Last post for 2014

I figured I'd write a little something since I'm sat here with flu and a shitty sinus infection, which is hanging on for what seems an eternity.  


So yeah, 2014 is almost over.  It hasn't been a productive year for myself and Auxiliary really.  I can count on one hand the amount of releases I've put out personally and on the other hand, the amount Auxiliary has put out.  This has been due to a number of factors really and there's nothing untoward about it.  The whole ST Holdings situation really messed things up for me and Auxiliary first and foremost.  At first, I was very sympathetic about the whole situation and while I'm still grateful for all they did for me and the label, I can't help but feel annoyed at how it all ended.  After the initial shake up of them dropping over a 100 labels and 'returning to their roots' or whatever it was that was said, I was promised things would stay the same and we could move forward.  This turned out to be lies as they stalled and stalled on letting releases go forward.  In hindsight, I should have seen the warning signs there and then, but I think me and everyone who were kept on were probably thinking the best of the situation and not what was about to happen.  This is pretty much why we only got to put out Auxcast Volume Two CD with ST this year.  I should also add that a lot of my time was spent working on music that wasn't for traditional release via record labels, including two film scores that I'm still working on now.


The worst was yet to come, when we were informed that ST Holdings had gone into voluntary liquidation.  This was a massive fuck you to everyone left who was owed money.  They could have easily paid off everyone who was owed everything, as we were told time and time again that we could check the companies accounts and status on Companies House website and we'd see that they have never been in any financial trouble since day one.  So why did they do this?  Well simply to draw a line in the sand and walk away from it without having to do all the legwork required to take care of all the labels and assets remaining.  Not really acceptable when some labels were owed more than 10k in profit.

Anyway, yeah it ended badly, but like I said previously, I'll always have respect for the people who worked there that help make Auxiliary into the label it is now, namely Chris Parkinson and Chris Marlow.  It's just a shame it came to a bitter end this way.

So we'd already switched distributors to SRD before ST Holdings decided to call it quits.  The one and only 12" we put out this year by Sam took a little longer than expected, but it was important that we got it out, as we'd been sat on these tracks for some time now and it showed a clear evolution of our sound.  I think the thing that is the most annoying from a business point of view is that 2012 and 2013 were both amazing for us in terms of productivity.  We were putting out cutting edge music consistently with no signs of slow down and of course when things are well in that aspect, everyone is ultra creative and focused in writing new material constantly.  With all the problems we've had this year, it's been very stop and start, with Auxcast Phase Three being the shining light among it all.  The wheels are in motion again and things are starting to gear up again.

Personal highlights for myself this year was playing Decibel Festival in Seattle and meeting finally with Jamie who runs Silent Season.  As you know doubt already know by now, Silent Season has become my home for all things ambient and dub techno that I do, so it was really good to be able to spend some time with Jamie and perform alongside him and Segue at Decibel.  It was a really special night that will live long in the memory for all involved I'm sure.  On a similar tip, I was overwhelmed by the positive reactions to Truth Be Told, my third ambient LP for Silent Season.  Reading back some of your comments and thoughts on the album already made me start thinking about a theme for the next ambient LP, which I will no doubt write during 2015 at some stage.

Now on to 2015.  Already I can say that this will be a standout year for the label, as things are in place to release a lot of music we've been sitting on for a while, including albums from Sam KDC and Synth Sense that are both very special.  I'm not gonna give too much away as it should all become apparent when the time is right, but rest assured things are moving in the right direction finally and the Auxiliary vessel is in motion once again.

As for my own material, there's the small matter of my second LP for Samurai Music Group called Imagine The Future.  I can't wait to see the reaction to this, as it's very different to Out Of Sync and definitely Nothing Is Certain.  I think me and Presha described it as a deep space dark sci-fi drama.  That kinda ticks all the boxes I think.  Anyway, you can be the judge around about March next year.  Also completed is a 4 track deep techno EP for Silent Season.  You can hear some of the tracks from it on the live recording of my set from Decibel Festival earlier this year - search the blog for a Soundcloud link.  There's a lot more stuff in the pipeline too, but now's not the time to talk about it, as I don't even know the plans yet!

So I'll sign off and say thank you to everyone for your continued support and hopefully we'll continue to push things forward with our own brand of futurism for some time to come.

Cheers
ASC