Disconnected Podcast 012: A Future Without

a future without

Will and Ross.. A Future Without. Certainly a pair of busy people!

First off, before we get into talking about the label, can you just tell us a bit about yourselves?

I’m Will I come from Nottingham originally but have been living in Bristol for the past eight years. I guess I’m just a music geek!!!

I’m Ross and I too am proud northerner. I work as a music consultant at Hear No Evil and produce under Throwing Snow and Snow Ghosts (with Augustus Ghost on vocals)

And you both do music stuff independently; can you tell us about your musical backgrounds?

Will – I’ve always been a massive music fan largely down to my parents influence, being exposed to allsorts of music as a child. We used to go to a lot of concerts mainly classical but we also went to Glastonbury think my first time was in 1983 when I was five! My first real musical passion was Rock and Metal in my teens. I started to learn the Bass when I was 15 and formed a metal band with some mates at school and never really looked back! I’ve always been excited by new music and quickly got into every style of music possible. In my late teens early twenties and played in many bands of different types. Artists like Bjork, Boards of Canada, Plaid, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin all the Ninja Tune/Warp type stuff was a massive influence on me in the late 90s. Going to Selector Disc in Nottingham and discovering new music was one of my favourite things to do. I then went on to do a music degree at Dartington college of Arts in Devon which opened me up to so much experimental music and ways of thinking about music/sound such as Steve Reich, Pierre Schaeffer, musique concrete, Cage, Stockhausen, R. Murray Schafer and his study of Acoustic ecology. During my third year at Dartington I spent a month in India recording soundscapes and then creating compositions from these field recordings. More recently I’ve had releases with Moodgadget and White Label Music as well as self releases on AFW. I’ve also got really into analogue synths and spend far too much time making crazy sounds and not actually writing music. But have just finished a couple of EPs one with the amazing Amenta under the name Askella http://askellamusic.tumblr.com/

Ross – That’s a rather big question! I grew up in the middle of nowhere and ended up getting in to my parents limited but perfect record collection then moving on to grunge, uk metal and punk. John Peel changed my outlook on music and ended up playing in bands and producing. While I was doing an Astrophysics degree I mainly wrote music and bought a home studio with a little money my grandma gave me after saving up since I was born, pence a week. After sampling round the world I returned to do a masters degree in Creative Music Technology and got in to weird and wonderful ways of making sounds.

I ended up working at De Wolfe and now am a music consultant at Hear No Evil, on top of about a billion other projects. Music is my life and I can’t seem to find away not to do it 24/7

How did you guys first start working together?

Will – We actually met when we worked together in a health food shop in Bristol, introduced by our mutual friend Amber. We worked in the kitchen and just chatted about music for hours while we worked. It was pretty clear from the start we were on the same wavelength. So when Ross mentioned he was starting a record label during the end of his MA at Bath Spa I showed a keen interest to be a part of it and he kindly agreed!

Ross – Yeah we just musically clicked. Stoneground (where we worked) is still remembered because we meet up with everyone we worked with every few months for CHIP NIGHT!

Health food kitchen to forward thinking record label.. that’s go to be a first right?

Ha ha I suppose so, but you never know there could be a long line of labels formed over making tasty salads and sandwiches!

Can you sum up the philosophy behind A Future Without?

The main philosophy behind the label is to treat our artists fairly and respect them as artist. We like to give our artists the freedom to express themselves creatively without confining them to any genres. Allowing them to grow and develop their our personal style. Everything we do is non exclusive giving our artist freedom to explore other sides of their musicality. Basically if our artist are happy we are happy!

Sounds good, music for the music! What’s your thoughts on some of the more commercially lead labels, brands, musicians?

Basically as we all know the music industry is changing and has changed massively over the past few years, a lot of the major labels have tried to fight or ignore these changes. So they are feeling the pinch somewhat, the major labels aren’t as in control of the industry anymore and they don’t really like it!

