Interview: Mikko Polus
Abhorrent A.D. label posted text below at his social media. This sparked idea to ask him more about the ways he is running his label.
“The choice to keep nearly all AAD tape releases in print (made to order) has been a wise choice for the label and an innovation on ruthless limited edition tape culture. It allows fans time to collect everything they want without the urgency and stress of it selling out first. This decision was inspired by the frustration of missing out on great releases by other labels and then seeing them up-sold with ridiculous price hikes on discogs. AAD has also made a conscious choice to keep prices the same, regardless of material costs and inflation.
AAD is proud of each and every release and is very selective about what is in the catalog, even if it was an unsolicited submission. It is always exciting when a new release moves units, but is is equally uplifting when people continue to purchase older releases from the past few years and good to know they are still in circulation. Moving forward AAD is focusing more on quality over quantity by doing mainly full length CD releases, however, it is expected that this will draw more interest in back catalog releases and keep them alive instead of just pumping out tons of tapes all the time while past releases are forgotten.
In order to expand on this vision AAD will no offer a price break bundle deal: any 10 DIY Series tapes for $50 and any 10 regular tape releases for $60 (+ shipping). You can now also choose any 10 tapes from the DIY series, vol. 1-3, instead of being forced to order each edition all together. Many people have asked to do this so might as well make that an option.
Regardless of the artists we work with and their own politics/opinions (in support for their freedom of speech and singular creative expression)…. AAD as a label and business that values community, creativity, open-mindedness and inclusivity, not elitism, profits and competition.”
Your label has existed since 2007 and you’ve published over 200 releases during than time. Were cassettes something that you’d been working with already much before your label work though? It at least seems as if cassettes would have their own significance for you as a format and as a way to D.I.Y., which is why I’m asking.
-Well the label was actually established in 2007 but only lasted about one year or so due to many personal things (I was in my early 20’s, switching apartments regularly, partying too much, not holding down steady employment… etc). Before I did AAD I had another label called American Grizzly that was releasing a lot of the “New Weird America” or “Freak Folk” type of stuff and had started to dabble in some noise releases as well, but mostly experimental psychedelic type of stuff. Two notable releases on that label were one of the first Altar of Flies tapes and a mini CDr by Horse Head (who would later go on to be a founding member of Goth Boi Clique alongside artists like Lil Peep and Wicca Phase Springs Eternal). After AAD went defunct there was a 13 year gap of no activity or involvement in the noise scene, but I had many emails asking about the label and if certain releases were still available (particularly Evenings and False Creak, which have both been reissued since then). During those years that I was absent I often reminisced about my involvement in Harsh Noise and was left feeling “fomo” quite often and wishing I had stuck with it and that there was more work to do… akin to regretting leaving an ex perhaps (although I don’t know that feeling that is the best metaphor I can think of). Shortly after COVID first started I was laid off from my job for a month and suddenly had all this free time. I had been starting to buy noise releases again around that time and felt an urgency to resurrect the label and just see what kind of reaction it would get. Low and behold there were hundreds of followers and enthusiastic feedback almost over night. I decided to come back with a bang by doing releases by the more established artists I had previously worked with like Richard Ramirez and THE RITA. It has been so fulfilling and rewarding to see how well things have developed since then and I am grateful everyday to be the guy who runs AAD. I love and appreciate all the artists I have been fortunate to work with, as well as the diehard fans and supporters of the label and my personal projects. It seems I had finally got my shit together enough as an adult who is competent and capable to run a label properly and have enough self discipline to be responsible and professional in doing so. The label has given me a great sense of purpose that has also gotten my mental wellbeing to a healthier place and even my wife of ten years is very pleased to see me doing something that is such a success (even though she does not understand/enjoy noise music at all she does value witnessing me be a pillar of a community and achieve such recognition).
But let’s get to the text or statement you wrote on instagram, which gave me the idea to reach out to you with some questions. This might be a “salt into wounds” type of question, but: have there been any specific releases that sold way too fast that you would’ve regretted missing out on yourself that would’ve affected your decision of keeping tapes available indefinitely? I mean stuff you would’ve still been thinking about for months or even years after initially missing out on them, not the stuff you were ok with missing out after the initial FOMO (fear of missing out) had passed, heh.
