'Pure Space' / Interview with Andy Garvey
Andy Garvey on the feedback process, tangible connections to music and the allure of visualisers.
Pure Space is an intergalactic Sydney-based label that champions facets of electronic music including techno, electro and breakbeat. Founded by established selector Andy Garvey and produced by Mija Healey, the label masterfully explores the different modes of and places to consume music with an equal focus on home listening and club-ready releases.
In the last few months Pure Space released an electro-bass record from heavy-hitter Rings Around Saturn and a spoken word infused jungle release from duo jobfit. These releases alone highlight the increasing diversity in sounds and scope of the label that Pure Space burgeons, while maintaining the ever so loved interstellar aesthetic. In the midst of Naarm’s second wave, I spoke to Andy over the phone to discuss the charm of these recent releases, the foundation of the label and her future aspirations.
I’m aware that you wanted to start Pure Space for several years prior to its conception. Can you tell me about those beginning days and how you knew it was the right time to start?
The radio program was pretty well established before the label which was a really organic way for me to be receiving demos from the artists that I was playing on the show regularly. When the show first started I was doing a lot more guest mixes so I was able to call interstate DJ’s and talk about their mixes on air which was a sort of networking but also learning about music communities with a great platform to be able to do that.
Then it came to a time where I was receiving a lot of music, I was feeling excited and that it felt like the right time to start actually releasing it. By that time I had been working at Future Classics for two years or so, so I had a glimpse into how it all works and was feeling confident that I would be able to put together a release in a somewhat professional manner. I was going out on a whim in that sense to feel like I could give some sort of value to the artists that I was releasing on the label.
It has evolved from that. We put out two records the first year and by the end of this year I think we will have put out another two records and three digital releases. It does feel like it’s growing but I’m also aware of my capacity - I don’t want to stack it up too much. I want to give it things like time and space.
Speaking of vinyl, I’m curious to hear how you navigate the tension between wanting to give listeners a tangible and physical connection to the artist with vinyl while also acknowledging that pressing vinyl is quite expensive.
It is definitely crazy expensive, especially for a person who is just starting out. I’m lucky that the person I work with does it in two lots: so you pay 50% and then wait two months and pay another 50%. If I had to do that all in one go, it would be much more stressful.
You have to be really confident about the music you are releasing because if you don’t sell it out, you lose money very quickly. From my perspective I need to be able to sell out the music to make that side breakeven. Being able to sell digitally is also a great income revenue to help balance that out as well. Though it’s really hard and a slow process as well. Originally I thought I would be doing the financial side like paying people every six months but until that record is sold out - unless it sells out really quickly - it’s a slow process with a lot of outlay.
Before lockdown I was DJ’ing so regularly that putting some of my performance revenue into this project was viable for me. I could play gigs and put some money aside into a record which didn’t feel too wasteful. Since lockdown it definitely feels like a much more expensive process now but luckily I managed to get some funding to do the next two releases which I had already locked down.
I definitely see the value in doing digital releases, especially if they’re fundraisers or less club-oriented releases. That’s what the home listening arm of the label is about. From that tangible perspective that you mentioned before, that arm of the label was originally meant to be a cassette series, but then I backflipped on that idea. Although cassettes are beautiful, I feel like I never play them - I will never put a cassette on, they are only useful if you have an old-school car. So we ended up doing prints instead. A beautiful art print instead of the cassette. A more sustainable and physical element to put out for those releases.
A print is such a good idea.
Yeah, cause the art is so beautiful as well. It’s important to have all the releases looking great so we pay quite a bit of money to have an artist interpret the release artwork which is a marketing tool but it’s also so beautiful. To get it printed on gallery quality paper makes it an amazing product in the end as well.
Going back to what you said about having to be confident about a release to get it pressed on vinyl, what are the elements that make you confident about a release? Is it more about the technicality or the individuality of the release while integrating well in Pure Space?
For each of the club records that we’ve put out, it is functional club music. I also put in a lot of time working from an A&R perspective. When I first start working with artists I ask whether they are open to having constructive feedback on the tracks from a discerning perspective. Then I will work with all the artists on the tracks to get them musically and technically as strong as possible.
The Rings Around Saturn release that we just put out was the first release where we had gotten an engineer to do the final mix of the tracks so that they are as polished as possible for club use. I know that you can still have less polished music that goes on a record but I think for how this label sounds it’s about keeping it as tight as possible from an engineers perspective.
I’m interested in the intergalactic aesthetic of Pure Space. Was that a style you were always interested in or is it more a reflection of the music that you started putting out?
It’s actually really funny. If you go back on our instagram you can see the progression how our aesthetic came to be. The main artist that I work with is my best friend Sophie Penkethman-Young and essentially when I started the radio show back in the day I asked if she could make me a little radio promo thing. She came back and said that she was going to make one every single week to learn to use the software. It seemed crazy at the time. You could see her experimenting with the software. At first it was all this NASA free to use materials and working with the colours and moving shapes in different ways.
Her exploring these different software programs meant that she went from using source material to making the material herself, which has evolved how the label looks. When she made the design for the first record it was so clear and crisp that it became this image I decided we would continue to use so that our label has a very visual thing that you can identify with. It uses the same orb image so that if you’re in a record store and flicking through the releases you will see this image and straight away know that it’s Pure Space. It definitely wasn’t a planned aesthetic. It just happened.
That ties in with the visual aid for the most recent release “Corner Sure” by jobfit. What is the intention behind providing a visual piece with the release?
That goes back to another ridiculous conversation I had with Sophie. We worked on Jennifer loveless’ first and she said that she would make a 22 minute visualiser. In retrospect it was way too big of a project which we only realised about half way through. But we finished it, we got there in the end.
