Roy Ayers
Everybody Loves The Sunshine

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It is one of the trademarks during late 60’s and 70’s : the Afro haircut was worn as the assertion of an identity, the symbol of the strong link with Africa. The famous slogan: Black Is Beautiful. A century later, this assertion remains very present on LP artworks. For political reasons, for aesthetic views, for trendy questions also… Back to certain pics which had participated in the history of the music.

A possible soundtrack…
We People Who Are Darker Than Blue by Curtis Mayfield

Music-lover and DJ, Jan Hagenkötter is the mind behind the internationally renowned music publishing company and record label INFRACom!, the “jazznotjazz” club brand/series and the festival of the same name in Frankfurt. Located between Saigon and Frankfurt since 2012, he has just released a great compilation, ‘Saigon Supersound’, dedicated on the so-called Golden Era between 1965 and 1975 in the South of Vietnam. The perfect occasion to ask to go back to his own story…

When did you start digging records?
I started digging in the eighties while being a kid around ten years old. It all begun with The Beatles. I tried to get all albums.

What Lp´s did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
The first album I ever had was a compilation named ‘Disco Fever’..a crappy chart-compilation, but it contained a xl poster of the Spanish disco girl duo «Baccara». Not sure if I bought it for the poster or the music. Still have the LP, but the poster is gone :-). This was followed by the «red and the blue» double compilation album of the Beatles and a Cat Stevens album named ‘Foreigner’ which is not considered as one of his best albums…but for me it´s a great soulful album and I still listen to it. It was recorded in Jamaica. Drums by Bernard Purdie. Also Johnny Guitar Watson ‘A real Mother’ was a big influence to me by that time and is still one of my fave albums today. He was such an outstanding artist in his own universe…like Prince later. Last but not least I bought Kraftwerk´s ‘Computerwelt’ which was just released in 1981. A milestone that changed everything for me.

Do you have a particular style or favourite period?
I´m very much into jazz and I love the fifties/sixties period of Latin Jazz, Bossa Nova, Hard Bop and Soul Jazz as well as the Spiritual Jazz of this time. But all in all I listen to many genres and periods and I grew up with a lot of Funk & Soul or R&B as my mother was in a relationship with an Afro-American soldier by that time. So as a kid I spent some time on military bases and had barbecues on the weekends. I bought my first sound-system from an American (dj) soldier when he left Germany. The two 1210MK2 from the sound-system are still my turntables today. I was lucky to experience a rich influence of many styles in my youth…and except for Hard-Rock and Heavy Metal I listen to many different styles until today. I believe there is only good and bad music… No matter which style… I would call myself a «freestyler», but for some styles you need more time to get into them like Jazz… It needs some time and musical knowledge to be ready for this. I started in the early nineties when Hip Hop was flirting with Jazz and the so called «Acid Jazz» movement out of London was taking off. This was, as for many kids of my generation, a key trigger to dig deeper into Jazz I guess.

Are you still digging, buying vinyl, visiting record shops?
Yes, but I now do not find enough time to dig record shops, or flea-markets personally anymore, but those days I only look for very specific records. Mostly albums, not 12 inches, that I really want to listen to. So thanks to the internet it´s easier to get hold of specific copies.

What was your first release on InfraCom?
The very first release was a compilation album we named ‘Home-taping’. We asked many different artists from the Frankfurt area to contribute one title. From techno-producers, reggae / hip hop producers to even art ppl. The album was sold in coffee bars around Frankfurt and we had a big party with all the people involved to re-finance the project. After this they asked us to do another one. So this his how the label started, it was not planned in the first place.

Why did you choose this name: InfraCom? What does that mean?
I used to have a partner and very close friend «Namé Vaughn». Sadly he passed away in 2004. When we started around 1990 to do parties and other stuff we were looking for a name, so we sit together and thought about what are the key things that interests us in life beside the music… What do we want to archive with everything we do, so he came up with «communication» and I came up with «infrastructure». So this is how the name was chosen. Nobody could think about that this term might refer more to IT or telecommunication companies in the future… Back then we were quite ahead of our time with the name:-)

What could be your editorial/aesthetic line?
We do have an idea about the aesthetic aspect. Namé studied communication design and did a lot in the beginning, like the logo of our label. But I have to give a credit to Rafael Jiminez Heckman (www.fuku.org). He is working with us since the first days of the label and he has done at least 70% of all cover artworks and much other stuff. I really enjoy working with him. First because he is good in what he is doing and second we can talk about things without the “ego” problem between two creative ppl. I think we have found kind of an aesthetic-line over the years for the label, but we try to not overwhelm the project or artists with it. So it is still «open». It´s interesting to see how other graphic designers that contributed things to the label fit into this.

