The Brvtalist: Tell us how you're feeling about Raw Culture turning 5 years old?
Asymmetrical: I feel pretty incredible to tell the truth. Raw Culture was born as a DIY Label, and in many aspects wants to stay that way, but if I think that from those first 30 Sony cassettes that we home recorded we slowly got to press 300 records (even with labels and printed covers, rich stuff!) I am quite satisfied.
Beyond the mere talk of numbers I am especially satisfied with the different relationships woven in these five years with many people between artists, other labels, promoters, distributors, record stores and simple supporters, as they the real satisfaction, the true lifeblood of all this.
TB: Do you think running an independent label has become easier or harder over the last 5 years?
A: It's absolutely not easier. At the beginning I thought there was a lot more fertile ground and a lot more enthusiasm (consider the record sales boom of 2017) and even media and press agencies were much more open and interested. Over the years I have seen much more of the scene breaking off into sects. However, channels like Bandcamp allow labels to create a stable community and trigger direct relationships with your fanbase.
An increasing role, especially in this time when physical digging is not possible, are played by Social Networks. I’ve re-evaluated Instagram enough times already. One of the few things that have changed for the better I think is the timing of the pressing plant. It's much faster but that's maybe also due to decrease in demand. Printing and above all selling 300 records in 2021 has become more difficult than 2017, even for labels much bigger and older than ours. The interesting challenge of 2021, also because of the Covid Pandemic, from my point of view, is to understand how to get the music to as many people as possible, without losing your identity.
TB: How has Raw Culture evolved since the first release?
A: First off, we don't record Sony tapes anymore at home haha! We evolved so much because we have given space to a lot of genres and types of releases and artists. Our evolution is also the evolution of many of the artists who work with us, some of them in a quite stable way, who maybe propose their side projects and so on. We're always open to amplify their voices.
On the other hand we didn’t evolve so much because we always focus on raw sonorities. In general we are continuously experimenting and trying to improve ourselves, to improve our distribution and all aspects of the label, to bring to the listeners the music we like, in some way, to make culture.