album on Relaxed Machinery. This is beatless ambient, tender, caring, minimal, emotional music.

Adam Williams and Leonardo Rosado – Take This Longing – Label: Feedback Loop

This to me is perfection in a collaboration. Adam’s gentle, minimal piano lines over a bedding of abstract electronics and microscopic rhythms. It’s truly worth hearing. There’s just beautiful use of space in this album – nothing is cluttered – Adam takes his time between notes. There’s a lot to be said for the notes not played. Leonardo’s electronics fit so well, always adding to the music, never covering up or taking away. It’s as if these two were truly connecting and having a conversation – something normally reserved for a live recording with two musicians in the same room looking at each other, however, this was a long distance collaboration. All the more reason to download and give this album a try!

I’ve Lost – Dissociative Fugue – Label: Feedback Loop

Bobby Jones records as I’ve Lost… he uses only guitar and effects and plays his songs live with no overdubs. The musician in me likes to know those types of details. This listener in me doesn’t care how it was recorded, just that it is simply and sublimely beautiful. Very minimal, focused, flowing beauty. Emotional. This album is almost uplifting in a vague way. The owner of Feedback Loop actually sent me this e.p. before it’s release and told me I might want to get Bobby on Relaxed Machinery for a full length album. I was blown away, and I asked Bobby to join – and he did. I’d heard his work before – we’ve stumbled across each other from time to time, but I’m grateful to Leonardo for making the suggestion.

Subterminal – Bright Dawn Sketches – Label: PublicSpaces Lab

Speaking of Leonardo Rosado – he released this album on PublicSpaces Lab under the artist name, Subterminal. This is a very organically digital album… like taking a walk as the sun crests the horizon and electronic waves wash lazily on a beach. Birds ride the air currents in the sky and a peaceful quiet hangs in the air. It’s a contemplative album.

Chris Russell – Frozen – Label: Relaxed Machinery

Frozen is Chris’ third ambient release and the first on my label, Relaxed Machinery. When I listen to it I can hear the crackling of the winter snow, the crisp air, and as the album progresses you can start to feel the subtle shift from winter into spring. Cold to warmth. The beginning of new growth, the emergence of hope. Chris is a relatively young artist (well, younger than me at least…) that I see continuing to evolve and grow and I’m amazingly proud to have him on my label.

Specta Ciera – Wind Shift – Label: Luxus-Arctica

I’ll admit – I’m really, really new to Specta Ciera and I downloaded because so far just about everything on Luxus-Arctica is so well worth downloading. I’m really enjoying this release and have spun it multiple times now, enough that I think it deserves a spot on my list today. If you like beatless, thoughtful, ambient – give it a spin!

Marcus Fischer – Arctic/Antarctice – Label: Luxus-Arctica

This album was such a happy find for me… I played it five times through the first afternoon I downloaded it. Minimal beauty. Reading about the album is fascinating… taken from http://mapmap.ch/: “arctic/antarctic is a collection of songs centered around a series of guitar based improvisations. the first half, arctic, consists of the gradual folding and unfolding of melodies played on guitar and sustained through the use of a custom designed granular delay plugin. the asynchronous delayed notes are pitched both up and down resulting in organ-like textures. layered atop portions of arctic there are the playful sounds of hail on the exposed tines of a toy piano.
the first 1/3 of the antarctic portion is based on the slow shifting of loop points within a larger guitar loop. the rest of antarctic contrasts with prior sections. rather than using digital processes, this portion relies only on loops created using a system of modified analog cassette tapes. these cassettes were played back and rerecorded at a distance capturing some of the surrounding sounds such as cats moving about the room and hints of nearby construction.”

Nettless – Phobos and Deimos – Label: Earth Mantra

This a double album release by Finnish artist Toni Viholainen. In fact it’s only his second ambient album, this is a new style of music for him and I believe he’s tapped into a style he’ll thrive in making. So much so, I invited him to be an artist on Relaxed Machinery – his 3rd release is tentatively planned for this December. Phobos and Deimos is a wide ranging album with a lot of influences and styles all intermingling. Toni wrote in a blog post on the rM Community that this album comes from thinking about a friend that had taken his own life 12 years ago. With that context you’d think this album would be a lot more dark than it is. I truly enjoy this album and his 1st effort on Earth Mantra.

Emmalee Crane – Crux – Label: Streetlight Farm

Emmalee I found on twitter and suggested we trade albums – and I’m so glad I did! She plays so many instruments – oboe, clarinet, flute, piano, guitar – she likes to mess things up through effects. She’s not afraid to let an oboe get dirty through distortion – and what a unique sound she makes. Layers of texture with hints of the instruments used peeking through once in a while. I truly find her music a joy to listen to and I can’t wait for her new album, Formantine, coming soon.

Thanks for reading and for supporting the artists and labels!

John

image: bee balm towers taken in my back yard.