Some people believe in following the market trend will lead to success, but think if everybody does it. Music as a progressive thing needs much more than that to grow. It’s good to see what the market want, but on the other side, we can’t close our eyes to the alternatives and something new in creativity that often come with great skills and amazing music. What I’m saying is, we do really need some source which dare to go against the market trends, so music will keep on having something new to offer.

Thank God we have MoonJune Records. Moonjune came in 2001 as the brainchild of Leonardo Pavkovic, the enterpreneurial producer, tour manager and promoter. MoonJune got its name from “The Moon in June” the Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt’s famous 1970 epic. MoonJune’s focus is to release internationally-situated music by atists exploring the expanding boundaries of genuine, challenging, non-over-produced music that can’t be categorized easily into any specific format. With 28 titles available in the catalogue right now, being reviewed worldwide in over 40 countries, and of course will keep growing bigger, we know that MoonJune is fully commited on the right path and at the same time essential for the music world, especially jazz in particular.

We got the chance to learn more about MoonJune Records directly from its brain, Leonardo Pavkovic through a very interesting interview. Let’s find out their philosophy, thoughts, plans and more.

To begin with, can you share with us the vision, philosophy and the goal of MoonJune Records?
MoonJune Records’ ongoing goal is to support music that transcends stylistic pigeon-holing, but operates within an evolutionary progressive musical continuum that places jazz at one end and rock at the other. The ever-expanding boundaries of these two musical categories have since come to include everything from progressive rock to ethno-jazz, from experimental avant-garde to jazz-rock, and anything in between.
MoonJune has a particular fondness for the so called “Canterbury scene”. The majority of MoonJune releases therefore reflect the spirit and the tradition of such artists as Soft Machine, Hatfield & The North, National Health etc. and are either directly related to that subgenre of progressive music via archival releases of Soft Machine and the recent releases of Soft Machine Legacy, Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean or Phil Miller, or the artists who have followed the legacy.

While many record releases are based on the demands of the majority market, MoonJune Records seems to focus on skills and highly complex jazz. How necessary are market trends in running MoonJune?
I do not follow any trend, not just in music but in anything. Following trends often, but not necessarily, means not being completely oneself. I follow my feelings and intuition. After listening to tens of thousands of albums in different genres for over 30 years, I have already established my taste and my intellectual and sentimental approach to music. The only trend I follow is my own. If I hear something that is new and I like it, it’s just because I like it, not because it’s new or trendy. Believe it or not, I don’t have much perception of current trends; I do not watch TV, do not listen to commercial radio stations, and do not read glossy magazines, so my musical taste is not polluted nor contaminated.
I could say that I am following parallel worlds in the niche of my various musical interests, which are global, with multiple micro niches, and I go beyond classifications or categorizations of music genres; maybe the music I release is sort of jazz, maybe not. It really doesn’t matter, and I do not go by the technical skills of musicians, but rather by their organic and sincere artistry.

What is the market’s response to MoonJune Record’s releases?
I deal with the niche quality music, and I do not worry about the market. I try to reach as many people I can with what I am doing, The mainstream market might not be friendly to what I do, but I’m not worried at all, for the simple reason that I do not follow any trend, whether music or market driven.

What’s MoonJune’s biggest achievement so far?
Despite the niche dimension of what I am doing, my name has spread globally. My label already has 28 titles in its catalogue and my CDs are reviewed worldwide in over 40 countries. Through what I do, I meet more and more people, such as you, for example. Also, I do not just run the label – that’s the minor part of my income and only enough to cover basic expenses, so it’s not really a profitable business.
My main activity is booking veteran musicians, legends of 70’s progressive rock and jazz-rock, some of whom I manage. I have toured worldwide with many of these musicians, and, for example, I have been to Japan a few dozen times. Working with artists like Allan Holdsworth, Soft Machine Legacy, Hugh Hopper, Jan Akkerman, PFM, New Trolls, Terry Bozzio and many others, is a privilege. For many years I used to collect their albums, and now, not only do I have the privilege of working with them, but have also cultivated their friendship.

You said that you’re always interested in discovering new bands that avoid the clichés of smooth jazz, and look for bands with a more challenging and adventurous style. Can you describe it more specifically? And, how challenging and adventurous should a band be if they want to be signed by MoonJune Records?
I love jazz and I consider myself a jazz lover and jazz collector and in a certain way, a jazz connoisseur, but there is jazz and there’s ‘jazz’. We all have our own perception of it, and the same goes for rock and other genres. Although I do not have any specific criteria when I sign an artist or group, I do have to like the music. I cannot tell a musician to create adventurous and challenging music if that musician doesn’t have the spiritual and intellectual capacity to do it. I like music that goes beyond clichés, prefabricated formulas and norms. Music comes first, then come the skills to express it. If an artist is the messenger of his intellectual and spiritual self, he should express it, whether in music or in other forms of arts, by following his soul and not any trend or fashion.
What is labeled as ’smooth’ or ’soft’ jazz is more than often pure cliché and there is very little jazz in all that. However, some, if not most, people like it. I do not. I also believe that smooth jazz gives a very wrong message to potential jazz fans about what jazz really is.