-If you are referring to missing out on releases by other labels then the answer is a definite “yes” and that is totally something that made me want to combat the “limited edition” culture. There are many labels I would love to get back catalog items from and the frustrating thing is I know they are totally capable of making more, as they do everything in-house… but I also respect their way of doing things and accept that it’s a personal preference. As for AAD, there are CD releases I have done that sell out way too fast (Incapacitants, Slacking, Jute, Priest In Shit… etc), but I fully intend to reissue those all as soon as my schedule opens up and funds allow it. My opinion is essentially this — if something is great, why not keep it available?
When did you make the decision to keep your cassettes available on a made-to-order basis? Was there some specific moment or some specific release that triggered this decision, or was it brewed over months or years instead of being a sudden change on how to do things?
-Initially when AAD made it’s comeback I was living in an apartment in Austin, TX and had no way of making tapes or anything at home, so they were all outsourced and “professionally” manufactured. Eventually I moved my family to Northwest Arkansas in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, which is a also a much more affordable place to live. I was able to now have my own office at home and purchase all the necessary equipment to manufacture my own tape releases. This is when the idea to keep things in print happened, purely due to the ability to do so and it has proven to be a great decision because whenever a new batch of releases comes out and the orders come in you will often see older titles being purchased alongside the most recent stuff. Everyone is on a budget and sometimes they have to wait until the right time to get things. I love that they are able to get something when it is convenient for them to do so, and I appreciate their ability to stay excited about it for that long after it came out (or perhaps they just discovered said artist recently and are excited that they can still get a copy long after it was first released). I hope this influences more labels to follow suit. I know not everyone has the resources to do this themselves but that is also why I offer reasonable and low quantity duplication, so that everyone actually does have the resources even if it has to go through me.
I’d like to think that I’m not an idiot, but I’ve got to admit I’ve sometimes been swept into the artificial hype where some limited edition tape seems like a must-buy, while it quite likely just plain is not. In a week the hype is gone, and the whole tape is just forgotten about, and even I forget what it even was that I was so upset over missing out on. I’ve also heard that sometimes the hype is gone between the release selling out from the publishing label and distributors getting their copies, so while the hyped release is still very much new and available, it’s just suddenly not that wanted anymore. Have you had or witnessed any similar experiences?
-I can’t speak for anyone else but it does seem like there is almost a fetish for things being super limited and maybe the people who got a copy feel “special” in some way but that is all an illusion of the mind that I don’t get off on. I think it can also create a delusion of the release being better than it is by mistaking rareness for quality. Of course there are amazing releases that sell out super fast and maybe the label had every intention of doing more but wasn’t able to, that has been the case with some of my CD releases, but I think it’s tragic to just never reissue it again. I think if a release is able to continue selling copies steadily over the course of a few years of being in print, to me that is more worthy of hype then something that sold out fast and then forgotten just as quickly. Some stuff I keep in print that continues to sell regularly are tapes by artists like Scathing, Dressing and Moozzhead for example… and I can tell you those projects are hyped for a reason. Some stuff just needs to stay available as it is essential to every noise fan’s collection. I keep stuff in print because I think everyone should hear it eventually.
I won’t ask for the project/artist names as they might come off in a bit unfair light if brought up in this context, but: can you reveal any sales numbers regarding the tapes that you’ve kept available indefinitely?
-Yeah I don’t want to give too much away with that but I will say the highest selling tape release I’ve done was by Industrial Hazard, which is a project by Spencer of Full of Hell… and yet I feel that it is also still kind of an underrated release.
I’m curious as it’s easy to imagine some release selling well if the first pressing sells out almost instantly, but if some release remains in print for five years or a decade you can’t tell if it’s sold 20 copies of an initial edition of 30 during that time, or 400 copies of an undisclosed pressing. There might be some projects and specific releases that aren’t really brought up anywhere and people might assume they’re not worth the time because of it, yet they might’ve actually sold tens or hundreds of copies to people who just aren’t vocal about what they like.
