NOW while the world is without doubt a weird place at times, it would be reasonable to assume that house music and G. K. Chesterton have probably never featured in the same sentence together. Until now, that is. But feature they do thanks to the burgeoning Chilean electronic label Ojo de Apolo, a tad bizarrely named after a story by the esteemed and long-dead English writer.
In truth the name Ojo de Apolo was new round these parts. But then with the proliferation and demise of music labels of differing quality in recent years, that’s hardly surprising.
More surprising, however, is the fact that Ojo de Apolo had still managed to evade bringdownthewalls’ musical radar despite on closer investigation the quality of its releases, albeit still small in number, its obvious ambition, international feel and the stature of many of those connected with the imprint. Indeed, when a label can boast names such as Session Victim’s Hauke Freer, Reggie Dokes, head honcho of Detroit label Psychostasia Recordings, Kai Alcé from Omar S’s FXHE imprint and the legend that is DJ Sprinkles amongst those who have or are currently working with them, then you know it’s time to put on the headphones, sit up and take notice.
And the fact that the Santiago-based label is set to go vinyl-only, despite being so far from the perceived epicentres of the house-world and at a time of rising costs and slow sales generally, only adds to the intrigue surrounding and interest in the South American project. Add to the equation too the label’s “micro-sexy-deep-house” mantra and that equals a venture worth a much closer inspection.
So bringdownthewalls decided it was high time to catch up with label boss Jorge Cortés – whose recent funky-as-fuck La Isla Siniestra mix can be checked out right here – to find out just why he’s still in love with vinyl, how he managed to assemble such an impressive roster and what’s hot in Chile right now.
Tell me about Ojo de Apolo. How, when and why did the label come about?
It started at the end of 1997. During that time I was starting to produce music with machines and software and I wanted a working name. At the same time I was reading a book of police stories by an old writer called G.K. Chesterton called The Eye of Apollo. Ojo De Apolo is the Spanish translation, so that’s the origin.
But the label didn’t really kick-off properly until much later.
During that earlier time the label was more a collective run by me and other Chilean friends and producers. We released several cdrs and put on events but then there was a break. Some stopped producing, there were differences of style and taste and at the same time I started to focus on sending demos for release by other labels. So there was a pause. The second part and official start of Ojo de Apolo was in 2008 focusing on releasing vinyl and to be distributed worldwide. The beginnings of the label were just more local work and other style of sounds.
What is the philosophy behind the label?
There’s not really a big or intricate philosophy, just the intention to release good music by artists that I like and my own tracks too as Jorge C. and Receptor. That was one of the main reasons to start releasing by myself, firstly to have plenty of freedom and secondly because it is very difficult to get the attention of other labels to release your stuff. Another point is not to be restrained by styles or targets and try to mix well-known artists with unknown artists and catch their attention. Maybe the philosophy of the label can be summed up in what the homepage says: micro-sexy-deep-house.
Tell me about the different artists involved with the label.
There are several ones, but sadly right now I’m not sure if I will be able to release all of them, or at least not right now, due the high costs of vinyl manufacture and at the same time not being able to sell enough copies. So I can mention the cliché that I do this for the love of art. With the ones that I have worked or talked with lately there are Kai (Alphahouse/Süd Electronic), Bern (Trapez/Underl_ne), Hauke Freer (Real Soon/Retreat), Receptor (Them/Adjunct/Winsome Music/Citymorb), Reggie Dokes (Philpot/Psychostasia/Deep Explorer), Kai Alcé (FXHE/Real Soon/NDATL Muzik/Mahogani), Basic Soul Unit (Ostgut Ton/Philpot/New Kanada/Mathematics Recordings/Mule Electronic) and Jorge C. (Matrix Records Detroit).
Is it important that despite the high costs and limited sales that Ojo de Apolo remains a vinyl label?
At the moment Ojo de Apolo is both vinyl and digital too (at Juno or Zero Inch for example), but with our fourth and latest release, as well as with future ones, I will offer them only in vinyl, in order to focus on that format and for the love of that. I always prefer a vinyl DJ over a digital DJ and the sound has no comparison. I remember what a t-shirt that a friend gave me said: “hey laptop DJ, your girlfriend prefers 12 inches”.
