MIST Records Introduction
Welcome to Netlabel Profiles, the show that explores some of the best and most diverse music on the internet today. On this episode of Netlabel Profiles we visit a country that
- Has a valley that is almost identical to the lunar landscape
- Has the highest lake above sea level
- Is one of only two countries that do not border Brazil
- Is the longest country in the world (2,647 miles North to South)
- Has over 1300 volcanoes, a number of which are still active
- Is the 5th largest exporter of wine in the world
What country is this? And which Netlabel is based on this country? All will be revealed after a little musical interlude…
MIST Records Profile
That was Wicked Solitude by You Still Have Friends from our featured Netlabel: M.I.S.T Records based in Chile.
M.I.S.T. Records was founded on 2012 by Manuel Silva in Chile, with the intention of promoting his electronic project: Horror House. After a couple of months, Bleak Fiction joined to the label and M.I.S.T. began promoting noise, ambient, electronic and related music. M.I.S.T., however, does not restrict themselves to these styles of music: so long as they music is good, the genre isn’t a big deal. They also work with artists from around the world, not just Chile. Any artist that is interested in joining their roster just needs to contact them for details (send email to: records.mist@gmail.com).
And, by the way, don’t ask what M.I.S.T. stands for. It’s a secret that will never be revealed according to Manuel. His only comment is: it has nothing to do with his name.
Manuel explains the M.I.S.T. philosophy as:
We know that music is present in our lives everyday and we know that the whole music industry changed thanks to the Internet. For these reasons, we believe that music has to be free for everyone, because people doesn’t want to pay for music, but they want to discover new stuff for free. That’s what we offer to the general public: a different way to feel the music and arts in general. While the rest are listening to the same old bands, supported by the same musical dinosaurs, we show a new alternative to our people. As we said, we want that our public would be different than the rest. Innovators, “the firsts ones” and that’s why we change our slogan from “the rest is noise” to “Be different, be the first”, because that’s what we want for our people: Being the first in to adopt a new attitude.
They currently have 30 artists on their roster, with over 120 digital releases. In the future they hope to expand into producing physical recordings, like tapes or albums, but not CD’s according to Manuel.
During the opening of the show we heard from You Still Have Friends. Now let’s turn our attention to a series of recordings from the M.I.S.T. roster, including: Catalepsis, Felipe Rojas, Horror House, Rown Box, Skies Falling, Bleak Fiction and more on Netlabel Profiles.
MIST Records Closing
Thanks for joining us for Netlabel Profiles featuring the M.I.S.T. Records netlabel. If you enjoyed the music on this show, be sure to check out M.I.S.T. Records at http://mistrecords.blogspot.com/
This show is released under a Creative Commons, Attribution, Non-Commercial Share Alike license. All of the music from M.I.S.T. Records is released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike license.
Be sure to check out the enhanced version of this show on The CerebralRift (http://cerebralrift.org). The posting on The CerebralRift includes:
- Additional tunes from the M.I.S.T Records catalog
- Links to all the music played on this show
- Links to the references used in preparing the profile of M.I.S.T. Records
- Links to the M.I.S.T. Records website, and social media sites
- A printed version of the profile
- And an exclusive printed interview with M.I.S.T. Records owner Manuel Silva.
Thanks for joining us for Netlabel Profiles. This is your host SndChaser signing off, and wishing you the best of free listening!
MIST Records Links
Label M.I.S.T. Records
Contact Name Manuel Silva
Email records.mist_at_gmail.com
Website http://mistrecords.blogspot.com/
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/mistrecords
Twitter @mist_records
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/mistrecords
BandCamp http://mistrecords.bandcamp.com/
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/recordsmist
Discogs http://www.discogs.com/label/720621-mist-records
Instagram http://instagram.com/mistrecords
Interview
1. Introduce yourself / yourselves, and say something about you that is non-netlabel related (ie, you hold job XXX during the day, or you’re a football fanatic, you are married / have girlfriend / significant other, etc.)
Hi, my name is Manuel Silva and I created M.I.S.T. Records and Netlabel Day. I’m a tech journalist on FayerWayer and Wayerless, and now I’m finishing the university in Chile. I’m 23 (no one really knows that… They think I’m older, but… nope hahaha).
I have to be honest: I hate football. I really can’t understand why seeing 22 people running behind a ball is “so much fun”, and I’m so sorry but I’ve really tried and… No, it’s not my cup of tea. I can’t stand it.
Now I’m preparing my final exam for the university, so I have lots of things to do every day. Obviously, I’m really good procrastinating, so here I am!
