MORBIT EXILE.
Leave the rough edges in.
Georg of MORBIT EXILE on creative freedom, lasting collaborations and the moment a compilation found its way to FM4.
In conversation with Georg · MORBIT EXILE
Discovering new music and building something distinctive together with artists: that is where Georg finds the joy in MORBIT EXILE. This conversation with the Viennese DIY label explores productions with personality, trust in collaboration and B-sides that deserve a place of their own.
MORBIT EXILE’s label radio show on res.radio offers an introduction to its musical taste. Georg also explains how the compilation Morbit Exile 102 led to an unexpected invitation to FM4. Five questions about life at the label, answered by Georg by email, lightly edited and translated from German.
Staying independent.
You describe MORBIT EXILE as a DIY label. What did you want to take into your own hands when you started? Is there a task you had to learn back then that you now really enjoy?
For us, DIY means staying independent and doing things the way we imagine them, without unnecessary complications. What we enjoy most is the creative work: discovering new music and building something distinctive together with artists. That is exactly what MORBIT EXILE is about: authentic music, creative freedom and as few restrictions as possible.
Personality before trends.
If you had to choose one release from your catalogue that gives a good introduction to your taste, which would it be, and what convinced you about the music?
It’s hard to single out one release that represents our taste. Our label radio show on res.radio offers a good insight, though. It airs every two months and is available afterwards on SoundCloud. Alongside a variety of mixes, we regularly feature label-only mixes with released music and sometimes unreleased tracks too. It gives you a good sense of what interests us musically and shows that we’re less concerned with one particular sound than with distinctive music with character.
Tracks do not have to be polished to be convincing.
Trust grows over time.
DYAMUR and CZEKNOLOGY have both released music with you several times. How does the collaboration change when you keep releasing music together? How is your involvement as a label different from the first release?
When you work together over a longer period, you develop a feel for one another. It becomes less about coordinating every step and more about understanding the shared direction and letting the music find its own way. We do not want to impose anything on the artists. We want to support their vision and provide a platform for their music. Trust and artistic freedom are crucial.
A place for the B-side.
Morbit Exile Raw Cuts brings together different artists. How did you select the tracks and put them together as one release?
When selecting the tracks, it was important to us that they sounded raw and direct. It is also about artists’ side projects and B-sides that may not be central to their main projects, but have a character of their own for precisely that reason. Tracks do not have to be polished to be convincing.
Beyond your own circle.
What happens after a release is out? Has an encounter or a response from the Viennese scene led to something new for you or one of your artists?
Releasing our compilation Morbit Exile 102 was a special experience for us. Patrick Pulsinger happened to come across it and subsequently invited us for an interview on FM4. Of course, we were delighted: it showed that our work was being noticed beyond our own circle. The interview is still available on SoundCloud, by the way. For us, it was a special moment in the history of MORBIT EXILE.
MORBIT EXILE
Interview by email · Editorial and image art direction: SCENE:ID. MORBIT EXILE (Logo) · Aufbereitet von SCENE:ID