Jan & Namé…

[re-jazz] Alice Russell
Gabrielle

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
We have always been interested in people itself in the first place. The way we thought was, if a person is interesting and has something to say his musical output must have some kind of value. Also we had a lot of artists on the label that had a proper musical education. Even if they did not use it directly in their productions like Kabuki (from the Megashira project) for example… a Drum & Bass producer, but also a classical trained guitar player in his youth. Or Andrea Benini from Mop Mop who is a drummer… Matthias Vogt from [re:jazz], Motorcitysoul who studied jazz piano and church organ. Shantel who played the guitar. So with a lot of the artists/project we started to work even they had no production/release before or a final « demo-tape ». But we believed in their ideas and wanted to help to develop them.
A main interest was also the connection between «pop» and so called «underground» music. As Namé (who was American german mixed with a father who was a blues guitar player from Detroit) and myself have a more multicultural background with the families we were not so much into segregation. This also reflects in our output I think. We liked the idea of doing something underground or with new styles that interested us like Drum&Bass but at the same time we wanted to release quality albums that could make this music (theoretical) accessible to a bigger audience – in case they have a chance to listen to it. This often leads us to the point were the so called underground ppl said it’s too pop and the radio, it´s too underground. Not all the time this was good for the sales aspect, but somehow we did something right in our opinion. We mainly focused on artist and album projects rather than on pure 12 inch release for the clubs. Also we released a lot 12” with remixes etc… but always to support the artist/album release.

For a long time, you collaborated with musicians as a publisher. How did this activity help you consolidate your label?
As I said, it helps if ppl are trained musicians. Otherwise they will be limited and can not go beyond a certain level. But sometimes it can be the other way around and hold back your creativity to do something (with the machines for example) a musician would not try in the first place. I think their is not «one» single truth wether this is good or bad.

You are known also for jazznotjazz festival. Do you believe the electro jazz scene is still something relevant in 2017?
Let me answer this question with the hook-line line of a great tune by Ten City : «Nothing changed, inside the same, going in circles there´s just different names.» So yes in the moment it is not that fashionable in the moment. But pretty sure it will return in a slightly different way and wasn’t the so called electro-jazz or nu jazz wave just the answer to Acid Jazz ten to fifteen years before?

Mop Mop
Living Beat

How do you decide on the choice of issues and reissues?
I like to focus the answer on the reissue aspect. On the label we haven´t released so many re-issues. Beside the ‘Saigon Supersound’ I only did the ‘Frankfurt Sound from the 60ties up to now’ project, so the reason to do a re-issue is always driven by a personal aspect for me. In this case it was a book by the same name that was released and even won a book price. I read it because I was interested in the jazz history of «my» city. It had two CD attached, but none with music, just the recording of a radio-series, mainly spoken, about the topics in the book. So I felt like I want to hear the music, that´s what it´s about. I called the author and then we published the CD in media-book-format concentrated in the liner-notes on the music and the musicians.

What is the InfraCom LP you are prouder?
Always a difficult question… How to judge this? For the success of an album? For the musical quality… and if you still can listen to it today? In the end there should be a good reason to be proud of every album one put out. But surely some will not stand the test of time and some you would not put out today anymore. But by the time you worked on it it felt right. Personally I´m very proud of the ‘[re:jazz] live in Yokohama’ album and DVD from 2005. That´s because I was so much involved in the filming of the tour documentary in Japan. We went there for three weeks…recorded 8 shows and a lot of interviews etc. Just me and my friend Markus Bader who is a director. We planed it all by ourself, and did everything by ourself from filming, cutting etc. It was kind of a guerrilla action… took us over a year to finish everything, but was a great experience. Also the dvd-doc. is much to long and its maybe not the best production we have released on INFRACom!
All in all the [re:jazz] project, which was not planned to go on for 5 albums… In the beginning we just hat this idea for our 10th anniversary because we were tired of all this label-best of compilations everyone else did. We never ever imagined that this would turn out to be our best selling project on the label. The Saigon Supersound project is the most personal project I have done. So it means a lot to me. It took me a few years to finish it. So there is a story somehow behind each project or release in the end.

