Welcome to A State Of Flo: a new record label and exploration into the biological and ecological basis for music. The below is a little background on what has lead me to this point...
(Sorry for my lack of Spanish) - absolutely, I also love Bandcamp and use it a lot. I'm fearful of what will happen to it now, but it remains the best option out there and I will definitely be using it for A State Of Flo releases :) thanks for reading
Hi Brian, it's so good to reconnect with you on Substack. I'm not sure if you remember me. My friend Akiko and I used to attend your gigs in London. We now live in Berlin, and unfortunately, I missed your last shows here. Your post is timely because I've been encouraging my best friend, also a producer, to join Substack. It's not just a writing platform anymore but also a great way to share our artwork and the creative process. I'm excited to read more about your journey.
Good to see u on here, Brian. That was a fascinating read, insightful look at how releasing music has evolved over time and how that impacts artists. Between your albums and EPs and ambient flo I’ve always appreciated your output and how you’ve presented us with new music and introduced us to new artists. Well, congrats again on launching the new label, and here’s to a prosperous 2024!
Thanks Brian, a great approach to releasing new music, money has never been a motivator for my productions, occasionally i receive some lovely feedback on how my music has influenced or resonated and brought joy to someone, this is enough, the time spent creating and producing music is the reward for me and gives me great pleasure. Also putting other artists music out and helping their music get heard is just as rewarding. I Like music subscription models in the new landscape Wonderful sound libraries 7" subs service is great and digital/physical labels like electronic label Castles in Space are brilliant. Really looking forward to hearing and listening to what you have been up to. Rich x
Thanks Rich, good to hear from you and thanks for becoming a subscriber! Agreed - the reward is often in the sharing and giving pleasure in the process. Will check the sub services you mentioned. Send me your address and I'll send you a 'zine :)
This is so interesting. Happy to support the idea via my Substack ‘LP’.
I write about classic albums and also want to support new music (mostly via my weekly album-length playlist Gems, which aspires to be ‘playlists as art’ and nothing to do with algorithms.)
I’m so intrigued! I have been shouting out about how best to share music here. I am a singer and songwriter (turned coach for creatives) and I want to get back to making and sharing music. Mostly just for me and I think part of the sharing is some accountability to make it happen, as I really relate to the high of the creating being the best bit. I’ll be keeping an eye on what you’re doing!
This post really really resonates with my own experience, also becoming a father twice in the past year fours, releasing a bunch of albums and feeling like I am so over doing things the traditional way and the tension of being dependent but hating the current business model. Personally I have also had a lot of time to think and rethink about the touring model and lifestyle I want from music - playing less, playing locally, train travel, maximum once a month and choosing where I play to try and build these interconnected communities in cities connected to where I live in Toulouse.
Equally with our label Shika Shika that we've been running for almost ten years we reached a point this year of, what now?! Around the sustainability of vinyls, the slave to the algorithm and the whole financial / admin madness of running a label these days...We did a survey at the end of last year with our community and got some incredible responses and support (500 people filled out the survey, we expected like 25 haha), a reminder of why we started it in the first place.
1. Create a more equitable artist-label relationship (as a collective, 70-30 towards artists in the split, focus on emerging artists from Latin America)
2. Create a platform where we can also use music to drive social or environmental impact through art / activism projects
3. Create connection and community without borders
When reading your post it made me think. What if we started a kind of musical mycelium - an interconnected web of collectives, labels, artists and listeners with a shared vision that is at once independent and interdependent and that can exist and thrive outside of the system (or indeed build another system...) Reading your posts here just makes me want to do the same thing with Shika Shika but why not consciously do it together, in the same direction but each with our own perspective? Nature can be an incredible inspiration for building new approaches and imagining incredible things.
Anyway, I leave this here and go away inspired to talk to the co-founder of Shika Shika as we also try to decide what next. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hey Robin! Sorry for my delayed response, very nice to hear from you and thanks for your comments. I know you've been involved with a lot of sustainability and climate action projects so happy to know my thoughts resonate. As you may have seen, we announced the first release on ASOF which is mushroom themed, and were discussing a similar 'musical mycelium' concept with some friends over here as a way of bringing the community together! I love the sound of what you are doing - did the survey get published anywhere?