-I think I already answered most of this but I will say many artists express disappointment that there is never many reviews or people commenting about releases much nowadays… usually fans will just show their support by posting a picture on social media, which is great too but it leaves the artist wondering “well what specifically did you enjoy about my work?” There is definitely a need for a web-based zine similar to Pitchfork but for Noise/Experimental stuff and I have been considering facilitating that but there is never enough time to do everything I want to do as I not only run two labels and a distro but I have a regular job and three kids (and if the way I run a label shows my character you can bet I try to be the best dad I can possibly be, so family always comes first!)
Many artists regret their older releases and practically hear just the flaws and mistakes in them, but of course there are more reasons why someone would like to limit the availability of their releases. For example some tape might be like a “trial run” of ideas that are meant to be taken further later, or is experimental in a way that would give a “wrong” impression of a project if it’s the first thing you heard from them. In those cases, it might make sense that an artist might not want those releases to be more easily and widely obtainable than their “real album” type releases that are meant to display what the artist/project is really about and capable of. Again, I’m not asking for names, but have you had artists say that they don’t want some release of theirs to remain available indefinitely?
I’ve understood that some older AAD releases were small editions that sold out really fast. I’m curious if you’ve later wanted to make some of those releases available again after the initial run turned out to be too small, but the artist’s been against it?
-Yes it is common that artists will dislike their old material as they develop their sound, but if a bunch of people still enjoy it or want to hear it I don’t think it’s fair to prohibit that. What if Stanley Kubrick decided he hated all of his films, wouldn’t that be tragic if no one could watch them anymore? There are some early AAD tapes I really wanted to reissue but the artists were not happy with their old material and said no (even though there are a lot of people who would love it). It is important for an artist to take their work seriously and not put out mediocre material but I also think this can be an example of taking it too seriously or being too attached to a certain outcome. There is a point where you just have to not be too attached, surrender, let go and let it be what it is. You can only really be in total control of what you choose to do next. I also think sometimes an artists own opinion of their work is not as valid after the work has been done, just because they have changed their interests or approach — what if that material is one of their diehard fans absolute favorite material by them? Isn’t that persons opinion on the material also valid if not more so? “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
You’ve got pages on Instagram and Facebook and at least used to post stuff on YouTube too. Do you do other types of promoting, and what have you found to be the working ways to both reach new people as well as to keep the already interested people up to date on your activities? I’ve heard that these days you might think you’re following some label on a social media, but some algorithm logic might decide you don’t see their new posts after all. So, you might think you’re ready and waiting at the right news source, but the news fly right past you anyway.
-I honestly loathe social media and dread promoting (wish I had an employee to handle all of that), but it is necessary and produces the desired results… and I have some fans who don’t use instagram who are often out of the loop and unaware of what is going on (luckily they are still able to obtain most things since I keep stuff in print!) The best two ways to keep up with label activity is to follow the Melomania instagram page and the AAD & Philatélie bandcamp pages. It is very important to “follow” the bandcamps because that is the closest thing I have to mailing list. That’s where all the updates are.
You dub your own cassette releases, but you also offer dubbing services to others. Can you reveal what kind of a dubbing tool arsenal you’re using now? Out of curiosity, have you learned to fully fix and maintain the equipment yourself or have you “outsourced” that part of the operations?
To my knowledge you only use new blank tapes instead of recycled ones. Do you have some reliable source for new blanks and their cases, or do you operate based on when & where you can obtain blanks for cheap enough? I’ve understood that at least earlier the availability of chrome tape was an issue (not sure if it still is), but I guess the situation with ferric tapes isn’t that bad at least?
-Sure, I am not ashamed to admit I prefer to work with a cheaper cassette deck as opposed to using any fancy name-brand one’s that are costly to maintain… so I decided to do something more practical and find ones that are readily available to be immediately replaced if one breaks/malfunctions (which prevents a lot of unnecessary stress). These are the ION Tape2PC’s that were modernly manufactured in recent years as a means for people to archive their old tapes onto their computer. You can easily find these on Ebay or Mercari for anywhere from $75-$100 usually. I run six of them directly into my computer’s aux and through trial and error I have fine tuned the correct volume level to get nice, loud and punchy tape dubs I am confident in selling (and I have been told often that they sound superior when compared to other labels and especially “professionally manufactured” dubs that are muffled with no low-end). When it comes to dubbing tapes there is a sweet spot where it’s not too blown out, but there is just a subtle kiss of “in the red”.