You have just published a compilation on the Vietnamese scene of the 70s. How did the idea come to you?
In 2011 me and my wife (who is born Vietnamese) decided to live in Saigon for a while. My very close friend “Edge” who is living in Vietnam was asking if I can help him with a series of half-legal parties (dOse) he did back then. So I had a good reason to go because I could do something in Vietnam and inviting affiliated artists like Quantic / Jazzanova / Alice Russel to Saigon for the first time.
During this time I met the french vinyl selector and DJ Antoine «Datodeo» Touissant and we became friends. He introduced me to his selection of Vietnamese pre75 tunes on 7inch vinyl. So this way I get infected and started to become more interested in the “musical” history of Vietnam. I did not know about it before and you don´t see/hear the music in your daily life in Vietnam… There are no record shops that have these kind of music for sale. I explain this a bit more in the liner notes. It´s also my contribution to preserve some of the music of that period and bring it to a new audience of people outside of Vietnam.
A lot of the people do not know about this music, even younger Vietnamese and Viet-kieu people living abroad I talked to. So I thought this is a project that has to be done… Also for my kids. It was a good way for me to do something connected to them and it had to do with my lives-passion and work. As they are mixed they will ask questions when they grow up. Beside that it was something I haven´t done before and as I´m always looking for new experience and the same time was a bit tired after all those years with the label and the struggle we all went through in the last decade this was something new to me as well.

Connie Kim
Ly Luan Tinh Yeu

How did you make the selection? And is the choice of electism a way of showing, demonstrating, the aesthetic diversity of this scene, even though it is very influenced by the United States?
And the French I must add. I think even more by the French then the US. If you look into Vietnam today you still see the french influences everywhere. In the architecture of the old houses, in the food like the Bánh mì which is a french baguette or the pâté. So it is with the music till 75. The Chanson had an influence on the vocal style of Vietnamese singers. Unfortunately today Vietnam (after the doi Moi in 1986) is ruled more by influences from the US. Not always to their best interest in my opinion! Who needs Mc Donald’s and EDM if you living in a country with the best fast food of the world and a rich (musical) culture? But this is how capitalism and globalisation work. And I do understand the ppl in Vietnam why they want this… Like the saying «The grass is always greener on the other side». Somehow you could think the US won through the back-door. Which absolutely does not mean I support or idealize the system before ´86 in Vietnam. But as a European and foreigner it´s not on me to judge about all this anyway.
The selection of tracks for this compilation is a subjective sample of popular music in that era, informed – of course – by personal likes and influences. This means, for example, that I was interested in latin, rock and soul-flavoured pieces which clearly show elements of fusion with western popular music.
But it was important to me to also include a Vọng Cổ, which is a piece of the Cải Lương, best translated as «theatre music». It was hard to find one that matched with the selection, so I´m more then happy about the one I included in the final track-listing. The Bolero is surly the most popular from. So it was clear to me that that it had to be represented on the album…but not as the dominant theme. So yes, it´s still diverse but also a personal selection in the end and not one on a certificated historical base.
Which would make no sense for me because I also want to attract new ppl to this music …and like back in the days when Hip-Hop-Jazz made me diggin´deeper I believe that if one find the entrance through the compilation then a first step is made…and yes there are many more great Bolero tunes to explore as well.

How long did it take to you to finish that?
I started to work on it more focused in 2013…

Is it easier to make reissues?
No! Absolutely not.

Nowadays, there are many LP labels who follow this model, I mean more quality even if it’s more expensive… but in same time, there are also another « new » LP market, with majors’ come-back and other labels, who prefer to sell cheaper. Is it the (re)creation of two camps for the LP?
Not sure if I understood the question right. But as I see it : There are different kind of target groups for the Vinyl that have different needs and objectives why they buy Vinyl. So record companies follow this trend. But I can not see that this is something very separated. Also I have to say some of the audiophile-hypes like the 180g Vinyl I personally do not understand. I can not hear that sound quality is better when pressed on 180g compared to 140g which is enough to cut a deep groove into the vinyl..everything deeper does not make it sound better anymore. In the end the mastering and cutting are much more important I believe. This you can also see (hear) with the re-issues often.

