Thursday, January 26, 2012

Interview - Nordisk Klub




[PURESTENCH: Introduce us to Nordisk Klub. When did it begin? What made you want to start a label? ]

NK: Nordisk klub started in 2010. I wanted to start the label because I heard some different bands which i thought sounded really good and i didn’t think that anyone else was going to put them out. I was also involved in another label/zine project before Nordisk Klub but our ideas about music were too different.

[PURESTENCH: What do you look for in the material you release? Besides sound what (if anything) would make you deny a request from a band or artist to have your label release them?]

NK: Most of the releases just happened, maybe someone handed me a tape with some material or i heard some recordings at a friends place or something. So i haven’t really “been looking”.

I would deny all people of right wing beliefs.
 
[PURESTENCH: How did you get involved with Noise and Power Electronics? What about these genres do you like?]

NK: I started out going to punk shows when I was younger and then i met some people that used to play in different punk bands, that were playing noise music at that point, I found it really interesting and started attending the shows.

[PURESTENCH: Are you a member of any of the bands on your label?]

NK: Yes. I am member of some of the projects.

[PURESTENCH: From what I have heard you guys are quite young. Does this effect how serious other artists take your label? Does age have any negative effects or has everyone been pretty open to it?]

NK: I don’t think it affects anything. People have been really positive about the things I have put out and some of the tapes have also been distributed by other people that are older or have been “into the scene” longer, whether it’s punk/hardcore or power electronics/harsh noise.
 
[PURESTENCH: So far all of your releases are bands from Denmark, where you are located. Denmark seems to be swelling with new experimental and metal/punk artists and labels. How is the scene over there? Is it a tight community or are there many separate groups doing completely different things? Do you plan on only releasing bands from your area/country?]

NK: In some way everything is connected, if you talk about the noise scene, but more and more people are getting involved all the time. The punk/hardcore scene is more divided but Copenhagen is a small city, even though it seems like there is an endless amount of bands, so in one way or another people know each other.

So far I have only released projects that are based in Copenhagen simply because it seemed straight forward, and because there were some good projects/bands that weren’t put out anywhere else. But if I hear a good project/band from somewhere else and it feels natural to put it out, I will do it.

[PURESTENCH: Does Nordik Klub represent any ideologies, whether artistic, political or whatever, in your labels work? Is there a consistent theme in the work?]

NK: Nordisk Klub by itself does not represent anything but underground music. I don’t have an overall theme for the label, every release has a theme of its own and the releases are not necessarily connected in any way.

[PURESTENCH: The artwork you do is really nice. How important is art to your label? Do you do the artwork or do the bands and artists do it themselves? ]

NK: Thanks. I do allmost all the artwork myself and I do the layout as well, but always with some of the artists from the band I am going to release. I think artwork is really important and I like when everything is linked together, from the lyrical theme to the artwork and how the overall theme fits with how the tape is presented all together with inserts or whatever.

[PURESTENCH: So far NK has only put cassettes out. Is this the format to be used in all future releases? What is it about the cassette format that you find so appealing?]


NK: maybe I will release something in another format at some point but at the time cassettes seems like the right format to use. I find cassettes appealing because they are so easy to handle. You don’t need any fancy equipment or anything just a tape recorder to record the music on and a tape player where it is possible to dub from one cassette to another. Then you can always find a xerox machine at some school or something where you can do copies of the cover and then you have a release. D.I.Y. style.
 
[PURESTENCH: What are some of your influences, whether it be bands, artists, painters, political figures or authors?]

NK: I have been listening to Japanese punk bands, like Disclose, a lot the last few weeks. Then a lot of Danish stuff, there are so many new projects all the time, its hard to keep up with everything. The last movie i saw was a documentary from 1977 called “Dressing For Pleasure”. It is a movie about leather, rubber and latex fashion in the 70’s.
 
[PURESTENCH: What are the future plans for Nordisk Klub? What can we expect in 2012?]

NK: You never know what to expect from Nordisk Klub. Most of the things I have been doing have been quite impulsive. Maybe i will make 100 releases, maybe 5. The next tape is coming out in a few weeks.

[PURESTENCH: Thank you for doing this interview. Any final comments...]

NK: Thank you. Look out for some of the bands/projects I have released. MEGAN has just made a split 7inch with HSV on Release The Bats records from Sweden, there is an upcoming REDFLESH 7inch out soon on Video Disease records from the states and the PAGAN YOUTH demo tape is going to be re-released on a 7inch together with 4 new tracks by Dead Section Records from Denmark.

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