You mentioned that you’ve kept the prices of your tapes the same despite inflation, and that in the future you’ll be focusing on the CD format. The manufacturing and retail prices of CDs haven’t been hit the same way as cassettes and especially vinyls have, so that makes sense to me. Mailing prices are one thing too: to mail one cassette in a regular case domestically in Finland, it costs 5 euros. I hope the situation over there in the States isn’t that bad, but anyway: no matter how cheaply you make a tape, after mailing you can’t really call it a cheap DIY way anymore unless you’re a very well networked punk-post mafioso who can get releases around outside the postal systems – or if you only deal the cassettes in your own neighbourhood and at gigs you go to. Are these things related to you switching your focus to CD format? Of course I’d assume time would be an issue too, as the more tapes you have to keep available, the more time you’ll spend dubbing them. There must be some number of tapes at which point your clock just runs out of hours.
-I just decided to do more CD releases because I was spreading myself quite thin doing a lot of tape releases on top of all of the duplication jobs I was getting commissioned for. Also, as the label grew in popularity/reputation it was easier to get bigger projects to commit to a release, which also lead to doing more CD’s (and soon vinyl as well). So that is the main reason, just to have some relief from making everything myself and to be able to just get orders out faster with a higher quality product. Can’t say the same for other genres but with noise I prefer the CD format to any other, especially if something was recorded straight to tape.
Homebrewn CD-Rs might’ve been a kind-of replacement for cassette culture, but they’re no longer really a popular thing. Considering that, and with cassettes being a less easily and affordably available medium for musical & artistic (counting the physical package etc.) expression now than in the past: do you think there could be some more modern version or substitute for those formats in the DIY culture sense? Do you think that for example all-digital formats could work the same way, or will we at some point be releasing and mailing noise in ornately packed USB sticks when they finally become a trash bin item?
This is more of a general thought that’s not really related to you, considering you work in dubbing, mastering and graphic design for your own as well as others’ releases. The cassette format might well become less popular and available due to lower availability of decent decks, issues in their maintenance and the availability of cheap blanks, and homebrewn CD-R’s are often replaced by pro-CD-Rs or actual factory-pressed CDs. Do you see these things as a threat to people taking independent initiative and relying on their DIY skills and own vision to do things? If releases come from the same factories, and are promoted and sold on the same multinational platforms and vendor services as all the more mainstream stuff is, does that somehow blur the borders between underground expression and mainstream music?
-I personally love CDr’s (specifically “Pro” CDrs) and have consistently done them on my labels. For me they are a great option for releases with odd runtimes that don’t really fit well on either side of a tape, as well as an ideal option for something you want to get out there last minute before shows or for newer artists that no one has really heard of that submitted a great demo but you aren’t sure if you want to risk investing too much money into quite yet until you see how it is received by the public. Other labels like Breaching Static, Prose Nagge and Black Artifact have done an excellent job of putting out great releases on the Pro CDr format (meaning they are professionally duplicated and printed similar to a “real” CD on top but burned onto the disc instead of “pressed” or replicated, which offers a way quicker turnaround time). Some stuff was just made to be a CDr release and it works well in my opinion. Don’t see why the format gets any shade in the noise scene and I would strongly encourage newer artists or labels to go this route and just trade or give them away to people you want to hear it in order to start promoting yourself.
As a related note to underground sharing platforms with the mainstream: have you had any issues with censorship on the online platforms or such that you use? Have you had to blur or pixelate any graphics you post, or have you had to alter some cover arts becouse a printing place wouldn’t make them otherwise?
-I have definitely had to be cautious with some manufacturers who have a hard line about content they won’t make. There is a person who makes 7″ and 10″ lathe cuts for me who won’t do things that go against his personal political views or if it’s too edgy. Obviously Instagram won’t show graphic nudity or gore, but Bandcamp is awesome about not having any censorship (yet), which is great because that is where the official release is posted and I want it to be presented as it is. So kudos to Bandcamp for that.
