Igloo took the opportunity to catch up with Ian Boddy to discuss 70’s synth pioneers, the evolution of electronic music and not least the principles on which the label DiN is based. As well, we take a look at DiN’s 100th release titled Nevermore by Ian Boddy.
“Never give up. Never surrender.”
DiN as a label, represent many talented musical sculptors from across the planet featuring abstract electronic music with an emphasis on the origins of this multi-faceted genre including modular, synth-based, analog and ambient forays—exploring unique sound worlds while Ian Boddy steers the mighty sonic ship. Now moving towards their milestone 100th release, (Nevermore, by Ian Boddy, released October 15, 2021) DiN continues to inspire and expand, never showing signs of slowing down, and instead, releasing music that simply stands the test of time.
DiN, of course, feature a superb showcase of music on their site that highlights both the ambient and the rhythmic specials offered by the label. The label also offers a full digital discography available to purchase, and from listening to the streams, it’s an excellent showcase for any enthusiast of all things quality electronic.
Nevermore itself, is a marvelous example from the catalog. It’s a release that gives way to a superb representation of what the label has to offer. There’s an immense diversity, powerful atmospherics all set alongside some very clever and intricate arrangements. The title track itself, is an extended showcase of the quality contained within and flaunts itself perfectly. There’s the unmistakable drive towards those far reaching, haunting density of sounds—all with immense texture, beats that are laid back, yet still hit those low subliminal depths. And despite those definite lasers of synth magic, the intricate mix of instrumentation also momentarily morphs to a more traditional feel, so very well integrated and woven into its electronic foundations and steeping the release in its own originality. In short—it’s sublime.
Nevermore is available as a digital release as well as limited edition CD and limited-edition CD bundle featuring a giclee cover art print. [Bandcamp]
Igloo took the opportunity to catch up with Ian Boddy to discuss 70’s synth pioneers, the evolution of electronic music and not least the principles on which the label DiN is based.
From a different reality or another world ::
Igloo :: Can you tell readers a little about your brand and what it stands for in terms of the music you put out? What’s important to you and your listeners?
Ian Boddy :: The label was established in 1999 and was set up to release ambient electronica that bridged the gap between the analogue sound of the early 70’s synth pioneers and the digital soundscapes of the more experimental modern exponents of electronic music. Personally, I always listen to music that has a certain “quality” whereby you can hear that it’s composed, that the composer has something interesting to say. I’m not so keen on music that just drifts or that is a series of sound FX for their own sake. I like albums that take you, the listener, on a journey. Where you can shut your eyes and the music can take you to a different reality or another world. These are some of the core values that all the releases on DiN possess. And I guess as I am the curator of DiN then it must be a reflection of my own unique musical personality.
“All you can really do is keep putting out the music you believe in and find ways to get it to the listeners who still care.” ~ Ian Boddy
Igloo :: DiN celebrates its 100th release. That, in itself, is a great achievement for your label and one you are very proud of, I’m sure. What do you think has sustained your brand to this point? How do you look back over that time?
Ian Boddy :: Well to quote the cult film Galaxy Quest — “Never give up. Never surrender.” You have to believe in the music you are releasing on a label is worth putting out there to the best standard you can achieve. This relates to both the quality of the music but also the packaging and artwork. The latter has always been an important element of the DiN “brand.” Since DiN41 all the Digipak covers feature a nice piece of art unadorned by any text so the listener has both something good to listen to and to look at. But going back to that quote if you can keep going to as high a standard as you can, then over time you will gather a loyal following and these folk will feed back in to your label with both purchases of music but also just a general good vibe which is very helpful in these troubling times.
Igloo :: With so many diverse releases, and you also do a great showcase of work on your site with the two mixes—one ambient and one rhythmic, is there a particular style favorite that you go for or are you very open minded?
Ian Boddy :: DiN has never really gone for overtly dance based styles of electronica—there’s plenty of other labels who cater for that market. Rather the music is a little more introspective with its roots in the early German Kosmische bands. However of course in the 50 years or so since that music first landed on our planet electronic music has evolved through a myriad of styles. So, I’m certainly not blinkered in that there’s plenty of artists working with different technologies and styles, for example the beautiful digital soundscapes of Tetsu Inoue on Yolo (DiN22). I also like to mess about with genres and see what happens when things such as Berlin School, ambient, soundscapes, cinematic and prog all get thrown in to a melting pot and see what emerges. Genres are often just convenient labels imposed on music by the media and at the end of the day for me, it’s all just music.