What do you think about the number of digital-only labels now out there?
At the beginning, when I first discovered netlabels around 2003, this was something original for me and quite nice due to the fact that most of them were free. I must say that Thinner is my all-time favorite. But then it became an invasion of netlabels, many of them very bad. And due to the fact that they don’t have such high costs to bear they sometimes are not so choosey when picking artists or put out lots of releases. There’s a lot of vinyl labels too that have bad music, so at the end I don’t want to sound purist. More than the format, what is most important for me is the music itself, but of course, if it’s in vinyl then that is a plus.
You are working with some really interesting artists from all over the world, from Reggie Dokes to Kai Alcé to Hauke Freer. How did that happen?
I used to write lists with people whose music I like and then via mail or Myspace I invite them to participate in the label with their own tracks or as a remixer. For sure some don’t answer me, some others say yes but later they don’t answer any more and then there are the ones that answer and are interested. I think this fact both gives the label some direction and gives it some funny surprises too. There are others that I contact just because I know them personally and are friends.
There is a real “international feel” about the label and its sound. Was that intentional?
Not a real intention just a consequence. I don’t like nationalism; it’s just a matter of music. At the same time there are not so many Chilean producers to choose from.
I guess Ricardo Villalobos is regarded as the most influential Chilean artist on the electronic scene although, of course, he moved to Germany as a child. So tell me about some of the other Chilean artists and DJs we should be listening out for.
Like I said before, most of them live outside Chile. From those ones, I like almost all the works of Cristian Vogel and Villalobos, the album 42 Mädchen from Chica And The Folder and Los Siete Castigos from Dandy Jack & The Junction SM. And from the ones that live here and are producing I like some tracks of Miguel Tutera, the duo Alta Infidelidad too, which is a joint project between Christian Dittmann and myself and, as with Receptor, is released by the German net-label Thinner. I enjoy Fantasna too, a member of the net-label NoMucho, which produces parties too. And as for DJs, Leo Diez the owner of that label is nice. That’s it. It’s a small scene!
So what’s the house scene like in Chile right now?
I’m not sure if there’s a house scene here in Chile. It tends to be more a miscellaneous scene. Maybe there’s a tendency lately to repeat the formula created by Luciano and the Cadenza label; a sort of ethnic/Latin/minimal style that was ok in the beginning but right now is a bit saturated and needs to be re-invented!! There’s not a large population in Chile and not so many producers.
Back to the label then, what is on the agenda release-wise?
Recently we released New Retro EP (Ojo.04) by Mical Rhebess & Pevanu, a duo from the Netherlands, which contains a remix from Kai Alcé from Atlanta. The next releases will be titled House Is My Soul EP (ojo.05) by Reggie Dokes from Detroit plus a remix from a new talent called Mindlo from South Africa and then Jorge C.’s A Little Bit (ojo.06) featuring a remix by the legendary producer Terre Thaemlitz aka DJ Sprinkles.
DJ Sprinkles is a real legend and the album Midtown 120 Blues the best album of last year for so many people. You must be really excited about the remix? How did working with Terre come about?
Yes, you’re right. I’ve liked his work for a long time, since around the year 2000, with his aka Terre Thaemlitz and it was a nice surprise to see him later doing music as DJ Sprinkles. I always like when someone reinvents his sound or tries to explore other styles. During that time I did an interview with him when I was writing in a Chilean zine called loop.cl and then I thought to contact him again proposing a remix. Luckily he answered fast!
And your plans for the label generally?
The schedule is almost ready until number ten of the catalogue, then it will be a break for some time. This is not a big label or enterprise so there’s no point in releasing thousands of titles like other labels. I think it is better to enjoy with calm and peace every release. In the meantime, I’m trying to catch the attention of specialist media and be discovered by millions of people!
Check out:
Ojo de Apolo’s Myspace
Jorge C.’s La Isla Siniestra mix
Jorge C.’s Pantera mix
Summer 2010
