Masque Records |
Post Reply |
Author | |
toroddfuglesteg
Forum Senior Member Retired Joined: March 04 2008 Location: Retirement Home Status: Offline Points: 3658 |
Topic: Masque Records Posted: October 29 2010 at 12:18 |
Masque Records from Brazil has released some interesting albums during the last five years. Mostly in the symphonic prog genre, it has to be said. This is an interesting label who deserve our support. I got in touch with Gustavo in Masque Records for their story. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What
is your background and what did you do before you set up your current
record label ?
I am a professional
football coach, post graduated in football-learning methodology. I
worked with under 20’s football teams in the state of Rio de
Janeiro, in groups of first and second division. I also worked in CDs
and LPs stores.
Regarding music, my
mother is graduated – in both piano and
music theory – and I always had a great deal of music to know
because I was always being encouraged by my parents. When I was only
3 years old I already had a small collection of K7 and singles, that
included a variety of music genres, including classical, The Beatles,
Disney’s songs and Brazilian pop singers.
When
I was 11 years old, I began to listen rock ‘n roll bands, such as
AC/DC, Scorpions, Whitesnake, but I missed hearing the pianos and
other classical instruments. At 14 years old I met Pink Floyd,
Marillion, Genesis and other bands less known by teenagers, such as
Museo Rosembach, Agamemnon, JET, Sebastian Hardie, Metamorfosi,
Solaris, Novalis and the big successes from the 70s.
Since I was 14 as I
am now I search information everywhere I
can, and make friends that show me several interesting bands. Slowly
I started to spend more time at music stores than at home. I learned
a lot with the disc sellers. I’ve always been a very good observer
and noticed the client always looked for what the sellers offered. I
love, breathe and respect music a lot. That’s why I always value
all the musicians and clients, and they often become my friends.
Why
did you set up Masque Records and what was your business plan/idea ?
As
a matter of fact, it didn’t result of
much planning. I have a partner, Luiz Alvim, who is the keyboardist
of Sleepwalker Sun, a band that sounds fantastic. We wanted a label
that could produce this band at that time, the best way we could. He
wanted freedom to work on his compositions, but for this he would
need a someone to manage the administrative routine and also with a
business man profile. So, the label was created do release and market
Sleepwalker Sun. But then it was so well accepted by the music
community that we decided to maintain the project. Masque Records and
Sleepwalker Sun are interconnected by their history.
Did
you get any financial or any help at all when you set up the label ?
No. I
invested 50% and Luiz Alvim the other 50%.
Is
Masque Records your daytime job or do you have a sane job in addition
to the label ? Do you work alone or together with others and/or any
business partners ?
Nowadays I dedicate
myself almost exclusively to the label.
Luiz Alvim is my partner and we have a people that help us in some
thing on our job on the label.
Please
give us a presentation of each of your released albums on Masque
Records.
It
will be a pleasure Torodd. Sleepwalker
Sun: Same
It
was the first released CD. Beyond the fact
that the band has wonderful musicians, the compositions are fabulous.
We still added the features of André Mello in one song, keyboard
player from Tempus Fugit band, Alex Martinho, an excellent guitar
player, and the magic Marcus Viana’s violin in two songs. Marcus
has no need of an introduction or further comments, his violin speaks
for himself.
Me
and Luiz have always been great fans of Sagrado
(his band). Having him in two songs was unbelievable for us. In the
end, the CD was very well accepted and applauded. It won some prizes
and we had a good entrance on the progressive media channels. It gave
us more confidence to produce more CDs.
It’s
a dense work, melancholic sometimes, sad and very
emotive. Musics with extremely beautiful moments, absolute
performance of the musicians and an incredible energy among them.
It’s a magic job. We achieved success with it.
Music,
design, lyrics, all together in the same place. The
details are still on my mind. Unforgettable.
Official
Web Page: www.sleepwalkersun.com Scars
Souls: Highbreed
Particularly,
I think this is the best work of the band, with many influences but
extremely original at the same time. The CD has the power of
captivating anyone in the first hearing and it grows slowly, while
the particular colors of the music begin to come out. I love Andréa’s
vocals and the players are also very inspired on this CD. It’s a
pleasure to us a lot, and also the band. Without frontiers work, with
high quality. A great mixture of progressive and metal rock.
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/scarssouls
Official
Web Page: http://www.scarssouls.com
Diapasão:
Opus I
I
received an email with two musics, in a
relatively poor quality recording made during a rehearsal. But the
quality and the freshness of the music made me crazy about them. I
quickly answed
the keyboard player Rodrigo Lana and we set up a contract right away.
