Interview with Afanc Music Label Manager

We spoke with Afanc Music Label Manager and member of Electronic music duo Roughion ahead of thier upcoming release of Mr Phormula Remixs titled Twins.

Check out their music here:

Here's how our interview went:

Can you tell us about your label?

I started Afanc in 2019 with the hope of bringing electronic musicians together to build a community in Wales. This was partly due to music on the radio in Wales being saturated by indie and guitar music and there wasn’t enough emphasis on electronic music in all of its forms. Afanc is a label that doesn’t discriminate and is open to any type of electronic music. You could submit an indie track if you were in a band but you just have to have an electronic element similar to an artist we’re working with at the moment called Ci Gofod or Hap a Damwain. You could also release with us if you were making everything electronically such as Roughion, Sachasom or were a singer like Dead Method. We want anything electronic and with my background I try and get it into the hands of the right people and getting it remixed by other artists on the label that are still on brand. I also run an agency and management services with the label so I can help you build a career or help you grow as an artist before you go to another label. I advise on branding, marketing, trends, help with development and help with mental health stuff too, so it’s not just a means to release music with a label and I think that umbrella is something you lose if you just get music released on a label. It keeps the artists on the label and helps them grow and move on with a bit more knowledge in the industry.

What releases have you got planned for the near future?

With Afanc I’m extremely excited to have done a remix album for Mr Phormula. I’ve known Ed for almost 15 years and in that time I’ve evolved and always had a goal to work with him. This remix album is a body of work that I’m extremely proud of and I’m over the moon with the people that jumped at the chance straight away! We’ve got remixes from some of the best newcomers in Wales. Clü is a dnb artist from Cardiff who has had releases on Incurzion Audio. Bitch Boy has worked with numerous bands for 10 years and makes his own hip hop remixes and they all bang. Sachasom is really interesting artist and a breath of fresh air to the scene. Martyn Kinnear is a prolific dubstep and baseline producer with a big following on Lengoland, Ryan M Hughes normally does dnb but went a house music way for his remix and has a show on Môn FM which is one of the main places to find new electronic music, nothing is older than 3 months. Theno is incredible, using guitar pedals and cool instruments to make really hard dubstep. Each remix is so different and diverse that the whole album is a whirlwind of genres and an absolute joy to release on the label.

We’re also curating an EP of various artists and all of the songs on that are originals from Stiff Jeff’s - Hot For You reminiscent of 80s electro and the break movement. Ci Gofod’s - Araf Araf Araf is getting re mastered especially for the EP, we have a new and exciting artist A487 with an instrumental vaporwave track that sounds like Christine and the Queens and we also have a wonderfully emotional artist Saudade Nights with his haunting voice and vocoded chords. That’s a really special EP too out in March.

With Afanc we’re just trying to showcase all aspects of electronic music and really push the boat out with what makes you think of WELSH music.

How did the journey with music start?

My personal journey with music started when I was young doing musical theatre and drama in school then moving to being an events promoter in Aberystwyth. During a gig where a DJ didn’t turn up I started DJing as I had to jump on and play. I played tunes I wanted to hear, it went down well and the rest is history. I started making music with Steffan as Roughion a few years later and now we’re inseparable, making anything and everything and learning from him I’ve moved to make my own stuff too.

What inspires you most?

This is going to sound cheesy but everything does, I could be playing Skyrim and someone would say something and if it had a rhythm in it I’d jot it down. I find that talking to other producers really helps. Luckily when Steff and myself get in the studio we inspire each other, we have those chats about what we wanna do but most of the time we’ll jump on the PlayStation, play some tunes in the background and then we’ll collectively go, yeah safe we’re ready.

What is your favourite song to perform?

This year’s been tough, for obvious reasons but when I dj I love playing loads of our unreleased stuff, and stuff that I get sent as Afanc as no one else has that and it’s from a welsh producer, that’s always fun. My favourite song to perform live in a proper synths and drum machines set is probably Newport Road, it’s a new one we’ve been working on and it’s the last one in our set, there’s a bass in it that cuts through everything else that’s on then silence and just that sound. Really sets the mood, you can catch that in our live set for The Deep || Y Dwfn for Independent Venue Week, the set is on our Roughion page and went live on the 29th of Jan.

What do you like doing in your spare time?

I like playing Skyrim, I’m an orc and as Charlie said in always sunny “if you’re doing good in the game you’re doing good in life”, and right now I live for that quote (until gigs come back).

How long does it usually take you to write your songs?

It really depends on how we make it to begin with. If it’s sample based it gets done that first session, if it’s a remix, depending on how much we’re vibing off the original anything from 2 hours to couple days. Original songs are hard, I’m not a songwriter, so I tend to just have a few words and get someone to say them or we change the language, luckily we know a few people that can speak various languages so we always gravitate towards something like that.

How would you describe the music that you typically create?

As we make so much multi genre stuff its difficult to place it. But we’re really into Acid House and Breaks at the moment so everything has a 303 in it and an amen break, even the slow ones.

What is one message you would give to your fans?

I really don’t think we have fans, from the 1300 likes on the Facebook page for Roughion I can safely say there’s only about 100 I don’t actually know. We tend to play at gigs then go to the crowd to enjoy everyone else and when it’s been a dj set I’ve always been right at the heart of the action so I can say I’ve met everyone that likes our music. We tend to just play tunes and chill out after we live for the atmosphere and you never know who’ll be watching so my top tip is to go get a drink or go to the smoking area straight after your set, get to know the people there, get their emails and keep in touch.

What plans have you got for 2021?

Roughion have one release a month throughout 2021. We were really busy last year. I’m also a mentor for National Youth Arts Wales for their project Music Futures so I’m busy helping the next generation of producers. This remix album is what I hope to be the start of something great for the electronic scene in Wales, if someone out of touch with the electronic scene in Wales is making an album and wants remixes we can be the people they contact, we can tie that artist with someone else ‘on brand’ and really push what’s possible! I also have a lot of live sets planned as streams listening parties a new documentary series about electronic music and a few guestmixes I’m working on, if you don’t know the name Roughion o’r Afanc by the end of the year I need to work harder in 2022.

Check Roughion's latest release here:

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