In this ever changing music world, netlabel’s, over the past 2 years, have come to the foreground of electro-music. 
Dino Spiluttini has taken his Netlabel Beatismurder into the next level bydiversifyingthe netlabel into 2 parts – the netlabel and the “real” label. Dino has been involved musically since and early age and now is the creative sparkbehindLiger, Yeah Pretty Boy (Audiotier Review of the latest record here) and Duran Durandom. He took the time to talk to Audiotier about being a label head, artist and musician in the internet age.
How you doing ? How have been things lately with Your projects (beatismurder, Liger and Yeah Pretty Boy) ?
I’m a little exhausted. We have just recorded and released our debut album with Liger (“Crash Symbols”), which probably was one of the biggest projects of my life so far. Also, we just returned from a festival gig in London, and as a souvenir i brought myself a bad cold, so i was tied to the bed for the last week. That was kind of terrible, because i could’nt really do anything productive. And lazyness really really makes me feel uncomfortable 
The Liger album was released on Beatismurder. You might have noticed that it’s no longer “just” a netlabel. For two years now it has been seperated into two parts, the netlabel half, and the “real” label one. It took a long way to learn how to run a label in the real world and not just internet based, but with “Crash Symbols” being the 6th physical release so far, i probably can consider myself doing a fairly good job by now.
Well, but knowing how to properly release and promote an album also means a lot of work, so that just adds to the “i’m a little exhausted” part
But it’s still a lot of fun, and it’s really satisfying. I would not want to do anything else. Oh well, i have to do some other things to make a living, but that’s a whole different story
So, takes us back in the day and gives us look back how things with Your musical career and beatismurder started out.
Well, thanks for calling it a “career”
I seriously got into the whole music thing about 12 or 13 years ago. I probably share this part of my history with a lot of people. It was kind of a typical way, like, starting my first bands and stuff. My first band attempts – when i was about 15 – were totally horrible. I think i’ll have to burn all existing tapes of that time, so noone will ever be able to use them against me
By the age of 16 i started exploring the computer for musical purposes, but i still focused on playing in indie bands. The last proper band i was in (“Hogwash”) split when i was 21 or something. We just couldn’t decide if we would rather sound like Motörhead, At The Drive-In or The Get Up Kids, so i must admit that it was a good idea to quit the band
By that time i had already seriously gotten into computer based composition. I left my hometown and moved to Vienna in order to study Electroacoustics and Electronic Music, which was some kind of key moment in my life, because it also was a clear decision i made: i wanted to make music more than anything else. I totally stopped listening to guitar based stuff and got lost in the Experimental/Improv-Scene for a while, until that started to bore me as well. It was fine while it lasted, and i also made some money writing scores for shortfilms and theater plays, but i turned out to still be too song- and structure-oriented for this kind of stuff.
All my attempts to form a new band were doomed to fail – except for a postpunk duo i was in for about 3 months (“Bruspi” – see the Beatismurder netlabel release for more details), so i kept making music on my own. And after a while i started questioning everything. Why would i compose all that stuff just for myself? I had gigabytes of music and noone ever got to listen to all that. That was when i discovered the netlabel scene, and i suddenly knew what i had to do to create some kind of justification for what i did: i founded my own netlabel.
I totally wanted it to be a platform for my projects only, but i had to ditch this ego centered approach, because it totally turned out to be stupid. So i overcame my ego and accepted other people, and the response from the “scene” was kind of overwhelming. I remember when the british Wire Magazine listed Beatismurder on their “The Best 10 Netlabels” list, and i was like, “hm, i think i’m doing it right”
But then again, the total virtuality of a netlabel was not 100% satisfying for me. Also, it was way too scene-based. Noone for the “outside world” would ever discover that stuff. That was the last step in Beatismurder’s history: i registered a real label and started putting out vinyl and cds. Yay!
What did inspire (artists, movies, art, music or anything else) You to make music ? What does inspire You now ?
I don’t really remember what inspired me to start making music in the first place. I started playing the guitar when i was 9 years old, and i have no idea WHY!
Like i already said: i probably just took the right turn when i decided to study electronic music. I was surrounded by some of Austria’s most creative musicians. That’s enough inspiration and challenge to keep going.
Now i can’t imagine doing anything else. I don’t think about my daily inspiration that much. I just keep doing it. Because i have been doing it for so long now. And as long as i can see myself improving and still having fun, i will keep doing it. I’m only distracted by stupid needs like the profane urge to make some money in order to survive I still can not make a living with music (and i probably never will), but fortunately i can make a little cash working as a freelance graphic designer, which is a good diversification and it’s also a lot of fun! I wouldn’t mind selling some more cds though
Favourite hardware or instrument to use ?
Hm… It used to be the guitar. Then i got so bored of playing guitar that i started learning various other instruments. But i fell in love with playing guitar again, so i’ll probably go for that.
Other acoustic instruments i really enjoy playing are the harmonium, bass guitar and drums. I’m not exactly a very good drummer, but that doesn’t keep me from trying
While studying electronic music, i had the chance to play old synth classics like the Arp2600 and a Roland Modular System. Big fun! I wish i could afford one of these beasts 
But whatever i play, it will probably me mangled on my laptop as soon as i recorded it. Can i call my laptop an instrument? Yes?
So here we go. My favourite instrument: my Powerbook!
Is it easier to create songs on Your own, as for instance Yeah Pretty Boy, or is the collaboration with fellow musicians more fun/interesting/creative ?
Writing music with Liger is the hardest possible way to create music for me.
Liger became my most important project, the one thing that i would give everything up for. We’re putting a lot of time and work into Liger, so of course we breed very high expectations. We no longer can work on our stuff with free minds, there’s just too much brainfucking going on. Don’t get me wrong: i’m totally proud of what we created, and i do love our music, and the music comes from the heart. But the process of creation is extremely exhausting. Also, i want Liger to be as honest and direct as possible, so writing songs totally can equal a therapist session. I’m serously scared of recording the next album.
Side-project-stuff like Yeah Pretty Boy or Duran Durandom (my techno alias) is just plain fun. I totally enjoy turning off my stupid brain for a while and just creating music that is not loaded with any expectations. Also, there are no egos in the way, except for my own
I haven’t been playing in a “real” band for years now. I seriously think i should try that again.
Any tours planed to the northern part of Europe with Liger ?
Unfortunately not really. There are two upcoming tours, one through Austria (in November/December) and one through Germany/Czech Republic/Slovakia next February/March.
We would love to extend our tour plans, but we don’t have booking agents or distribution in other parts of Europe.
At the moment we’re looking for a bigger (American?) label to release our last album worldwide, so maybe, or: hopefully, we’ll be able to do bigger tours soon.
What is currently in Your playlist ?
I’m currently in a phase that keeps coming and going all the time: i can’t really find music that i really enjoy.
Being occupied with music – as a musician and label head – all the time sometimes makes me a little dull regarding music. I mean, i hear and make music all day. So i tend to be easily bored by music that just imitates stuff, which sadly is the case in most of today’s music, be it indie, idm, techno or whatever.
I keep looking for music that really touches me in a new way. And boy, i really try hard! I spend a lot of time looking for good stuff on myspace andlast.fm, and this is also how i discover acts for Beatismurder.
Then again, there are times when i am really easily entertained by almost every music i hear. It’s a really weird on/off relationship. Unfortunately i can not control it.
But feel free to check my last.fm profile:http://www.lastfm.de/user/yeahprettyboy
It’s not exactly representative though, because i’m not really a mp3 kind of guy. I wish i could connect my turntables to last.fm
How do You like Your music ? (mp3, flac, CD, Vinyl, other) ?
I’m one of those vinyl geeks. Totally. Not because of these semi-ridiculous “sounds warmer” reasons, but i like the idea of having a real album, something i can grab, with the biggest possible artwork. And what’s bigger than a 12″ record? And i’m also addicted to this old fashioned ceremony: putting a record on a turntable.
I used to be a cd collector. I think i have around 700 cds or something. But something in my relationship to cds went terribly wrong… i haven’t listened to any cd for about 3 years now. Wait, i don’t even have a cd player anymore. Even my laptop’s cd drive is broken, and i couldn’t care less. So i have all my cds in big boxes. I already tried to sell most of them, but… we all know that it’s hard to sell cds nowadays, right? I will probably have to just throw them away one day
As beatismurder is an one-man job and based on pure enthusiasm, how hours a week do You spend on the netlabel, music production etc. ?
