Rozhovory

The ups and downs of underground record label (interview with Yoann / Inhuman Homicide Records)

I am always interested in various aspects of the work in the underground – from being in the band, doing an one-man project, writing/publishing a zine, being a promoter of gig organizer, running a distro/merchandising…and last but definitely not the least release music through one’s own record label.

Therefore I am pleased to exchange a few words with Yoann from Inhuman Homicide Records (France) about his take on the everyday life and pleasure of running a record label. Here we go.

Hello, Yoann, thanks for your time doing this interview. How are things in the Inhuman Homicide Records? And the general question…what do you think of current state of French extreme underground music?

Hello, the things are going well for the label, I have many releases to come until the end of the year, it will be hard work but it’s still so exciting like the first day to do it. And I’m actually working on a cover as I’m answering to your interview.
The extreme underground in France is still hard as a rock ahahaha Old bands like BLOCKHEADS, INHUMATE, SUBLIME CADAVERIC DECOMPOSITION, PULMONARY FIBROSIS are still killing the game, and there are more and more new kick-ass bands who can write their own stories, like BRAINWASHED, PENDRAK, UNSU, GUMMO, FILTHCULT and many others … We are one a really good momentum now.

Let’s go back in the beginning…how did you become a metalhead? Can you briefly describe your quest of discovering the extreme music and its various forms? What bands would you consider the milestones in your music journey?

I started in the beginning of the 90’s, while listening to METALLICA, GUNS’N’ROSES on the radio. My mother gave me the “Black Album” for my 12th birthday, and I found it so great that I only listened to this album for more than 1 year ahahaha And I still love this album. Later I began to follow a TV show with metal videos, and I dicovered then NAPALM DEATH, OBITUARY, CARCASS etc… I bought all their first albums, “Scum” and “Reek of Putrefaction” and then I said “waaaaaw that’s what I want to do !!!”. I was impressed by the violence of this music, the blastbeats and the pitch effects of CARCASS. Here are my basics. Other bands that had a real influence on who I am are AGATHOCLES, AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED, MORTICIAN, HAEMORRHAGE and some US death metal like MORBID ANGEL, KRISIUN, DEICIDE. Classical ahahaha

When did you start IHR and what was the main reason for forming an underground record label? How easy/hard was to actually start it?

It began as a friends joke ahahaha My brother, a friend and me have forming many bands (with some guests or as solo projects), and I wanted to gather them all under a same “label”. But it was unofficial, all of our first releases were only released in few copies for us and our friends, no distribution. When I came in Paris for my graphic studies, I started to design some cd covers for this old releases. I just printed them to begin this label ahahaha There wasn’t any difficulties for me, it was just a perfect combination of my passion for graphic design and music. And that’s why i want to preserve one DIY side in my label.

Your very first release was Organic Dicease’s “Heavenly Massacre” in 2002. Why have you decided to release this stuff as your first one, and since it’s long sold out (along with some other IHR releases), do you plan to re-release those long gone titles?

Oh ORGANIC DICEASE was one of my old noisy grindcore projects I was talking about in the previous question. It was a one-shot project we made with my brother and my friend Flöp, the particularity of this band is the drumming : it has been done with only one drum stick. I don’t think I will release it again in several copies, but if someone ask a copy, I still have files to make it ahahaha The same is true for main of my old pro cdr releases.

What’s your most favourite release so far and what’s one…let’s call it, not that great release you wouldn’t release again (if there’s any)?

I have many favorites releases ahahah It’s going between the last PENDRAK, the 3way PULMONARY FIBROSIS / LARDON / MAGISTRAL FLATULENCES and the 4way ROGERxMOORE / FATAL NUCHAKU / THE MAD THRASHERS / KOKOBOYS.

I have 2 releases that I won’t release again, ETAT SECOND and RAP.ACE, the first one was a punk-rock bands of friend from Paris, they needed help to release their demo. It’s not really what I use to produce on my label, too soft ahaha And RAP.ACE was a side project of my old drummer Memel, a bizarre mixture of punkcore and electro-rap. This last one is more a “joke-release” ahahah

Can you describe your day-to-day operations of running the label to those who are interested to know what it’s like? What do you consider to be a biggest challenge (besides money, I guess)?

Ohhhh the biggest challenge is time if you’re working near the label. Everyday I have to prepare packs for orders or trades with other labels, making flyers and covers for bands, promoting stuffs on social medias. It can be very time consuming. And first years it can devour money fast as fuck, so I recommend do not bite off more than you can chew if you’re a beginner. But I still consider this more as a passion than “working”. I want to do more (rebirth of my webzine, making more music), but I only have 2 hands.

You also formed a sub-label, called Triangle Infernal Records. Why the need for a different sublabel and how is it different from your main label?

I began this sub-label because Inhuman Homicide records is easily labeled as a goregrind label, and I’m still more into old school grindcore and powerviolence. It’s easier to make releases’ promotions if your target line is clear. And I think some crust and powerviolence bands don’t want to be on a goregrind label hahaha, Things are not really more different between this 2 labels, but I think all pro-CDs will be released on Inhuman Homicide records. And I still have pure grindcore releases on Inhuman Homicide records, like PENDRAK, SUICIDEFORCE, YATTAI…

Judging from the news posted on your web and Facebook page, you’re pretty busy guy. So, tell us, what can we expect from IHR in this final part of 2019 and what do you prepare for a new year? Any surprises or branching into other stuff, like more merchandise, etc.?

I will have some new very cool releases, like LEO X GERARD / MUTILATED JUDGE split (shitcore from France vs gorenoise from Spain), ANAL GERIATRIC INFECTION / URGL / MUTILATED JUDGE (a pure cybergoregrind 3way split), the first full length of PYOGENIC (slam death from Austalia with a french singer), they’re will be also another 4 way split with goregrind bands from France and a split with DYPILIDIUM CANINUM/DEVOURINGORE. On Triangle Infernal records, the next releases will be the reedition of french powerviolence band KxIxSxS 1st demo and another reedition, MxAxMxA (a grindcore band from Russia). I have other projects to come, but I won’t say more ahahaha

The sad fact of life is, the international postage rates are getting unbearable, so, to help our non-European readers, the question – is anyone distributing your releases in other parts of the world, like USA or Asia? If so, can you recommend some good distros to check for your stuff?

I make many trades with other labels worldwide, you can find my stuffs in distros in Germany (Rotten Roll Rex, Splatter Zombie Records, Morbid Generation and Rebirth The Metal), in Japan (Amputated Vein records), Argentina (Grinder Cirujano), Brazil (Old Grindered Days), Spain (Base Record Production, Pathologically Explicit records), Portugal (Brutal Cave Productions), Sweden (Testicular Records), Italy (Maxima Tortura Records, Bunch Greenade records, Eyes Of The Dead Records) Canada (Outrageaous Defecation), Russia (Coyote Records) and I forgot so much ahahahaha

Coming to the end of this nice interview, any final words to our readers?

Thanks for support!!! Keep your local underground scene alive, you can contact me and visite my pages :
http://inhumanhomicide.free.fr/
https://www.facebook.com/inhumanhomicide/
https://inhumanhomicide.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/triangleinfernalrecords/ https://triangleinfernalrecords.bandcamp.com/

Rudolf Schütz

Kreatívny mozog skrývajúci sa za webmi Indokult.com a RubberAxeZine.com, horlivý connoisseur kultúrnych pokladov, s neochvejnou vášňou pre grindhouse filmografiu, filmové poklady z minulosti a ázijské filmy a hudbu.

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