hurrengoa
moonpalace records    The writer Paul Auster titled one of his books Moon Palace. The band Luna called one of their songs the same. Juanra Prado didn’t really have a choice when it came to naming his peculiar record label when he set it up 11 years ago. How and why did you set up this rather special record
label?
I had a web-fanzine and I wanted to do something special to
celebrate its first anniversary. I asked some bands I liked to
give me a few songs so that I could kinda throw together an
iffy compilation, but I quickly saw that I should do something
a little, well, more worked out, so I got the conventional 1,000
cd copies pressed… the usual. I couldn’t stop after that but I
didn’t really wanna do it professionally (thank god I didn’t) and
I choose the craftsmanship route. I made up numbered editions
at home. This enabled me to release records without having to
pay out lots of money.
How many records do you release? How many do you sell?
I normally do 100 copies and while the format is basically the
same, there are always differences. I’m always on the lookout
for different materials to make the records with. I don’t always
sell the 100 copies. I press a 100 and I could sell them all really
quickly while others have been available for years and they
have barely sold 50 copies.
Your editions are very carefully elaborated and always
come across visually as very organic… the word is that
if you want to sell records nowadays the records need to
have that something especially attractive about them…
but we certainly don’t get the impression that you are in
this for the money...
That’s it alright. I mean, I myself as a buyer add value to the
format and attractiveness of the record. Right now, vinyl is
selling quite well and I understand this type of nostalgia, the
thing is I have never been a fan of vinyl. I think you can do
some really great stuff with cds. And of course I’m not in it for
the sales. If that were the case, I’d be working for a traditional
record company. Moonpalace is a hobby. It would be great if
the artists I release records for became hugely successful and
could make a living from their music. I know my size and I could
never sell many records. Each record I do takes a lot of time
and it would just be impossible.
Cardboard, paper, rubber stamps, ink, at this stage after
so many years, Moonpalace is an aesthetic style in itself...
Yep, I think so. While there are differences in each one, there is
a binding style, cardboard, stamps… and I’d like to think there’s
also a common sonic aesthetic as well, maybe I’m wrong, but
I do think that the person who likes a record we release will
like the other records we have done as well. But that is very,
very subjective, I only release records I really love and, well,
it’s difficult to measure other people’s likes.
As you have already mentioned yourself, there seems to be
a certain style musically speaking. A melancholic organic
music to be more precise and it seems to be closely tied
into your design for the records. You release records by
artists and musicians most of us have never heard of…
Yeah, as far as the artists are concerned, while there are some
who were already known when we released their records
(Anthony Reynolds and Ursula for example), the majority are
new and unknown. And as regards the musical style, there
is definitely a common ground, yeah, melancholic, slow… a
touch of folk, but I’m slowly opening up to other styles such
as those on the Francis Alun Bell or Old Amica records.They
are not that far from the type of sound we’ve showcased so
far but they are a moving in another direction. But there is a
common bond to what we do musically, and while there may
be differences, all of the records on Moonpalace are heading
down the same street, sort of.
How do you get to know the artists and convince them
to release their records on Moonpalace
With a lot of loooovvee and affection! When I come across an
artist that I like, I find out whether they are already on another
label or not. Then I write to them telling them that I have a
small record label, how I work and I ask them to have a listen
to the compilation of artists I have on bandcamp. I ask them to
take a look at some photographs and previous editions… and
after that, well, whatever will be, will be. And to be honest,
the response is positive most times when I think about it, and
I end up releasing their songs. But I have a strict filter. I listen
to a lot of stuff but I only get in touch with the artist when I
am 100% certain. I release about 3 records a year so I don’t
really have to chase that many people down.