The label is from Rio de Janeiro, and this was the first time we
recorded out the district, in Minas Gerais. They all performed with
excellence but Rodrigo mixes a high technique with emotions
perfectly. This union is the CD’s highlight. Everything is very
well balanced. They were just kids of 17 /18 years old. This was a
hard-working CD, but we managed to do an excellent job. It’s a CD
that I always remember with much joy. Besides the fact that Rodrigo
is an excellent musician, he has always been a very funny guy, we
always laugh a lot together. Even, when the situation was not so
funny.
Official
Web Page: http://www.grupodiapasao.com.br
Stream
of Passion – featuring Ayreon: Live in the Real World (DVD)
This
DVD was our first and unique international release, and what a
release! Arjen’s works always fascinated
us, mostly Ayreon. I was talking to Alejandro Milan about the
possibility of launching Elfonia in Brazil and he suggested Stream of
Passion. I was surprised. It was our unique experience, ‘cause it
was our first job with international idols. As a matter of fact,
despite the fact that Brazilian an dutch laws are different, we
contracted without any problem.
Regarding
music, I have no words to express the amazing and incredible show,
the fantastic production. The musics from many Arjen’s projects,
such a delight for the eyes and ears.
Official
Home Page: http://www.streamofpassion.com
Tempus
Fugit: Tales from a Forgotten World (Remaster + 2 bonus tracks)
This
is the first Tempus Fugit’s job. It had a
great impact in the Brazilian progressive scenery and this strength
persists nowadays. In the name of the great quality of the work, we
decided with the band it deserved a remasterized edition, with two
bonus track. It’s a reference work in Brazilian’s symphonic
progressive music. Extraordinary.
Myspace:
www.myspace.com/tempusfugitoficcial Trem do Futuro: O
Tempo
Trem
do Futuro does not release an album for
12/13 years. They sent us a demo CD. I already knew the first CD and
liked it a lot. Nice flutes, violins, melodic electric guitars and a
unique vocal make this CD really different. Add to this the influence
of the rich northeast Brazilian music and we arrive in a universal
and genuine brazilian and universal stuff. The sound is very delicate
and powerful too. The vocal is unique and have a different approach
on the songs.
Myspace:
www.myspace.com/tremdofuturo
Index: Ao Vivo ( DVD
)
This
was a very pleasant job for me to do.
The band is fantastic and I am a
Jones Junior fan
since I was 15 years old. He is the
former Quaterna Réquiem’s guitarist. The production and the sound
of the DVD tend to simplicity, as the seventies’ style, but with
the modern technology. The sound is inspired on Focus, Camel, Yes,
but it has its own identity. Jones is a brilliant guitarist and he
also plays the flute in this DVD. Otaviano Cury is an excellent
keyboardist and performs beautiful solos and duets with Jones.
Ronaldo Schenato rocks with his bass guitar and Leonardo Reis
presents a great job in the drums. These four marvelous musicians
already justify the release of this wonderful DVD, but there are two
more featuring characters that made it even more special. Rafael
Gubert, Akashic’s vocalist, showing his vocal qualities in the
single music with lyrics (Guernica em Nova York). Also the great
violinist Kleber Vogel, from Quaterna Requiem, playing in two musics
(Quaterna Requiem and Fogos de Santelmo). This is indeed a great job.
Impeccable.
Index
is an extremely good band in live
performances. They performed in Rio Art Rock Festival in 2002 and in
Baja Prog (Mexico) in 2003 with great success. In 2011, Index will
play a track on prestigious Colossus/Musea projects, called
Decameron.
Official
Web Page: http://www.index.mus.br
Tempus
Fugit: Chessboard
After
a long period of time without a new CD release
the waiting was rewarded. The band achieved an amazing music maturity
and even without any radical change, we experience something
completely new. All the elements of the last CD are here, but in a
different way. In my point of view the essence remained, but the band
renewed it. The special features made it shine even more. Mirna
Bertling divides the vocals with André in The Princess- Part I, José
Roberto Crivanno (Quaterna Requiem) performed a beautiful guitar solo
in The Princess – Part II and Fernando Sierpe uses all his vocal
technique in Chessboard suite. I have to mention it was the first
time we released a triple digipack art cd. The art was designed by
Bernard and it looks great. Bernard played as a bass guitarist in
Tales From a Forgotten World and did the cover of this CD too, with
the same beauty. When this CD was ready it was a great joy to
everyone envolved.
