“Plastic Sound Supply is really just a tight-knit group of good people making original music with amazing design to wrap it up and present to the public. It may surprise people elsewhere, but Colorado (Denver, especially) has a vibrant and healthy music scene.”
Igloo Magazine :: When did Plastic Sound Supply start up and what was your inspiration?
Justin / Plastic Sound Supply :: Plastic Sound Supply is CacheFlowe, Snowblinded and Scaffolding. We started in 2007 after a close collaborator’s label folded and left us without a solid outlet for our art. We had worked together for years and wanted to move forward to try new things in a lower-pressure situation. The music industry was changing quickly, and the basic concept of a record label became much more open-ended. We saw this as an opportunity to launch a new label without much overhead, and with plenty of room to experiment on our own terms.
Igloo :: Who were some of your initial artist relations and did your location help or hinder progress?
PSS :: We’ve all been active in the Colorado music scene for years, and between us have a tight network of incredibly talented musicians and designers. Most of the music we’ve released has been from local artists, with a handful of remixes from bigger names in the electronic music world. It’s really just a tight-knit group of good people making original music with amazing design to wrap it up and present to the public. It may surprise people elsewhere, but Colorado (Denver, especially) has a vibrant and healthy music scene. We’ve had great local support, but if there’s any downside to our location, it’s that we don’t have any big national publications or music scenes that can really spread local music to a wider audience.
Igloo :: What were some of the challenges (if any) starting up a label? …and how did you envision the label to stand apart?
PSS :: One of the biggest challenges of starting a label is just getting noticed, and having the drive to keep doing it with the lopsided effort/payoff ratio. In this regard it’s no different than being an independent artist – it’s hard to break through all the noise and feel like you’re making an impact. Logistically we had all the skills to make it happen – we have years of professional web, design and marketing experience from our day jobs. In this regard, we hope that one of the ways we stand out is our professional attention to detail and quality. We’ve cultivated a diverse but strong aesthetic with our album art and visual identity, and have given each release its own micro-website that serves as a unique digital home, indefinitely. Rather than pump out releases, we take great care with each one, spending countless hours to make sure the music and art are fully realized.
We’ve cultivated a diverse but strong aesthetic with our album art and visual identity… Rather than pump out releases, we take great care with each one, spending countless hours to make sure the music and art are fully realized.
Igloo :: What is your motivation in keeping the label moving forward into the next decade?
PSS :: Our motivation is the labor of love. We’re definitely not getting rich or famous, but by banding together and continuing the effort, we hope to spread our art further with time. The occasional small victory helps, like the Westword (Denver’s Village Voice weekly paper) giving us the “Best Record Label” of Denver award in 2011. By not competing with fleeting trends and hype, we hope to create art that will last.
Igloo :: 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.
PSS :: The diversity of our sound is something we take pride in. Our releases have been techno and IDM, experimental dubstep, psychedelic folk, beat-driven shoegaze, with many sounds in between. The common bond is experimentation and electronic production, and each artist has his own unique identity. We would point to labels like Warp, Ghostly, Hefty and Planet Mu as strong influences, but by no means do we attempt to imitate. We’ve had artists from Warp and Planet Mu remix our own artists, and we’ve brought them to Denver to help create the vibe that we’re looking for. We’ve held remix contests and text-message giveaways, released music videos and free mp3s with each album, hand-crafted physical products, printed t-shirts, and we’re always interested in new ways of doing things. There are no rules with music and art.
For more info about Plastic Sound Supply, visit their website at plasticsoundsupply.com.
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