In The Pocket: Release Week Update
Since I announced the compilation and mix CD In The Pocket: The Sound Of Welt Discos three weeks ago, a number of things have happened.
Tracks released
Every week I’ve been adding a few tracks to the compilation on bandcamp, in themed ‘mini-releases’. Part of the creative enjoyment of this project has been putting together a collection and mix that reflects all the various aspects of running a label, especially the different kinds of human interactions that go along with curating the music. Sometimes you receive demos from close friends or from complete strangers. Sometimes there’s an artist whose music you love but you’ve never spoken to but who you feel compelled to contact. Sometimes fate puts you in the same room as a producer who turns out to make brilliant music you’d never heard before. It’s been a challenge and pleasure to include tracks that represent all these scenarios, and more, all in the same mix.
The first launch announcement included tracks by Will Hofbauer, Eli Verveine, Peach, DJ City, Peter Pressure and Go Dam. Since then:
The second release featured tracks by close friends, from my oldest friend Gwenan to one of my oldest Portuguese friends Jorge Caiado (who also did the mastering on the release), to friend and label alumnus Stephen Howe, and two partners in crime that I met in Brussels: Dana Kuehr and ELO.
The third release represented the task of listening to demos and, the hard part, responding to them. I don’t often get sent music out of the blue. I’m sure much less than other more popular labels. Yet I still find it difficult to respond to demos, especially when they don’t really speak to me. Tracks by Louis R and Billy Jack (who are also friends in real life) stand for the upside of demos, when you receive something that instantly grabs your attention. Then the tracks by Matthew Fit and Pediment are the result of these friends consistently sending me music over the years — a compilation like this being, finally, an excellent conduit for putting some of their music out on my label.
The fourth release, which will go out later today, features the final tracks from the compilation, which are by artists from around the world who I’ve been a big fan of, whose music I’ve followed closely and played out a lot over the years, and decided to reach out to for this project: Ranma Entero from CDMX, Joe Milli from London, Lotéricas RJ (one of the many aliases of Gabriel Guerra) from Rio, and Saint Guel from Manila.
Separately, I also published the two tracks by Viewtiful Joe and Xiaolin, both artists who will play at the CD launch party in Lisbon this Friday (see below).
All the tracks are now available digitally via bandcamp and the DJ mix is still streamable on soundcloud.
CDs manufactured
A big part of this project has been the creation and production of the mix CD. Well, it hasn’t been an easy ride. It’s a cliché that getting anything made or done in Portugal is always a challenge. But unfortunately over the years of living here it’s proven again and again to be true, and the CD has been no exception. Without going into all the tedious details, what I have ended up with is 100 copies of an absolutely stunning-looking CD (good) that plays well (also good) but has one minor error in the metadata (bad). It’s not the end of the world, but it’s very frustrating given the lengths I went to to ensure everything would be correct on the final run. Unfortunately it’s an issue that could only be fixed by doing another run of the CD — something which is unviable both financially and at this short notice.
Part of me wishes I’d just let go of the ‘Made In Portugal’ ideal and worked with a company in the UK, but it is what it is. As a friend told me the other day, just think of the sheer number of vinyl releases on discogs listed as misprints, with the labels reversed or the tracks pressed in the wrong order. Well, this CD now joins that timeless archive. At least it plays properly and looks amazing!
Next week I’ll start sending out the CD to the artists involved and the many kind people who’ve bought a copy so far. There are only about 40 of them left, and if you purchase the CD you get the full digital tracks into the bargain, so don’t sleep on it!
Parties announced
Welt Discos @ Outra Cena, Lisbon
Friday 26 September, 00h30-late
with:
Viewtiful Joe (Live)
Xiaolin (DJ)
+ me (DJ)
The launch party will be in the club I work for in Lisbon, Outra Cena, which I’ve written about enough before (in fact with the benefit of hindsight it’s kind of funny revisiting my original report from January 2024, here). I invited Xiaolin, whose Hex party I played at in Hong Kong 18 months ago — she’s played live in Lisbon before, but never DJed. And then Viewtiful Joe will play live, which is something I’ve wanted to hear for years. I’m doing the warm-up.
Welt Discos @ Arkaoda, Berlin
Friday 7 November, 23h-late
with:
Dana Kuehr (DJ)
Gwenan (Live + DJ)
Stephen Howe (DJ)
+ me (DJ)
I’ve been to this space in Neukölln once before, in fact to see Dana play. They had a refit earlier this year. On this night, Gwenan will play a modular live set, followed by me and Stephen Howe DJing b2b, with Gwenan and Dana going b2b to close. A family affair! Poster and RA event forthcoming.
