Comport Records is a label that’s constantly been releasing good stuff this year. We caught up with label boss Anett Kulcsar to find out what’s been driving the label’s momentum.
Hi Anett, for those who are not aware can you give us some background about you and what you did before you launched Comport Records?
Anett Kulcsar: I was born in Budapest and my love for electronic music probably started with my first big concert which was Kraftwerk and the first acid parties, which later on turned into psychedelic ones. I wanted to buy a pair of decks & vinyl to be able to DJ with my friends but after I realised it would take me about 10 years to get there I came up with a plan B and decided to spare some money abroad. Ended up in the Netherlands as a baby sitter and actually wanted to move to London, but I fell in love – which is the reason I’m still here.
After I moved, it was a question of time and I finally got my decks. So I started to play at all kinds of underground parties and clubs here in Holland.
After I spared enough money together I gave up my full-time job and studied Media Technology at the College of Utrecht. My artist name ‘DANSOR’ was born during my graduation project in human-computer interaction – from the words ‘dance’ and ‘sensor’. I did a series of short performances by controlling the music by movements mostly with sensors but back then no one really understood it – except of some nerds I guess. I was controlling loops with this system but I was wondering if I could actually produce complete tracks and so I started to work on that. After years of practise I had no idea where to release my music, and that’s actually the reason Comport got launched.
Where does the label name come from?
Anett Kulcsar: I found it quite difficult to find a name that wasn’t already being used, but eventually I found this cool, techy sounding word in an English-Dutch dictionary ‘comport’ meaning ‘to agree on something’. The funny thing is that all the native speaking English people I’ve asked until now, never ever heard of this word actually.
Would you say Comport Records has a distinct sound?
Anett Kulcsar: From live, indie electronica to house & techno, our releases are following a broad musical spectrum. However all the music we release have some elements that are common I think: we love deep, dark, futuristic, spacey and unique vibes.
You joined forces with Sincopat and Constant Circles (which are all labels we like) to host your ADE showcase at ADE. How well do you know Just Her and AFFKT?
Anett Kulcsar: I’ve known Claire for a few years now and we already planned to do a showcase together last ADE which unfortunately didn’t happen back then but finally it did happen this year. Marc joined later on with Sincopat – I knew him via Mike Ravelli & Mattia Pompeo already as they were all doing great remixes of my album tracks.
We’ve hosted quite a few events during the years, in our hometown Haarlem and other places in Amsterdam – like Stalker, Patronaat, SugarFactory and Paradiso. We’ve also organised the live album launch for ‘Theory of Love’ and invited a well-known Hungarian band Zagar I’ve recently finished a remix for.
You released an album for ADE – were these all new tracks?
Anett Kulcsar: Indeed ‘Forget Me Not Amsterdam ’17’. No, our ‘Forget Me Not …’ compilation series are always retrospective ones.
What are the biggest challenges that you currently face in the industry as a label owner?
Anett Kulcsar: Probably the same challenges like everyone – how to find time, earn money with music and grow as a label but without loosing our own sound & vision.
Is there anything in the industry that you really think needs to change?
Anett Kulcsar: Music has to get back its value. The awareness about how much time & energy it costs to produce those great tunes people love & enjoy on a daily basis on Youtube, or on their free or – if you ask me – way too low priced Spotify account.
The whole industry basically missed out on the digital shift and so the artists (and labels) are now not getting properly payed for their work. Not every producer is a performer, so we can’t solve this simply by putting non-performers out there to perform just to be able to earn money on gigs.
What advice would you give anyone looking to get signed on your label and which address should people Email?
Anett Kulcsar: Stay true to yourself and be not so formulaic. We are asking people to send their music via private soundcloud links to demos@comportrecords.com
What’s been Comport Records’ biggest achievement or what’s the thing you’re most proud of
Anett Kulcsar: Besides our ADE label showcases, our first ‘fashion’ collection via RedBubble, our first album & music video ‘Theory Of Love’, having Ibiza Global TV, BBC 6, John Digweed, and DJ Mag supporting it, and having wicked remixes by the ones of Thomas Gandey, Natural Flow, Animal & Me, Just Her, Andrea Ljekaj, Onur Ozman, Anis Hachemi. Also our latest compilation ‘Forget Me Not Amsterdam ’17′ got also really nice support & feedback from the ones of Stereo MC’s, Claptone, Joseph Capriati, Aki Bergen & Richter, Robert Owens – just to name a few.
Now that your label is starting to become more recognized and trusted, are your goals for the label starting to change? And what does the future hold for releases?
Anett Kulcsar: Yes, besides scheduling our future releases, I’m also busy to expand our label so my passion for other art forms, design, technology and fashion besides music can get a place within Comport. We’ll bundle forces with other artists so Comport will be transformed to be more than just a label. We are looking forward to launching our new interdisciplinary concept soon, so stay tuned via our social media.
We’ve premiered your new release earlier this week, which is out today on Beatport.
Anett Kulcsar: Yes! Atlant told me a funny story about this actually. They were looking for synth sound for the track and took coffee break after ages of searching. When they got back their cat was walking on the keyboard and pressed a key. And that’s how the voice of Orion appeared!
https://soundcloud.com/changeunder/atlant-orion-original-mix-comport-records
Anett Kulcsar Photo by Bibi Veth, Visual Storyteller
Follow Comport Records
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/comportrecords
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/comport-records
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/comportrecords/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comportrecords/
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/label/comport-records/17696
Traxsource: https://www.traxsource.com/label/11515/comport-records
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/comportrecords
Web: http://www.comportrecords.com/