There are more and more reissues of old LPs, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
Yes it can, but I think not the vinyl market in general, just sections of it like re-issues of African music for example. There might be a point ppl have heard/bought enough and get tired of it or just have no demand to buy more of the same… But then also maybe only for a period of time, because with a new/next «music-virgin» generation the demand might come back, like with the musical styles.Vinyl is here to stay… It´s a yin and yang thing. Digital needs an equivalent and therefor Vinyl is the best medium.

Have you received many negative answers on some of the LPs, artists, unrealeased tapes, you were trying to reissue?
No.

What are your next releases?
I´m working hard to finish ‘Saigon Supersound Vol.2’ in the moment and I´m back to Vietnam therefor in october.
I also have the idea to release a series of limited 7inches with pre75 Vietnamese tunes on one side and a «rework» on the flip-side… Done by Vietnamese producers/musicians and producers who also share roots in Vietnam but living around the globe. It´s an update of the compositions and hopefully make it accessible to a younger and bigger audience. Together with some Viet Kieu guys from Sweden I´m in the preparation process for a small documentary too. We want to start filming in January in Vietnam.
And a few DJ Gigs with Saigon Supersound are also planed. So this project keeps me quite busy and concentrated in the next month… I did not make any plans what will happen afterwards on the label. Matthias Vogt is working on a new Trio album…but we haven´t made plans yet where/when/how to release it.

What is the LP you dream of reissuing?
No further dreams in the moment, and if I think I should re-issue something in the future, I will try to make it happen.

After his memorable Top 5 (that was real rare stuff!), our friend Julien from Digger’s Digest is back to chat with us about his label (Digger’s Digest) and his numerous compilation projects with french labels Born Bad and Heavenly Sweetness! Fresh and not always politically correct, we did not expect less from our fellow digger!

When did you start digging records?
It started with Purple Rain on 7 inch by Prince when I was 8, then I discovered Yo MTV rap and asked my father to offer me the ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ De La Soul cassette when I was 11. I then stole Rap and Grunge CD’s at my local supermarket at 14 and spent a short period in jail ! At 17 I sold my indie pop rock CD’s and Hip-hop K7 collections to buy hip-hop 12 inches and seriously started looking for samples and rarities in every style around, that was in my 20’s.

What LP’s did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
I have sold most of my personal records but I constantly tend to buy them back! I would say A Tribe Called Quest ‘Midnight Marauders’ I bought when I was 16. I have discovered many others records thanks to hip-hop music ! Also The Donald Byrd album ‘New Perspective’ on Blue Note, i kept borrowing from my older brother who had good musical taste in the past!

Do you have a particular style or favorite period?
Not really, I’m mainly collecting jazz and music from the West Indies from every period but like many other kids i started discovering black music (soul/funk) through hip-hop samples. I think it gave me a wider taste but I loved many styles so I couldn’t stay stuck in the 70’s. I love post punk, electronic avant garde music, weirdo concept albums, soundtracks, deviant 7 inches! I also try to listen to what’s new, and since there is so much music released today, it would be a shame to be only focused on the past!

Are you still diggin’, buying vinyl, visiting record shops?
Yes but not in the same way as 10 years ago, when I was digging everyday! Now it’s a bit different, the digging game has constantly changed over the last 10 years, prices have exploded but I still try to go everywhere to buy records, for my on-line shop and for my personal collection.

What was your first release on Digger’s Diggest? Why did you decide to start a label?
My first release (in co-production with Frenchattack) was ‘Rupture : Israel Suite’, the ultra rare vocal funky pop jazz album by jazz drummer Sylvain Krief (known as Airto Fogo). This record was first discovered by Gwen Jamois (Iueke) but Gwen kept it secret! Record detective Thomas Pasquet finally found out the name of this killer record that has gained cult status! As far as I remember when I finished school I always wanted to start a label, but after a short brief experience in a major company I decided to do something else! But I’ve always had the idea in mind. Now 20 years later I think that when you are a passionate collector/dealer, reissuing records is the logical next step. See how many private collectors/record stores start a label.

What could be your editorial/aesthetic line?
It is definitely around jazz but has to be a record with a singular aesthetic, jazz tinged with a particular sound like modern Gwo Ka and Fusion for Edmony Krater, Vocal Funky Jazz for ‘Israel Suite’ or African / Arabic / Mediterranean influences on Cossi Anatz, our next release. I release records i particularly love, that have something different. It’s not only the music, the story of the men behind the records is also very important to me. I could not reissue a record if the musician behind is a complete asshole! It’s all about human relationships.