Sometimes it feels like there’s quite some buzz on some new release or reissue, but despite this seeming interest their life span in the public eye appears oddly short. It makes some sense considering the flood of great noise etc. we’re living in, but still. I don’t know if it has to do with there being so few underground media platforms (both physical and digital zines, blogs etc.), but it appears to me that not that many releases cause any proper discussions or comments to take place. Some of the discussions that happen are surely hidden in private chats or chat rooms (Discord etc.), but this still got me thinking if your decision to keep releases in print is part of this same picture? I mean that the releases would have a longer life span than just existing for the hot second when they’re new and fresh, that they would have a chance to live and grow over time and amass new meaning and history onto them. Of course I don’t claim that all noise releases would be worth the attention, heheh, but there are a lot of them that certainly are, yet that attention just doesn’t seem to happen. Of course some people rate releases’ worth by how much they sell for and how many “Wants” they have on Discogs or such, buuuut… I’m not one of those people, heh.
-I talked a bit about this earlier, the lack of commentary, and it’s noticeable and mentioned to me often. I get a ton of DM’s with feedback for specific releases and it’s bittersweet cuz I’m the only one seeing it. When this happens I will always send a screenshot to the artist so they are aware of it, but I still think people should put in more effort to leave comments on the post so that it can be seen by the general public, as opposed to a private message. And like I mentioned, more websites featuring regular reviews and interviews would be awesome. I have accumulated a big list of potential writers who volunteered to do something like that but it is still in the planning stages and up in the air if I will even be able to. BTW, I think the discogs seller/buyer culture is toxic and cringe and I have as little to do with it as possible. It just reeks of someone whose main focus is hiking prices to unreasonable levels just to make money and that is not my focus at all. There are quicker (usually criminal) ways to make a buck then selling Harsh Noise tapes haha, fucking dipshits.
To continue from the above: there is a lot of activity in the noise scenes currently. Still, are there some things that you think are missing, or something that you’d like to see change? Be it about labels, zines, distributors, gig organizers, venues, or something else entirely.
-I don’t think we need more labels or distros tbh but more promoters/venues would be a plus and seeing more noise scenes pop up in smaller towns and unexpected places would be really cool too. I live in Northwest Arkansas (the most liberal/college/artsy part of the state) similar to how Austin is a blue city in a big red state, and I think there could be potential here for somewhat of a scene to develop within that open-mindedness (not that my politics align with liberals — I am so far left I see Democrats for the right-wing warmongering capitalists they truly are, but I digress… my point is that more “liberal” areas tend to breed more creativity and enthusiasm for the arts). If Skeleton Dust could do what they’ve done in Dayton, OH then I can do something similar here, but it will take time and exposure. I have plans to eventually start a venue called Studio Melomania which will be like a combination of a record store and performance space catering to all kinds of experimental artforms (not just noise) with like clothing swaps, movie nights, DJ’s, live music etc. and I think a grassroots scene will develop out of that organically. There is already a decent punk scene here and some people doing ambient and avant-garde/contemporary classical music, so if I can bring some noise artists through as they travel between Denton and St. Louis I am optimistic we will get something going on here in the future once the locals are exposed to it, but we will see! I am not interested in gatekeeping or elitism, so for me the sky is the limit for noise and I don’t see why it can’t continue to grow an audience… with that said I also have a lot of personal criticisms with aspects of capitalism and greed in general, so I love that the noise scene is not particularly competitive… in general it is like one big family and everyone tends to be openly supportive and encouraging to each other. That is one of my favorite aspects of it and why I think it will continue to grow. I also love that noise doesn’t have a dress code like punk or metal, and so at a noise fest you will see goth chicks, crust punks, trans people, people of color, and even well dressed dudes in like dress pants who probably make six figures a year. The diversity of the scene is awesome and it just comes down to the fact that we all love noise and that is the only necessary connection, not how we look or any other personal beliefs/interests. I hope it always stays that way.