Pioneering a new sound with the likes of Instra:mental, dBridge or the Nonplus+ label, ASC talks about internet, giving away music and his new “Auxiliary” imprint below:

What are you up to at the moment?

All sorts really. I’ve just launched the ‘Symbol’ series on my new imprint, Auxiliary, so I’m working on getting that out right now, plus working on the follow up, which is a collaborative effort with Bvdub. Other than that, a few top secret projects which I’d love to make known to the world, but all in good time.

What would be your dream online music service?

I think Official.fm does a pretty good job. If you could actually sell your music via your own Ofm page too, then you might have it all covered, bar a few little additions to the site, but those are minor, so I won’t go into them.

When did you decide to embrace an artist career, was it the initial plan?

I don’t think I ever thought about it as a career when I first started writing. It was mainly just wanting to write for the love of the music and my passion for the type of music I listened to. I think it got ‘serious’ about 6 years or so after I started, when I started to think about things a little differently, i.e not depending on record sales and royalties and looking for music related work outside of the usual circles.

Do you think a label is still relevant in 2010? What do you expect from a label today?

Very much so. A label is an identity. It’s a collective for a sound, the one icon that represents a style and groups things together.

How do you keep in contact with your fans? Through your site, community sites…?

Twitter, Facebook and my blog.

How have the technological advances of the internet impacted your career?

Well in terms of networking, it’s made a massive difference. Being able to reach out to your audience and labels is vitally important in this day and age, and something that all aritsts should be thinking about constantly. On the other side of things, the internet has a lot to answer for in how it’s revolutionised the way music is consumed. Most of the time, this isn’t good. The MP3 boom had cultivated a mass of blogs, sites, torrents, p2p networks etc. that people just use to steal artists work these days. I can see why it has come to it though, because when you purchase a file, you don’t have anything to show physically for it, so some people see this as their right to take it for free. I’m sure we could all talk for days on the ramifications of this aspect, so I’ll cut myself off here, as I’m sure you get my point.

How has internet and the new media changed your way of working as an artist? How do you see it evolving in the coming years?

I don’t see any direct changes to my workflow and how I go about my business really. I’m probably the same as everyone else in the aspect of how I use it – i.e email, administrative side of things, professional and social networking. As for how it’s going to evolve, I’m really not sure, but I’m looking forward to whatever happens that will help advance anything in a positive manner.

Do you think that giving away music for free (as free mp3 or streaming) could help you sell more physical or even digital releases?

Possibly. It’s a double edged sword. On one side, you might gain new fans, but the way you just never know how legit people are these days. If they got these tunes for free, then there’s always the mindset of thinking they should get everything else for free. As you can tell, I’m a bit of a pessimist when it comes to digital sales and morality.

Recommended music sites?

Hmm.. Boomkat do a good job, and I usually buy my vinyl & CD’s from there. I also tend to use Juno & Redeye too. I also like zero-inch.com out of all the download sites. Their design is great and selection is usally top.

What’s your schedule looking like for the rest of the year?

It’s all over the place at the moment, with so many releases, but a lof of them with no catalogue numbers assigned or no date for release sorted yet, but in the next 6 months, here’s what you can expect:

ASC – Symbol #1 – Auxiliary
ASC – Silkworm / Moonscape – Levitated
ASC – Starkwood / Reform – Autonomic
ASC & bvdub – Symbol #2 – Auxiliary
ASC – Metronomic (Commix Remix) / Dark Star / Error Code – Auxiliary
ASC – Automaton / You & Me – Nu Directions
Blocks & Escher – Heartshaped (ASC Remix) – Narratives
Calculon – Odessa (ASC Remix) – Rubik

Then there’s a 12” on Exit which still needs to be sorted, as we’ve got a fair few tracks lined up for it at the moment, so I think I need to sit down with dBridge and have a chat about that. I’ve also recently completed 2 ambient LP’s, which seem to be getting some good praise, but I’ve got no plans for those just yet. It’s the sort of thing I can sit on anyway. There’s the 2nd Mindspan LP (my dub/ambient techno project) which also needs a release. That will probably happen this year sometime.

I’ve unintentionally forgotten a few, I can feel it… but if all that surfaces in the next 6 months, then I’ll be happy.

What are the next musical trends you see emerging?

If I knew, I’d jump on it now and make a killing! Actually, no I wouldn’t, as I’m quite happy doing what I’m doing

http://ASC.official.fm
http://theasc.blogspot.com