Pumping Velvet x Welt Discos @ Club Cheek
Friday 21 November, 22h-late
with:
Joe Milli (DJ)
Mo Probs (DJ)
+ me (DJ)
Sam PV very kindly arranged this collab night with his queer party Pumping Velvet, at Club Cheek in Brixton, featuring Joe Milli, who has a track on the compilation and also just released this fab EP on Livity Sound, and Mo Probs, co-founder of South London Dyke Night for music heads WET. Poster and RA event forthcoming.
Feelings felt
Oof it’s been a rollercoaster. The excitement of putting this highly personal project out into the world is tempered by the maelstrom of desires and uncertainties about what is going to happen. It’s difficult to just enjoy the moment for what it is — it lives! — especially when you have to go through the whole rigmarole of social media promotion, sending out promos, trying to get press to be interested in it. It sucks that these steps, highly gatekept be it by humans or algorithms, are necessary for the project to even reach listeners out in the ‘real’ world. And then of course there’s the question of whether the music resonates with those people, once it reaches them.
I feel like I’ve put in the time and effort on the promotional points, and I’ve done it entirely independently. I made a social media calendar and mostly stuck to it; I focussed the content on the music and personal relationships behind the project, which is the whole point of it; and I tried to give each track and artist equal billing. That will continue after the release is out. It’s hard, though, to not always imagine what I could have done better. Would it have been worth paying a professional to help with the promotion? What if I’d shared that post a few hours later in the day? Did I choose the right format? Maybe I should have been more insistent with that one press contact?
Yesterday I was at work on this dance project I’m helping with and I realised I could ask one of my colleagues, who specialises in stage design for contemporary dance and performance, to help with photographing the physical CD. Within 10 minutes he’d taken a series of images that I could never dream of producing. Seeing the photos, I felt a wave of pride and joy in this beautiful object — it really looks fantastic and I know that not only is the mix on it a complete representation of who I am, but it has also given a platform to tracks that otherwise may not have ever seen a release.
But at the same time I thought: is it fair to rely on favours from talented friends like this? After all, it’s what I’ve done with all the musicians involved — relied on their goodwill and friendship and generously given time to contribute to a project that they know will barely make them any money. Of course the human part is important, but people need to make a living too. For previous releases on the label I’ve always paid each artist a flat fee of 100€ for their music — not an advance, just a flat payment, before the 50% of everything else. For me it’s crucial to value the work in that way. But for this project I just don’t have the funds. Of course the production and selling of the object marks the point where the creative process, the partnership, the puzzle of it all, has definitely come to an end. It can’t help but become about numbers. But even aside from the numbers, the actual release of the CD acts as a concretisation of something that until now I could enjoy as a bit of a secret between me and all my friends. And there’s a big sense of loss in that for me.
As for the launch party this Friday, I’m experiencing all of the familiar uncertainties that happen before throwing a night, even though in this instance it’s not my budget that’s on the line (though indirectly it is, since I work for the club). The attendance at OC can be very unpredictable. Many of my friends are away at a mini-festival this Friday. And just the other day I saw that there will be a big party with this guy downstairs, which is always a bit of a buzzkill for the OC chillout area. It does, however, have the upside of pushing people into the dancefloors. In the end, of course, I’m just hoping we get a nice turnout for my two guests, both of whom I am very excited to hear play.
Finally, there’s the question of what comes next. I am excited to go on sharing more detailed background on the people and tracks involved in the project. Yes that will involve social media, but also this newsletter, and I feel like I’m on firm ground focussing on what’s meaningful to me: relationships, connections, the stories behind the music. I hope these tracks and the work I’ve put in to promote them may lead to opportunities for the producers on the compilation.
As for opportunities for me, I’ve been struggling to generate the motivation to email bookers and promoters, which of course I should be doing right now if I want gigs in the future. This is partly due to the post-party girl summer lull, but also partly because it feels kind of tawdry to try to immediately capitalise on the project. I know that’s how the game works, but simultaneously want to resist it. But I have to face reality: in the same way that social media and PR are a necessary evil for the project to reach listeners, sending emails and pestering people is a necessary evil for getting gigs. From next Tuesday I will no longer be on the full-time residencies for this project, so I guess that’s when I’ll kick into gear. If you’re a promoter reading this, get ready to get badgered.
One final promotional request: if you’ve enjoyed the DJ mix and compilation, please share it with someone else you think might enjoy it too. I want these tracks to find people who will listen to them on repeat and play them out.