We had the pleasure of interviewing Pyrame and Andrew Claristidge, label captains of Thisbe Recordings, taking advantage of Philip Lawns’ latest release on the label.
1) Hello! Where can we find you now? How did you start your day?
David Naville (aka Pyrame, Label founder and manager)
Good morning from Berlin. My start of the day? I woke up at 5am and did some work till 8am. I then fine-tuned a composition on the piano and took care of my son at the end of the morning.
Andrew Claristidge (Artistic Director at Thishe Recordings): I am right now in Berlin. I woke up at 8am after a long night producing. I started my day patching my studio while having a coffee. The best way to start a day…
2) When did the idea of undertaking a project like yours begin to take shape? Has it always been something you wanted to do?
David: To start with, my background is not exactly in music. I am first and forth a physicist. Back in the days, I was doing research at CERN, worked on different projects during my studies, etc. I then spent 15 years as a computer scientist in an investment bank before settling down in Berlin. After a few years here, I reconnected with my everlasting passion: music. Bit by bit, I started to produce my music and ended up grounding my own record label in order to release my second EP under my alias Pyrame. I put in place the structure of the label and then worked on a couple of releases. After a year of activity, I hired Andrew Claristidge as Artistic Director to help me further develop the label. The more I am in it, the more I enjoy it. We really set ourselves the mission to release the best electronic music possible, that we – Andrew and I – both like, and yes, after 2 years of existence, it is really taking good shape.
Andrew: I joined the label 1 year ago. Working for a label has always been something I wanted to do fully. I had the chance across the years to work for few labels but my work at Thisbe Recordings gives me more tasks and the opportunity to bring my vision in order to build full concepts. And the great thing is that David is super curious and he is always up for new music and new projects.
3) How would you define the sound of your latest works on the label?
Andrew: It is definitely electronic, mostly dancefloor orientated… And very Powerful! The music we release has always a Leftfield side. But you can also listen to it out of the club as it stays melodic.
David: Our sound is not mainstream – to say the least – but rather a collection of sounds ranging from leftfield techno, indie dance, dark disco, electro…. Let´s say the sound of the label is… idiosyncratic.
4) What can you tell us about the Days remixes? What has been your selection criteria?
Andrew: well David will tell you all about it as I was not working yet for the label when these remixes were recorded.
David: I have been working for a few years now with Franz Kirmann and Sam Berdah of Days of Being Wild, and they always astonish me with their remixes. They have remixed two of my tracks in the recent past and I wanted them to remix one of Philip Lawns´tracks. Their music is special to me, and I am always keen to involve them. We are really happy they are part of the music released via Thisbe Recordings.
5) What have been your collaborations? What have you learned from each collaboration? What do you admire most about each one?
David: After releasing my second EP “The Pace of Everything that Lives” back in September 2020, I started to talk to some producers I really like, and worked on a release by Radial Gaze, called “Refined”. Then came the debut EP of Semodi, called “Next Summer”. With Andrew onboard, we have developed a pipeline of releases such as Rambal Cochet – Oseary Drakoulias, as well as our first compilation, called Black Ink, released in April this year.
I personally spend a lot of time communicating with music producers, understanding the way they work and their creative process. I need to “click” both consciently and unconsciently with them and things then flow naturally from there. It is a very interesting collaboration between ús, deciding which tracks to choice among their productions, and the label then producing the artist and bringing a single, EP, or album to the outside world.
Andrew: well I consider that all the artists we work with at the label are collaborators. But if we speak about my collaborations outside the label I always like to mention my collaborations with my dear friend Anthony Burrill. He is highly talented (and also a very gentle person), our collaborations are always expanding my creativity and it makes me feel good. Collaboration for me is a beautiful time when you share you ideas, your concepts with somebody else while you are opening up to re-consider your ideas & concepts. It is something I always liked. You can also check all my collaborations within my project called Acid Washed. I am all about collaborations!!!
6) What artists are you interested in these days?
David: I am more inclined in working with a small group of producers, while Andrew has some suggestions about new comers for the label. We are a label at a human scale, we don´t look at more than 5 or 6 releases per year. Hence, this is not a question of producing too many artists. So my answer would be that I am 75% interested in working further with the existing artists who have released via the label, and 25% with new names. For now, I leave you the surprise about who will come next…
Andrew: too many to mention them all. I am a music collector so I always keep my eyes open to new things… If I need to give one Name I would say Yoann Pisterman because his music speaks to my heart & my soul.
7) How do you manage to combine such disparate genres? How do you manage to give them unity and harmony? What do they have in common for you?
Andrew: I guess at Thisbe Recordings we are not about genres. What triggers us is the quality of the music. If it sounds a bit different we will definitely like it.
David: I don’t think the genres are so disparate, although I totally agree that we don´t focus on a single genre. This is personally what I find interesting in producing other artists´ music, each one of them having their own universe and style. Another common point between the artists is that they produce great music and are – a necessary, yet not sufficient condition – really cool people.
8) How would you define your sound?
David: Our moto is to describe Thisbe recordings as an auditorium where the voices of house and techno are being heard. It is hence pretty vast, yet, pretty specific in the way we curate the music we produce. Like mentioned before, it spans genres such as leftfield techno, house, storytelling electro…
The good news : when we mix those tracks in clubs, it sounds pretty good. I guess this is a good indicator.
Andrew: Thisbe Recordings sound has always melodies, a narrative side and it carries also powerful atmospheres. The music we release is most of the time cinematic.
9) Can you tell us something about your current or future projects?
Andrew: I can tell you that our release plan is already full till the end of 2023. I can give you few names that we are glad to share with you: Jerry Bouthier, Volta Cab, La Mverte..
David: As just mentioned by Andrew, we have several releases coming up. One thing I could share is that I am producing a film right now, directed by our friend Christian Krueger, which will feature some music released or about to be released via Thisbe Recordings.
We are lots on our plate.
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