I have read that you are quite familiar with Indonesia and that it is one of your favorite countries, so I believe you follow jazz trends here as well. How do you see the progress of jazz here today?
I only know the jazz and the progressive music scene in Indonesia superficially. On one side I see many copycats and on the other I see amazing talents who just need the chance to express themselves and to do what they really want to do. I would like to know much more, and from now on I will invest time in discovering new artists and also rediscovering some older ones.
It’s true, I really like Indonesia and its ethnic diversity. The country is beautiful with great friendly people and fantastic food, and I am eager to know much more about your country and visit more and more places. Indonesia can be the next big music country in the world, in the same way as it was India when the Beatles and hippies discovered Ravi Shankar, as it was when Brazil was happening with bossanova, or Jamaica with reggae, Argentina with tango, Cuba with salsa, Nigeria with Afro-Beat, and so on. I do not see why the fourth most populous country in the world shouldn’t be the next big thing in music.
What mostly interests me in discovering new music in Indonesia is the fusing of elements of contemporary rock and jazz with indigenous music. That’s what I like in Indonesian bands such as simakDialog, Discus or Anane, each of whom have integrated Indonesia meets West elements in their own unique way.

What do you think is the weak point of jazz growth in Indonesia?
The country needs more festivals, more jazz programs on radio stations, more jazz education in music schools and in music departments of universities, more seminars with guest musicians from abroad, and more websites like Jazzuality or Warta Jazz – which should be bilingual, in English and Indonesian.

with simakDialog in Jakarta (missing Tohpati and Erlan Suwardana)

You produced the simakDialog album, Patahan, and also their new release Demi Masa. What do you think about simakDialog, and what’s new this time in this new released album? Riza Arshad, the leader of simakDialog is also your friend. How did you meet him, and in your opinion what’s special about him?
simakDialog is basically Riza Arshad. Tohpati and the other musicians who have played and still play in the band are very important components, but simakDialog is really Riza himself; the band is his creation and concept. Virtually all its compositions are his. I met him in 2000 when he came to the USA with Discus as their sound engineer. Before meeting him, for several months I corresponded with Discus’ guitarist and leader Iwan Hassan and I helped him get Discus a gig at the New York’s Knitting Factory. Riza is a simple and humble guy with a sophisticated creative mind, which I like, but he was too modest in the beginning. He gave me some of his music, which I liked, and I felt that he was fantastic keyboardist. A few years later when I was in Jakarta, we met and he handed me the band’s then new CD “Trance/Mission” and I loved it immediately. That was a brilliant album, far superior to anything simakDialog had done before.
A few years later, I was in Singapore with Allan Holdsworth and Riza came with other Indonesian friends, including Dewa Budjana, to see Allan performing live. Riza handed me his new CD “Patahan”, which I loved even more than the excellent Trance/Mission. When I went back to New York,  I was in the process of moving from one apartment to another and also moving to the new office and my copy of “Patahan” was lost. I asked Riza to send me another copy and then decided to release it and to try to promote this fantastic band, and not only in the USA.
I told him that when he was ready with the new album, for sure I would like to release it. He also gave me some video clips of the band playing live, and I simply fell in love with his band. Riza’s talent goes beyond his technical skills and masterful playing. He has the ability to fuse Indonesia’s percussive heritage with western style progressive electric jazz and rock. His use of the Fender Rhodes as a supplementary percussive element to the hypnotic kendang percussion of Endang Ramdan and Erlan Suwarlana, following the gamelan concept, is simply outstanding. “Demi Masa” is an album that will create a lot of buzz in the jazz and progressive music circuits.
This album represents a definitive departure from their Pat Metheny influenced sound to a more organic, personal and original concept. That’s how you can stand out in the music world, being truly individual. Riza Arshad is a brilliant musician and a great friend and I hope that our co-operation can give both of us a great deal of satisfaction.
I also have to mention Tohpati, an outstanding guitarist who is still to give his best. Soundwise he is now more on his own than any other Indonesian guitarist I’ve heard so far, and I would like to hear him soon with a solo album that caters to a totally different crowd from the one he normally caters to.

