Label Feature: Stroom 〰

If you tune in to Ziggy Devriendt’s aka Nosedrip show on NTS, sounds from all decades and all corners of the globe quickly seduce you. New wave, psychedelic, minimal synth, post-punk – his selections are often catchy, occasionally romantic and long for a world where each day, each minute is a new experience enlarging the beauty of life.

For some time now Nosedrip has been part of Belgium’s mushrooming leftfield music scene. He was one of the man behind the hard-to-pigeonhole label Surf Kill, as well as co-manager of Stroom.tv – a now defunct web platform specializing in oddball music, nostalgic video ephemera and provocative digital aesthetics which were created by visual designer Nana. When the site was launched, Devriendt was still cutting his teeth at the iconic Ghent-based record store Music Mania – the perfect place for any devoted vinyl collector. It was also here where his label, STROOM 〰, came into being, launching in 2016 with the soundtrack Jan Zonder Vrees by the Belgian composer Alain Pierre.

Since then, Nosedrip has released 1980s minimal, new wave and Synth-wave by Belgian producer Alain Neffe, melancholic wave pop by Jan Van Den Broeke, long forgotten tropical trance tracks by Dutch act Cybe, avant-ambient Synth-pop by the mysterious Latvian collective NSRD, and mellifluous pop postcards by the Japanese girl Sonoko. Additionally, he’s been keeping himself busy with DJ sets that spread his tempting, dark grooves around Europe.

For Carhartt WIP Radio he has prepared a mix that features his favourite tracks from STROOM 〰 plus unreleased material. His show is accompanied by a series of images that his partner Nana exclusively crafted for this musical voyage on Carhartt WIP Radio.

If you have to describe the sound of STROOM 〰 to somebody who never heard of it, what would you say?

Nosedrip: Emotional / Off / Unconventional / Pure / Hopeful / Amateur / De-contextualised.

What do you want to accomplish with the music you release?

Nosedrip: To tell a story and highlight something that has been in the shadows for too long... To show that themes and ideas have been around way longer than we might have thought.

What exciting stuff do you have in the pipeline for 2018?

Nosedrip: Two compilations by some of my favourite Belgian projects, one of them Pablo's Eye. We’ll continue the Latvian story and release more music from country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. Two records by new artists, one of them Jason Kolàr. A kind of repress plus extras of Lhasa: The Attic, and Logo: Businessman. Plus more tba!

How important are the non-musical components of your releases, like packaging and album art?

Nosedrip: Massively important! Especially the artwork. People these days who buy records are super focussed on how it looks. I would love to focus more on packaging and quality but I also strongly believe in keeping the price low so people can still buy them. Records are expensive enough already these days.

How important is the Internet for what you do business-wise as well as musically?

Nosedrip: 80% of the stuff happens through the Internet... Research, promo, contacts.

What’s the most surreal moment you’ve ever had during a search for old music?

Nosedrip: Waking up on a beautiful Thursday morning, asking my mom to drive me to a certain address I found on the back of a certain 7inch. Arriving in a nursing home, waiting in a refectory with my mom and girlfriend, where retirees were imitating cowboy moves as a kind of fitness, to eventually meet with the man who made DJ Bert & Eagle's: I Am Your Master who now owns the nursing home.

What is your opinion about the explosion in unearthing lost music in the past years? Will there be an end to it and everything's revealed with no more holy grails to look for?

Nosedrip: I like it and it's in our culture to do so. The sound and focus is constantly changing and that's what makes it so interesting and inexhaustible. "Holy grails" are, and always will be, all over the place – you just need to look for it and some people always will.. Idealistically there should be a bit more focus on "new music," but I also think "new music" should watch and learn about how the industry is changing and learn from it, story-wise, not copying the music. The success of a lot of this unearthed music now is the romantic truth and context it was made in.

How do you keep your work fresh and continue to evolve?

Nosedrip: I'm very very critical about everything that I and the people that surround me are doing.

How did you select the tracks for your Carhartt WIP Radio show?

Nosedrip: Basically a combination of some of my favourite tracks that have came out or will come out in the future.

In your opinion, what makes the perfect DJ?

Nosedrip: Someone who is knowledgeable about some music or a certain niche and who can put it in the right place, be that a club, a radio show or the moment your mother in law comes over for dinner..

What's your favourite record label?

Nosedrip: Lullabies For Insomniacs!

What is the biggest influence on your work beside music?

Nosedrip: Flanders.

What’s something you’ve learned through music that has helped you in life (and vice versa)?

Nosedrip: Context means everything – for everything, anytime, always.

How do you spend your time on public transport - with music, a book or Internet?

Nosedrip: Music in combination with Internet... 80% of the selections for radio shows and the label is done on public transport.

STROOM 〰 discography