Salve, Raland! In the beginning I want you to tell our readers about the reasons which made you to start a label of your own...
- Discorporate Music is just my way of contributing the underground metal scene. Originally, I was thinking of starting a distro, but I changed my mind after seeing CIVIL CARNAGE play at a local (Halifax, Nova Scotia) metalfest. They totally blew me away, and at that moment, I decided to turn Discorporate Music into a record label.
I do not do this to make money. It's just a good way to help out good young metal bands who would otherwise get no opportunity to record anything substantial.
Why such a name, "Discorporate"? Were there any special reasons to name your label like that?
- The name was chosen so that I would not be "boxed in" to supporting only a particular genre of music. "discorporate" was a word I read in the Sci-fi classic "A Stranger In A Strange Land". The main character in the novel was an alien from Mars, and his race could withdraw into themselves and will themselves to die.
Discorporate
is also a play on words. To "dis" "corporate" music... There is enough
crappy corporately-generated music out there today, so this label was created
in contempt of commercial music.
What funds
were invested in this venture? Does it take a lot of money to start a label?
I use my savings from my regular day job to pay the Discorporate Music bills. It does take a large investment to pursue a CD project with any band. A minimum investment of $4,000 CDN is required for each CD.
Since every band I work with is relatively unknown, I never recover my investment. Nobody makes money, but that's not the reason I have the label in the first place.
As far as I know, you've released two CDs so far: DICHOTIC's "Collapse Into Despair" and CIVIL CARNAGE's "Abomination In The House Of God". Please tell us few words about each of them...
- DICHOTIC's CD has gathered a lot of positive press for the band (except from Vae Solis as I recall). I'm actually the vocalist for DICHOTIC as well as the label owner, so I definitely have a vested interest in seeing that the DICHOTIC CD does well. To this point, I would say that it has done well.
CIVIL CARNAGE's CD is a bit more difficult to promote simply because the band no longer exists. However, I suspect that as time goes on, people will pick up on the band. They play a cross of death and speed metal that is quite catchy at times. A lot of effort and time was put into the CIVIL CARNAGE release, and people should check it out.
How are the sales going?
- Not bad. DICHOTIC's CD certainly seems to be more of a draw as far as sales go. There are a lot of people selling both the DICHOTIC and CIVIL CARNAGE CDs on consignment too, so it often takes awhile for the money to come back to me.
Discorporate Music looks like all-death metal label... Why so?
- Death metal is what I understand and relate to best. I have a lot of contacts in the underground metal scene. If I tried to produce some other form of music, it would be like starting from scratch.
Stick to what you know best and to what you enjoy, and you will do a better job.
CIVIL CARNAGE's CD has been unleashed some time ago, hence I'm wondering if you can name us your next releases?
-
DICHOTIC is entering the recording studio on August 20th to
begin work on
their next CD "Lowest Common Denominator". People
will find the
new material very difficult to grasp. Most of the
new material
involves shorter songs but each song is packed with an enormous amount
of riffs. It will be insane to listen to.
After this, I will start a project with another local band called CEPHALECTOMY. They have a sound that is similar to that of old KATAKLYSM. The band will enter the studio later this year or early in 2000.
Both CDs you have released come with truly magnificent coverart and layout and it might be interesting to know if you took part in designing their appearance...
- I did not have too much to do with the artwork on either release. The other band members of DICHOTIC created the "Collapse Into Despair" artwork, and a friend of mine created the CIVIL CARNAGE CD artwork for a reasonable price.
I am definitely not a graphic artist. However, I seem to know enough people who are good at that sort of thing, and offer to help me out without charging me an arm and a leg.
How should a band sound in order to get a deal with you? Is there any possibility of signing a band coming from Russia?
- So far, I have stuck to Nova Scotia bands for the label because there are a few good bands around here that just seem to get ignored otherwise. There is no real metal scene in Nova Scotia, so record labels are not going to come into this part of the world looking for bands to sign. Hopefully, Discorporate Music helps to spread the message that there are good metal bands in Nova Scotia.
I suppose in the the future, that I might look for other bands to sign, and it could be any band from anywhere. Any band I sign would have to be original in some way. If a band is just interested in promoting themselves as a "brutal death metal band", I probably wouldn't be interested. The music has to come before the image.
By the way, what do you know (and think) about Russia as well as it's people? What about the metal acts coming from our lands, have you heard any?
- I speak often to Dmitry from Pensa. He reviewed the DICHOTIC and CIVIL CARNAGE CDs for his zine called The Surly Sullen Bell. It's another metal Web zine. I know that times are tough in Russia with the continual political and economic unrest, but there seems to be a lot of interest in heavy music from the Russian people.
I can't really say that I have had the time to investigate a lot of bands from Russia. A couple of bands from Russia or former Soviet Union countries have written me in the past asking me to sign them without ever having heard their music before. I thought that was kind of funny. :-)
What kind
of business do you have with Lost In The Fog Records? Did
they release
anything on their own?
- The owner of Lost In The Fog Records simply helps me distro the DICHOTIC and CIVIL CARNAGE CDs. He once ran a healthy distro under the Lost In The Fog name, but he was forced to stop due to family committments. Lost In The Fog is not a label, and I suspect that I will handle all of the distribution of future Discorporate Music releases myself.
Lost In The Fog has been very helpful to me, but the owner is just does not have the time to help like he used to. Now that I have had a taste of the distro and label business, I think I'll be able to handle the job myself in the future.
Tell us few words regarding distribution services you work with...
- Other labels and distros helping Discorporate Music are:
Relapse Records
CDN (Civilian
Death Network)
Repulse Records
Warefare
Records
Everything is operated on a consignment basis with them since I am independent. It does take awhile to get money back from them, but at least the bands receive good promotion out of it.
What about giving me your playlist?
- My playlist? OK.
DEAD CAN DANCE
- Anything
WATCHTOWER
- Control and Resistance
CRYPTOPSY
- Whisper Supremacy
MARTYR -
Hopeless Hopes
RUSH - Moving
Pictures
DICHOTIC
(rehearsing material for "Lowest Common Denominator")
What kind of merchandise can you offer to the fans and what are the prices?
- Discorporate Music is a small label, but I do have the following items for sale:
CD DICHOTIC
- Collapse Into Despair ($10 US)
CD
CIVIL CARNAGE - Abomination In The House Of God ($10 US)
Other stuff:
MCD APHASIA
- Beyond The Infinite Horizon ($8 US)
MCD SLAVEARC
- Structural Damage In The Blueprint of Humanity ($8 US)
CD
NEURAXIS - Imagery ($10 US)
I also sell DICHOTIC stickers (with new logo) for $1 US each, and there are a few misprinted DICHOTIC t-shirts left which people are welcome to have with a CD of their choice for $15 US (the shirt itself is free).
I don't actually sell the shirts by themselves because there is a typo on the back of them. In the future, I might get a new batch of shirts done up.
All prices include shipping, and money orders can be made out and send to:
Discorporate
Music
2476 Robie
Street, #8
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
B3K 4N1
Canada
That's all, Raland. Add anything you wish...
- Thanks for the interview Kai. Yes, people should check out the following URLs:
Discorporate
Music
http://home.istar.ca/~discm
DICHOTIC
http://is2.dal.ca/~rfguy/dichotic
CEPHALECTOMY
http://www.digital-death.org/cephalectomy
INTERVIEW ANSWERED BY RALAND K., THE LABEL'S MANAGER
DISCORPORATE
Music contact -
Email: discm@istar.ca