Back four years ago the DJ partnership of Cosmo and Faber decided to set up the Lux Rec imprint, and the rest (as the cliché goes) is history.
I’ve been lucky enough to be covering Lux Rec since the label started. Back four years ago the DJ partnership of Cosmo and Faber decided to set up the imprint, and the rest (as the cliché goes) is history. But a lot has taken place and changed since that first EP from Detroit’s Jared Wilson. New artists, new ventures and new adventures. I caught up with the pair of bosses to ask them about plans, hopes and dreams (past present and future.)
The label was born like so many other plans, schemes and revolutions; in a bar. In the back streets of Zurich ideas were buzzing, pinging off mahogany countertops and full glasses of beer. The two had been DJ’ing for many years, after first meeting at an Italo night, and felt that a firmer platform was needed. “A record label seemed a good playground for us both to discover, research and bring to life music that otherwise would have remained unknown and unpublished.”
Switzerland has never really been a hotbed of electronics. There’s been some of course, Yello for example and the excellent Axodya label from the 90s, but it’s always seemed a little thin on the ground. “It isn’t a place where music gets normally pushed on the surface, so some of it remains local and absolutely underground…it is difficult to find it.”
The Lux men have been at the forefront of homegrown electronics, unearthing talent like Echo 106 and CCO. It also seems that once you get stone turning that there’s a wealth of music waiting to be found in Switzerland. “It is also a small country so quantitatively there is less than in others, and there are four different official languages. On the surface, at least in Zürich, a lot refers to Berlin or Germany in general, minimal and such is well regarded here. Yet small things happen and we are happy to witness them. In Zürich a club like Zukunft gets involved in more undergrounds things, or squats and the related alternative scene are great places. Bern has a group of like-minded people around the Dampfzentrale Club that push a different sound than what’s the moments hype. In Geneva, french part of Switzerland, there will be a small festival this September called MOS ESPA and we got asked to participate in organizing a night there, with some of our artists. Winterthur, a small town near Zürich, has a small great club called Kraftfeld which gives us space every second month to propose all that we think fits with our label and are not afraid of experimentations. So yes, it is alive, we are working at it.” Cosmo is set to add his own name to the label and the Swiss scene with a collab with veteran Contra Communem Opinionem; a first foray for the co-founder.
“A record label seemed a good playground for us both to discover, research and bring to life music that otherwise would have remained unknown and unpublished.”
I was curious to hear about what’s been happening in Switzerland lately, especially politically. Faber is the native of the duo and is positive about the small state which “certainly is an attractive country to live in.” He also has an interesting and wider European outlook on what’s happening at home, and abroad. “Whenever there’s a problem – or just an imaginary or constructed problem—the culprit is easily identified and these days it’s more often than not immigrants. As history shows, the blame game on immigrants usually works well as a political instrument to divert attention away from the real causes and to gain votes. I don’t think this phenomenon is limited to Switzerland though.” And he’s right, looking across the European Parliament voting. Yet electronic zealot is upbeat, and feels that there is hope beyond the extreme ballot boxes. “Fortunately there’s also lots of critical thinking, open minded people around that I can surround myself with.”
But forget the politics, let’s get back to the music. I asked the guys about the Housier origins of the imprint, Lux focusing on Chicago for many of its earlier releases. “House, especially the Chicago side of it, has been a great love.” But this love comes with a mix of other sounds, Synth Wave, Italo and Cosmic which those first Power Plant DJ’s laid down. “It is automatic for us to look out for music we can refer to ourselves, music we like to play or we think needs to be heard. Chicago House was never the end of our search and never our ultimate goal. So we have expanded into something else that shows a different perspective but it is still part of us. After some records that had that typical house sound we thought it was about time to explore different fields, and a record like Murphy Jax came out.”
Their selection process for picking artists and building the catalog isn’t “fixed,” instead they try to create “a flow” as different genres are explored. Hence certain avenues emerge, styles complimenting. Recent releases like “Echo 106, RAG, Lunar Lodge and Joe Drive” came out together, leading into “switch to another genre with Cold Colors and Visonia.” Cosmo adds, “It doesn’t have to be simply a similar records grouping job. More instead a path that leads somewhere, even if we don’t know yet where.”
Over the last decade the LP has been sidelined by both artist and label alike. I asked the guys about their move into the realm of albums, something many labels shy away from. Both spoke candidly. “If a musicians delivers enough material that we think makes sense as a whole, then the album route is indeed the logical way to go. And it doesn’t make much difference to us.” But don’t mistake this for flippancy, a serious amount of thought, time and effort goes into the structure of each release. “A sense within them, a logic construction, a beginning and an end.” But the quality also needs to be considered. “Of course less tracks per vinyl make them sound better, that is as well a reason for us to release them so. It’s always a balance between how we want them to sound and how many tracks need to be there to give a meaning to the record, and of course how much come from the artist.”
Lux Rec is a vinyl label. Like many others in the electronic field Cosmo and Faber are passionate about the medium, espousing that as “records collectors, and loving the vinyl medium” that they were “automatically” drawn to the black stuff. There’s a real passion and satisfaction as the pair describe “when records arrive… the fruit of a lot of labor. We look at them, listen to them and think we made it.”
“It is automatic for us to look out for music we can refer to ourselves, music we like to play or we think needs to be heard.”
This love of vinyl is illustrated in the number of names the partnership spoke of when asked about what they were digging at the moment. “Frak is someone who never disappoints. It is not just one record, or their music, but the attitude of the group and the label, Borft, that’s very attractive. Desire Records are doing a great job at reissuing fantastic music, as well as Minimal Wave and Dark Entries, including great design. Other record labels that we look after are Gooiland Electro, Pinkman, Viewlexx is there because it’s part of our history, like Bunker, and of course Lies.” But that’s not all, Cosmo couldn’t help divulging his “big thing for Berceuse Heroique” as well as “Love Blast.” I can relate. Faber also how impressed he’s been by Anton Miaovvi, Black Merlin as well as Philogresz’s latest offering. Likewise, like Peak Oil and Emotional Response got an honorable mention.
It’s to some of the above, as well as their own baby, that the duo turned for a mouthwatering mix for us here at Igloo Magazine.
The lads turn quiet when asked about any advice for budding label bosses, but both have taciturn advice. Simple and straight to the point from Faber: “Treat your artists well.” Cosmo is more tongue in cheek: “Don’t get jealous.” Is that of other labels? Or other labels of you?
Tracklist:
01 Lunar Lodge :: Event Horizon
02 Vagon Brei :: Cosmic Luv Voyage
03 Antoni Maiovvi :: Theme from Maiovvowitz (’88 Redux)
04 Michael Ozone :: Hetrotopia
05 Darabi :: Knock ’em down
06 Philogresz :: Erotica
07 Umberto :: Temple Room
08 Cold Colors :: Voyageur immobile
09 Further Reductions :: Beyond Time
10 Broken English :: Birth Control
11 Albert van Abbe :: Astroturf
12 Gesloten Cirkel :: Stakan
13 Prolife :: Gold Leaves
For more info about Lux Rec, visit their website at www.luxrec.net.
