Truss returns with Kymin Lea
Tom Russell’s first solo EP in three years kicks off an artist-focused series on Perc Trax.
While there may not have been a standalone Truss releases since 2012’s Splot and Clytha 12”s on Our Circula Sound, it’s hardly been a quiet time for Tom Russell. There have been some noted collaborations with Perc as well as burgeoning live performance TR\\ER with his brother Ed (better known as Tessela), not to mention the raucous Blacknecks project with Al Matthews of Forward Strategy Group, a single on M_Rec with long-standing sparring partner Donor and an MPIA3 side project all going down in the meantime.
Russell now returns to his regular haunt Perc Trax to help launch a new series that sees the label focusing solely on one artist for each EP. Purposefully avoiding remixers and encouraging dialogue between the musicians and the imprint’s in-house designer Jonny Costello, it’s a venture designed to “give each artist the chance to show their complete view of their music to the world”, as label boss Perc explained to us when we tapped him up for an explanation of the series. The rest of his responses can be read below. The title track from Truss’ Kymin Lea EP has already been causing a stir for some time, surfacing over a year ago on the AnD Resident Advisor podcast and soon after on Surgeon’s Rinse FM show.
Juno Plus: Firstly, what inspired you with this particular idea? What do you hope to achieve from it?
Perc: I just wanted each artist to express themselves fully. As always the main thing is the music they create, they will have total freedom over the tracks they release and none of the EPs in this series will contain remixes by other artists. Then I wondered how interesting it would be for this to carry this freedom over to the artwork. Thankfully Perc Trax has such a skilled designer in Jonny Costello that he can turn the collection of visual references that the artist gives him into an amazing sleeve.
One EP could be moody black and white photography, the next could by a brightly coloured cartoon illustration, if that is what the artist wants then they can have it. It is a step away from tired, repetitive label branding. Choosing a photo from an image library and then overlaying the artist and title text in the label’s stock font bores me to death. I just want to give each artist the chance to show their complete view of their music to the world and for supporters of the label to get a fuller understanding of each artist than ever before.
You haven’t given a specific name or catalogue number to the series. Why is that?
Whilst I appreciate that some people like to collect every Perc Trax release, the individuality of each of these releases, both musically and visually, means they are not meant to be a cohesive series of EPs to be grouped together; they are individual statements of intent from each artist. Stylistically the music will fall under the Perc Trax umbrella but I want each artist to push further forward with their music than ever before.
Are you able to tell us which other artists will be contributing to this series?
At present there are four more EPs in discussion that fall under this banner and I hope to get six out before the end of 2015. They come from a mixture of regular Perc Trax names and some producers that are new to the label. I never talk about future releases as for now I’d prefer people to focus on this Truss EP.
Will you be doing something yourself within the bounds of this concept?
Yes, one of the EPs in this series will be from myself and will be my first full solo release since The Power And The Glory. What I put on my cover is a mystery to me right now though.
Will you still be doing other general releases on Perc Trax this year?
This series of artist EPs will dominate the main Perc Trax label this year and at present there are no albums planned, but the Perc Trax Ltd label will also return soon and as before its output will be completely focused on dancefloor tracks with some remixes appearing.
Perc Trax will release Kymin Lea by Truss on April 13.
Tracklisting:
A1. Kymin Lea
B1. Clawdd Du
B2. Wyefield