Close to Modern more than just a record label

By Kaleem Khan, May. 22, 2014 —

Close To Modern is a project that links music, art and community under the guise of a record label. Featuring Calgary electronic mainstays such as Sanctums, Beach Season and Sergio Levels, the label has 18 releases to date.

Though they mostly focus on electronic music, recent releases include rap, hip-hop and soul acts.

“We purposefully kept the design simple because we don’t want to be known strictly as a label in the future. We want to be on the forefront of Canadian art in general, but with a musical focus,” says Close To Modern co-founder Dominic Pierce. “That means sound installations and curating of artwork from all kinds of artists with musical integration.”

Like television programs, Close To Modern’s releases are structured around seasons. This lets them showcase a clear progression from year to year.

“The idea was to bookend things so we could look back and evaluate it,” says Pierce. “It allows us to celebrate our accomplishments.”

Local electronic duo Sanctums had success with the label over the past two years. In FFWD’s annual reader’s poll, the duo won second best local album/EP for their self titled LP in 2012 and best local album/EP in 2013 for their Tongue, Teeth, Lips EP.

“They have an ease to them that stems from their clear musical vision,” says Evangelos Lambrinoudis, one half of Sanctums. “They are artist driven, which is rare even nowadays for a label. It’s grass roots but still has a curated feel that gives artists a jumping point and local cred.”

Aside from typical label projects, Close To Modern intends to delve into community- oriented projects with after-school programs for children that are based around music.

“We don’t really do this for money,” says Pierce. “It’s more about the ideas and giving back in some way, which makes us feel good.”

Close To Modern artists Beach Season and Dominic Pierce are performing at Sled Island Music & Arts Festival 2014.