Dan Stiles Blog

Ethan Diamond and his company Bandcamp are launching a new (un)label called BCWax. Both he and I share the same views on cultural artifacts and quality production. Please click over to the Bandcamp blog and read his eloquent introduction to his new project as well as the release of their first LP, designed by yours truly. While I work with bands and labels all the time the approach Ethan is taking is unique and refreshing, and his thoughts are well worth reading.

Merch as Artifact: Introducing BCWax

The artifact is really what attracted me to design in the first place. Music pulled me in, but once I was inside the world of the underground music scene I became enamored with all the bizarre and amazing things being produced in the DIY world of punk. Before the internet you had to search long and hard to find cool stuff, or if you got lucky you might stumble across something random. I found an Alien Sex Fiend ‘zine on the sidewalk outside Schoolkid’s records in 1984, I still have it. I spent a small fortune of teenage dollars on an  out of print vinyl copy of the Misfits Walk Among Us. Previous to that I had a 8th generation cassette version that played too fast. I had friends send money to the UK for people there to ship them Doc Martins. Now, with the advent of the internet we can get all those things with a simple click, but we don’t even need the physical objects. The music can be downloaded, the ‘zines perused online. But in that we lose the value of the artifact. That cool piece of something that you enjoy holding, that was made far away, by someone who so badly wanted it made that they most likely figured out how to do it themselves. As it traveled from them to you it might have passed through a dozen other peoples hands.

As I look around at the proliferation of screen printed posters, the indie craft scene, the resurgence of vinyl records. I wonder if we are on the cusp of a backlash against the digital age. Much like the Arts and Crafts movement was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. The urge to create and use handmade objects stretches back to our pre-human ancestors. Perhaps, in spite of their ease and slickness computers will never erase the human need to use our hands and share the fruits of our labor with others.

Here are some shots of the first 12 inch LP release on BCWax for Sophie Madeleine. Limited edition of 500 and printed on heavy weight stock. The package includes a screen printed poster, a die cut sleeve and red vinyl.

You can pick it up here

and check out BCWax