Guildford, Surrey + London<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m npm\u2019s founder and label manager. I take care of all things administrative at the label: booking mastering dates; setting deadlines for our artists, lay-outers and press sheet writers; trying to make sure everyone sticks to the deadlines; coordinating schedules with our PR agency, our distributors and our manufacturer Handle With Care; coordinating schedules with our PR agency Tailored Communications, our distributor Kompakt and our manufacturer Handle With Care; handling third party licensing; social media; and accounting sales for all our releases and artists. I\u2019m supported by Nico who\u2019s our main graphic designer. He takes care of most of the artwork and layouts with releases. I also work at BBCR1 as an Assistant Producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can\u2019t think of anything in particular at the moment. It differs daily. I\u2019ve been re-discovering a lot of Burial recently, in particular his Untrue<\/a> album as well as Alva Noto<\/a>\u2019s earlier stuff. Brian Eno too, his Music For Airports and Apollo albums are some of my favourites of all time, it also urges me to buy a DX7 and a Prophet 8…<\/p>\n\n\n\n I often buy new records and get tons of promos, and when listening, my mind makes all kinds of references to classics and super new tracks as well. I imagine how these might sound together or one after another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, YouTube is one of the best platforms for finding new music. I think it’s amazing that especially older and obscure records are able to find a second life, all thanks to the amazing channels and communities. Dedicated YouTubers uploading forgotten gems are saints in my opinion. Of course, there are hundreds of thousands of DJ sets uploaded which can also broaden your discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The variety of music you can find on the internet these days is insane and I think Bandcamp, in particular, are leading in that, having said that I find the layout very annoying so don\u2019t really use that too often. Traditionally going into vinyl stores and spending hours searching through records just never gets old and for me, Berlin is the place to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the past few years, I\u2019ve really gotten into vinyl (especially during lockdown) There is so much detail in vinyl, that it seems like you have a private concert in your studio. You can appreciate the \u2018art\u2019 more when you have it physically. It\u2019s like, I guess, saying if you enjoy viewing art you would much prefer to go to a gallery than view it on a screen. I read a quote once saying “Listening to CDs makes you feel like you’re there, listening to vinyl makes you feel like they’re here.\u201d Actually, I ripped a track from a CD the other week to play on a guest mix for Dublab Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Actually, I just bought a Technics RS-B555 to add to my studio for recording and listening. I have seen a fair few labels re-introduce cassettes (particularly with ambient EPs) which I would love to check out. When it comes to analogue vs digital, I don\u2019t think it has anything to do with being “better” and everything to do with what people prefer. You can write thousands of pages of how they are “the same\/different\u201d but that doesn’t change what people think… but I prefer analogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mostly when commuting but I also use that time for podcasts. I tend to have time to myself most evenings where I can really get into the \u2018zone\u2019 of finding \/ listening to music which will be in my studio. I tend to listen through my Adam monitors or HD25s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working in radio helps a lot, I get pre-releases sent to me everyday for feedback and promotion. Also with the label, I get a fair few demos sent to me every couple of weeks. Even if they do not fit the label, I still really enjoy listening to what producers come up with and try to give feedback where I can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I get a fair few demos sent to me every couple of weeks. Even if they do not fit the label, I still really enjoy listening to what producers come up with and try to give feedback where I can.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I tend to stay away from Spotify \/ Apple Music because the streaming \u2018pays\u2019 are awful and unfair, the music industry is a cruel world and it\u2019s now even harder since streaming has been introduced. I will try and buy as much music as possible, it\u2019s where most of my money goes whether it\u2019s digital or physical. Of course the benefits with the internet are there is just an endless library of music across multiple platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can\u2019t keep track of everything because there\u2019s so much music out there. Even though I might be quite a diverse DJ. I don\u2019t want to try and stay on top because that\u2019s impossible, I\u2019m constantly trying to find good music. New and old. That\u2019s all I can do. I have my idea of what I like and what I want to present and I\u2019m trying to stick to it and that\u2019s all there is to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I\u2019m constantly trying to find good music. New and old. That\u2019s all I can do. I have my idea of what I like and what I want to present”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nHow do you discover new music?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services? Why?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Where do you do most of your music listening?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you find and listen to pre-release music?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you keep track of everything you are listening to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n