Gravitas Recordings Discuss Their History & Future at Down to Earth Festival 2017 [Exclusive Interview]

The recent Down To Earth Festival in New York was one of a kind. This first year festival managed to retain the atmosphere of a smaller fest, while booking a star studded lineup including names such as Noisia, Infected Mushroom, Koan Sound & more. During the afternoon on Sunday the festival handed over their mainstage to the Texas based label Gravitas Recordings, who curated an amazing showcase of some of their best artists. Afterwards we caught up with Psymbionic, Wolf-e-Wolf, and Keli Marks of Bassline Drift to talk about the direction of the brand in 2017.

You all just finished up a showcase at the first ever Down To Earth Festival. Is this something you guys do often? And if so what has been special about today?

Psymbionic: This was one of the first festival Gravitas Showcases that we’ve done. We’ve done a few of them over the years at South By Southwest, and then we did a big showcase in Denver with myself, Clozee, Soulacybin, Supersillyus, The Digital Connection & Brede. We’re hoping to branch out and do more of them as we grow in new cities.

Gravitas Recordings recently celebrated 5 years of existence. In your observation how has the brand evolved as a label and a family?

Psymbionic: Gravitas started first as a local crew before it was a label. It was a way for a lot of us people in Austin, Texas to team up and put our heads together, and do something bigger than any of use were doing individually. Very shortly after is when we started the label, so from that initial crew came our first releases. Over time we’ve worked with a wider spectrum in styles of music, we’ve gotten to work with bigger international artists from all over the world, and of course lots of people from the U.S. I think as a brand we all around run a tighter ship; our artwork, mastering, behind the scene presence, and marketing have all gotten better. We try to keep evolving and moving forward with everything we’re doing.

Gravitas is known for being incredibly diverse and experimental, which I imagine makes signing acts sometimes difficult. What common themes or attributes do you look for in music you decide to host?

Psymbionic: One of the first things that [co-owner Jesse Brede and I] look for when signing a new act is the music of course. We look beyond our own personal tastes and try to look at the quality of the music, and if it can fit within a spectrum of things that we’re interested in, even if it’s not something that one of us specifically super loves. Generally we balance each other out, but we also have been doing this long enough to know that even if it doesn’t fit in our specific range of tastes we can hear quality music. We do our best to release various types of music, and as time goes on we are more interested in working with people who have shown that they’re in the music game for the long haul. There’s a high turn over rate of people who make music for a few years, and then they stop. So it’s in our best interest to work with people who are fully committed. A big part of that can be playing a certain amount of shows out of your local city, or being active on social media, or actively putting out music.

With the label being so diverse, yet tightly knit, how do you guys support and educate each other without melding your styles to the point of becoming too similar?

Bassline Drift:  Everyone on the label is always sharing knowledge, whether it’s [Psymbionic] sending out artist development stuff about Performing Arts Organizations and Registrations, to [co-owner] Jesse Brede sharing contracts that he’s written up, or Encanti giving a music production workshop, as well as musical exchanges like collabs and remixes between producers. Retaining our identity hasn’t been a challenge, although our sound has definitely evolved for the better because of the label. Everyone is contributing information but it’s what you as an artist decide to do with a specific technique or approach that makes you unique.

I know in the past you guys have done releases in partnerships with charities, is that something you guys have thought about for the future?

Psymbionic: The charity release compilations that we’ve done in the past have been a great way for us to come together and give back to causes that we care about, as well as the community. It feels good to make some difference, no matter how small it is, with something that you’re passionate about. We do have plans to do more in the future, but I don’t think there’s anything I can name since it’s all in the planning stages right now, but it is something that we care about and want to continue to do.

A big focus for Gravitas recently has been the series of Infusion singles, which all of you have released. Why do you think this series has been so successful for the label?

Wolf-e-Wolf: I think the Infusion series is unique in the fact that it helps artists quickly release their music to a large following, while still getting the perks of proper distribution via the usual outlets: Spotify, iTunes, Beatport. Releasing your music quickly is beneficial in an industry that moves so fast. Traditional EP or album releases can often take months, even years to plan and eventually hit all the outlets. With the Infusion series, you get the quick drop of your single as a free download, plus the benefits of a traditional release later on the compilation. The best of both worlds

Bassline Drift: Another reason it’s a good opportunity is the commitment that John talked about. [Infusion is] even more diverse in who we can accept because we can test the waters [with an artist] without being sunk in for a full album. Another interesting aspect is that Gravitas has partnered with visual artists in our local Austin scene [for the covers], and that’s a really nice union of art styles.

