Our series, “We are the night” presents artists, promoters, production managers, label owners and others who are bringing the music world of the Czech Republic forward, from the past to the present and the present to the future. This week, we profile Prague-based electronic label Moving Pictures…
How can a label emerge and thrive in today’s music scene? Where does the idea come from, and how can this musical structure be seen, followed, and supported? Based in Prague, Moving Pictures has answered these questions. They present curated artists and good vibes, despite being part of a new era of consumption, where streaming platforms dominate and algorithms dictate what we hear.
I sat down to discuss these questions with the co-founders of the label, Yunis Safarov (aka Täino), graphic designer and art director, and Roman Horinek (aka Roman Rai), audio engineer and sound curator.
BD: where do you come from ? And when are your based now ?
Y: I come from Baku, Azerbaijan. I was born shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union in western Siberia. For the past 13+ years I have been based in Prague.
R: I’m originally from Prague. I lived in Kladno for about 10 years, starting at 17, where I began playing music. Later, I moved back to Prague.
BD: What was your earliest memory involving music?
Y: I have this vivid memory from my childhood (being 3-4 years old), where I am standing in the living room of our Baku flat, in front of our old TV. It is late afternoon, the sun is shining into our windows through the branches of tall acacia trees and casting dancing shadows onto our wooden floors. My mom used to put MTV on quite often, and I have this memory of two songs being broadcast there: Michael Jackson – Earth Song, and 2pac – Changes. These are probably the two songs I remember the earliest in my life. I remember being captivated not only by the sound but also by the artistic direction and visual style of those music videos.
R: As a child, I fell in love with a tape called Pal Mal. About a year later, I discovered it was actually a compilation of Beatles tracks. Since then, I’ve been in love with music in general.
BD: Do you have any musical education?
Y: Not at all. I went for acoustic guitar lessons in my early teenage years – but only for 2 years, and we learnt how to play guitar without learning musical theory, so all that knowledge “aired out” pretty quickly.
R: My musical education is entirely self-taught.
BD: When and how did you start to approach electronic music?
Y: In late 2015, early 2016, I was introduced to the local underground scene. I used to frequent venues and promoters like Bukanyr, Roxy, Polygon, Nite Vibes and Komiks.
R: When I moved to Kladno at 17, I started DJing on turntables and buying records. After about a year of practice, I sent a demo tape to the legendary Club 19, and that’s when my journey in electronic music truly began.
BD: How was the label born?
Y: Moving Pictures was founded in 2018, after me and Roman Rai met in Prague. I was going for music production lessons with him, and from the very start me and Roman clicked really well. We share the same artistic values as well as views on sound and electronic music. So after some discussions we decided to start the label together. Our cooperation has been working really well for the past 6+ years. We divide all label tasks and work asynchronously when we don’t have time to meet.
BD: What music do you promote on your label, and how do you select artists?
Y: We try to avoid genre labeling on our imprint. We also try not to be too influenced by current trends, as they tend to pass, whereas good music stays. On our label we’ve released techno, house, ambient, electronica, even hip-hop instrumentals, so we are very open minded when it comes to that. We both share the same appreciation for subtle, melancholic and meaningful sounds, so for us that is of higher importance that the genre tag on Beatport. If you listen deeply to our back catalogue you will understand our sound direction.
R: Our music needs to be soulful. Genres don’t matter to us; what’s important is having an emotional element subtly woven into the vibe. We hope to keep refining our sound over time, creating a musical ‘moving picture’ that will continue to evolve.
BD: What are the main difficulties creating a label? What obstacles have you encountered and how did you solve them?
Y: Of course such a thing as running a record label requires a considerable amount of time and financing. In the beginning, those were the main difficulties. Also, two years after we kicked off our label, the Covid epidemic hit, so it was even more challenging. But with every release we are more familiar with processes and we solidify our workflow, so with time it is getting better and better. It is all about communication and mutual understanding, as well as building positive relationships with our business partners and audiences. We have built a good recognition and portfolio on the international scene, so our focus is currently on growing there further.
R: I think it ultimately comes down to the time we have for it.
BD: How do you see the label industry in the Czech Republic?
Y: Compared to 2018, there are definitely more labels active in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately however, a lot of labels and artists are under-represented locally and in the club scene. Most of the scene is heavily run and influenced by party promoters and not artists, which makes it not a true reflection of a current music scene in CZ. There are some nice label meets and community events though.
R: To be honest, I don’t see a lot of support from our scene for local labels overall. There are definitely some great initiatives, like the Lunchmeat Label Fair and a few others, but I think we could do a lot better at supporting our own projects here. Anyway, there are a few really interesting labels out there that definitely deserve more attention
BD: How do you see the club industry in the Czech Republic?
Y: Due to the rudimentary and small size of the Czech underground and club scene, unfortunately it is heavily influenced by trends from abroad. The local club scene is always looking outward to places like Berlin, instead of looking inward and building something truly original. That I see as a long-term challenge in the local scene. A lot of labels and music artists in the Czech republic are under-represented in the local club scene. Also I see a gap in terms of venues in Prague and other cities. For example in Prague there are quite a few commercial clubs and a few alternative clubs – but almost nothing in-between. This creates a huge gap.
R: With Moving Pictures, we enjoy smaller, cozy venues. We loved Wildt, which unfortunately no longer exists, but we also host label parties on the legendary Bukanyr boat. In the future, we’re planning even bigger events. There are plenty of new clubs in Prague, and the scene feels fresher than it has in years.
BD: What do you make of the way people consume music nowadays, mainly through platforms? How do you think it will evolve in the future?
Y: Sadly, musical consumption nowadays – not only in CZ but worldwide – is dictated by an algorithm. Whether it is Instagram, Spotify or TikTok, independent artists struggle to put their original content and voice out there. To be heard nowadays you need to be paying a considerable amount of money to companies like Meta, or be a slave of algorithms and trends, which often takes off the attention from the music itself and the creative process behind it. This shows us that people do not actively seek and discover music as they used to a few decades ago – they allow themselves to be fed by the algorithm, and their musical tastes to be shaped by it. In these terms, the future seems quite bleak.
R: We definitely believe in vinyl. A physical release has staying power for the future, and vinyl is the best format for it.
BD: Could you name three songs to share with our readers?
Y:
- Dorisburg – Midi Trail
- Adam Stromstedt – Carid
- Alex Burkat – Waistline (Dean Grenier Remix)
R:
- TR900 – Clucck [MOVPICVA005]
- Thrown – Between Two Flames (Aerial Remix) [Moving Pictures]
You can find out more about Moving Pictures on their website, as well as on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Instagram, Facebook, and Spotify.