Sleepwalker
Sun: Stranger in the Mirror
This
is the second job of the band, after five years. The band remained
the same, but with Ricardo Marins as the lead guitarist. The
excellent result with the first CD could make the band repeat the
same formula. The second work is always a very hard one, because the
band has to show its qualities in composing and performing other good
songs. The band keeps its soul with the music, but a variety of new
elements are added, creating music with the same quality but with
clear differences.
At
the same time it sounds familiar. The
opening music lasts 20 minutes, and the inspiration floats on each
chord. It is always very emotive, intense, beautiful, tense and
extremely original. I couldn’t say the genre of this music. Any
label fits on it. I believe, though, that Stranger in the Mirror is
not a work to understand, but to feel and to be touched by it. The
lyrics were composed by Marcos Eichler, a big friend of the band.
Jorge Mathias from Quaterna Requiem features playing the bass guitar
and singing in one song. The arts were made by Carlos Fides in a very
beautiful triple digipack. It’s another work that made us very
happy after finishing it.
Official
Page: www.sleepwalkersun.com
What
is the approx sales figures for your albums ?
We
manage to sell them normally in a 1200 CDs/DVDs pressing. Some
CDs/DVDs overcome this mark and others fall a little behind.
How is the distribution of your albums in the rest of
the world and what is your main markets ?
With a
lot of work and honesty we got excellent partners in Brazil and
mainly abroad. Really fantastic people that accomplish an impressive
work. Until now, our main markets are the United States and Europe,
mostly France and Italy.
How
difficult is it to get your albums into record shops and the big
online shops these days ?
In
big stores is really hard to find them,
mostly by the fact that they offer heterogeneous material. Few stores
have our products, but the specialized stores in progressive rock or
rock in general, sell them.
How
do you market and advertise your albums?
This
has been a problem we intend to solve still
in 2010. We still didn’t come to any conclusion on this issue. The
CDs were released in websites, newspapers, magazines, but this is
still not enough. The bands have a greater potential than we are
offering and this is a sin. But the learning shows that it is
possible to do something better and attractive to the public. In 2010
we are preparing new marketing strategies.
Manufacturing
is an own form of black art. Where and how do you do the studio
recordings, the graphics & art work, the mastering and the CD
pressings ?
Sometimes
the CDs come already produced, and
sometimes we have to produce everything. The professionals involved
in our productions are chosen among the most known and well accepted
ones. For the mixing we work with Alexandre Rabaço and Althayr
Rodrigues and to masterize we call Luiz Tornaghi, a Latin Grammy
winner on an Ivan Lins’ CD. Masque Record’s logo was designed by
Ana Monte, from Contágio Criação, and the art of the covers by the
designers Gustavo Sazes (Abstrata), Carlos Fides (Artside), Jobert
Mello (Sledgehammer) e Bernard. All of them have a very successful
career in Brazil and abroad. We always look for the best
professionals we can. And I can assure that all of them, with no
exception, did a great job. I think everybody for they never show up
directly, but they are essential to the growth of the label.
LPs
are back in fashion like never before. Several industry analysts
believe LPs will replace CDs as the only physical storage format for
music. This in addition to digital downloads. Have you thought about
branching into LPs and digital downloads or are CDs your only
products ?
Obviously
the market shows tendencies and we have to pay attention to it. The
changes are in course, so let’s get what everybody wants. In Brazil
there is a LP’s factory and there is no progressive rock in this
format, since the CD’s was released in the market. But LP would be
a very pleasant production for me, because I particularly like do see
the big covers, the lyrics, arts, all in detail. Particularly I don’t
know if the payment download would please the progressive rock
admirers. Probably those who download will continue to do it
illegally. I do not think progressive rock music can be sold by
singles. Generally their fruition comes with the whole work. I can be
wrong at this point, though. Regarding the CD, a little bit of
creativity turns it an extremely attractive product, since the covers
can be produced in many different shapes. Only time will tell which
way to follow.
Running
an underground record label is like the art of how to get as many
omelets as possible from one egg. How is your finances and are you
breaking even or even going into profits ?
We
never had prejudices. The profits are low,
because we invest everything we have in the next label releases. In
other words, we depend a lot on the sales of a release to produce
again.
How
do you deal with your bands, contract and communication wise ? How
and why do you sign a band ?
We
look at each band individually. The contracts are normally made
considering the needs of the bands. And the
bands have different needs so it would not be fair to make all of
them signing the same contract, since we also make different
productions.
