Industry Profile
Interview with Michael Maines of Arkain Records
Words: Crystal Farina

As a secret haven for sound experimentation, Arkain Records has been an underground establishment of Gainesville since 2002. It runs as any small record label does by constantly working to motivate its artists and focusing away from profits. Recently, the studio made its full catalog available for free downloads, thus, it remains open for the pristine value of discovering new music.
 
REAX: Why did you take the next step to offer your music for free?
Michael Maines: It was becoming more and more like a business in terms of feeling frustrated that no one is going to hear the music unless they buy the records, and no one is really going to buy records unless they hear the music. The purpose of the label comes from an artist playing around. It’s like an art gallery: They’ll show you part of the art, but you don’t have to buy the art to see the rest of it. It’s kind of a similar analogy in that we don’t give them the best quality: It’s not a WAV file, it’s an MP3, and they can see it in the context of the record. I get very let down by the records that only have one good song. There’s definitely an art form of putting a record together.

REAX: Do 100 of artists’ sales go back to them?
MM: 100 of proceeds go back to the label and promoting them or covering the cost of recording.

REAX: Do you search to record a specific type of music?
MM: Most of the time it’s music that I enjoy or people I can get along with. There isn’t anyone who is unknown on the label to me. There are one or two people, but those are the ones who are harder to keep motivated. I do more of that than I do anything. You wouldn’t think that it’d be hard, especially when things are made so easy. The majority of record labels don’t have studio access in the way that we do.

REAX: When did your solo project, ASPE, begin?
MM: The project has been going on since I was 16. My background evolved out of being a jazz and classical trumpet player; it comes from a more avant-garde sound. It’s the throw-away project for things that don’t fit. The newer stuff is fitting more within a mold of things-- it’s the mood I’ve been in the past few years.

REAX: And you’re also involved with other groups on the label.
MM: Yes, Monolith is a trio jazz project. I’ve known the drummer (Brian McLaughlin) since middle school, and he’s since moved to Berkeley. He usually comes down once a year to do a record.

REAX: What made you decide to start promoting extensive artwork with Arkain?
MM: I like to do a lot of it myself, and I don’t really separate visual art from aural art. It’s very hard to get people to get their music out if they don’t really have the ability to travel a lot. It is the only way for people outside of Gainesville to hear the music and get some type of visual representation of the artists and facilitate it in that manner.

REAX: Do you expect to make a profit in the future?
MM: At this point my day job as an electrical engineer supports everything. It doesn’t cost us anything to make the music, and there’s no reason to charge for it. We believe in the fact that people actually enjoy the records and want to have better quality. Hopefully they’ll buy a record or send us an e-mail and tell us they appreciate it.
 
For streaming, downloads, store, and visual art gallery, please visit: www.arkainrecords.com.