Location: London, UK
Est: 2011
Potted History: “I started Flaming Pines after running a web project on climate change called ‘Listen To The Weather’,” says the label’s Kate Carr. “I got a lot of wonderful contributions for that project, and I wanted to release some of them. I’d just got a decent-sized tax return so I decided to spend it on putting out a record.”
While she didn’t think the label would be an ongoing concern, a demo arrived from New York-based sound artist Seth Chrisman and from there the new project began to grow.
“I didn’t think massively deeply about the label at the beginning,” says Carr. “I wanted to celebrate these works about climate change, and then I found myself just responding to people who contacted me. Over the years I’d say I’ve got a bit more direct in terms of what I want the label to be and to do.
Mission Statement: “The mission for Flaming Pines is to release smart, interesting and at least sometimes politically engaged experimental music,” states Carr. “I’m interested in work that tells a story, so narrative and words are important. I also am committed to releasing debut artists, and those from areas underrepresented within experimental music.”
Key Artists & Releases: “The last three years or so have been my favourite in terms of what the label has released,” says Carr. “I feel like Flaming Pines is putting music out that no one else would.” She points to Hamed Mafakheri’s ‘Durations’, about his experience of the Iran-Iraq war, and Hadi Bastani’s ‘Emergence’, which charts his journey as a refugee from Iran to Belfast, as well as Linda O’Keeffe’s ‘Silent Spring’ that looks at the sonic impact of renewable technologies as good examples of her output. “There’s also ‘im/modesty’ by Shoab Ahmad about her identity as a Bangladeshi transgender woman, and Yifeat Ziv’s ‘Amazonian Traces Of Self’, which is a beautiful examination of the Amazon. There are many more, but these releases show what I want to do as a label.”
Any Other Business? “My advice for anyone starting a label is to be quite modest in your aims,” she offers. “I’ve been able to keep FP going because I feel like it has its own niche. It’s releasing important music that might otherwise be overlooked. It’s also very rewarding to forge relationships with the artists on the label, and to see how happy they are when their music goes out into the world and gets a good response. That excitement, especially with the newer composers, is the most rewarding thing about the label.”
For more, visit flamingpines.bandcamp.com