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
I try to release music that I love, that is still unknown to the general public, and deserves a bigger audience or simply an audience!

What is the Digger’s Diggest LP you are prouder?
I don’t know … maybe the Edmony Krater album, as I discovered the record by myself in my local flea market, 11 years ago, I particularly like it, and when I met Edmony we really got along, we had the same vision of music! Also because Edmony is now touring again with a band playing live his ‘Tijan Pou Vélo’ for a younger generation. He is still really active, composing and recording new music for 2017!
I’m also happy with Israel Suite ‘Rupture’ release as it became the anthem for every Gilles Peterson DJ set in 2015: «Amis à bientôt, ici la vie est bonnnnnnneeee … shalom!»

Did you have any reference labels?
Of course I’m a fan of numerous labels like all the big american labels ! I love the identity they gave to music business in the 50’s/60’s/70’s. I would say Atlantic, Motown, Stax, Strata East and El Saturn. In France I love the catalogues and identity of Barclay / Riviera / Odeon / Ducretet Thomson or Emi/Pathé ! Also Debs, Aux Ondes, 3A Production and Hit Parade for the French caribbean music !

You work mainly with two other labels. Why this choice?
It is more a matter of encounters than a choice, I met JB & Franck around 11 years ago at the same time while looking for records. I was surprised they knew about my website !
We talked about the projects we had. JB borrowed some records from me for some of his projects. The collaboration between Born Bad Rec and DD really started with the discovery of the famous ‘Mariage Collectif’ unreleased album, which I had no idea how to release it. JB came and told me he really wanted to do it and offered me a super fair deal !

And how do you divide your collaborations between Born Bad Records and Heavenly Sweetness?
I would say with Franck (HS) it is more about Deep Jazz, Caribbean Jazz, Rare grooves and now Boogie, Zouk and Electronic. My expertise with Born Bad is more around late 60’s / 70’s french sounds (Marriage Collectif and Mobilisation Générale).

You released Digital Zandoli on K7. Just for fun or is there a real business for this kind of support?
Both! I did it because I didn’t want it to be a simple mix lost in the soundcloud and mix cloudcharts! I wanted my friends that still have a tape player in their cars to listen to it ! It is also a tribute to the hip-hop mixtape culture I was into in the mid 90’s (Tony Touch / Cut Killer / Stretch Armstrong / DJ Revolution…). It was also a real promo tool for the official project we released on Heavenly Sweetness. Not a real business because we made only 50 copies of the first mix and 75 copies of the 2nd. Sold out quickly!

There’s a second volume on K7. Will you do it on LP soon?
On both mixtapes, Volume 1 and 2, the track-listings are completely different from the LP & CD released on Heavenly Sweetness. There are almost 30 tracks on each tape from very obscure records. I put the 1st side of each tape on soundcloud for free streaming. If you want the tracklist and the B side you need to buy the cassette! Plus it is a real mixtape with edited parts, scratches, sequenced tracks. By releasing this mixtape it was more a way to prepare the audience to Zouk and Caribbean Electronic Music, a genre they might not know!

You issue original LPs, but also compilations. Are these two different approaches? Do you feel you are touching the same audience?
For my projects I’m only doing 500 copies which are distributed in selected stores across Europe. So of course the audience is smaller ! For the compilations, the labels I’m working with release them on LP/CD and digital/streaming so of course it now touches a worldwide audience ! Also for the compilations we try to tell a story to the listener. It is very important that a compilation is not just a sum of good tracks pressed on a record but, for example, a showcase of how a musical style is created…

You attach big importance to liner notes, information. Is this what makes the difference between the many compilations on the market today?
A compilation without liners notes is pretty useless! For the same reasons as before. Anyway when you ask for the rights for some tracks, you can always find some information.

When we know the cost of advances on royalties, is it increasingly difficult to make compilations?
Ask my producers! But yes you have to spend a nice amount of money to get some licences. Sometimes it is very easy because the artist is really happy that his project gets a new life. But yes it is more expensive to release compilations with severals labels and artists than doing a simple fac simile reissue or label compilation.