Happy to continue this conversation over email - briandsouza1 [at] gmail.com
(Sorry for my lack of Spanish) - absolutely, I also love Bandcamp and use it a lot. I'm fearful of what will happen to it now, but it remains the best option out there and I will definitely be using it for A State Of Flo releases :) thanks for reading
Hi Brian, it's so good to reconnect with you on Substack. I'm not sure if you remember me. My friend Akiko and I used to attend your gigs in London. We now live in Berlin, and unfortunately, I missed your last shows here. Your post is timely because I've been encouraging my best friend, also a producer, to join Substack. It's not just a writing platform anymore but also a great way to share our artwork and the creative process. I'm excited to read more about your journey.
Thanks Tuğba, great to connect with you again
Good to see u on here, Brian. That was a fascinating read, insightful look at how releasing music has evolved over time and how that impacts artists. Between your albums and EPs and ambient flo I’ve always appreciated your output and how you’ve presented us with new music and introduced us to new artists. Well, congrats again on launching the new label, and here’s to a prosperous 2024!
Thanks Karem, nice to know you enjoyed reading it. Thanks for following all my various projects! All the best and Happy New Year :)
Sounds like a very exciting project, enjoyed reading 👍
Thanks Mark!
Thanks Brian, a great approach to releasing new music, money has never been a motivator for my productions, occasionally i receive some lovely feedback on how my music has influenced or resonated and brought joy to someone, this is enough, the time spent creating and producing music is the reward for me and gives me great pleasure. Also putting other artists music out and helping their music get heard is just as rewarding. I Like music subscription models in the new landscape Wonderful sound libraries 7" subs service is great and digital/physical labels like electronic label Castles in Space are brilliant. Really looking forward to hearing and listening to what you have been up to. Rich x
Thanks Rich, good to hear from you and thanks for becoming a subscriber! Agreed - the reward is often in the sharing and giving pleasure in the process. Will check the sub services you mentioned. Send me your address and I'll send you a 'zine :)
Very much looking florward!
Count with my humble support mate!
Greetings! I'm a fellow advocate of releasing music in this way. Looking forward to the State of Flow!
Thank you Miter!
This is so interesting. Happy to support the idea via my Substack ‘LP’.
I write about classic albums and also want to support new music (mostly via my weekly album-length playlist Gems, which aspires to be ‘playlists as art’ and nothing to do with algorithms.)
Anyway, all the best with this,
Ian
https://iansharp.substack.com
thanks Ian! I'll have a read and follow your page.
I’m so intrigued! I have been shouting out about how best to share music here. I am a singer and songwriter (turned coach for creatives) and I want to get back to making and sharing music. Mostly just for me and I think part of the sharing is some accountability to make it happen, as I really relate to the high of the creating being the best bit. I’ll be keeping an eye on what you’re doing!
Thank you! Good luck with your music
Hey Brian!
This post really really resonates with my own experience, also becoming a father twice in the past year fours, releasing a bunch of albums and feeling like I am so over doing things the traditional way and the tension of being dependent but hating the current business model. Personally I have also had a lot of time to think and rethink about the touring model and lifestyle I want from music - playing less, playing locally, train travel, maximum once a month and choosing where I play to try and build these interconnected communities in cities connected to where I live in Toulouse.
Equally with our label Shika Shika that we've been running for almost ten years we reached a point this year of, what now?! Around the sustainability of vinyls, the slave to the algorithm and the whole financial / admin madness of running a label these days...We did a survey at the end of last year with our community and got some incredible responses and support (500 people filled out the survey, we expected like 25 haha), a reminder of why we started it in the first place.
1. Create a more equitable artist-label relationship (as a collective, 70-30 towards artists in the split, focus on emerging artists from Latin America)
2. Create a platform where we can also use music to drive social or environmental impact through art / activism projects
3. Create connection and community without borders
When reading your post it made me think. What if we started a kind of musical mycelium - an interconnected web of collectives, labels, artists and listeners with a shared vision that is at once independent and interdependent and that can exist and thrive outside of the system (or indeed build another system...) Reading your posts here just makes me want to do the same thing with Shika Shika but why not consciously do it together, in the same direction but each with our own perspective? Nature can be an incredible inspiration for building new approaches and imagining incredible things.
Anyway, I leave this here and go away inspired to talk to the co-founder of Shika Shika as we also try to decide what next. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hey Robin! Sorry for my delayed response, very nice to hear from you and thanks for your comments. I know you've been involved with a lot of sustainability and climate action projects so happy to know my thoughts resonate. As you may have seen, we announced the first release on ASOF which is mushroom themed, and were discussing a similar 'musical mycelium' concept with some friends over here as a way of bringing the community together! I love the sound of what you are doing - did the survey get published anywhere?
Happy to continue this conversation over email - briandsouza1 [at] gmail.com
All the best!