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Label Profile: Full Moon Productions

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 March 21 2008 at 09:00:36 AM





 Established in 1991, Colorado's Full Moon Productions remains one the oldest and most storied underground labels in North America. Primarily focusing on black metal, FMP's catalog began with Burzum's self-titled album, released for the first time outside of Norway on limited numbered cassette and soon progressed to working with groups as varied as Hades, Acheron, Centurian, Vlad Tepes, Abruptum, Lord Wind, and Mysticum. Today the label continues to deliver new and controversial material by Velvet Cacoon, Nightbringer, and the Lebanese band Kafan, all while maintaining a reliable distribution service and website which also hosts one of the most entertaining and rare collections of various candid and promotional photographs. It's a history that involves over a decade of contacts and often youthful (mis)adventure.

Recently, Full Moon's founder, Thorns, or simply Jon as he prefers in conversation, was kind enough, if seemingly reticent to indulge all our curiosity of his past and future endeavors—including the upcoming fifth issue of his influential Petrified zine, dormant since 1994.

How did you make the move from a fan to actively participating in the scene and starting Full Moon Productions? Did you ever have musical ambitions of your own?

Jon: I was heavily interested in the occult, violence, and heavy metal music. My actions as a teen were very extreme and I couldn't relate with most normal individuals, so I had no choice but to contact people I thought could see eye to eye with me. Before I started Petrified I had already been involved with the scene for 4-5 years so it was a natural step in progression. In high school I had written a lot of lyrics and worked with a friend on a band, but nothing ever came of it.

What does metal represent to you? Are you surprised at how recognized Black Metal has become or the way that it's perceived today?

Jon: Black metal has always meant Satan. Yes, it's a bit surprising to see Black Metal still alive, but it's lost its meaning! To most new fans black metal is just music, nothing more.

Is it usually a case of you actively looking for bands to sign or of them contacting FMP? How much of your time is actually devoted to running the label and mail order service?

Jon: We are always watching and looking for new bands, but we only release something like 3-4 CDs a year. The mail order is very important to us; we spend 90% of the time doing email and mail order.

How well do you do with foreign sales?

Jon: Very well actually, we have more foreign customers than American customers. Almost 2 to 1. FMP's original support started in Europe and slowly crept into the states.

What were your early goals in starting Petrified and what other zines at the time influenced you? What prompted you to begin work on a new issue after more than ten years?

Jon: I started Petrified to spread hate, inform people of the real scene out there. Not the scene based on money and greed. Some of the 'zines that influenced me include Fallen Pages, Darkness, Comatose, Isten, Slayer, and a few others.

Around the time you began the label/zine you had frequent contact with people like Euronymous and Emperor in Norway. What did they think about having that kind of support in The United States so early on?

Jon: A lot of Norwegians were shocked that Americans knew about their scene and were even more shocked to find out that we had similar ideologies. Grishnackh actually stated that I was the first person from the states to write to him—but we got along quite well. I remember both Euronymous and Grishnackh asking me to contact bands like Deicide, Morbid Angel, and so on about violence, Satanism, etc But I really got no response.

You mentioned that it's surprising to actually see black metal still alive today. Were any of the people you wrote to really thinking about the future at the time and where everything was going to end up or was it more spontaneous?

Jon: When I started both FMP and Petrified, I was thinking it would only last one year, possibly two, but the genre only grew larger. By 1995 black metal was huge, something I never imagined in 1993.

Were you surprised to hear about the Church burnings in Norway?

Jon: I thought it was the only logical step. Metal violence was only escalating; it was more shocking to me that Euronymous was murdered.

When did your correspondence with Vikernes finally end?

Jon: It ended when he signed to Misanthropy so I'd guess around ‘95? He was bound by their contract and couldn't support FMP anymore without pissing off Diamanda (head of Misanthropy). He OK'd the fact that we made official merchandise, but got a lot of shit from his label. I basically stopped making the merchandise of my own free will.

Were you ever in contact with Jon Nödtveidt? Thoughts on his death?

Jon: Of course; I had a lot of behind the scenes contact with Jon for releases and much more—stuff that will never come out. Jon was a great friend and a very intelligent person and I'm sure he thought this out quite well, so he is where he wants to be.

How would you compare the albums you've released in the last five years to those in the 1990s?

Jon: I think the quality of the music has not diminished; we always release new interesting music. A lot of our newer releases will be our best releases. Yes, comparable to Mysticum, Hades and so on.
Exactly what new releases are in the works?

Jon: We're working with Nightbringer, Serpentinam, Arckanum, Akhkharu, Dark Messiah, and a few other bands.

A question regarding Velvet Cacoon: They've kind of taken advantage of the way the Internet has become almost the primary realm of black metal and underground gossip, generating bizarre stories and controversies to promote the band. What's been your attitude on this in retrospect? Were you always aware of who was involved? Do you think it's hurt the image of the label and would you continue to work with them after their next release?

Jon: I really don't give a fuck... As long as people fuel the fire, the fire will continue to grow.

[Todd DePalma]

type: articles    keywords: black metal, label profile, interview, lhp005,   

 
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