You are about to reissue a record by trumpet player Michel Marre : Cossi Anatz. Why such a choice? And can you think of any similar projects for the future?
Yes! My friend mister Flash showed me this record 15 years ago and I always loved the music, the cover and the whole concept of Jazz mixed with Occitan southern culture, afro and arabic sounds, and I felt that it would be logic to release this record after Edmony Krater as it is a kind of jazz that people don’t really listen to because they simply don’t have access to it. Cossi Anatz drummer René Nan played with Marius Cultier in the early 70’s, Michel Marre played in the Tusques’ Intercommunal Free Dance Orchestra. So it was logic to me that this record would fit in the catalog I’m trying to build. The OG copies are now ultra expensive (300 € and more) so it is a good thing to make it available again. And yes, I have the Georges Edouard Nouel ‘Chodo’ LP that we have just signed.

Most of Digger’s Digest releases are jazz or french west-indies LP’s. Any particular reasons?
Yes I really want to defend our legacy! The leitmotiv would be more music from anywhere but produced in France. I mean the question of France or not is not relevant to me since the music we have reissued has influences from everywhere Middle East, North Africa, Africa, West Indies, the US. I have an easier access to obscure french records than any others countries. And to say the truth I think we are pretty lucky in France considering the vast production… Jazz, it is simply because this is the basis of everything I’m listening to today!

Nowadays, there are many LP labels who follow this model, I mean more quality even if it’s more expensive… but at same time, there is also another «new» LP market, with major companies coming back and other labels, who prefer to sell cheaper. Is it the (re)creation of two camps for the LP?
Majors companies were late in this reissue fever, they have now understood they could exploit their vast catalog trying desperately to relaunch vinyl as a mass market thing but I think it’s an economic bubble. You see the same big selling pop rock records in the past reissued at huge quantities. Result is the pressing delivery schedule are very long for most of the small labels. Also on the small labels everything is reissued, there are the good ones and the unrelevant ones in my opinion. Once a record is hyped by the right person, you can be sure it will be reissued within a few months.

Digger’s Digest reissue LP’s are limited editions, is it due to the market size or a real policy to keep them rare?
I would say for both reasons. For ‘Israel Suite’, my 1st release, i would never have thought it would be so looked after. I.S was the 1st release I produced so I wanted to limit the risks by pressing only 500. Also this record was only known by an handful of collectors and only heard as limited audience since we have compiled it on ‘Freedom Jazz France’. I also think it’s useless to release in one run 1000 copies of a record that is look after by just 10 people.

There are more and more reissues of old LP’s, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
I think we’ve already reached this point! For example see what a so-called official label like PMG is doing on the market, cheap mastering, pressing and covers, no infos, a batch of 20 records in one shot on the market. They might make some money now but I bet it won’t last. I don’t even want to talk about the bootleggers… Meanwhile it always exists. Buyers and collectors are overwhelmed by new reissue labels, and also fed up with cheap quality. My goal when I do a reissue is to go further, try to tell the story of the record, with its context, maybe more photographic material, bring testimony from the past. I don’t reissue a record because it’s worth a 3 digit numbers.

What are your other next releases?
Reissues of Cossi Anatz / José Manclière / Georges Edouard Nouel on Digger’s Digest.
‘Disk La Rayé’ a West Indies Boogaloo Compilation with Born Bad
‘Digital Zandoli Part 2’, with Nico Skliris, and ‘Kouté Jazz Part 2’ with Heavenly Sweetness.
I’m also launching a brand new project/label outside of DD with a friend but this will be a big surprise soon hopefully!

What is the LP you dream of issuing/reissuing?
I don’t know I think It would be more producing than issuing, maybe a crazy hybrid record that gathers all the sound influences I like ! Jazz, Afro, West Indies, Brazil, Latin, Electronic Synthetic music and a bit of Soul and Funk ! If you have any suggestion, please send me your demo!

www.diggersdigest.com

Each month, we are focusing on a record label founded by an active digger. This month, Peanut Butter Wolf, aka Chris Manak, is a man of few words but his works speaks for him! DJ and beatmaker since the mid-80’s, he founded Stones Throw in 1996, originally to release his own works! LP’s, 7’’ or even tapes, Stones Throw became one of the most influential label of the last decades!

 
 

When did you start digging records?
I started buying records in the late 70’s. 1979 is when I really started having a “record collection” of mostly funk and soul 45s that were coming out at the time. In around 1986 and 1987, I started buying used records and “digging” as you say.

What Lps did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
I couldn’t afford to buy many LPs at first, but I guess Prince-‘Controversy’, Tom Tom Club’s debut album, and Kraftwerk-‘Computer World’ were 3 of the first albums I bought, all in around 1981. For the most part, I was buying 45s and some 12” singles like Kano-“I’m Ready” and all the stuff Sugarhill Records was releasing. When the electro crazy started in 1982, a lot of the songs were only coming out on 12” single and even when there was a version on 45, like “Planet Rock” for example, I preferred having the long version that was only on 12”.

