Continuing our series of interviews with different netlabels we came across HAZE netlabel and ended up asking its curator Dzmitry Ladzes a few questions by email:
Who are the people behind Haze? When was it formed?
It was formed in 2007. I had an idea to create some kind of web resource
that would represent the Belarusian experimental and avant-garde scene
abroad. Local musician and DJ, as well as my friend, Vladislav Buben proposed to use the format of a netlabel for this purpose. That’s how it all started.
I read from your website that you are based in Belarus, can you
tell us more about the netaudio scene there and music in general?
Yes, we are based in Belarus. Belarus is a very strange country, which
is located in the geographical center of Europe between Poland and
Russia. It’s a strange country with a strange history. And the music
scene in this country has its oddities. When I started HAZE, the
aggressive experimental stage dominated Belarus. Electro industrial,
harsh noise, etc. Can you imagine a noise party in a gay club? At that
time the country did not have enough good clubs, there were no
professional club promoters. But the experimental stage was very active
nonetheless. Parties and festivals were held in very strange places.
Today there are many clubs and venues in Belarus. But they haven’t
formulated concepts or orientation. For certain clubs, yesterday could
have seen a reggae party, a retro party might be held there today and
tomorrow they could even host a children’s party. The experimental scene
has also changed. While some individuals are still active, young
musicians are not so interesting as they do not yet have their own
unique vision and sound. Of course, there are exceptions.
Are most of your release artists from Belarus or other countries?
In the beginning I published only Belarusian musicians. But then it grew
into an international netlabel. Currently Belarusian musicians are
organically merged into a huge global context of experimental music.
Why the focus on experimental, avant-guard and eclectic music?
Because it is the music I like.
You are a musician yourself right? Care to tell us a little more about your personal project?
My project is called Aortha.
I do not use instruments, synthesizers or samples banks in my music,
only what I have recorded. I like to record the sounds of the street.
Then I create samples of these records and processes them through a
variety of effects. This is creating collages from the sounds of urban
transport, supermarkets, voices of the crowd. I like this method. It’s
like hearing an “angel’s song” in the humming of the fridge or finding
interconnections in ordinary things.
Are you involved in organizing local events?
Oh… Previously, I was organizing parties and festivals. For example,
together with Vladislav Buben we organized the Belarusian part of the Unsound festival. Later, together with the guys from the Foundamental Network and local promo-group Intelligent Punks we organized the experimental music festival InTouch.
Being an ‘artwork manager’ doesn’t just bring one satisfaction from the
activities and participation of musicians and audiences. It is very hard
work that requires a lot of effort, time and money. Therefore, I
decided to quit organizing cultural events, for the time being, at
least.
Can you tell us a little more about your literary series?
The literary series
was an experiment. Musician had to rethink the literary heritage of the
great writers of the 20th century. It was an attempt to translate a
literary text into the language of sound and rhythm. We published a
total of 12 releases for 2012–2013. Each release was dedicated to a
single writer.
I, as a curator of the project, loved this series. Musicians really
immersed themselves in the texts of writers and passed on their ideas.
However, it seems to me that the series failed.
Today we launched a new series of compilations.
HAZE comrade and my wife Anna Rodina suggested a cool idea. Musicians
dedicate their works to the cities. Cities in which they were, which
they never visited, the city they love, fear or avoid. You know, every
city has its own smell, its air. But other than that every city has its
own sound, rhythm and musical mood. These features we strive to convey
in the new series. This is a sonic journey through various cities. The
first compilation from this series will be dedicated to Minsk.
Have you considered other means of distribution? Physical media, paid digital downloads?
Today HAZE publishes music in digital form only for free under Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
It is possible that we will soon start selling selected releases on CDs.
But it will be an additional opportunity for collectors and
connoisseurs. I’m not going to abandon the free distribution of music.
It’s part of my values.
What other labels influenced your work? Can you drop us some names?
Variety is one of the features of netaudio. Therefore I find it
difficult to identify some leaders. Nevertheless, there are netlabels
which draw my attention more often, e.g. Clinical Archives, headphonica
and Brusio netlabel. I try to monitor Belarusian netlabels as well.
Foundamental Network released very good quality music.
What process do you have to announce a new release? What platforms do you cover?
Mainly I use social networks to promote the releases. Unfortunately,
many resources that were dedicated to the promotion of netaudio no
longer exist today…
Care to tell us a little more about your latest and upcoming releases?
Heh. It is very difficult to identify a particular release. Just today I published an album
with the collaboration of four musicians. This is freejazz. The album
is interesting in that it was recorded at a distance. Usually jazz
musicians come together in one place and play their improvisation. But
there was no visual contact. It was a cool experiment. Recommend
listening.
