The name Subwax comes from “Sub”, which means the sub culture of the electronic music scene, and “wax” because of vinyl. Subwax are the two words combined. We moved here mainly because the city we had the shop in, Malmö, was getting a bit small, so we wanted to be in a bigger city. And also the weather is a big problem in my country…

It has been more like a natural process. I have had a record store for more than ten years, and I wanted to grow and take a further step, so that’s how we started the label. And, when you have a record shop, you always meet a lot of artists, so you turn into the ideal person to release music and contribute to the music scene.

Subwax comes from Detroit and Chicago music... From the roots of electronic music in fact. But we are very open-minded. We like and we release all kinds of music if we consider it is good music, no matter if it’s techno, ambient or minimal techno. If it’s good music, it’s good music, and this is all that matters.

Sure, mainly the old 90s labels that don’t exist anymore. Detroit labels like Transmat or Metroplex, for example.

Well, I think that its social value is effectively growing. It feels like every year the electronic music scene is getting more and more people. And you can also see that there’re really young people who are starting to buy vinyl. They are boys and girls who were born in the digital era, but they’ve started to collect records, keeping in touch with analogue elements of electronic music. And that’s nice.

I think it is mainly culture what influences. Actually, I don’t think that Barcelona has reached an identity. It is a city based on a more commercial style. Then, there is definitely more room for an underground scene, but the problem here is the police. When you throw an illegal party, they come and confiscate the speakers and so on... And it is a bit of a closed and limited situation. If you want to make a party you have to go to the nightclubs which already exist – and they want you to pay a lot of money without caring much about the music.

Exactly, it is really hard in here. If you compare it to my hometown in Sweden, there you can just rent a place and organize a party. Like an illegal party, but you don’t have any problems with the police or nothing, and it’s healthier for the music scene. And the same happens in Berlin too, you can do parties everywhere. But even in a bar in Barcelona you are not allowed to put record players, you always need many permissions, and at the end it sadly feels a bit corrupted and too restricted.

Sure. I get new demos every week and always listen to everybody, although sometimes it gets longer for some demos to be checked. But definitely I always find something interesting that I didn’t know, or some new artist who has later become one of the label’s artists.

I think it is love for the format, definitely. Every day, every week, more and more people, especially that younger digital generation, want to start their own label, up to the point that all the pressing plants are full at the moment, so the wait to press a record gets longer every time. And it means a boom, not only a temporary trend. It is the sign that the scene is very healthy. And I think that it will only get bigger and bigger.

Well... Yes, it’s true. To be a label owner is more about passion than about business, for sure, at least at the beginning. And of course there are some people who can make it and live off making music and records, but it is very hard. So, without a doubt, it is passion before business. You have to see it that way.

Of the distribution, for the moment. That’s where we put most of the energy right now.

Mmmm... No, not really. We keep following the principle of being professional and fair to everybody, giving them the same service, no matter if you are a big and known artist or a new one who tries to be known.

It has been really good, actually better than we had hoped when we started the distribution. We have been growing faster than what we had expected at the beginning, and I don’t remember any problems throughout these years. So I think it has turned in an unexpectedly positive process.

On our own label we have a 12” with Julian Perez, which is a 2 track dub techno vinyl. And after that we have an album, which was released in the late 90s by an artist called Fluxion; that will be a re-issue. It’s going to be two 12”, one double album, one double CD and in digital format as well.

I think it should be the same that I said before. It should be seen more as a passion than a business, because if what you want is to make money, this is the wrong business. You have to feel the real love for music, that’s the tip.