Interview: Bill Kouligas
interview-bill-kouligas
October 25, 2012
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# Interview: Bill Kouligas
The Greek** Bill Kouligas** lives in Berlin where he moved to from
London three years ago. From there he runs **PAN**, one of the most
exciting labels for experimental & electronic music of the moment.
We met up with him in a café in Cracow's beautiful old Jewish
quarter *Kazimierz*. PAN and artists like **Helm**, **Ben Vida,
NHK'Koyxen, Lee Gamble, Bass
Clef**, **Heatsick** and **Kouligas** himself were a focus of the tenth
edition of the city's [**Unsound Festival**][1].
**Do you make a living with your label?** **How many copies do your
releases sell?**
The label is quite young and still entirely independent, so i need to
reinvest a large part of it into more projects, events and releases. I
play a lot of shows and do a lot of design work on the side. The number
of copies varies with each release. Some records sell more and faster
than others; some take a bit longer depending on the nature of the
music, or on how current the project is.
**Quite often reviews of Pan releases focus on the amazing sleeves that
you design.**
I think the overall package is important when it comes to releasing
music. It's necessary to appreciate the musical content, but I tend to
put just as much emphasis on the visual aspect of it. The artwork
relates to the context of the record and vice versa. I see all the
releases coming together through this.
**Is designing a record sleeve for your own label liberating when you
compare it to other commercial design work you may do?**
I was talking with a friends who runs a label, and he mentioned how he
always wanted to start a label from a young age. He designed sleeves for
imaginary bands, dreamt up track listings and so on. Being active as a
musician I've never really felt there was a need for another label.
There are all already enough great labels out there representing all
kinds of music. At some point though when myself and co-designer Kathryn
Politis had some creative ideas and made some artwork, I realized a
label would be a good platform to combine both musical and graphic
interests. I put a lot of friends together who were all making music
that I liked and wanted to document, as well as other musicians and
artists whose work I found exciting and relevant to what PAN was on
about. That's basically how the label started and continues.
**How did you get into experimental music in the first place? You must
have liked Madonna and Pet Shop Boys when you were a kid.**
I love Pet Shop Boys, their album >>Introspective<< was the second
album I ever bought. I still think it's great, amazing songwriting,
great production. But in general I grew up with Post-Punk, New Wave and
Hardcore music, which my friends from school and I listened to from a
very young age. I played drums in numerous bands growing up in Athens,
and when you interact with other musicians you get to hear a lot of
different music. In the late nineties I started making experimental
noise music myself, but also at the time there was a rising scene, very
creative and active, which made that kind of music sort of popular
around 2004-2005. You had bands like Sunn O))), Wolf Eyes, Black Dice,
crossing over into popular music and there was a growing interest in the
underground. I started touring extensively, set up tours in Europe,
collaborated with loads of other musicians and released tapes, limited
vinyl and CD-Rs under the name Family Battle Snake.
**Do you still go back to Athens on a regular basis?**
Not as often as I would like, maybe once a year to visit family and
friends.
**What kind of stories do you hear from your family and friends in
Greece at the moment?**
The situation is quite bleak. Unemployment is rising, people are
stressed. It's hard for me to visit because I can't really help. It
feels like I'm coming from another planet.
**Where does the label name come from?**
It's a Greek word and it actually means a lot of things. I would like
to keep the reason of its use personal.
