Label Focus - Liquid Library
The first in this 'series' is Liquid Library and Owen Chambers who co-runs the label. He is also a musician in his own right; he is responsible for Tremolo Ghosts and Carnivorous Plants in their various guises. Liquid Library is based in Bristol and is purely not-for-profit (more of which below). Personally speaking, as well as the aforementioned Tremolo Ghosts and Carnivorous Plants, they introduced me to Zero Gravity Tea Ceremony (seriously, check them out!). They have also released material by St.James Infirmary (another personal fave), noiseniks Territorial Gobbing and, more recently, a fantastic collaboration between Old Million Eye and Stuart Chambers. That is but a very short list of the delights that await a visitor to the Bandcamp page - it is a veritable cornucopia of noise and melody. My very first purchases from LL were 'Lightkeeper' by SALTINGS (who I later released on my own label) and 'Psacredelia' by Big Drum In The Sky Religion, both of which get regular rotation here. I have nothing but gratitude and respect for this label. Owen was kind enough to answer some questions for the blog.
S&V: Many thanks for taking the time to do this…much appreciated! How is life treating you?
OC: Thank YOU for asking me. Life is treating me well thank you despite the many competing apocalypses
S&V: If we can talk first about Liquid Library…. What’s the ethos behind it?
OC: Liquid Library is a short run experimental music label that usually releases tapes and cdrs. It is run on anti-capitalist principles and is not run for profit. Nowadays all of our releases are 100% hand made and unique with each album cover or shell being essentially a tiny little painting or collage. We have no real set style or genre and it’s more of a “the house style is that there’s no house style”. We want to inject a sense of joyousness and light into noise.
S&V: For you, what’s the attraction of tapes as a physical medium?
OC: Tapes started as a cheap way to get a physical object out into the world that is completely customisable. An affordable blank canvas in a way that a record or CD never really is. I’m not a tape purist and believe that each format of music has its place (both physical and digital). However tapes are also interesting due to their nature as instrument and format as well. The affordability aspect has kind of shifted now sadly but due to the fact you can endlessly re-dub and repurpose cassettes there’s still cheap ways to bestow life into second hand ones.
S&V: As someone who used to run a tape label I am well aware of the challenges and the pitfalls. In your opinion what are the main issues in running a label?
OC: The primary issue right now is the financial side of things. This is tied into the primary issue of living in the United Kingdom right now which is that everything is becoming prohibitable expensive. Equipment, electricity and postage is all super expensive now and has made what once has a relatively accessible way to distribute music into something that requires a lot more forward planning.
S&V: The roster of artists on LL is an impressive one…how do you go about ‘recruiting’ an artist – do you rely on submissions or do you actively go out and ask?
OC: It’s a mix of submissions and a more pro-active approach. Whilst I love getting submissions and do encourage them it can be off putting for certain types of people. Essentially certain types of people are better at putting themselves forward and some really great artists can get left behind with a submissions only approach.
S&V: This interview has given me the perfect excuse (not that I need one!) to revisit your Tremolo Ghosts material. Some of the tracks are exquisitely beautiful with some stunning guitar work… is it still a going concern?
OC: Thank you for the kind words. I’m not actively writing any Tremolo Ghosts material at the moment but since it’s just me the project will never end until I cease to be alive. In terms of the work I’ve been doing for the last few years it’s been drifting away from more traditional “song” based performance so I haven’t really been in the headspace to get any new material together. I do still play occasional shows under this name though. I’m conflicted because the final full album (Total Apocalypse Forever) was a big culmination of what I wanted to say and do with the project and I’ve changed a lot as a person since it was released so it works as a good full stop to Tremolo Ghosts. I do keep saying I would like to record a album of more piano focused songs under this name though at some point.
S&V: You move from the more acoustic, folky stylings of Ghosts to the more electronic, experimental music of Carnivorous Plants … what prompted this?
OC: Around 2016-17 I was becoming a little burned out with Tremolo Ghosts. It wasn’t fun anymore and was taking me a huge amount of time to write and record songs. I had become friends with a few people in the Bristol underground scene like Robert Ridley Shackleton (the Cardboard Prince) and Lewis Duffy (Shit Creek) and was inspired by the improvisational aspects of the art they were making. It didn’t have to take months of planning to finish a piece of music. It could be done right there in the here and now. I wanted to be part of this world so basically took what I was doing as Tremolo Ghosts and melted it down, elongating chord progressions, removing song structures and adding noise. After being exposed to more improvisational art the traditional forms of composition I had been using seemed stifling to me.
S&V: Much of the Carnivorous Plants material utilises field recordings and ‘found sounds’ … are these things you enjoy working with?
OC: Back with Tremolo Ghosts I used to carry around a Zoom microphone and record a bunch of field recordings in specific locations to try and give an album a sense of place before I started to record the songs. An attempt at giving the music it’s own cohesive world. This has carried over to Carnivorous Plants but is used in different ways. I don’t really see the distinction between music and non-music as important. Everything around us is constantly making sound of some sort be it melodic or not. I also listen to music a lot on big headphones walking around outside so found sounds are interesting there as they bleed into the sounds you are experiencing outside the music at any given moment.
S&V: Musically, what are your influences?
OC: Off the top of my head – Yellow Swans, Dear Nora, Sparklehorse, Caroliner, Shirley Collins. These days it’s primarily music made by friends that inspires me to keep developing. Stuff like Territorial Gobbing, Zero Gravity Tea Ceremony, Penance Stare anything Dan Johnson is doing and loads more I am forgetting to mention here I am sure
S&V: At the end of the day what music do you relax with?
OC: This tends to go in waves. This year I have been mostly listening to metal (mostly doom, black, death/trash). Lately I’ve been jamming stuff by Joseph Allred, Mr Lizard, The Skull Mask and that amazing new Infinity Knives/Brian Ennals record
Links:
Liquid Library Bandcamp
Tremolo Ghosts Bandcamp
Liquid Library Facebook
Liquid Library Twitter
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