'PROXIMITY II' / Andy Garvey [Interview]
Eora label Pure Space releases the second installment of their annual compilation series, PROXIMITY II. We sat down with the truly wonderful Andy Garvey to chat about the compilation, post lockdown Eora, and what’s next for Pure Space.
We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation as the tradition custodians of the place now called Sydney, and the Peoples of the Kulin Nation here in Naarm as the traditional custodians of the land. We respectfully recognise Elders past, present, and emerging. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
An Instagram post on November 12, featuring Mikeala Stafford’s breathtaking biomorphic, sci-fi meets fantasy 3D animation, marked the announcement of Pure Space’s forthcoming annual compilation release, PROXIMITY II—a feeling, for me, surpassing even the childhood excitement of waking up on your birthday.
One notable beauty of compilation releases is how they connect different listenerships—in this instance, fan bases from many different parts of the country can join under the same roof and delight in the combined effort and amazing achievement of the twenty different artists collectively contributing to PROXIMITY II—all the proceeds of which will be donated to Aboriginal Legal Services, the first free legal assistance service in the country.
Grace Ferguson sets the tone beautifully with the opening track, ‘Deute’. There is something simple and ingenious, and so purposeful about the haunting beauty of the steadily repeated E-flat in this track. The resonance of this note casts an interesting shadow on anything else layered onto it. Though often a note associated with anxiety and grief, in this context it feels bold and determined—refusing to budge. It feels like a beacon that serves not as a warning but as a guide into the intergalactic sonic world of PROXIMITY II. Pure Space shares this same unwavering purposefulness, it is a label that will continue to forge a path for itself long into the future with much to look forward to.
What is most exciting thing about this new release for you?
The thing I love about putting together these compilations is that the process is really fun! And you kind of never know what you're going to get out when you're starting it.
I feel like this release is really different to the one we did last year—it feels like a really sincere intersection of all of these different artists and a new journey, sonically, when compared to the first one. As a fundraiser release too, it's nice to feel like we're consistently giving, along with all of the other outlets we have as well.
Zara, in an interview for a Verve article a few weeks ago, was speaking very highly of you—she was saying how much you give back to the community and that it really shows with you in particular that being a DJ is just as much about elevating the people around you, as it is yourself. It seems like you're always giving, and creating opportunities for emerging artists, and to donate all the proceeds as well, it's so admirable that you spread so much good and so much enjoyment.
My personal ethos that I've lived, with working in music for a decade now, is you get out what you put in. I've had so many amazing opportunities, but so much of that thanks to all of the output that has happened. So, I think building community and sharing knowledge is so important.
Particularly when Eora’s lockout laws were in flux, there is always this pressure on the underground dance scene, so if you have the knowledge, whether that's the knowledge of how to run a label, or how to DJ, sharing and giving your time is in some ways the best thing you can do.
And also, the community aspect of this is one of the most appealing components—it is a whole thing seeing people sharing music and asking for track IDs in the comments section. Do you find now that Pure Space is really established that you are still working as much as you used to be and that it's actually amping up if anything?
Oh absolutely. I'm always learning.
It was a long running project that I always wanted to do, and I knew I would do it at some point, but I felt I needed a certain amount of knowledge before launching Pure Space as a label. We've made some silly mistakes along the way, and we have some better processes now.
I think especially since leaving triple j and working for a bigger label called future classic now, I have more insight into ways that we can do things better, and we have started thinking more deeply about how to roll out a release, get the most out of the art and get it to as many ears and eyes as possible. It is such a challenge but also, I love the hustle.
I'm interested in the distribution side of things. Obviously, it goes up on Bandcamp… will you be printing some vinyl as well?
Not for this release. We've kept the vinyl side of the label more to the club realm, to be kind of more DJ friendly and purposeful in that sense.
We have a digital home listening series, of which we have put out three so far. I do have this like long term idea that maybe when we get to 10, we could do a vinyl compilation of home listening Pure Space, and that would give a new wave of life the music that's already seen the light of day in a nice, physical way.
With the digital releases as well, we put more into the digital space—so there'll be more visualizes or more video clips. So, I think looking at this release as a musical product, it is about finding which space, be it digital or physical, is the most purposeful.
I use the word purposeful so often because I think you need to consider ‘why’ every time you're working on a new project—the why and the who, who are you trying to reach and why are you doing it in the way you're doing it? And is that the right way?
You might have done it one time before, but you could be inspired by another label or another process or a new idea that comes to you—so we try to never feel tied down to, ‘okay, we know how to put out a 12 inch, let’s do it a million times the exact same way’. I think it is good to be questioning your processes, how long the rollout should be for example.
I've had many internal dilemmas around Spotify—I read a really interesting interview with this label HOA that are based in New York, and they were as much dismissive as they were accepting of how the Spotify giant is such an easy access point, and for so many people buying a $30 release, or a $10 even, is inaccessible.
For a lot of people purchasing every single release is inaccessible. So, I think I'm increasingly leaning into Spotify as a platform because it reaches ears and that in and of itself is important, for us as a label. But we did start out very anti-Spotify, so yeah, constantly questioning the ‘why’, why are you doing it? And what is more important in different lights?
I suppose people often buy music, and especially this kind of music, if they are looking to play it themselves as a DJ and profit from it—I guess once they've heard the artists on Spotify, they could go to Bandcamp to support the artist if they could afford it too.
I work in my day job quite a lot on Spotify, so I've got this endless playlist that I’m always putting music in that I want to buy. But there are also so many consumers that don't need it for that and don't have the means to be able to buy all of the art that they want to consume.
Something I am quite excited about is the Metaverse, and what that side of music looks like both for an artist and a label. I think there are a lot of different interesting new ways of connecting the fans with art—I think will be the next exciting wave.
I will have to read into that! I think doing things purposefully is a really good point. Even the decision when you’re running an event as to whether you want to play on the night, or should you give up that slot for someone else—It means constantly checking in with your ego.
Yeah. There are so many flow-on effects from so many decisions—for instance, gender equality in our scene is getting better and better, and that is just the flow-on from the first people who gave weight to that issue—continuing to inspire more people in the underground, and that then rippling up into the more commercial music realms.
Are you seeing that in a really positive way in Eora?
I think the underground is feeling strong on the gender side of things. It has a way to go when you look at the more commercial music industry.
It is really heartening to see it come such a long way. And quite clearly it is something that has been considered for this compilation too. So, is there any particular brief that you give the artists to help create a feeling of synergy?
We reach out in a way that is obviously quite considered. Though there were a few artists that actually just dropped into our inbox with demos, and we were like, ‘oh, perfect timing!’.
I think when reaching out, in the first instance, we're kind of letting the artists know that we're hoping to shape something that sounds quite like the radio show—so through this broad, stylistic, breadth of sounds, we kind of shape what it sounds like.
We're in no way being like, you're the electro track, you have to send us something like this—if you understand what Pure Space sounds like on the radio, if you listen to our mixes, or if you're generally aware of what we sound like, then the fact that we've kind of reached out to you means that we feel like you could nail it and then it all just kind of comes down to timing.
We started reaching out for this release in July and it takes some time, there are artists that had tracks straightaway and others that wanted to work on new music. In the end it's a huge amount of work to put this together. I think last year's was about 16 tracks and I thought let's make it 10 next year, let's simplify this for ourselves, and we’ve arrived at 20, so yeah, that went out the window, but you just get so excited by things that you want to continue going.
And it is so exciting! It’s 10 more amazing songs and 10 more people who I’m sure are chuffed to be featured. Does it make ordering it kind of difficult?
When the demos are coming in, I have a rolling playlist. I think for this one, it felt right to have this really gradual progression, it has like one minor dip in it, but it feels almost like the start of a night heading into the rave. Whereas last year's was more of like an arch. So, it just depends on what the music sounds like in the end as to how it feels right to put it together.
I imagine there is a lot of back and forth with mastering and all kinds of complications. What are some things that have come up that aspiring label runners should be aware of?
For Pure Space we do a lot on the A&R side, but there is a lot of back and forth, particularly for some of the artists where it is their first release. Me and Mija both like to give constructive, subjective feedback. We really try to bring out certain moments or change it if something feels a bit too long, just to get each of the tracks feeling like the strongest versions of themselves.
And everyone was in lockdown too—some people were feeling energized at some points and decided they wanted to make a whole new track after some feedback. It's a fluid process, but it can be quite long, particularly working with so many different artists. But then there’s artists like Pugilist who just needs no feedback.
Other than that, for this one, we had the art commissioned before the music was finished, and in some ways that was really helpful. Mikaela had our demo playlist so she could listen to what it was sounding like to work to that vibe. But normally, it can be even more drawn out if you finish the music, and then commission the artwork … So, I think having some overlap was helpful.
I have you worked with Mikeala on other stuff before?
So, we had her on for the NECTAR vivid artwork. And I've just been so obsessed—I feel like I’m her number one fan. I comment on every single Instagram post, I love her art so much. And she was so gracious to give us like a really good discount, as her contribution to the cause as well which is really sweet as well.
It was such an awesome moment seeing the animation on Instagram. And it really felt like something big was about to happen. Moving forward are you looking for the multimedia aspects to be a bigger component of Pure Space—making events with a focus on the combined sensuous experience?
That is a big question. I think for me Pure Space is quite first a music platform. And I think when expanding into the art world, more so I am a fan, I'm not technically fluid in that realm. But I do love connecting music and tech, and music and AI art, and I think that is an area I'd love for Pure Space to expand in next year.
There are couple AI visual artists that we’ve met, that we're hoping to work on a few Pure Space releases next year with, it is pretty exciting. There was a jobfit collaboration with the Sydney Opera House that happened during COVID, and that's a taste of at what that looks and sounds like.
Amazing! I remember I was at a show a few months ago and people were coding and DJing.
That’s so cool! I've watched some videos on that. That was one of my lockdown things. I was just trying to learn new skills just from having too much spare time. And there was definitely a period when I was into learning how to creative code—it looks so much fun.