[1]: http://unsound.pl/en
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<div>
<p>The Greek<strong> Bill Kouligas</strong> lives in Berlin where he moved to from London three years ago. From there he runs <strong>PAN</strong>, one of the most exciting labels for experimental & electronic music of the moment. We met up with him in a café in Cracow’s beautiful old Jewish quarter <em>Kazimierz</em>. PAN and artists like <strong>Helm</strong>, <strong>Ben Vida, NHK’Koyxen, Lee Gamble, Bass Clef</strong>, <strong>Heatsick</strong> and <strong>Kouligas</strong> himself were a focus of the tenth edition of the city’s <a href="http://unsound.pl/en"><strong>Unsound Festival</strong></a>.</p>
<p><strong>Do you make a living with your label?</strong> <strong>How many copies do your releases sell?</strong><br>
The label is quite young and still entirely independent, so i need to reinvest a large part of it into more projects, events and releases. I play a lot of shows and do a lot of design work on the side. The number of copies varies with each release. Some records sell more and faster than others; some take a bit longer depending on the nature of the music, or on how current the project is.</p>
<p><strong>Quite often reviews of Pan releases focus on the amazing sleeves that you design.</strong><br>
I think the overall package is important when it comes to releasing music. It’s necessary to appreciate the musical content, but I tend to put just as much emphasis on the visual aspect of it. The artwork relates to the context of the record and vice versa. I see all the releases coming together through this.</p>
<p><strong>Is designing a record sleeve for your own label liberating when you compare it to other commercial design work you may do?</strong><br>
I was talking with a friends who runs a label, and he mentioned how he always wanted to start a label from a young age. He designed sleeves for imaginary bands, dreamt up track listings and so on. Being active as a musician I’ve never really felt there was a need for another label. There are all already enough great labels out there representing all kinds of music. At some point though when myself and co-designer Kathryn Politis had some creative ideas and made some artwork, I realized a label would be a good platform to combine both musical and graphic interests. I put a lot of friends together who were all making music that I liked and wanted to document, as well as other musicians and artists whose work I found exciting and relevant to what PAN was on about. That’s basically how the label started and continues.</p>
<p><strong>How did you get into experimental music in the first place? You must have liked Madonna and Pet Shop Boys when you were a kid.</strong><br>
I love Pet Shop Boys, their album »Introspective« was the second album I ever bought. I still think it’s great, amazing songwriting, great production. But in general I grew up with Post-Punk, New Wave and Hardcore music, which my friends from school and I listened to from a very young age. I played drums in numerous bands growing up in Athens, and when you interact with other musicians you get to hear a lot of different music. In the late nineties I started making experimental noise music myself, but also at the time there was a rising scene, very creative and active, which made that kind of music sort of popular around 2004-2005. You had bands like Sunn O))), Wolf Eyes, Black Dice, crossing over into popular music and there was a growing interest in the underground. I started touring extensively, set up tours in Europe, collaborated with loads of other musicians and released tapes, limited vinyl and CD-Rs under the name Family Battle Snake.</p>
<p><strong>Do you still go back to Athens on a regular basis?</strong><br>
Not as often as I would like, maybe once a year to visit family and friends.</p>
<p><strong>What kind of stories do you hear from your family and friends in Greece at the moment?</strong><br>
The situation is quite bleak. Unemployment is rising, people are stressed. It’s hard for me to visit because I can’t really help. It feels like I’m coming from another planet.</p>
<p><strong>Where does the label name come from?</strong><br>
It’s a Greek word and it actually means a lot of things. I would like to keep the reason of its use personal.</p>
</div>
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Chunk #1 (Position: 0)
# Interview: Bill Kouligas The Greek** Bill Kouligas** lives in Berlin where he moved to from London three years ago. From there he runs **PAN**, one of the most exciting labels for experimental & electronic music of the moment. We met up with him in a café in Cracow's beautif...
Chunk #2 (Position: 1)
The artwork relates to the context of the record and vice versa. I see all the releases coming together through this. **Is designing a record sleeve for your own label liberating when you compare it to other commercial design work you may do?** I was talking with a friends who runs a label, an...
Chunk #3 (Position: 2)
I put a lot of friends together who were all making music that I liked and wanted to document, as well as other musicians and artists whose work I found exciting and relevant to what PAN was on about. That's basically how the label started and continues. **How did you get into experimental music ...
Chunk #4 (Position: 3)
I started touring extensively, set up tours in Europe, collaborated with loads of other musicians and released tapes, limited vinyl and CD-Rs under the name Family Battle Snake. **Do you still go back to Athens on a regular basis?** Not as often as I would like, maybe once a year to visit fami...