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Joined: March 04 2008
Location: Retirement Home
Status: Offline
Points: 3658
Posted: October 14 2011 at 10:49
Karisma Records is perhaps a new name on the label front to most of us (hence my first question....). But they have released prog rock related albums for a long time. They have recently released albums by Nordagust, D'Accor'd and Airbag which has raised a lot of eyebrows in ProgArchives. I got in touch with Karisma Records and here is it's manager Martin Kvam's answers to my many questions.
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Let's
start with the beginning. As far as I understand it, Karisma Records
is a division of the Dark Essence empire. When and where was Karisma
Records established and what is your philosophies and your label
profile ?
Actually, it’s the other way around. Karisma
Records started first, and Dark Essence is the sub label for Karisma,
and releasing just metal. Karisma Records was established in 2004 in
Bergen, Norway, to release mainly Norwegian bands of good quality
that got overlooked by other labels. We started with doing very
different bands, like the prog band Circles End, indierockers Syme,
the electronica act io, the glamrock band Malice In Wonderland and
indiepop band Casiokids. After some years doing different stuff, we
found out that we were best doing progressive rock bands, and started
concentrating on bands within that area. Since the start, we’ve
released over 60 albums on both labels.
What is your
signing policy ?
If all the 5 involved in the label believes
in a band, we go for it. We’re actively looking for good prog rock
bands these days, and we do have a lot of discussions about which
bands might work or not. We don’t want to sign too many bands
either, but want to help build up the bands we work with.
How
difficult/easy is it to run a record label in Norway ? Is Karisma
Records a full time label or does the staff also have any other jobs
in addition to this label ?
In some ways it’s difficult,
since most people don’t by physical releases anymore, and either
download or stream music. On the other hand, we’re quite lucky
since both the prog and metal fans are very interested, and they buy
what they like. There’s also a lot of good funds in Norway to get
music recorded, so that helps. Everyone involved in the label have
jobs on the side, so it’s a quite big and time consuming hobby we
have here he, he.
Just run through and write one-two
line(s) about each of your releases, including music styles.
I’ll only do the most relevant for Progarchives here, since we have
done a lot of different stuff. But, here we go:
Airbag –
Identity Airbag – All Rights Removed The biggest name on
Karisma Records. “Identity” came out in 2009, and surprised many
with their great and atmospheric rock, that can be linked to bands
like Pink Floyd, Blackfield, Porcupine Tree, A-ha, Talk Talk etc. New
album “All Rights Removed” is out now, and is a bit darker than
the debut.
Big
Robot – Aquafit Maybe our most experimental release to date.
Bergenbased duo Big Robot joined forces with the now late Conrad
Schnitzler on this album, and fits in with the most experimental
krautrock that exists.
The Brimstone Solar Radiation Band –
Smorgasbord Bergen-based Brimstone is all over the place, and with
their 3rd
album they covered most styles from the late 60s to the mid 70s.
Brimstone is a great retro rock band, with a lot of prog tendencies
and awesome songs.
Circles
End – Hang On To That Kite Great 2nd
album from this Norwegian act which came out in 2004. They blended
modern prog rock with a touch of Canterbury style. A pity they split
up.
Corvine - Corvine A Bergen based band that everyone
thought would become big in Norway around the year 2000. Then they
came to us and did this weird, atmospheric, experimental and great
album in 2005. If you enjoy Radiohead’s more experimental things,
this is for you.
D’accorD
– Helike This 2nd
album from D’accorD is an ambitious beast with just 2 tracks in 40
minutes, and is of course a concept album. Great retro prog rock for
fans of old Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull and such. And see
these guys live, cause they’ll blow your mind!
Funin –
Unsound Funin is not really a prog rock band, but a great
experimental rock band with link to the prog rock style. With a great
mix of organic instrumentation (violins, flute, classic keyboard etc)
and electronica, with great vocals (male/female) they did a really
bold and progressive release with “Unsound”.
Gallery –
Jas Gripen Trondheim based Gallery did a great debut with “Jas
Gripen”, and they sound like a mix of good 70’s inspired hard
rock in the vein of Led Zeppelin and more modern rock in the vein of
Muse. All with a progressive touch.
Nordagust – In The Mist
Of Moring A quite old Norwegian band, but this debut wasn’t
released before last year. Awesome atmospheric and very Nordic
progressive rock, with a lot of use of old instruments and lots of
mellotron. I think this album took a lot of people by surprise.
Vaiping
– The Great Polar Expedition Vaiping – Industrial Workers Of
The World
A
unique band, though not very prog rock in the classic use of the
term. However, they were highly progressive with their use of dark,
industrial grooves and atmospheric sounds. They sounded massive, dark
and different, and something for all the krautrock enthusiasts.
How
big sales volumes are we talking about here ?
Our titles have sold between 1000 till 5000 copies, and most of them
somewhere in between. Not much maybe, but not bad for a small label
with quite unknown bands.
The adverts backed free
streaming services offers little returns for artists and record
labels. What is your views on Spotify and similar services ?
I feel you have to offer music on the platforms people want to hear
music. In Scandinavia especially, Spotify and similar services are
important, and I think we’ll see even more streaming services from
now on. Hopefully, most people will pay to use a service like this,
and hopefully people will get inspired and get the physical product
or show up at the bands shows. No matter how you look at it, you
can’t fight this so it’s better to use it for both promotion and
get info on where people actually listen to your releases. And get a
little bit money out of it as well.
LPs are back in
fashion like never before. Several industry analysts believe LPs will
replace CDs as the only physical storage format for music. What is
your views on LPs vs CDs ?
I think both formats will survive
for a long time. I do believe that the digital files will fade out
when the streaming systems can be easily used everywhere, since they
don’t have any real value opposed to vinyl or a cd. We’ll
continue doing both, and hopefully more vinyl than what we’ve done
earlier. And also to be available on the digital market.
Why
should a band/artist sign on Karisma Records instead of going it
alone through CD Baby, Bandcamp and other online retailers ?
No band really needs a label these days. But, the thing you do get
with working with a label is that someone takes care of some of the
costs for you, better and wider distribution, promotion and someone
taking care of a lot of paperwork. Also, a label usually has some
expertise and experience in releasing albums, which most bands don’t
have. So, if you find the right label, which also wants to work with
your band, you should get a lot of help and a good push in the right
direction. It doesn’t mean you don’t need to do any work though.
What is the release plan for Karisma Records ?
Now we’ve just released the 2nd
album of D’accorD, “Helike”, and the 2nd
album of Airbag, “All Rights Removed”, so we’ve had our hands
full. After that, we don’t have a set release schedule since most
of the bands are either working on new stuff, like Nordagust and
Brimstone, or they’re put on hold. So, we’re looking for new and
old exciting progressive and experimental rock bands. Get in
touch!
I may have touched upon this theme in another
question, but what is your thoughts about the music industry and it's
future ?
So much is happening right now that it’s hard to say anything for
certain, but thing’s are getting more stable each month now. The
digital sales are going up, and there will come new platforms that
will be positive for both the bands and the industry. And it’s good
to see that the interest for new music is still growing. And I
believe that fans always want something physical in their hands from
a band, so the cd or vinyl won’t die just yet.
Anything
you want to add to this interview ?
Thanks for the interview and keep up the great work with
Progarchives! It’s great to see the big interest for progressive,
experimental and intelligent rock is still there, and that it seems
to grow each day. Keep on searching for new good music and spread the
word about it.
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