slept on the floor

Matt is awesome! One of the best dudes i know

1- where are you from?

I am one of the few people you’ll meet who was born AND raised in downtown Toronto. Specifically I’m from the Annex area, which is also my favourite neighbourhood in the city.

2- what do you do in the label?

In summation: everything! A really important part of starting AMF was that I wanted to push myself and see how far I could take a solo venture and turn it into something positive and communal feeling. I get some help from pals here or there for stuff like watching the door at shows, and my far more artistic pals have been kind enough to help me make logos and such, but for the most part, AMF has been / will be me, myself and I.

3- what are your upcoming projects?

I just completed a split 7” for Mighty Atom and Total Trash, and my upcoming projects include a tape release of the first few releases by Ravachol from the UK, which I’m pretty excited about. I will be doing that with Thanos Records, an awesome new label starting up from Montreal. I also just announced a split 7” for Calgary’s Brain Fever and Montreal’s the Discord of a Forgotten Sketch, which I’m really stoked for. There are lots of murmurs going around as well, but I don’t want to say anything that isn’t concrete yet, so I’ll hold my excitement for the moment.

In terms of other projects, I’m constantly looking at new alternative spaces for shows, meeting like minded people, enjoying what makes the DIY / post-punk / whatever scene so special. I also hope to finally get my first zine done in the near future.

4- tell us something that we don’t know but should know about your label.

I am actually only following the esoteric orders I found in an ancient family book on being punx that I inherited from my great-grandfather Wilhelm…That, and I’m actually just an underemployed nerd with a Literature degree and a lot of love for what I do.

5- what bands do you like these days? what have you listened to today?

Lately I’ve been into the newest Title Fight record, Beau Navire’s demo and ‘Life Moves’, the new Bronzed Chorus ep, the latest Kidcrash record and as I write this am checking out the new Owen cd. I also just got the new Pianos Become the Teeth, but I’m not sure how stoked I am on it…

6- do you have friends in bands or who run labels/zines that we should know about?

 Absolutely! My pal Torrie runs NCJT records here in Toronto as well. Thanos just sprung up in Montreal, where Desorde Ordonnes is also located. Some pals out west run Ghosts & Demons and Pint Sized (both of which I’ve worked with recently). My pal Darren also runs Dog Knights in the UK. Other labels I’ve worked with include Forever Escaping Boredom, BEAR Records, L’Oeil du Tigre (who unfortunately are packing it in). In terms of zines, my pals Cam and Andy (from Mighty Atom) do the Albany Academy and Flip Out! I’m not as up on zines, but I would recommend anyone from Toronto who is should check out the Toronto Zine Library at the Tranzac.

7- why are you in a label and what do you want to accomplish in said label?

I started it with the simple intent to encourage more of the music I wanted to see in my local community. As things have grown and changed, I now find myself in the middle of a culture of wonderful, positive and creative people from all over the world. I’ve made friends and worked with people from not only all over Canada, but the US the UK and soon Europe as well. I get really inspired seeing how labels do some incredible stuff with limited resources, which has also encouraged me to become as self-reliant as possible and take pride in my own work / releases. Also being 3 years in, I’ve started to see how adding humanity to the traditional concept of a music scene can completely shock and inspire people in ways I haven’t seen in a very long time. I calmly state with my shows that I want the atmosphere to be fun, friendly but also respectful, and I feel that has encouraged a lot of people to connect and speak who under normal circumstances I don’t think would have.

8- how did you decide upon your label’s name?

The phrase came from a poem I wrote in a class several years ago. As an English nerd, I enjoyed the sound the combination of words made, contextually, it comes from the idea of seeing a precipice or peak from a distance and thinking ‘okay, there’s my goal, now let’s get to it.’  Which I felt was a perfect metaphor for the lack of what I was hoping to see in Toronto. Also, as an intense fan of hyperbole have always just had an appreciation for mountains and the idea of them being their own sovereign and noble place in the world. I actually have a tattoo of one dead centre of my chest which I got before I ever really thought of starting the label…Which I guess makes me look overly dedicated haha.

9- when was the last time you slept on a floor?

In September I crashed with some awesome people at a house in Manchester, UK when travelling with my partner, and then a week later did a short tour with the Reptilian and Jowls from Michigan and had a super awkward floor sleep in Montreal because our friend’s friend got too wasted to go home and took the only couch  haha :(.

10- do you have anything more to say?

 Just that I think this blog is great and that I wish you luck with it. Anything that encourages what I can only describe as truly unique and wonderful community, to me, is golden. Oh, and a huge thank you to anyone who has ever to come to one of my shows / picked up a release…It’s truly humbling / mind boggling to get to pack up orders of something I helped put out to places like Australia and the like. I guess that’s it…Thanks Julien!