Igloo :: How do you feel the music industry is developing these days and how does your label grow alongside a developing and ever-changing industry?
Ian Boddy :: I don’t think the music industry as such is going in a very good direction. Peoples listening habits have changed immensely since I was growing up in the 70’s when sitting down with friends to listen to a new release by one of your favorite bands was a beautiful shared experience. A great proportion of folk are now just being force-fed playlists by streaming platforms where it almost doesn’t matter what is playing, it’s all about the mood. Music has become a backdrop to your day whilst you do something more important. But that is the mainstream part of the market and hence by definition the largest slice of the audience. However underneath all that shiny façade are the indie artists and labels—such as DiN—releasing interesting quality music in niche genres that will cater for a small hard core of people who are willing to listen to music as music. Platforms such as Bandcamp are really doing a great job of supporting this type of listening but let’s not be anything other than realistic in realizing this is a very small part of the overall music market. All you can really do is keep putting out the music you believe in and find ways to get it to the listeners who still care.
Igloo :: I’m really interested that you mention your origins and musical heritage being steeped in the German Berlin School and Krautrock pioneers. How much of an influence do you feel these genres have had on electronic music as a whole?
Ian Boddy :: An absolutely huge influence that is still being felt over 50 years later even though perhaps a lot of the younger generation of musicians don’t realize it so much. These guys pretty much reinvented the musical landscape with the possibilities that new recording techniques and electronic instruments opened up. I remember hearing some of these early tracks and they barely sounded as though they had been composed by humans at all, it felt like you were hearing something from a different planet. Of course, over the years we’ve all become very familiar with a lot of these sounds and techniques so perhaps that mystique has diminished somewhat over the years. But anyone with a remote interest in the roots of electronic music should listen to these artists at some point to gain some perspective in how electronic music has evolved over the last half century.
The musical world needs to be explored
“For me it’s more important to put out interesting, quality music that at least some people can appreciate.” ~ Ian Boddy
Igloo :: Are there any 70’s synth pioneers that you admire that influence your own music?
Ian Boddy :: Well, the big two for me were Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. I can still remember hearing for the first time a couple of tracks by them in the early 70’s that changed my musical tastes forever. The first was “Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares” by Tangerine Dream from the album Phaedra that I remember was played by Alan Freeman on mainstream Radio 1 on a Saturday. Then shortly after that I heard the Schulze track “Wahnfried 1883” from the album Timewind late on a Sunday evening on a local radio station. I really couldn’t believe my ears. Remember, in those days, there was virtually no one playing this style of music, so it all seemed so fresh and new. It’s hard to recapture that feeling nowadays as there’s literally thousands of artists working in these genres. However, although they were certainly an influence, I don’t feel the need to slavishly mimic their musical tropes and whilst I may reference these styles sometimes there’s so much more in the musical world that needs to be explored.
Igloo :: Moving on from that theme, is it common to come across artists who experiment with the older style analog sounds, or is there a bigger drive towards modern technology—presumably this is more accessible?
Ian Boddy :: Technology has always driven electronic music forward to a certain extent. What has been very noticeable in the last 5 years or so is the tremendous explosion in interest in modular systems particularly in the Eurorack format. The difference between analogue and digital though is getting ever more blurred as many of the modules that fit inside these modular racks are digital modules anyhow. Also, I’ve personally never got hung up on this analogue / digital divide—they’re just tools for making sound. For me the composition of the music is the most important, not how you technically achieve that. But what I would say is the most important aspect of this modular revolution is the ability to perform live with a relatively modest set up. In the early days only the richest of artists could afford the huge Moog systems let alone have the ability to cart these monsters about. The new systems are small enough to fit into hand luggage on a plane so many more artists are using these instruments to perform in new and exciting ways and that for me is a huge positive.
Igloo :: Where do you see yourself steering the label in the future?
Ian Boddy :: I’ll just keep keeping on as long as I can and as long as folk appreciate what the label puts out. There’s no point in scheming about world domination as who would want that anyhow? I’m comfortable with the fact that DiN is a niche label and whilst you’re always looking for more sales it’s not something I would ever want to obsess about. For me it’s more important to put out interesting, quality music that at least some people can appreciate. I’ve got a really nice roster of artists and occasionally this will expand as my contacts grow. So, for the foreseeable future I’m not going to give up, or indeed surrender!
Nevermore is available on DiN. [Bandcamp]
