Majestic Mountain
I accidently ran into Marco Berg and his entourage of semi-intoxicated riff addicts at the Roadburn festival in Tilburg a few years ago. It was that year when Ivar from Enslaved were curating so I was busy to see some of the more obscure acts that he had brought to the bill, but in addition to this, I did also manage to experience the happiness of this Marco guy while witnessing Monolord’s gig at Het Patronaat. Since he nowadays are the running force behind Majestic Mountain Records it felt like a good idea to reconnect and hear the story out.
Hello Marco and welcome to the world beyond that is Hinsides. You´ve quite recently started your own music label which seems to´ve had a good run right from the beginning? Tell us when and how the idea of Majestic Mountain came to you and how you´ve manage to achieve this flying start.
- Hi! Thanks for for inviting me! Yes! I’m a huge music and vinyl nerd that always tries to be active and support bands. Buy music, shout-outs and go and see concerts and buy merch and so on. And I’ve had plans for running a label for some time but without getting things of the ground. Anyway. I’m was a huge fan (even more now) of Saint Karloff and had contact with mainly Ole and chatted about music (of course). I recommended them to try to send their new demo (pre-prod of Interstellar Voodoo) to one of the bigger labels in the genre. They also sent the demo to some other labels too. Fast forward a month or so. Me and Ole had another music discussion and I mentioned my plans to start a label and Ole asked if I would be interested in releasing their new album on my label? I listened to the demo (first 20 minutes of Interstellar Voodoo) and I was IMMIDIETLY sure I had to do this! Then I met the guys when they played in Stockholm and we connected and decided to do this. It doesn’t stop there as I also got offered to release the split ’Coven of the Ultra-riff’ with Saint Karloff and Devil’s Witches.. Yeah. UNREAL! I’m a lucky guy to get this kind of start with a new label. From zero to full speed in a couple of months.
Saint Karloff/Norwegian boogie!
Following you on social media makes you wonder how you find the time to the duties of being a father of (two?) daughters, work at a daytime job, listen to a crazy amount of new music that you promote on a regular basis and addition to this run a label? Do you somehow roam in a different time sphere or what´s the trick? Have you got your diagnose on paper yet?
- Ha! My diagnose is probably AC/DC! Jokes a side. Running a DIY label sure takes it´s time and then add packing and shipping.. I still listen a lot to new music (and demos) but I don’t really have the same time to promote and push for new music as before. Focus is on the bands on my own record label. I also have a very understanding wife that support my passion for this. But sometimes the label takes too much time and then I need to step back and focus on the family. I need to learn that I can’t be available whole the time. Business can wait on weekends and evenings. A side note, social media the best way to reach out and catch people’s interest. A lot of bands need to learn that.
Speaking of your intense urge to find and explore new music, where does this obsession come from do you think? Has it always been as strong, and is this curiosity of yours equally vivid in any other aspects of life?
- I’ve always been very interested in music and always in riff based music. The last 10 years the focus have been on the heavy underground. I read blogs, reviews and interviews and follow bands on the social media. I probably got a lot of useless information about bands that noone cares about. Haha. And now when we have Bandcamp as a constant source for quality music then there is no problem to find new quality music.
Label logo/The “batcat” from hell
You´ve already put out a few appreciated releases and the pace does not seem to fade. Do you have a limit of how many releases you´ll be able to put out in a year or do you just go with the flow?
- So far so good. I got some more cool releases setup for the next 6 months. I also got some other interesting projects that I hope becomes reality. But after April there isn’t currently nothing really planned. What other labels do you find particularly inspiring and why?I’m a huge fan of DHU Records, Ripple Music and Cursed Tongue Records. They do quality releases with the best service. All these labels are also run by the nicest and coolest persons in the business.
What´s been the most difficult things to deal with in the process of starting a business? Did you already had the required knowledge concerning the economical side of it or were you forced to learn a lot about taxes etc in order to realize a sustainable platform?
- There is great support out there on the web. I’ve read up A LOT about running a business and a label before starting. I’ve also got a lot of help from fellow labels bosses. I only want to focus on the music aspect and I got my economic part handled by people more fit to do that. But the hardest part was the contract and all the licenses needed, but as I run a label focusing on vinyl it isn’t that complicated in the end. Don’t let paper work stop you from realizing your dreams. You’ll regret it later.
Majestic Mountain: “Delivering hot wax from start”
Since this issue of Hinsides has fanzines as the main focus I´d like to know what kind of impact this artform has had in your life? Are there any publications that´s been important to you and do you think that the physical version of a fan based zine are to be considered as doomed in this digital age?
- Fanzines was a big part of my youth when the Internet wasn’t available. That was the way to find new underground music. Then there was the problem to actually get hold of the music. Lots of tape trading in those good old days! Fanzine MUST be in paper form. Would feel wrong in any other format.
Yes! Wouldn't it?
(-Red)
You´ve just read an excerpt from a longer interview with Marco Berg made by Hinsides Magazine. The conversation as a whole are soon to be published on paper in the first issue of this Magazine together with a lot of other exclusive content.
Pre-Orders of the limited (200ex) edition are being made here: