Interview with Seclorum (December 2007)

Here's a short interview with Seclorum, one of the founders of Alter-X and NBK Records, published in some obscure Italian magazine. The situation on the netlabel consortium had some little differences - X-Line was called NBKLine, NBK Records still existed and launch of physical production was planned at this moment.


Talking about the "price of art" is a virtually endless task. The format, the sound and graphic quality, the production of "concrete" things require much more efforts than the final product made by a net label, that seems to stay like on the threshold, in a finished state but never concrete. However, the output comes always from the work and passion of the artist, moved by the same inclination (to make art, of course). Why then is the music liberalized? Should it be considered as a rebellious act against the copyright system and, in a wider sense, against society? Or is there any other reason?
In my opinion, talking about price of the art is absolutely useless task, because a lot of things that could be considered as "art" exist on this planet. Classical music is art, but tape noisecore, for example, is art too - it's just different kinds of art. As for NBKLine, we don't have time and resources for any kind of wars or any political/ideological/religious things. We just quietly do our main job - we produce and publish various electronic music. If the main conception of netlabel scene is "DIY production, raw quality, minimum efforts and maximum result" - then we're definitely NOT associated with this movement. It's not about simple receiving, zipping and distributing MP3s. I hope you understand the importance of production that any serious label do - in our case this process includes mastering - that's why we require WAV/lossless files for publishing - mixing, finalizing, packaging, cover and booklet design. Good production always improves the quality of source record. Just look at demo tracks that some artists upload on myspace - and final versions of these tracks that we publish. Only one step is missing, yes - to make the record "concrete". Well, anyone with PC and Internet connection can do this. Download lossless FLAC-image of record from our website, burn it on CDR and print the covers. By the way, we're almost ready for another step - we're planning to launch the production of CDs in the next year. As a little bonus for those who don't have time or resources for downloading music, or simply thinks that netlabel scene isn't serious (yet). So, our main goal as netlabel is helping the artist finalize his work, improving its quality to the state when it could compete with the production of CD labels, and, of course - distributing the work worldwide. Absolutely for free.

The world of open source music is ruled by avantgarde electronica, idm, ambient, minimal techno and all other (more or less refined or sick) variations on this style. On the contrary, ebm, gothic and dark are banished in a small place (often narrow and of a poor quality) that disappears in the extent of the world wide web. What do you think about this phenomenon?
These styles are less popular than ebm and related genres. And - in common - they're easier in production. Simply, a lot of freeware sound tools designed for making noises and strange sounds exist. But the professional solutions cost money. And they could be harder in use.

It is not uncommon to find excellent net labels careful to sound and visual/graphic work. However, tradition labels have a certain prestige that gives them an "official image" that, even if it belongs to net labels as well, it is always superior and unreachable. Is it only an economic/historical reason or what?
As I said before, NBKLine hardly could be called a "pure" netlabel - we're planning a launch of CD production soon. But we'll remain independent forever - simply, it's not about money, it's about music. Yes, there was some economical reasons of starting a netlabel rather than CD label - who'll buy the CD of absolutely unknown artist published on absolutely unknown label? Starting a netlabel is more simpler that building an traditional organization from a scratch - at least, you have a chance to prove that you can be a manager, designer, producer... The future of label depends only on your creative forces and good management.

More and more artists choose mp3s as a valid option for their releases. Not only underground projects but also well known artists, like Displacer for example. What do you think about the future of music distribution?
MP3 is a good way of distribution, but it's not perfect. OGG and other formats too. The ideal versatile audio format simply doesn't exist. It's not about formats - anyone chooses the most suitable format for listening - from vinyls and tapes to OGGs and online streaming. Artists choose MP3 because it's the best tool for distribution of works worldwide at this moment. There's a lot of people who can't buy the original CD (especially in Russia) - but they have Internet access and they do download music. Anyway, all CDs or even MP3s that you issue commercially will be pirated sooner or later - so providing the legal MP3s for free is one of the best solutions. It gives your music a great promotion too. If the netlabel scene will evolve, it could be the future of music distribution - one of ways.