A new generation of Industrial, Darkwave, Coldwave and EBM artists – take flight, as we start to build up our artist listfor 2023.Another welcome addition to the already existing list of labels that are provided here.
One of (6) internet radios that #WEATNU had during 2015 has just been born.
Having our 3rd sub-label set for Industrial and dark electro type genres, just seemed like the right timing. As the label continues to create more options for the listener, allowing in the known and unknown artist who poses “great talent.” Synthesis Noir promises to be something new.
While during the beginning of the movement of We are the New Underground, our roots were Industrial, IDM, Ambient, Dark ambient, and from that day forward the digital underground scene continues to morph and evolve and we release what is sent our way. One more label added to the landscape, one more option for the artist. These labels of #WEATNU help to target various scenes of the music landscape.
If you’re into classic Industrial, Electro, and EBM, then Synthesis Noir will be a place to keep an eye on. Our sub-label may include some goth-crossovers from Transmission Nova label as well. A newer audience will find this great music and the #WEATNU machine will continue to grow. Free to join, and great benefits allotted to the artist. Other genres may include Futurepop, witchhouse, and many sub-genres that come to us. If Transmission Nova is to guitar post-punk, then Synthesis Noir is to Coldwave and digital wires.
‘In a music scene that is nearly impossible to be heard, yet alone be noticed, #WEATNU has been fighting for experimental music since the summer of 2014. Starting by forming the group We the New Underground, on Soundcloud that summer, but that was just the beginning of an idea that became a movement and finally a label that artists could stand behind‘
In this world we have formed, the musician is appreciated, not underrated. It is a city all its own, a hub for artists who long to be found, found by anyone they can. The seeker who wishes for something more than top 40 finds it here. Along with the many artists who release to us, with other sub-labels connected, forming a network, a machine for the avant-garde, a world that is so well hidden, few know about it, yet alone care to seek it out, but it’s there, and it’s been building for these 8 years. That machine is a self-running creation, that is helping the indie artist.
In a digital realm that is vast, a small drop of water that is made creates quiet ripples across the digital ocean. The original logo becomes those quiet ripples moving across the music scene.
The mainstream is this imaginary wall that we all fighting. #WEATNU didn’t climb that wall, we tunneled under it, forming our own underground. Using the internet as that underground, an underground that long existed, before this movement was made, even before the internet itself was conceived.
The mainstream is this imaginary wall that we all fighting. #WEATNU didn’t climb that wall, we tunneled under it, forming our own underground. Using the internet as that underground, an underground that long existed, before this movement was made, even before the internet itself was conceived.
We are the New Underground –
The Underground scene
The underground has always been the hidden driving force behind the music. When mainstream was releasing Disco in the 70’s, people in their own world were creating punk and later Joy Division starting the post-punk movement. Then the 80’s, while New wave was jamming and pop radio was pushing synth-pop. Industrial began to surface with groups like Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, Skinny Puppy, NIN, Ministry and Severed Heads then from Belgium, EBM came forth, with Front242 andUK, Nitzer Ebb. When dance was huge, Richie Hawtin in a club in the Detroit scene was spinning techno, then later DnB, Jungle, Electronica in the UK, and Vaperwave, Lo-fi, Synthwave, Retrowave, Dream pop on the internet. And concluding, one scene building off another, connecting them somewhat with each other.
The experimental end of this spectrum began with early hits from Coldcut, Ninja Tune, WARP RecordsAphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher thus the IDM scene. Then trickling down to, Underworld, Boards of Canada, Tycho, Tosca, GusGus, and Röyksopp showing us the downtempo and chillout field of things. Each scene is born direct from the underground. A small niche of people find the music, and it drives straight to the heart of what they are longing to hear.
WEATNU encompasses all of these sub-genres in (4) labels.
A free existence to a musician is key to survival in a corp music world, and everything we do is free to the artist.
#WEATNU 2023
WEATNU Records
Housing all forms of electronic music, avant-garde, experimental and ever-evolving underground styles we are the bleeding edge of the DIY scene.
WEATNU Records – Founded 2014
IFMACA Productions
Our cinematic/chillout label and company for royalty free stock media, formed in 2021, and slowly rising to help composers who make film-related music, that you can listen to and enjoy.
IFMACA Productions – founded Summer 2021
Our library of composers continues to build
Transmission Nova
The post-punk/shoegaze of Transmission Nova, alongside goth and alt-rock of the 90’s.
Transmission Nova – Founded Nov 2021, launched 2022.
Synthesis Noir
And this year Synthesis Noir, our latest sub-label will house, EBM/Industrial, Darkwave, and Coldwave music.
Synthesis Noir – Founded 2023 (opens Summer)
Internet radio
WEATNU [OUR] Online Underground Radio, playing 24/7 on rotation all music that is uploaded to us. Freely send music to us.
WEATNU [OUR] playing the best of the underground, 24/7 Electronic, Avant-garde and beyond.
Alongside our sister station, Transmission Nova – WEATNU [OUR], which also plays Indie rock and shoegaze, goth, etc. Transmission Nova radio was the first before its label came years later.
Transmission Nova – WEATNU [OUR] 24/7 | Indie Rock/Post-punk/Shoegaze and Alternative. Internet radio: Playing the best of the Underground 24/7
Our movement hones in on “The Underground” of this modern era, where people are making music directly from their small bedrooms, tiny studio in their apt/flat. That obscure musician on YouTube you’ve never heard of, or the lonely talented musician that wants to be heard.
Along the way #WEATNU has formed Radio | Label | Magazine | and in 2023 formed its net-label to help the artist, who may not wish to sell their work, but instead be appreciated for it, under creative-commons licensing through archive.org.
#WEATNU – Net-label
WEATNU Records – net-label on archive.org – under creative-commons licensing. (opened 2023)
WEATNU continues to influence the indie scene
The image of #WEATNU – becomes invisible radio waves moving across the music scene, beyond web apps, beyond software barriers, and beyond the algorithm of social media, resisting restraint from the corp world. An idea is carried across the ocean, and around the world.
mind map of #WEATNU (c) 2023
Artists from different parts of the world
Artists from many places around the globe join us, we are a world-wide event. It started in the UK and spread to Australia, and now Russia where The Underground still thrives, thanks to the pioneers who keep it going; those early 80’s artists.
Artists and fans are given new options also in 2023, now that we have our network website.
Forum and social gathering
WEATNU Network – social network + forum, opened 2023
A free to join forum / social gathering for people to come together and share music, and to join #WEATNU, where one simply becomes part of the community, sharing each others music on the internet.
We are the New Underground seems to be influencing the music scene, in some way, by the people who hear the music we release to the internet. Those unknown musicians suddenly find a niche audience. There are micro communities across the world and have been for years, and WEATNU is here as the lighthouse for all to see from endless miles on that digital ocean we are traveling over.
Some artists who have come through our doors went on to become semi-famous, even successful and some were already this way before they arrived, only needing a boost for their self-esteem or finding a new audience, even enjoying the community we have here. For every person who can be helped here, they find their niche audience, and this continues to happen, due to the power of the internet.
What we offer is freedom to the artist and fans who alike wish to find music that isn’t mainstream, but has true, raw talent. Both the unknown and the known are welcome to join our movement. We need you all, now more than ever.
May we continue to grow in this hard music industry, but with your help, we will succeed.
To bring in The New Year with a bang #WEATNU has been preparing it’s latest 24/7 Internet stream, EchoStation. The next radio of our 5 portals will play dance-related Electronica. Covering a wide variety of club themes, such as dance, electro, techno, deephouse, dub, DnB, IDM, House, Electro House and more. Mixtapes are accepted including long sets. Already there has been an influx in more underground enthusiasts coming to #WEATNU due to this move. The music will be fantastic, taking in more of the unknown world of electronic music. Building up a new set of artists for 2016, some of which we hope will come to WEATNU Records. EchoStation will launch on New Years Eve and provide DJ’s and producers a means to be heard through the WEATNU movement. Below are the first to join with us, and just a taste of what’s to come! Some regulars such as WSM and ChibarRecords to name a few, and newcomers to WEATNU M-O-I, Paul2Paul and Luke Corbin.
#WEATNU began with one Internet radio, in 2014, WEATNU [OUR] but lately thought it best to expand to other stations, called portals. These portals each have music playing 24/7. Below they will be explained.
Portal #1WEATNU [OUR]: or WEATNU (main) playing Electronic, Avant-Garde and Beyond.
Portal #3 Abstract Alpha: This station plays abstract, electronic, IDM, experimental, Ambient, field recordings 24/7. The station comes from the show on WEATNU [OUR] (main)
It was a gloomy, post-Canada week Saturday night, when I was drifting in and out of easy chair consciousness, figuring out where to begin with the next slur of album reviews… I should probably mention to those whom do not reside up here in the north, that Canada Day was Wednesday, July first, and (being a Canadian) I was socially obligated to be a poetic mess for close to a week or so, and to ferment in the presence of recording devices… All this being said, I did not intend to write this review right now (honestly), but as a result of Twitter, I found myself listening to “For the Naked Mind!”, now glued to my desk while the outside obligations of my civilian consciousness are faded into a rhythmic nonsense, unaware of the passage of my Saturday evening into the ether and back for a subtle change in what was once my bio-rhythmic pattern of menial daily activities and once conceived notions of what was downtempo / ambient / progressive electronica.
The implication of glitching, set to a concise and cerebral choice of melodies and chromatics, using well-crafted and immaculately timed synthesizer anomalies has successfully convinced me to return from the fluid and transcendent experience that is “For The Naked Mind”, spreading word of what may very well be an electronic opus, brought into the Internet market place through an invigorating cellar discourse with abstraction that has in fact changed my patterns of thought enough to the point of attempting an explanation of a harmony of both an invigorating and calming aural imagery…
Here being the point in my article, where I do so humbly invite the Internet audience to visit #WEATNU and give a listen, such that I could quite easily say something remotely clever, or somewhat philosophical, but I cannot use words for that which cannot be described as other than being an open door to a train of thought that is without words and has been concocted by “For The Naked Mind”.
Norwich, Experimental artist Catnip and Claws brings to #WEATNU her latest single/EP Halcyon Days. Her music has been heard on BBC and featured in local magazines around the UK. She draws from artists such as Aphex Twin, creating a meld of IDM/DnB, in the tone of experimental electronic. This one is a free download for all.
#WEATNU has a great deal of appreciation for IDM artists, such as Belial Pelegrim. This month For The Naked Mind! comes to WEATNU RECORDS. Another fine example of the ‘hidden’ but talented artist. This debut album gives us a gift of old school IDM quality and organic type + abstract electronic. Track 2 is where the album really gets going. Wonky beats and atmospheric sounds create the backdrop into what FTNM! is allowing our ears to behold. Be sure to add this EP to your fine collection of #WEATNU artists. Only on WEATNU RECORDS.
‘When you combine the art of Picasso with Rembrandt and Salvador Dali then add some tertiary watercolors splashed onto a cloth canvas, you get art. In this regard Belial Pelegim’s music is colorful and full of life. He hails from the likes of IDM artists who are just breaking into the scene of the Electronic music world, and showing us something completely new. With a full array of styles in one painting, you get a in-depth and experimental music prodigy. We were pleased to hear what he had to say.’
Corbin: I would like to start by saying thank you so much for the opportunity to interview you. You have a very unique style of electronic music. How long have you been primarily focused on this style and what would you classify it as?
Belial: Thanks, very much, man. I’m always willing to talk about music. I appreciate that people have picked up on the fact that I make a concerted effort to maintain a specific sound to my music. I’ve been making music for a long time, both as band member in the past, and for the past 15 years, doing my own instrumental music. I’m a guitarist first and foremost, but I seem to use more keyboards and software, as well as doing my own sound designs. I use the guitar for triggering sounds as well as adding melodic elements at times. Over the last three years I have devoted a lot of time to making new music and reaching listeners who like their electronic music with a slightly unsettling quality to it. I’ve always just placed my work under the generic “electronic” category, but I do love a good back beat. I really don’t see my pieces as dance music…there are too many dark and experimental aspects for that I think…but I do find that percussion is something that work long and hard at. When done correctly, percussion, which can be in so many different forms, carries the listener through any given track.
Corbin: I can understand fully… A lot of my own music has been influenced by the logic of 80’s music that usually just has that monotonous yet unforgettable beat and carries the song from start to finish.You seem to come up with new material all the time. How do you create songs? What DAW do you use? Have you just primarily used this one DAW?
Belial: I make music, or at least work on music-related tasks on a daily basis, so I’m always pushing myself to create new works. Sometimes I put together just some bits and then save that for future songs. Other times, I decide I have the time and energy to create an entire piece. You know how it is, some days are more inspiring than others. Before starting something new, I sit there for a minute and kind of think back to my most recent songs and mentally scan through the BPMs and tonal qualities. This kind of gives me a point of reference so I can deliver something that isn’t too close in sound to anything else I’ve done recently. But also, I strive for having a “sound” that I never stray too far from. When you make instrumental music, it’s a difficult task to have a recognizable sound. However, I think groups like Ratatat and Boards of Canada do just that.
Over the years, I’ve used lots of different DAWs…Cubase, Pro Tools, Reason, Reaper…but these days I’m using Ableton exclusively. For the way I like to work, this software really does a good job. It really is a product that was made for electronic musicians and producers. I do all my sound designing in Reaktor. Some days I will only work on coming up with new sounds and patches. I like to compartmentalize all the stages of producing music…it helps me in working quickly.
Corbin: This seems very efficient logic, especially in churning out so much high quality electronic music that a lot of different people enjoy. I have been a big advocate of Reason for a number of years. How is the music scene in your home town? Are there any electronic artists that play live shows that are not EDM?
Belial: I have to laugh when you ask about the music scene where I live…there’s isn’t one. I’m actually from Los Angeles, but moved up to a very small agricultural town in Northern California with a population of about 5,000. I wanted to have some land and live in a more natural and quiet setting. All I can see from my windows are plum orchards. I lived in one of the world’s largest cities most of my life. I find living like this is much better for my personal creativity. That works for me, but not everybody. I know a lot of artists who thrive in the city. And if you are gigging a lot, my situation would present problems. In the early 2000s, I was in a band called One Good Meteor, which was the house band at Rugrats creator Gábor Csupó avant-garde club, Lumpy Gravy. It was an amazing time and I met a lot of talented people during that period. That experience would never have happened had I not lived where I did at the time.
When I want to see live music I usually go to San Francisco, which is about 3 hours south of me. If I was ever to play live, it would probably be there first. I don’t like crowds all that much, so when I do go see live shows, they are few and far between.
Corbin: So what would a live show from Belial entail and would we be expecting one in the foreseeable future?
Belial: I would only put the work into a live show if there was a true demand for one. I would basically pick a set of songs and have the original, un-flattened tracks at my disposal for creating new live versions. Things would be hooked up to trigger from the guitar as well as keyboards and laptops. And oh yes, it would be loud. I like the approach Lustmord takes to live performance, but of course on a smaller scale.
Corbin: I have started seeing that some of WEATNU’s artists are venturing out and adding vocals to their songs. Are you going to grace the mic in up and coming songs?
Belial: Interesting you should ask that question. My feeling is that vocals that fit the sound of the music and elevate a song, adding an incredible human condition to a piece. However, if not done properly, can kill a track. And I’m not talking necessarily about how trained the voice is, but how well the quality of tone fits that particular type of music. Case in point, Fujiya and Miyagi…that vocal style is amazingly perfect for their sound, but it’s not really what I would call singing per se. That said, I’m starting to collaborate with other artists who are very good singers. I’m slated to work on a remix with Adryelle. I also have been thinking of doing some songs where I add some vocals of my own.
Corbin: Excellent!! Also looking forward to the remix with Adryelle, if it wasn’t for her and Odd Common, I may have never ventured to see if something like WEATNU existed. I too come from a guitar background and played in bands. What caused you to decide to become a solo electronic artist?
Belial: I love to collaborate with other artists. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a vacuum in just working by myself, so it’s really a lot of fun to create with others all around the globe. WEATNU is a great portal for high-quality underground music and I just see it opening up all sorts of new avenues for making great music available to those who seek it.
I’ve found that over the years I’ve become adapted to working alone for most of the time. It allows for total control over the end product, but can also lead to re-covering ground that you’ve already traversed if you aren’t careful. The thing is I’m really used to being the only person involved in my music. I think I compensate for that by having very strict quality control standards when it comes to what I publish for others to hear. I can remember working on pieces for a long periods of time and right before uploading, dumping them. Completely. I find being hard on yourself helps in the sense that there is no other set of ears listening to the material before release.
<iframe style=”border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;” src=”https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3155006020/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/” width=”300″ height=”150″ seamless=””>Still Life With Black Clock by Belial Pelegrim</iframe>
Corbin: This is so true… I am my own best and worse critic and I listen to each song at least 50 times before even considering its first public appearance. I like your reference to WEATNU as a portal. How do you see yourself in the next months, years, and beyond in reference to the “movement” of which we are part of. Would you consider becoming more involved with its inner workings as I have?
Belial: The music business has had a paradigm shift which has made it possible for independent and underground acts to reach audiences in new and exciting ways. The ideal is always to try to reach people who might dig your work, and through sites like WEATNU, the foundation has been set for doing just that. I would always consider becoming more involved with WEATNU because there’s nothing quite like it out there and I believe in bringing good work forth. There is a LOT of electronic music out there, especially now. The most difficult task reaching the right people at the right time with the right sound.
Corbin: Yes, the good old days of PR for money are coming to an end as every aspect of purchasing music is going digital. Do you think that it has leveled the playing field enough for WEATNU to compete and subsequently allow you fair exposure in the industry market? I notice you retweet some of the events, posts, and updates that WEATNU sends, while others do not. Do you find our promotion to be effective in your endeavors?
Belial: It’s a very strange thing, indeed. It really depends on what you’re attempting to achieve as a musical artist these days. I don’t actively go on the road and promote my music, so my expectations are based on that assumption. For myself, I’m just into expressing myself through music and hoping for it to reach people who like their music unusual and dark. It’s good to dream, but you also have to be realistic about the odds. The reason I promote some of the WEATNU materials through social media is that I believe in the talent on the roster. There is some very unique and important music on this label and I do what I can to help push the revolution forward. I’m in the marketing industry by trade as a graphic designer. I understand that promotion and packaging play significant roles in establishing an artist. The bottom line always comes down to making good music.
Corbin: That is a great point!! You also have great music and the graphic design background I can see helps to draw people in I might add. Your pictures used in songs and albums is something that I believe really makes you stand out. I often wonder what each artists job is by day and what their goals are for their music. If you had one song or album in particular that sums up Belial Pelegrim, your life and your music career, what would it be and why?
Belial: Thanks Roofy! I feel that music and a visual representation of the music…like in the old days, when a great album cover was all part of the package…is very important. I’ve always try to paint a surreal sonic landscape with my work, in the vein of what Magritte or Dali were attempting to accomplish with paint and canvas.
It’s rather difficult to pick one one song that sums up what I’m about musically, but I’m going to throw out Premonition. It’s a good balance of attention to shadowy detail and electronic music. Controlled chaos with a groove.
Belial Pelegrim ‘Still Life With Black Clock’ is a masterpiece of experimental IDM. Forming both intelligent and complex all in one. Jazz-fusion, Avant-garde, with Autechre-like structuring, EBM beat-related elements and more. All this week at just 3 dollars. Get this work or art at this price while you can, to go back to original price Sun 12am.
<iframe style=”border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;” src=”https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3155006020/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/” width=”300″ height=”150″ seamless=””>Still Life With Black Clock by Belial Pelegrim</iframe>