The easy answer to this one would be: WAY too much time!
But hey, i still love what i’m doing, so how could i complain?
There are hardcore times. Like, when we recorded the Liger album, we worked up to 15 hours a day. 7 days a week. And on off-days i worked on the last Yeah Pretty Boy EP (“Death To False Bitpop”)
(Net)Label only time takes about 1-2 hours a day in quiet times, and up to 8 hours a day when it comes to promote a new release and organise gigs and stuff.
What is Your take on the current music business as whole and what should be change ?
Oh well, being a rather small independend label, i don’t think that i’m really financially affected by the “download dilemma”.
However, i don’t think that there’s anything wrong with the music business, i rather see it all as a turn in society. The young generation grows up with the self-concept that they can grab every album for free on the internet. They’re no longer interested in any physical aspect of music. They just want to listen and don’t care about sleeve art and stuff. They don’t know bad conscience about that. They have never visited a record store, so it’s just perfectly normal for them to get everything from soulseek etc.
The music industry will have to react. I don’t know how. I don’t see myself as a part of the “industry”. I release music for a niche audience. People who still appreciate musical products.
The downside is: i do have to rely on partners from the music industry, like distribution companies or promotion agencies. These guys are having a hard time. So they get reaaally picky about what they will try to sell.
And that’s the only thing i like about selling mp3s: You can totally distribute them worldwide, all by yourself.
I will have to accept that physical releases will soon be an obsolete and outdated concept. But i will be prepared
When I think of today’s music I remember a scene from a movie : “If musicians would get off their blogs and back to their instruments, then, maybe, the music world wouldn’t be in such a bad state…”. The internet has helped a lot to “spread the word” of new musicians, get many noticed by labels and helps to sell out gigs. How do You think music would sound like without the internet ? And is the internet affecting the quality of todays music ?
I think the internet does not have any influence on the amount of bad music. Bad music has been around since forever.
It just makes it easier to publish and distribute bad music!
I can’t really decide for an opinion here…
Like, who am i to judge what should be considered good and bad music? And why would i ever go out and say “you and you and you stop making music, you are bad!”.
So, some needy crackhead douchebag decides to make gabber-trance-pop with apple garageband loops? I couldn’t care less. If it’s bad, i don’t have to listen to it.
But there actually is a kind of terrible side-effect: EVERYONE decides to show off his creations on myspace and stuff. So whenever people go online, they literally drown in music that lacks personality, attitude and motivation, so they get really dull. And dull people will also miss out on the quality stuff, because they decide to switch off any music immediately, or they unlearn to listen. People forget how to enjoy music. I’m afraid of a society of zombies that just goes like “uhm, has a 4/4 beat and a charming hookline? oooh sweet”, and “uh! No vocals? 7 seconds in and still no beat? I’ll better turn that off!”.
That’s just part of the social turn i was ranting about before. We’ll probably end up in a world full of muzak sooner or later. Wait, i’m getting too pessimistic here. Let’s just move on
Netlabels have flourished over the past few years, what made You to get involved in that scene ?
Like i said before: originally i just wanted a way to give me a reason to keep making music. Now it’s all about discovering, making and sharing stuff that i love. I think you can call it idealism.
I read on beatismurder.com that You accept every demo You get sent but what does an artist need to sound like or be to get on beatismurder ?
I actually really receive a lot of demo cds from all around the world. I try to listen to all of them, which is kind of hard, because i don’t have a cd player, so i always have to visit a friend, rip the cds and then listen to the mp3s.
Sometimes it’s easier though. Whenever i the info sheet says something about Psychedelic Metalcore from Texas, and the included Band shot shows a couple of big, scary redneck dudes, i don’t even bother listening to their stuff. I don’t want to sound like a prick or something, but if bands don’t even care to check out the other artists on the label to see if their style might fit, then why should i listen to them in the first place?
To be honest: i don’t think that i have ever “signed” someone who has sent me a demo cd. Sometimes i really like the stuff they send me, but i often have to say that it doesn’t fit to beatismurder’s roster. In this case, i always try to give the bands some adresses of other labels that might be interested.
All of the artists that i have released so far are acts that i found on the internet or at live gigs.
