NOTE: these are Jason Harding's replies regarding Capitalrecordings only.

How did the label start up?
”Capital Recordings grew from lots of late night ‘meetings’ discussing important ‘matters’ followed by a guarantee of financial cover from a benefactor followed by working out our design (branding and label identity) and legal logistics (contracts and incorporation) followed by putting together several compilations to learn the ropes and then single-artist long-players. Distribution, promotion, artist development, vinyl pressing, getting an office and storage space, and general networking were all worked out within and around these main issues.”

What was/is the philosophy behind it?
“We originally said it was “to get the music being made in bedrooms, beach houses and apartments around Wellington out to a wider audience” and we stick by that, expanded to embrace the whole of New Zealand now perhaps, but it’s still the same ideal. “Style over genre” was our other key catchphrase, and we’ve fulfilled that too a high degree as well.”

How strong is the label’s international profile?
”Not particularly, but that’s very much a choice issue on our behalf. We wanted to have a decent body of work which reflected what we were trying to do as an intelligent, diverse, and stylish label from New Zealand, and that was always going to take at least a year to establish. We’re looking seriously at the international market for 2003, but we’ll being moving into it at our own pace and on our own terms.”

How do you keep abreast of the changing scenes/technology that evolve so rapidly in electronic music? Are you ahead of the game?
”We are ab-so-lute-ly ahead of the game. One of us is a 15-year veteran of DJing, the other a 15-year veteran of music retail, so there’s not a lot that gets past us in terms of technology or genre. We devour magazines, we digest the web, we bar-fly and club-hop on a regular basis and we listen closely to what new artists bring in for us to listen to. We’re basically a pair of trendy culture vultures, so keeping on top of these things is innate to what we do as a label, and what we’ve always done as individuals.”

How do you think NZ electronica as a “scene” is perceived locally?
”Like anything in New Zealand : It’s all fine and well until someone has some success and then we knock the shit out of them”

How do you think NZ electronica as a “scene” is perceived internationally?
”I have no idea seeing as how I live in Wellington. I guess that those who know about it like to think of themselves as “early adopters” when in fact they’re probably sad little petals of love with no mates and huge monthly Internet bills.”

What qualities do you look for in an artist?
”Firstly, is the music any good? Then, do we like them as people? Lastly, we ask do we think we can sell this music to the public at large. Living in the real world as we do however, that last question is usually the most important one and most often it’s the one that makes or breaks a deal.”
As told to Tom Clarke at the NZMIC
Used courtesy of the NZMIC