Was it the case that Mikeala designed the artwork according to how she personally responded to the tracks on the album, or was there a brief that Pure Space gave her?
We did have a bit of a brief for it to match the Pure Space aesthetic that Mikaela clearly knows so well. That's one overarching thing, a black base for things to sit at top, so that the label looks somewhat in sync. We just kind of gave her the sketches for how it was going to sound, and she made her work from that. So, kind of back engineered a little bit.
Is there more stuff coming out like Pattern of Spring? Or is that a direction that you're hoping to go with Pure Space?
Yeah, Pattern of Spring was a really fun record to work on with Matt. He is such a wizard—some people are not so fussy about what things look like but he had a very specific vision for a lot of the different elements of the record, it was a pleasure to have someone who thinks so critically about their work as well.
I think for Pure Space the sound is kind of endless in a lot of ways, I would never want Pure Space to be pigeonholed as a place for drum and bass or place for techno. An idea that I love is for it to be kind of cataloguing the now in a way that's exciting to find in the future.
There are a lot of really old Australian labels that you dig through Discogs to find and are excited when you find their music, whatever it may be. I would love for someone in 30 years to be so excited to discover Pure Space.
I think sonically, I don't want to tie us down into anything. It is more about finding the unique and exciting local producers. What we offer is an ever-growing understanding of how to release music in a succinct way and find the right ears—we are a platform for them. If they aren't interested in releasing music themselves.
Even though there is such range here, from something produced by Circa to something by Third Space—somehow, they seem worlds apart but also like they both came from Pure Space. So, has there been a conscious effort to tie the Eora scene to the Naarm scene?
Yeah, although I'm not based in Naarm we definitely have like a really big fan base there. And there are so many artists that we love working with that are based there. But as well, we are finding people in Canberra and Perth and all over. Maybe the compilation is a nice way to tie everyone together in one single place and also for people who are fans of those artists to discover so many more amazing producers.
How are you finding the general atmosphere in Eora now the lockdowns are finally through?
I think everyone feels pretty generally burnt out from the year that has just been. But I think everyone's really excited to be back together. I went to a Vibe Positive party a few months ago, and it was pretty intense being back in the club surrounded by so many people, but me and my crew that were there and we were just like dancing up the back the whole night and had so much fun
I think it's baby steps, knowing you can take breaks at any moment if you're feeling overwhelmed, or can just go for an hour or so if you want, but I definitely feel excited to be working in this space again.
Were you personally finding it a bit tricky to work on projects and feel creative throughout lockdowns?
I definitely had a harder time in the first lockdown—I was freaked out on all levels, questioning why I wanted to create? Will it ever come back? Why am I working here? But as soon as the first lockdown lifted, I instantly felt like myself again.
So, going into the most recent lockdown, I knew it was going to all be ok. I think we were in lockdown for 3 or 4 months, and through that process I was also starting a new job and had these different life changes that were exciting and felt refreshing, so I wasn’t dwelling on the things I was dwelling on in the first one at all, which made it much easier—honestly, I am just so lucky to be working in a job that I love and be living in a house that I also love living in.
Was it finishing up at triple j and moving to this record label?
Yeah, it is really exciting. I worked there before I worked for triple j, but I was very junior, and I was sad when I left then, but I knew I would be back. It’s a really fun and creative music role—so it feels good.
Have there been a number of club closures, did you lose any important spaces up in Eora?
I feel like it is hard to tell in a lot of ways, because there are so many closures that happened because of the lockout laws that have been going on the last 5 years, and it was bare bones even before the pandemic.
There are maybe a few newer venues that are getting some love now, the warehouse scene will definitely find its feet again, but we lost quite a few warehouse spaces too because they weren’t able to put on shows during the lockdown. It is definitely feeling more club based at the moment.
And did you see many more illegal raves with the lockout laws being implemented?
Oh yeah, the only places we went out were in warehouses. But the club that was like ‘the club’ pre-lockouts was called ‘Good God’, which sadly closed.
When we did our last NECTAR before this most recent lockdown we were working with this space in the city called Mary’s Underground, and it had that same energy. Because we came out of lockdown with the lockout laws revoked, we actually have this more free legal nightlife right now, so it is feeling very nice.
So, what’s next? And do you have any parting comments?
One of my final leaving notes would be everyone should get earplugs, and if you’re going out every weekend you should have custom earplugs, because they are so comfy (that will help you want to wear them), also you can’t even see that you’re wearing them, the good ones that is. My goal this year is to learn how to DJ with them.
Pure Space has a few things coming up. We are excited to have the compilation out in January, and then we are working on quite a few other releases too—I feel like 2022 will be maybe 6 new releases if it all works out. The one after the compilation will be from Dividens who is an artist who features on release and is based in Naarm.
Stay up to date with Andy Garvey on Instagram and SoundCloud
And Pure Space on Instagram, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud
Words by Jack Long (@patrick.di_henning)
Artwork by Mikaela Stafford (@mikaelastafford)
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