You’ve got some of Disconnected’s favourite new artists, can you give a quick low-down on your guys?

Ah thank you very much, well where do we start we actually have around 60 different artists involved with us in different ways so I’ll have to try and narrow it down a bit.

Memotone – who you featured a while ago is simply amazing and ridiculously talented we found him on myspace a couple of years ago and we were blown away especially when we saw his youtube videos of him performing live in his bedroom. His album Friend is outstanding, it’s looking like he is going to have a pretty big year with a release on Black Acre coming out very soon.

Kähn – is another big one for this year with who is starting to get a lot of well deserved attention and has a Punch Drunk release coming up at the end of Feb. He is such a versatile producer his Atar EP is so stunning. He is prolific DJ and can be found playing everything from dancehall – dirty grime – experimental Dubstep. He is also half of the astonishing ‘Baba Yaga’ a definite must for everyone to check out!

52 Commercial Rd – Epic post rock genius that has risen out of the London warehouse scene. Their unique style blends lush melodies with dramatic dynamics and instrumentation. Using horns, cello, violin and harp as well as the standard back line to create an atmosphere like no other. Check their album ‘A wreck Provides an Excellent Foundation’

Toyface and The Lasting Days both Bristol based, ‘Toyface’ are a unique blend of quirky folky Jazz with beautiful vocal melodies and wondrous string arrangements. While ‘The Lasting Days’ push the boudries of alt-americana/indie-rock and put on an amazing live show which is always a passionate and energetic affair.

Zhou are another one to look out for especially for fans of heavy bass, minimal dubstep, combined with lush vocal melodies. Perfect for walking though an empty city late at night.

I feel bad I can’t mention everyone but check our back catalogue there are some truly stunning releases from artists like Diarmo (the guy is a legend), Chewy Benson (another legend), Moabi, Deep Sound Channel, Pilote, Isaac Himself, deef, Niqo, Giles Barratt, Lego, Qman1, Jash, etc etc..

Ok, so what’s in the future?

This year is looking really good we have some very exciting projects that are in the pipeline, we have just sorted this years release schedule and have some spectacular releases coming from Lost Twin, Augustus Ghost, Vessel, El-Kid, Lund Quartet and Dominic Jaeckle to name a few. There will also be a number of free samplers popping up throughout the year so keep them eyes a peeled!

What are you most looking forward to in 2011?

We’re just really looking forward to getting more great music out there into the big wide world and seeing where that takes our artists. There is so much talent there it’s always very exciting seeing what they can accomplish. We are hoping to put together some collaborative projects this year and we are very much looking forward to the outcome of these.

Can you tell us about the mix you have done for us?

The mix is basically a selection of tracks from last years releases with a few new exclusives thrown in there for good measure.

Is there anything in there we should be listening out for?

Yeah listen out for Vessel (the other half of Baba Yaga) and El-kid two exclusive tracks from their new EPs coming out this year. They are both staggeringly good producers who aren’t afraid to show their experimental side and create their own unique sounds. They are also part of ‘Young Echo’ a collaboration of producers including Kähn and Zhou. Oh yeah and keep an ear out for Deep Sound Channel’s Redneck Effect the best ending to a song ever!!!

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Tracklist:

Baba Yaga – Circe
Chocky – Down With Idris
Jesse Moncrieff – Minds Eye Throwing Snow RMX
El Kid – 99
Kähn – Miss You When I’m Drinking
Lund Quartet – Madness of Love
Deef – UnerklÑrliche (oder unidentifizierbare) Spiele im Kornfeld
Moabi – Miami
Vessel – Jupiter Rise
Toyface – Death of an Old Boy Will Plowman RMX
Zhou – Hold
El Kid – The Bunker
The Lasting Days – Lenador
52 Commercial Road – 39 In Floods and Droughts
Deep Sound Channel – The Redneck Effect
Memotone – Eating The Sun
Toyface – Sleep

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Posted on March 4, 2011 by admin

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