2. How did you decide that you wanted to run a netlabel? (Did anyone or anything inspire you to do this?)
I don’t really know if there was anyone who inspired me to create a netlabel. It was the need of showing my music to the rest of the world, I think, or to leave “a mark” and make something great for some people. I think I did it in some way, so I’m really happy with all this.
Before creating M.I.S.T., I was working in another Chilean label (Closing Scene – I don’t know if it’s still alive), but I didn’t get the results that I was expecting from them, so I decided to create my own label for make everything I wanted. It was a really childish argument, but I needed it and we reached some interesting goals, so it was ok after all.
3. Why did you decide to release your works under a Creative Commons license?
Because I think music has to be free for everyone. We all listen to music everyday in every aspect of our lives, and most of times we download music “illegally”, so all the CC scene, including netlabels, is a free way to do that and you’re also supporting -the real- independent artists.
4. How much time do you spend on running your netlabel?
It’s a 24/7 job. If you want to make some great stuff, you have to give everything for reach that goal.
5. Have there been any projects (ie netlabel related, but not necessarily about a release, like maybe you set up a concert / festival / etc.) that are especially memorable to you?
We made our first concert as a label last year for celebrate our second anniversary and it was amazing. It wasn’t full of people, but everyone listened to every project and even danced with their music, so I think it was great. We played all night and it was my first live gig too, so it was really special.
6. Is there a long-term goal for your label?
I want to make more live gigs and parties. I have a bunch of ideas, but the time is definitely not my friend this year…
7. Is MIST involved in anything other than producing music? (IE, videos, CD’s, wallpapers, t-shirts, etc.)
We are not involved in anything else but releasing digital music. By now… Next year will be really interesting in that particular aspect.
8. Any cool stories about projects / releases? (IE, they got used in someone else’s movie / video, or something similar.)
Yeah, Horror House music was used in a documentary made by Canis Latrans, a Chilean artist which is also a filmmaker.
We used to have the support of two Mexican radios (Café Radio and Bizarro FM), and most of our artists were included in their musical roster between songs by Metallica, Faith No More, David Guetta (yeah…) and many other famous musicians (or people who make commercial and radio-friendly music).
Finally, I was playing live with Horror House in a Chilean radio, and the director of the station sat behind me because he thought that making electronic music was about pressing a button and nothing more. Such a twat.
9. What is your take on the future of music? (IE, do you think streaming will be more important than downloads, do you think the major labels will go bankrupt, do you think more people are turning to netlabels than traditional music sources, etc.)
It’s difficult to say what’s gonna happen with music from now on. With all our politicians discussing -rubbish- anti-piracy laws and major labels moving their tentacles behind streaming services, I don’t think that they will disappear in the near future, but they have to reconsider the use of Internet on their strategies.
Internet is a big platform to distribute music, but music is not for making money as it was a bunch of years ago. The music industry is not changing, the industry CHANGED years ago, and majors still don’t notice that in the correct way. It’s true that you can make millions of dollars with digital music stores and stuff, but not as much as they are used to. I think that’s shocking for them, but it’s not 1960 anymore.
Netlabels are not the future of the music either. We are a really old platform too, but we still have time to make some great stuff for artists in general. We are the only option to support an independent scene that always needs help, if they are not “friend of…” or “relative of…”. Here in Chile there are a bunch of bands that have friends in independent blogs, and they are successful thanks to them and not for their real talent. We are here for supporting artists for their talent, not for a “PR job”, which is the cancer of the actual music scene.
10. Any upcoming projects / releases / events you would like to mention?
M.I.S.T. will be celebrating the third anniversary on June, so stay tuned because it will be fun.
Research / References
- 68 Interesting Facts About…Chile: http://facts.randomhistory.com/chile-facts.html
- 26 Interesting Facts about Chile: http://truenomads.com/2014/01/26-interesting-facts-chile/
- Interesting Facts About Chile: http://truenomads.com/2014/01/26-interesting-facts-chile/
- Ten facts about Chile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94MbkX1W2g
- Wikipedia – Chile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile
Playlist / Credits
Artist Title Bonus
You Still Have Friends Wicked solitude
MISC Hinzy (Part 1) *
Catalepsis Love isn’t enough
Felipe Rojas Conteo regresivo
?‡†‡? Heroin whore
Horror House Deep Damage
Percelain Doll After this *
Proyecto Lazarus Heaven’s haven (ft. Instrumentattic)
Rowan Box Alas
Willy Stamati I stalked you in my heart *
Skies Falling Skyfall
Bleak Fiction Silence accumulation
Canis Latrans Piano 3 – Corazón de anís
Rotten Smile Insecurity
MISC Hinzy (Part 2) *
Bonus tracks are exclusive to the Enhanced Netlabel Profile series on The CerebralRift.
