“I have always had a love for ambient music and it’s a shame most people never get to experience it the way it is supposed to, isolated in your room with the lights out. That is enough motivation for me to keep things going. I am also constantly excited about our artists’ new albums coming in. In a sense I am their biggest fan.” (Simon Heath, head of Cryo Chamber)
When did Cryo Chamber start up and what was your inspiration?
SH :: We started in 2012, but it had been a long time coming and with the slow death of the former label I was on, CMI, it was just a great time to pickup the pieces and run a label with my own ideas at the forefront; disconnected from the neo-classical, synth and harsh-noise, Cryo Chamber was established as an ambient/drone label.
Who were some of your initial artist relations and did your location help or hinder progress?
SH :: I had initial artist relations with many people due to my time working with Atrium Carceri, some who had never released albums before but that had some fantastic material. Others would appear a few years later on the label. Halgrath comes to mind as one of the very first I brought on board. The location didn’t affect the label’s work since everything is handled cross-atlantic through the internet and I myself had gotten used to the idea of working over the internet since I was an early adopter long before even the yahoo days.
What were some of the challenges (if any) starting up a label? …and how did you envision the label to stand apart?
SH :: A big challenge is getting the name and music out there, but our vision of having excellent sound quality and strong conceptual albums has paid off big time. We are all incredibly grateful for the huge support that fans have given us and how much they have spread the word about the label.
What is your motivation in keeping the label moving forward into the next decade?
SH :: I have always had a love for ambient music and it’s a shame most people never get to experience it the way it is supposed to, isolated in your room with the lights out. That is enough motivation for me to keep things going. I am also constantly excited about our artists’ new albums coming in. In a sense I am their biggest fan.
Tell us more about how you (and your staff?) take the label’s “sound” to the listeners and fans. Distribution, campaigns, live shows, word of mouth etc.
SH :: A lot of it in this age is by binary means, but for us, making it easy for the listener to tune in and be swept away to dreamland is a priority. That means free streams, youtube, soundcloud, bandcamp etc. We are stepping into an age where we spend money on what we encourage, and as such, our fans have been very generous in supporting the label and its artists. They encourage us to keep going. We can feel that the passion for ambient that we have, is shared whole heartidly with our fans. Who knows where we will go from here, but one thing is for certain, it’s gonna be one hell of a ride overflowing with deep inky drones.
For more information about Cryo Chamber visit www.cryochamberlabel.com.
