GleAM Records: an espresso with Angelo Mastronardi
Image Credits: Angelo Mastronardi © Angelo Mastronardi
June 23, 2020
An interview with Angelo Mastronardi, founder of GleAM records.
Angelo Mastronardi is a stunning pianist who, among many other activities, founded the GleAM Records label this year. We interviewed him.
In the digital music and streaming model era what is the logic (or the madness!) of opening a record label?
Pursuing a dream: to give visibility to artistic research productions in a market where the logic is constantly changing.
I believe that the effort to understand this logic in depth not only represents a way to keep the music market alive but it also allows you to accompany the artists in this process of transformation in a conscious way.
I believe that the effort to understand this logic in depth not only represents a way to keep the music market alive but it also allows you to accompany the artists in this process of transformation in a conscious way.
In jazz, unfortunately, attachment to physical support resists but on the other hand there is a certain diffidence or shyness towards the publishing and recording process that leads to a lack of interest in everything that isn’t the artistic process in the strict sense.
I believe that artists must take care of their music but they also have to remember they are professionals. In this sense, today, not only are communication skills essential but so are those regarding the editorial and legal aspects of their work.
What are your artistic and financial goals?
From the artistic point of view I decided to limit the work to two editorial lines: the first is a contemporary jazz line in which cross-over productions are oriented to experimentation in the language of jazz in a broader sense. The other is a modern post-bop line. From the financial point of view, the idea is to make this dream live in a realistic way by understanding what is best to do in terms of project promotion.
Unlike what I have seen and experienced around as a musician, I know that printing and selling copies to artists cannot and should not be a priority. We have decided to focus on a few productions every year and to follow the promotion for a longer period of time than usual. The label must take risks and understand, together with the artists, how it’s best to promote the records by exploiting all the possibilities of the digital market, from streaming to sync licenses.
How do you choose the artists you produce?
As I said before, I try to stick to two editorial lines because I don’t believe in doing a little bit of everything. Obviously, it happens to be struck by a musical personality or by the internal coherence of a project and perhaps even if it’s slightly “outside” the main objectives, you can consider producing it.
As I said before, I try to stick to two editorial lines because I don’t believe in doing a little bit of everything. Obviously, it happens to be struck by a musical personality or by the internal coherence of a project and perhaps even if it’s slightly “outside” the main objectives, you can consider producing it.
There are many technically gifted projects and musicians, but, in my opinion, too often too little attention is given to the concept, there is too little variety in projects with a good basic idea, or too much variety in projects without an idea that connects everything together.
In the age of social networks, is promoting an album easier or has it become more complicated?
It’s probably more complicated to find new ways to express yourself and your music through social networks and to get out of anonymity. The inability of listeners to deepen the knowledge of an artist has grown and even to listen to more than thirty seconds of consecutive music has become difficult.
It’s probably more complicated to find new ways to express yourself and your music through social networks and to get out of anonymity. The inability of listeners to deepen the knowledge of an artist has grown and even to listen to more than thirty seconds of consecutive music has become difficult.
Despite my communication studies and despite my practice in several press offices after graduating, I have always looked at social networks with laziness and distrust. In recent years I have decided to use them actively and ethically as an artist and this is what I try to do also with the label and with our press office.
What are the next releases of 2020?
Given the Covid emergency, we managed to plan two releases starting from September 2020. The first will be a modern jazz record recorded in quintet with some guests, a sort of collective formed by Apulian artists with whom I am pursuing ideas also as an arranger and pianist. The second production will be a piano trio album born from the collaboration of pianist Nicola Andrioli with drummer Alex Semprevivo.
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GleAM Records: an espresso with Angelo Mastronardi copyright Jazzespresso 2020.
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Jazzespresso è una rivista, un sito web, una rete che connette le anime del jazz di tutto il mondo. America, Europa, Asia, Australia e Africa: notizie da tutto l'orbe terracqueo in una pagina tradotta in cinque lingue. Un punto di riferimento multiculturale in inglese, cinese, spagnolo e italiano per gli amanti di questa musica in tutti i paesi del mondo. Per gli amatori o i professionisti che vogliono essere aggiornati su quello che sta succedendo in tutto il pianeta... rimani sintonizzato!