Do you have a particular style or favorite period?
I guess the mid 80’s are still one of my favorite periods. As for style, there’s a lot.

Are you still digging’, buying vinyl, visiting record shops?
For a while, I got really addicted to Discogs, but for now, I’m trying not to buy records because at the moment, I have tens of thousands of records in storage and I’m in a kind of small house so I need to get myself into something bigger!
 

Madvillain
‘Great Day’
 

What was your first release on Stones Throw?
Just go to Discogs and it will tell you the answer: ‘My World Premier’ by Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf…

Why did you choose this name : Stones Throw?
Stones Throw was a saying that my mom used and Charizma and I thought it was strange because we hadn’t heard anyone else use that expression. When I thought of the name of the label, I wanted something that had relevance to Charizma since he passed away and the label was kind of a dedication to him and that was the first thing that came to mind.

What could be your editorial/esthetic line?
It’s not quantifiable. It’s art, so I kind of gave up trying to describe it to anyone, but if I had to, I try to only release records that I would wanna buy as a fan of music.

How do you decide on the choice of reissues/issues?
I rarely do reissues. I have to really love something to reissue it because I know that there’s very little chance for a “reissue” to succeed. It’s definitely a labor of love to reissue an old record.
 

Quasimoto
‘Microphone Mathematics’
 

Yesterday’s New Quintet
‘Superstition’
 

Stones Throw digs every format… LP, 7’’, boxset and even tapes! Do you collect all formats yourself?
I do. I just spend $1000 on sealed tapes from the 70’s and 80’s that were $3 each. I couldn’t believe the total ended up that high when the tapes were so cheap each. Tapes are trickier than vinyl because the felt inside wears out after about 20 years and it’s harder to fix them than say a vinyl record that doesn’t “break”. Vinyl just gets static. But I collect a lot of things. Music videos, magazines, 8×10 promo pictures, you name it.

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
Keep it raw.

How do you find brand new talents ?
I find them all different ways. These days, I follow a lot of artists on soundcloud and Facebook. I don’t even know how I find out about stuff. It’s harder to keep up with new artists than it used to be because artists don’t really need money to buy equipment or record in a studio the way they used to have to, so there seems to be way more competition.

Aloe Blacc’s Stones Throw LP was a huge success. Is it easy to manage for an independent label?
When I discovered Aloe, he did everything himself. The first album flopped and after the success of Mayer Hawthorne, he said, “I can do retro soul too” and he did and it was a success, bigger than I personally could have ever predicted. He made a song that for whatever reason, people really identified with and he toured in Europe heavily. And eventually, he was managed by the creator of American Idol so his success just kept building as by that time, he had a team beyond Stones Throw helping him. Aloe is a very smart businessman which is the biggest reason why he is successful.
 

Matthew Larkin Cassell
‘All I’m Missing Is You’
 

Mayer Hawthorne
‘Maybe So, Maybe No’
 

Madlib’s numerous projects are Stones Throw’s trademark! Is there any plans of future releases by Quasimoto, Lootpack or Yesterday’s New Quintet?
I talk to Madlib all the time, but I realized a long time ago that when Madlib is finishes a project and submits it to me, that’s when I can release it. I was very thankful that he did the score for the Stones Throw documentary and he and I are talking about new things, but nothing is currently on the Stones Throw release schedule from Madlib.

Here at Superfly we dig Tuxedo’s first album! what’s the story behind this project?
Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One are both big fans of late 70’s and early 80’s soul/funk/disco/boogie. They’d share these types of songs with each other and eventually tried to make music together and Tuxedo is the result of that relationship. Mayer is a great producer in his own right, but with Tuxedo, I believe Jake One did the majority of the production and Mayer wrote melodies and lyrics over it.

There are more and more reissues of old LPs, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
It’s hard to say. I am actually surprised by how popular it still is but I’m thankful for that. Stones Throw started out in 1996 as a VINYL ONLY label. I didn’t do CDs when I started it, nor did I do digital because there was no such thing as digital at the time. iTunes didn’t start until 2001 and the iTunes store didn’t start until 2003.

https://www.stonesthrow.com/

Myron & E with The Soul Investigators
‘Broadway’