What is MoonJune Records focusing on right now?
Right now? I am focused on answering your difficult questions …. Hahahahaha…
You mean what are my next releases? My next ten releases will be 10 completely different projects, all of them are in that unclassified area that I feel more comfortable in, which is between jazz, rock, avantgarde and improv.
This Summer I will be producing an album featuring Michel Delville, The Wrong Object’s phenomenally talented guitarist from Belgium and my dear friend and pianist/keyboardist extraordinaire Alex Maguire, that also features an American drummer based in London, Tony Bianco. The band is called Doubt and their music will represent the legacy of some of our favorite musicians of all time, Joe Zawinul, Terje Rypdal and Tony Williams with a touch of the Doors. That’s the concept, but the music will be based on the musical philosophy of those genial artists, total intellectual freedom and a lot of energy.
My current release features Italian singer Boris Savoldelli in an album where he expresses his amazing vocal capacities in duo with Elliott Sharp, who is one of the most innovative guitar players and with John Zorn, the most representative figure of so called the Downtown New York Music Scene. To mention that Boris will be the guest vocalist on one tune on the above mentioned upcoming Doubt album.
This upcoming June I will produce a DVD of the Italian progressive fusion band D.F.A at their performance at the prestigious progressive rock festival here in the USA, NearFest. After that I will release as well a solo album by the veteran Italian keyboardist/composer/arranger Beppe Crovella, co-founder of Arti & Mestieri, an album made only with analog keyboards, which is his personal re-interpretation of the music of the legendary Mike Ratledge, founder and keyboardist of the seminal innovative progressive jazz band Soft Machine.
This summer I am also releasing the new album of Copernicus, the well known NewYork post-existential post-Sartre philosopher, sage and poet, accompanied by a large 15 piece improvisational ensemble.
Then I will be launching Slivovitz, an Italian jazz-rock band that is Zappa/Zorn influenced, and Moraine, an American dark-progressive-jazz-rock band from Seattle led by Dennis Rea in the vein of King Crimson.
And finally there’s a new album by Japanese avant singer/keyboardist Yumi Hara Cawkwell featuring English flute/sax player Geoff Leigh.
In the Fall, I will be releasing for the first time on CD the archival recordings of the above mentioned artist Copernicus.
Anyway, my major focus is to continue to book several bands and not only that I am working with schedules for this year, but also booking the whole first semester of 2010, with Allan Holdsworth as a main focus, since he is my busiest artist in terms of touring worldwide.

with the greatest guitar player in the Universe Allan Holdsworth (on the left) and his band featuring Jimmy Johnson (bass, in center) and Chad Wackerman (right, drums)

You have been listening to tens of thousands of albums in different genres for over 30 years, I think it will be interesting to know your favorite and essential jazz records so far. Would you share with us some of the most essential albums for you personally?
Sure. Here are 25 albums, favorite jazz records of mine, which I would consider essential. But this is strickly subjective:
SOFT MACHINE “Third” (1970)
MILES DAVIS “Kind Of Blue” (1959)
MILES DAVIS “In A Silent Way” (1969)
MILES DAVIS “Bitches Brew” (1970)
JAN GARBAREK/BOBO STENSON QUARTET “Witchi-Tai-To” (1973)
JOHN McLAUGHLIN “Extrapolation” (1969)
JOHN COLTRANE “A Love Supreme” (1964)
JOHN COLTRANE “Interstellar Space” (1967)
JOHN COLTRANE “My Favorite Things” (1960)
DAVE HOLLAND “Conference Of Birds” (1972)
CHICK COREA “Return To Forever” (1972)
KEITH JARRETT “My Song” (1978)
KEITH JARRETT “Belonging” (1974)
KEITH JARRETT “Facing You” (1971)
TERJE RYPDAL “Odyssey” (1975)
TERJE RYPDAL “Whenever I Seem To Be Far Away” (1974)
TERJE RYPDAL “What Comes After” (1973)
DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET “Take Five” (1959)
CHARLES MINGUS “Mingus Ah Um” (1959)
CHARLES MINGUS “The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady” (1962)
THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA “The Inner Mounting Flame” (1971)
ALLAN HOLDSWORTH “Metal Fatigue” (1985)
EBERHARD WEBER “The Colours Of Chloe” (1974)
JOHN ABERCROMBIE/RALPH TOWNER “Sargasso Sea” (1976)
EGBERTO GISMONTI “Sol Do Meio Dia” (1977)
And thousands of others….

Nice list, Leo! How do you see the selling of digital downloads? Does it give more benefits than the tradtional selling of CDs through stores?
Digital downloading business is good and profitable for mainstream music only, but I am very skeptical about digital sales for any form of non-mainstream and non-commercial music. In terms of income, there is no big benefit for now, but maybe it helps pay electricity and phone bills. At least the internet gives you listings of your digitally distributed products in thousands of digital outlets around the globe.

And speaking about online, how do you see online media like jazzuality.com? Do you think we can make a good contribution to the progress of jazz progress?
For sure. Internet media is very important as it can instantly reach potential readers worldwide. Websites like jazzuality.com are more than welcome, and it is a good idea to have an Indonesia jazz website in English, but I still believe you should also have your website in Bahasa for the benefit of Indonesian fans that do not speak English. I think you are already doing an excellent job and I wish you all the best and that you can grow organically and achieve all your goals.

Not many record labels dare to go bravely against the commercial trends, so I do think a recording company like MoonJune is making a huge contribution to the music world in general. I wish you all the best, Leo. Keep up the good work!
Terima kasih for the opportunity to have this interview with you and I hope to see you very soon in Indonesia.

To know more about MoonJune Records, log on to MoonJune’s official website

Interviewed by: Riandy Kurniawan

Special thanks to: Edria

Popularity: 39% [?]

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