Who are the people
behind Nostress? Where are you from? What do you do for a living?
Nostress is a Palermitan (Sicily) indie record label that I (Paolino Canzoneri)
set up in 2011. We have several key collaborators; Francesco Calabria is the live
events manager, while Lorenzo Lunardo and Gaetano D’alessandro, our web
masters, enable the site to be compatible with diverse platforms. David
Purpura, our main correspondent in London (UK), updates the label with news
from the UK: the London scene and major events. I should also mention Luigi
Cilento that I have known from the beginning and for the first two years of my
musical journey. We all work in the IT world.
When did you first
feel the need for creating a netlabel? Why a netlabel and not a regular music
label?
Music has always been a passion for me. I started playing drums when I was a
young kid. I also played in several groups. I am 47 and was privileged to
witness the changes in music across the 70′s, 80′s etc. In particular the
introduction of new electronic instruments in the music scene and the ‘birth’
of the digital era. In 2009 I joined a local [Palermo] indie experimental
musical scene which was taking off but was restricted by their limited musical
choices. After a while I resolved to create a different scene – a more personal
one which would also follow local trends but which would mainly focus on global
artists and would not be bound by geography. I decided to create an independent
label which would not be dictated or affected by the multinational musical
corporations. My aim is to produce and promote music, allowing the artists’
freedom of expression and total control of their product. Over the years I set
up projects which were produced on several independent netlabels; this enabled
me to understand the importance of promoting ‘independently’.
I believe
that nowadays there are no major differences between ‘commercial labels’
and ‘netlabels’. The web is integrating these two terms. Nostress is defined as
a ‘net-label’ on the web. But it is also a regular music label, as we will
publish using vinyl, CD and tapes. We also have a “real” studio with
multitracking and mastering.
Were there any other
labels that influenced you early on or that you still use as references?
As stated above I was able to contact other netlabels and understood how the
phenomenon was developing. Music is far beyond mere business – it is, in my
view, pure expressive art. There are a huge number of artists out there who
wish to promote their music without monetary reward. Sometimes artists create
solely to serve the market. I feel that is far too humiliating, as it hampers
creativity and freedom, and endorses a bias in music appreciation, which is far
from the audience’s tastes. Netlabel music was established by young people who
have little access to financial resources, who take a political stand in
challenging the commercial view of music today. At its core the members of
netlabels are distributing free music using a licence (Creative Commons) that
enables them to download music free, Netlabels enables artists to use them as
marketing device to promote their music to major labels who regularly scan
netlabels in search of new talent. By doing so, netlabel is able to globally
promote all artists, whether they are interested to play in indie style or
promote their music in the mainstream market.
What kind of music do
you focus on?
Since I was a kid I have been passionately interested in music. My father
supported me in developing it further. He would buy me vinyl and would ask my
eldest cousin what type of music I liked and which band was worth listening to.
Just before one of my birthdays, my cousin told my father to buy me the LP with
the picture of a cow on the front. I was nearly 14. Needless to say, this
opened up the world of British Progressive Rock for me. I’ll leave you to guess
what he bought me. Since then I developed a visceral taste in rock music and
kept a close eye on its development over the last 30 years right through the
development of electronic music. Nostress Netlabel promotes an experimental
approach by musicians moving away from psychedelia; travelling through rock and
progressive rock and reaching electronic or electro-acoustic music styles at
the end of their journey.
What can you tell us
about the netaudio scene in Italy? Are there many netlabels active?
Italy traditionally has imported its music, for example, we have always paid
great attention to what is happening in Europe and America. We have never felt
envious of non-Italian music, and we have never been overly patriotic toward
just listening to ours. The netlabel phenomenon is constantly evolving. In my
view it has become a global phenomenon as it not only represents a dimension of
Indie music, but has ties with new-socio-political views that represent the
thoughts of young people. The netlabel is a web-based forum where diverse
musicians can touch base with people who have common views and want to share
them. In Italy there are several netlabels which are popular with different
artists who are searching for publications and promotion. Here is a map created
by Ephedrina Netlaboratorio.
Do you organize local
events to promote your work?
To manage a netlabel means maximising the promotion of the artist by organising
live concerts in pubs or community centres etc. Nostress Netlabel is capable of
organizing such events ad hoc, with a quick turnaround. We can also act as
‘media-partners’ and link artists with other organizations and producers which
are web-based. If you check the section events of the ‘site’, it displays all
the events and ways to participate on the site. This is a kind of on-the-road
section.
What’s your standard
procedure for promoting a new release? How do you build up attention? What are
your favorite platforms do you promote it on?
We tap into the social networks, in particular Facebook – we also have contacts
on blog pages, music fanzines and webzines.
Can you tell us a
little more about your latest release?
The latest release is from the Russian artist Andrey Kireyev, who has
already published a couple of projects. We are currently participating in an
expansion of the Russian musical Avant-garde in its experimental form; in
particular bands like T.Bird, ASTMA, Coaxil, etc.
What are your plans
for the future?
We are planning to to expand our musical releases by printing on CD glass
masters and also vinyl and tapes. We already have a vinyl release out – we are
very fond of vinyl! We also have a parallel project called NN LIVE where we
attempt to involve as many bands as we can. We are planning to use this
platform to run workshops on new musical technologies. Etterem from Milan attended
the first meeting in March 2013 at the Garibaldi Theatre in Palermo. It was a
beautiful experience.
Any particular release
you are most proud of?
After publishing 43 LPs and 21 EPs and 2 compilations of unreleased material
(the unreleased tracks are published each year on a netlabel), we are very
proud. We are also very lucky in what we achieved so far. We have been focusing
on the Palermitan scene and have captured the attention of Palermitan groups
like Cinema Noir, Cum Moenia and Echonaif. We value these
groups very highly.
We also have a
spiritual and intimate side which is expressed by the duo Marco Manzella
and Antonella Scalia. Aldo Ammirata and his work, Empirical
Evidence, encapsulates experimental music. Aldo has had a timeless number
of downloads. One of his live concerts in 2011 was published by Nostress.
Moving North we have links with Plasmat, Hortus Conclusus and the
experimental avant-garde scene, such as Efficient Refineries, Syrinx,
Baumann.electronics, Triton, TÜNEL and Nick Z-gibarian
and in Indonesia with CONTROL-Z.
There are loads of
others – too many to mention here. We are a great family and would like to
sincerely thank everyone involved in Nostress.