I think there’s something they all have in common: a certain pop appeal, with a BIG edge. I like fresh sounds, i like personality and attitude, i like emotions.
Continuing about nelabels, as I looked through lots and lots of the pages, I noticed that the majority of artists represented by netlabels are labeled as electronic, ambient, experimental and, for example, metal, rock bands or hardcore bands are rather rare. What do You believe is at the bottom of this trend ?
Netlabels are computer-based virtual companies, so of course they’re bound attract home-made laptop artists. Most of the netlabels are even founded by electronic musicians. I do admit that i find it a little boring. There’s a lot of copies of copies of copies. Even the website designs seem to have a common style. That’s why a lot of netlabels are started and then suddenly disappear again.
“Real” bands are used to a much more physical approach. They rehearse. They play instruments. Also it takes so much more to record as a band than to make an electronic album.
Why should a band spend a lot of work, time and money on recording an awesome record, just to make some mp3s and give them away for free?
The typical netaudio audience probably mainly consists of people who prefer electronic music.
Sad enough, but that’s what it is: a scene from electronic musicians for electronic musicians. I wonder why so many people are listening to the Beatismurder stuff though
What do You believe needs to be done that the netlabel scene would grow beyond “a scene from electronic musicians for electronic musicians” ? Is there a need to grow beyond that ?
I don’t think there’s a need to do anything. The netlabel scene and the “real” label scene will grow together.
Netlabels are based on the concept of giving away music for free, digital only, no physical sound storage media.
And that totally is where the “normal” music business is heading these days. I don’t think that CDs will survive longer than 5 or 6 years from now. Record labels will also have to give away a lot of free tracks as promotion tools. So the difference between Net- and “real” Label will soon be hard to tell.
And then again: Who will need labels anyway?
I mean, it’s sad for me, being a label “head”. But everyone can distribute music via the internet. Sooner or later the label’s function will be reduced to being the financier for recording sessions and promotional work.
I might be terribly wrong (hopefully!), but yes, this is my dark vision of the music business
Where do You see Yourself and beatismurder in the future ?
Well, from the beginning on there has steadily been a development going on. be it in terms of a growing audience (a.k.a. “success”) or in terms of learning new things.
As long as i have the feeling that i’m moving forwards and i’m enjoying the things i do, i will keep going.
I have no clear vision. I will definitely keep Beatismurder rather small, because i only have 24 hours a day to work on it, and i can’t afford to employ other people.
As for myself: i can’t make any plans that go further than 2 weeks into the future. I have drowned in total chaos. I need to get a grip on my life again before i start planning anything. I quit university and my dajob in order to be able finish the Liger album. It’s a very loose freelance-job-based existence at the moment, which might be pretty awesome for a while, but i do long for some kind of stability now.
Should music be free ? And if yes, how should it be distributed ? (downloadable via internet, itunes or a similar service, sent via a shipping fee to the audience, given away on gigs ? )
No!
Should food be free?
Well, probably yes, but who will create the food if you don’t pay them for their work?
Again: the social turn. People are slowly getting used to the fact that they can get their music for free. But this is all kinds of wrong!
Music is a product, just like clothes and bread and… toilet paper. It takes time, work and money to create music. For many people music even is their job.
I mean, would you, like, go to the office and work 8 hours a day if you wouldn’t get paid for it?
Because it’s so easy to obtain music from the internet, people probably think that it grows on trees or comes out of a well. This is something that really worries me.
I heard this a lot: “Should music be free?”. But i really don’t get it. Why for god’s sake should it be free?
Of course, if some artists decided to give their music away for free, that’s perfectly ok. Because THEY decide it. I mean, i give away a lot of my music for free! But i also demand to be payed for other stuff i release. I don’t think that this decision should be up to the listeners. That would be like: Hey listener of my music, you decided to grab my stuff for free? Well, ok, now i’ll come to your place and take something from your fridge. And, oh, i like your dvd collection, i’ll take one of these too, ok?
Music distribution most probably will be digital only in the near future. iTunes will be important of course. But also, musicians will finally be able to distribute and sell their stuff without a label, which is a good thing i think.
The cd is eventually going to die.
But you can’t kill vinyl
LINKS :
LIGER’S LATEST RECORD IS “CRASH SYMBOLS”, GO HERE! TO GET A PIECE OF IT!
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