Sign
a band is always an issue of much responsibility. The music has to
please me and Luiz, but also the band. There is no way to produce a
good work without the quality of the band and the musicians. We never
had problems with this, even the opposite happened. We talk to the
label’s bands, but we also contact all the progressive rock world.
We obviously give more attention to the bands we produce, because we
are naturally closer, but that’s all. Unfortunately, it is not
possible to record all bands that contact us. There are a lot of very
good bands, with high level musicians, but it is not possible do
release everything we like.
I
have concluded that underground labels is a dying breed. But what do
you feel you as an underground label can do better than a band who
want to release an album on their own ?
I
think bands must have time to work on their music. But though the
musicians are all of excellent quality ones, most of them do not
survive doing music. Most of them have other jobs and a family to
take care. The label helps to facilitate the contact between the
bands and the stores, distributors and the public, through the art
production, distribution, marketing and the non
stopping search for expanding their public. Everybody like what they
do and it’s conscious of what they are doing.
Have
you had any bad experiences of any kind ?
Nothing
I remember, it didn’t happen anything
relevant.
What
is this year's release plan for Masque Records ?
We
still didn’t sign with no one this year, but I hope the
conversations we are having end up in good news. You can wait and
see: great jobs are coming.
I
have touched upon this theme in another question, but I still wonder
what you think is the future of the music industry which many think
is doomed. What is your thoughts about the music industry and it's
future ?
First
we have to separate commercial music industry inside progressive rock
world. I don’t even like this name very much. The music industry in
general, the big ones, helped a lot with the illegality, elevating
the prices until the absurd, not always caring with good quality.
Most of them always put the profits in the first place. Many of them
are tired of creating and produce bands and successes, aesthetic and
behavior standards. They treated many times the music as fashion. The
majority of the progressive rock labels are free. I do not see music
being created for being hits, payments in cash for radios to play
them in the progressive rock world. If the musician have 16 or 60
years old, what matters is his quality as a musician. The art comes
in the first place. Masque Records never changed a note in any band.
They always have complete freedom to record. It’s a more sincere
process. Marx would probably say that there is a struggle of classes
inside the music industry. A big chasm separates the big producers
and the progressive rock labels.
Anything you want to
add ?
Yes, of course, I
would like to thank you for this interview
and the opportunity you gave me to talk a little bit of how is the
work of managing a label. I bet many people are curious about it. I
would also like to thank all the bands, the mixing and masterizing
technicians, graphic artists, and our partners around the world and
mainly all that worship the label. I am glad that besides Masque
Records there are independent and exceptional labels that are our
inspiration for work. Once more my most sincere thank you for the
extreme kindness and affection
Thank you to Gustavo for this interview The Masque Records homepage is here |
|
CCVP
Prog Reviewer Joined: September 15 2007 Location: Vitória, Brasil Status: Offline Points: 7971 |
Posted: October 29 2010 at 16:01 |
Gustavo is an awesome person and a real trooper of prog rock. Whenever I can I try and support him.
Great interview Torodd. |
|
|
|
memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 19 2005 Location: Mexico City Status: Offline Points: 13032 |
Posted: November 01 2010 at 14:49 |
This kind of people who always support progressive music, should, as well, have support from the progressive rock fans. Excellent interview Torodd, and kudos for Masque Records. |
|
Follow me on twitter @memowakeman |
|
JLocke
Prog Reviewer Joined: November 18 2007 Status: Offline Points: 4900 |
Posted: November 01 2010 at 16:20 |
Neat!
|
|
Gustavo Paiva
Forum Newbie Joined: June 24 2006 Status: Offline Points: 2 |
Posted: November 09 2010 at 18:43 |
Dear Torodd,
I really like to thank you once again for your support and friendship. It´s really a pleasure for me and my partner work with some bands, great people around the world and the more importante: the progressive rock fans. Caio is my friend from Brasil and I thank you for his words. I wish to thanks memowakeman and Jlock for reading the interview. If someone have more questions we can do the part II! :) Thanks for all prog rock lovers and this work is a kind of keep our style alive. I am very happy that are many serious and great people for other fantastic labels and amazing bands doing your job a kind of magic. My deep respect for all of you. Cheers! Gustavo Paiva |
|
www.masquerecords.com
|
|
CCVP
Prog Reviewer Joined: September 15 2007 Location: Vitória, Brasil Status: Offline Points: 7971 |
Posted: November 09 2010 at 19:36 |
That is nothing but the truth Gustavo. You are a maverick of the rock industry. |
|
|
|
Post Reply | |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |