Dais Records was started in 2007 by record collectors Ryan Martin and Gibby Miller with the specific mission of releasing and distributing ‘lost’ recordings, while promoting new and underexposed artists. The first Dais record, a collection of unreleased Genesis P’orridge tapes from 1968, would set the tone of the Dais project overall: raw, extreme and occult. Despite releasing obscure tape music and noise recordings, its ethos as a label echoes the intentions of an imprint like Folkways, collecting and disseminating sound to broaden the understanding of a social field. With an array of archival quality limited editions repeatedly selling out, and Dais band Cold Cave now signed to Matador, their strategy for getting obscure music heard seems to be working.

I thought it was interesting that in your mission statement you mention ethnomusicologists Alan Lomax and Harry Smith.  Do you see noise and tape music as types of folk art even though they originated in academic and avant-garde experiments?

Ryan: Folk art is typically defined as the art of the common people, the roots of culture.  Noise/experimental/tape music is by far the most organic and primitive extension of culture, one of the last vestiges of DIY music, operating solely outside of the mainstream and surviving on common people with a shared interest in that form of subculture, just as punk has for the past three decades.  This is our folk music.

The music they collected became archives with real historical value; do you see all fans as historians?

Ryan: I don’t really see fans as historians per se, I just see them as I see myself as a fan of music and underground culture. Plenty of historians and academics are hard at work archiving, collecting and writing about what everyone is up to. But without fans, there would be nothing coming out hence nothing to document. Nor would there be any sort of cultural response for others to document.

Gibby: If I look at myself as a collector of music and someone that appreciates underground culture and art, I can’t ignore that I am also aware of the history that exists there:  the roots, influences, and artists that brought us to where we are now. While that doesn’t necessarily make me a historian, my enjoyment of a piece of music or a work of art is always amplified by understanding the players or artists involved, the stories, the moments, and the history behind it.

As a label we strive to uncover and re-release old, out of print, or never before heard music with rich histories – music that may not have otherwise seen the light of day, or that has fallen into obscurity. We also release new music that we feel follows a similar trajectory to that older/archival material, or runs in the same vein… So the history and influence is there, even in the newer music.  Understanding that history and those influences will enrich your experience and appreciation.

How did the release of Coum Transmissions/Early Genesis P’orridge recordings develop? How did you track down the unreleased recordings?

Ryan: I was working with Genesis for many years doing archival work and alongside various other projects, which was before I started officially managing Genesis. Amongst the dusty archives (which filled an entire floor of a building) were boxes upon boxes of old cassette tapes and reel to reels of tons of unheard COUM Transmissions recordings and various other field recordings, etc…  With the help of Aaron Dilloway I was able to have these tapes transferred and digitally cleaned up due to deterioration and age. I am still in the process of cataloguing hundreds of hours of unheard COUM Transmissions recordings and editing through them to assemble proper records. It is quite a daunting task but incredible nonetheless.

Gibby: Our first release was Thee Early Worm LP… and it was the prospect of releasing such a renowned piece of history that inspired us to start up the label, along with the idea of working with some new musicians with a shared appreciation of similar sounds. We really didn’t know what to expect or how it would be received, but the response was so overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic that it simply made sense to continue working with Genesis on uncovering more of the archives’ musical treasures… We have a lot planned…

As well as being audio recordings DAIS releases seem intentionally conceived as beautiful objects. Is there unifying aesthetic that you and the artists share?

Gibby: We love records… and we often tell each other how exciting it is to be able to create records that we want to own. We are making these objects for ourselves and the artists as much as we are for the great people that support the label, and so we approach each release uniquely and with time and care.  We have a shared appreciation for labels that generally had/have good design, and draw inspiration from them. The fact that we have so much in common with the artists that we bring into the Dais family also means that we work well together, and the end product is evidence of that.

Ryan: We keep being asked about our aesthetic, which we do intentionally but almost approach it in a unconscious sense, nothing is forced nor do we forcibly try to mold any sort of aesthetic. It is really hard to explain, but just seems to make sense to us. The people who pick up these records seem to get it as well.  There is this invisible thread that I can’t really put into words that string together all these releases in a common manner, but I’m puzzled as to how to explain it literally.

If the aesthetic isn’t conscious or intentional, where does it come from?

Ryan: From the objects themselves, we allow the records to speak for themselves… We are simply the curators presenting these recordings in a particular fashion for people to take from them what they may, but the “meat and marrow” of the subject is in the recordings and hard work of the artists.

How does promoting new artists fit in with the mission of releasing lost, obscure recordings?

Gibby: We tend to work with new artists that have an understanding, appreciation, and shared “invisible thread” with the earlier/older recordings and the art and culture that they represent.   We are extremely excited about our new/currently recording Dais artists like Awen, Cult of Youth, WATB, Tor Lundvall, Cold Cave, and Twin Stumps, as well as our soon to be released new artists Frank Alpine and Bestial Mouths. We find them to be perfect “new” representations of music that we love and feel passionate about.  We feel extremely lucky to be able to get to know these artists, and to release music created by people we admire so much.

Ryan: Well, we never were solely just about reissuing old obscure recordings.  Our first release was an archival masterpiece but we went straight into a brand new side-project for a second release. I think it has been primarily new groups with the exception of the archival recordings of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.  In the near future we have a bit more obscure and diverse reissues planned by Maurizio Bianchi, Deviation Social, Annabelle’s Garden and of course more COUM Transmissions recordings.  But we never stray away from mixing it up with groups/ projects.

Ryan Martin performs in York Factory Complaint, runs the tape label, Period Tapes, and currently manages Genesis P’Orridge.

Gibby Miller is vocalist for minimal duo Louderbach, the hardcore band Panic and will be releasing music under his own name on Period Tapes this year.

An article by Matthew Higgs on Throbbing Gristle.