Wolf-e-Wolf: Yeah, it’s also a unique opportunity for up and coming producers, because they offer professional album artwork and mastering for each single. These resources are sometimes out of reach for aspiring producers, so it’s great they can provide that extra bit of professionalism for your single’s release.

This year Gravitas launched a sub-brand called Gravitas Create, which focuses on supporting the producer community through releasing tutorials, challenges, and other educational tools. Can you talk about the creation of the brand, and what people can expect from it?

Psymbionic: Gravitas Create was in the works behind the scenes for almost a year before we launched the sub-brand at the beginning of 2017. In that time we put a lot of effort into building the website, building our first sample packs, and building the original content that went out upon launch. We also were able to tie in content, such as sample packs and presets, that we’ve put out in the past. It allowed us a website to host all of this content together that was focused on producer education and resources. Since launch we’ve put a lot of time into community building with producers in lots of different genres. Some of them may be fans of the Gravitas label, and some might not know we exist, but  I think it’s a very cool aspect of it because musicians of all different backgrounds can get something out of the education we’re trying to provide.

Bassline Drift: We are trying to really put out quality tools and resources for producers, while being in line with our real-world philosophy that the sample pack won’t make you a better producer – working your ass off will. So we do community challenges bi-weekly, and sometimes they’re remix contests, like we [just dropped] the CloZee remix contest. It’s a really big prize pack, that is specifically tailored to CloZee (details below). We also have artists who release [content alongside] a record. For instance, Dysphemic, who just dropped his album “Zeus” last week, is now working on a sample pack. So now there’s a second dimension to a release with Gravitas; you have the music for the listeners, but then you also have the tools and education (maybe a tutorial or an interview at least) of the artist. We’ve done a sample pack with AMB, Somotoast, now we have Dysphemic, and Au5 is doing something with us. It’s a nice extra expression for artists! I recently went on a pilgrimage to India, and spent three full days in the studio recording world-class classical indian musicians, so we are prepping that massive sample pack now, it’s going to be epic.

Wolf-e-Wolf: I’m the content manager for Gravitas Create. I go in and edit a lot of the samples to make them as usable as possible, “right out of the box”. I also try to offer insight from my point of view as a touring producer and DJ. I think that’s one thing myself and the team bring to the table, being active producers/performers ourselves, we know what kind of tools are useful and sought after and how they will help us write better music. We also try to provide more underground niche sounds that are often hard to find in the sample pack world. By working directly with some of the Gravitas artist, we give you access to the tools that help these artist achieve their sound.

One of the things that I most like about Gravitas Create is the fact that you guys do livestreams, which have been very informative, and seem to bind the community closer. Do you want to talk about that?

Wolf-e-Wolf: The live stream thing has been a learning experience from day one. It’s not an easy task because you kind of have to just do it to figure out the process. We’ve learned a lot from other streamers like The Widdler, who runs an awesome stream I would highly recommend any producer to check out. It’s very inspiring how he so freely shares his knowledge with the community and we try to offer that same vision. We really just want to share what we know, in a thoughtful, professional way, while still maintaining a chill, comfortable vibe. There’s a major community aspect to the live streams with the ability for people to chat, send in questions, or tracks for feedback and we hope to continue to build that community.

Bassline Drift: Also shoutout to Jesse Brede, who’s not here. He has real world experience, and he is very generous with his energy and his information. He’s all about growing the family basically, so he really brings that to the table. Those livestreams are as informative for me to be on them, as for a guest.  Every conversation with him is full of some chunk of gold.

Visit Gravitas Create here.

Connect with Gravitas Recordings:
https://facebook.com/gravitasrecordings
https://twitter.com/GravitasMusic</
http://gravitasrecordings.com</
http://music.gravitasrecordings.com

Connect with Gravitas Create:
https://facebook.com/gravitascreate
https://twitter.com/gravitascreate</a
https://gravitascreate.com

Share On