Having a visual aid that you can put up on youtube is a really nice way to present the release. Now we just do a 6 minute visualiser where an artist reinterprets the music. For jobfit that was the first time that we had an external artist to create the visualiser. The brief is fitting the same sort of aesthetic that we have created but interpret the music as you wish. For jobfit Craig Stubbs-Races made the visualiser, who is an amazing Sydney artist. Myself and Mia were blown away by how quickly he worked and how polished it was in only a fortnight. It was a pleasure to work with him.
Amazing. I’m interested to hear how you’ve been spending your time recently. I find that the common theme for creatives is that this has been a time to cocoon while grinding away on new releases. For label head-honchos and people behind the scenes it’s a little bit more tricky - of course you’re also a DJ and producer - but can you tell me a little about about what you’ve been doing in isolation?
The first month was pretty chaotic. I wasn’t engaging in much. I had so many plans in place and was watching everything slowly getting cancelled so I had to take a bit of time to not engage. There were so many DJ live streams and excitement in the idea of moving clubs to the internet but where I was was so far from wanting to be involved in any of that. There was a part of me that felt guilty but you have to look after yourself and your mental health. Then slowly came trying to work out what a new plan could look like.
I have been working a lot on my own music which will hopefully be a longer formed project than I’ve put out before, into sort of album territory though I don’t want to call it that yet. I’m doing a bigger project that I may not have had time for before while also working with new technology. Though it still comes in waves of when I have the energy to work on stuff. I have to refrain from putting too much pressure on myself if I don’t feel like engaging all the time. It’s good having the time and space and I’m lucky to be living in a home that I’m happy to be living in.
Definitely. Can you walk me through what your set-up looks like? Is it mainly plug-ins or hardware?
After getting back from Europe last year I decided to reformat pretty much everything about how I make music. I wanted to learn how to use hardware so now I use maybe 90% hardware. I’m learning to record that and work through more recording techniques and then mixing later as opposed to doing that as I go in Ableton. It has been a long process but I’ve been slowly getting to a place where I’m happy with it. I still have a bunch of stuff that I need to record. What I’ve been doing is taking random weeks leave from my day job so that I have a whole week to just do that music stuff.
Pictured: Rings Around Saturn
Let’s go back to the most recent releases from jobfit and Rings Around Saturn. What made you want to release these works?
We had been working on the Rings Around Saturn record for so long. They’re both just such intricate and wild tracks so it took a lot of wrangling to put them to a point where we were both happy. He makes so much music and always has music to send and share. They were both the tracks that picked up my ears and I felt that they were really unique, music I hadn’t heard before that I would be very excited to play during my own DJ sets. That was a really nice organic release. It’s been so nice having an artist as big as Rings Around Saturn who still really values releasing music on independent, small local labels.
The jobfit release is two local artists who I met from being out over the last couple of years. I first saw Holly, who is the poet in the duo, do a DJ set at a small festival I think two years ago. It was one of those perfect morning sets on a Saturday.
I love a morning set. The best always.
So good. She was speaking poetry over the music. The poetry was sort of Australiana themed, it had all of these references to being a young person growing up in Australia. The poem was about something like eating a bowl of spaghetti and then talking to your parents but then you realise you forgot your spaghetti so you have to go back to eat it. Then she’ll go on another tangent and end up saying - I forgot to eat my spaghetti! It was this ridiculous absurd poem at the time when you’re feeling sorry about yourself in the morning. Having that hilarious poem read to you while listening to dub-esque tunes was so good. Not a lot of people can get away with doing that or would do that, but she did it so well and even innocently.
Max as well is a great DJ and a very interesting producer. I heard that they were working together for a little while and finally came to hitting them up. With the home listening arm you can really interpret the brief as you wish. They came through with a drony intro that goes into a jungle inspired section and back intro drony material. It was a pleasure to work with them on this one.
Pictured: jobfit
What is next for Pure Space? Can you divulge the upcoming releases?
Iota from Melbourne has an EP with some remixes coming up and I am also in the midst of compiling a long-form compilation that will hopefully be really broad in sonic scope. It has anything from techno to drum and bass to ambient to piano works. That will probably be the last release of this year. It’s sounding really good. Originally I was thinking maybe 15 tracks but it’s going to be more around 20-something tracks [laughs].
That’s how it goes.
That one doesn’t have a title yet. I’ve been brainstorming a bit what they’re going to be called. All of my ideas so far have been very bad.
Can we hear them?
No - definitely not! I’ve just got to switch my brain to finding the words. It’ll come.
Do you have any advice for prospective label makers?
Be obsessed with the music you’re putting out because you are going to be listening to it for a very very long time. The process of putting out a record is very long, you have to love every track so much.
Take your time with it. Never rush a release. Always think about what audiences you can share your music with and where you can find them. Try to get your artist as many opportunities as possible. Try to find your artist as many opportunities as you can because there is only so much money that you can get from releasing music. Do mixes or find shows, doing that kind of stuff is also so valuable as well. Showcasing the artist in new ways is so important.
Taking your time is the number one. Don’t rush it. Have the music, have it mastered. Make sure the records are out when you’re putting it out, don’t have big delays. Give yourself time.
Awesome. What’s next for Pure Space?
I want to do more EPs with the artists that I have worked with previously I want to dive more into that world next year instead of doing so many V/A things. Giving the artist the moment of doing a full release and working on that kind of project. I am so excited about everything on the compilation.
Pictured: Sophie Penkethman-Young, Andy Garvey, Jennifer Loveless and Mija Healey
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Interview by Margarita Bassova
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