moniker for several years. When I got in touch with him, he was enthusiastic, but was not sure whether he could come up with something that would have fit in within the label’s remit. After about seven months, though, he sent me Like a Slow River, which I consider amongst the best things he has ever done. With other artists, though, things happen a lot quicker. Francisco López moves really fast. In the space of about three months he sent me Amarok, which is inspired by a gigantic wolf in Inuit mythology. It can also happen that I get approached by an artist who’s already produced an album, which is just perfect for Glacial Movements. This was the case with Stormloop and Snowbound, a collection of tracks recorded in 2009 and inspired by a heavy snowfall. Having said that, once I get sent an album, there is usually a bit of tweaking around to do before we finalise the product. It has been good so far, even though it hasn’t always been a smooth ride. In the case of Thomas Köner for instance, everything was already in place, we had met here in Rome and discussed things, and the music was done. At the last minute, however, he decided otherwise. It was a big blow for me as I’d been working on this for a couple of years and I still don’t really understand what happened, but such is life.
Q: Still, there are new names on the roster such as Marsen Jules, and Retina.it, Yuya Ota and Celer amongst others. A: Generally speaking, I get quite a few emails and it is hard to keep up as I hold a day job and have little time to answer all requests and listen to everything I get sent. I get very little done over the week, but tend to dedicate my weekends to music. Whenever a project is worth it, I spend time on it. Q: Will you ever be releasing albums as digital downloads only? A: No. The physical album is essential to me. I like digipacks and wouldn’t bother releasing music otherwise. Also, to be honest, there is always a certain element of risk attached to a physical release and having no production expenses is a whole different ball game. I like a challenge. Even though there are fewer people buying albums, there will always be a market for a good and carefully produced CD. It might take longer to shift copies, but in the end one gets there. It is difficult with new and not yet established artists, but having big names on the label does certainly help raise the label’s profile. Q: And how about doing vinyl releases or limited editions? A: I consider 500-1,000 copies to be already a limited release. To go even lower would be a shame as there are
many who still ask me for albums that have sold out. Just to give you an example, The Art of Dying Alone by bvdub sold out pretty quickly, but I still get people asking me whether, by any chance, I have a few copies lying around. Once an album is sold out though, that’s it. I don’t re-issue any titles. On the other hand there are digital downloads available on a number of platforms. I much prefer physical releases myself, as I don’t even have an iPod. I have never downloaded anything on iTunes either, and wouldn’t really know how to go about it, to be honest. I do have an mp3 player, which I take with me when I go running, but I mostly listen to the radio. I feel that music needs to be listened to on a good hi-fi. Quality of sound is paramount. Unfortunately, at present I don’t really have enough time to listen to music. Also, my studio is at my parent’s place, which makes it difficult for me just to listen to music. Q: You’ve also created a sub-label of sorts, Würm, can you tell me something about it? A: With this series I wanted to release albums made of one single extended track and all directly inspired by Würm, which is the name of the world’s most recent glaciation, which ended about 10.000 years ago. There has only been one single release so far by Oophoi, which is an album I love, but somehow I haven’t pursued the matter further and the project is now on hold for the time being.
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