This past summer I had the pleasure of chatting with Hana Gubenko from Fanfare Magazine about the label, who I am and the label. 

Please enjoy and have a gander at the interview below and if you have a subscription to Fanfare Magazine, you can find the interview there as well! 

A Fresh Breath into the Market: An Interview with Producer Alex Bohn

As we know, the market for classical music recordings is suffocating rather than being granted space to breathe. Yet Juno Award-winning producer Alex Bohn breathes a strain of fresh air into it with his newly minted label Canadian Classical Records and its debut release, Harmonic Breath: The Music of Palestrina by Mysterium Duo (a Canadian classical accordion duo formed by Antonio Peruch and Penny Sanborn). The album is classy, and a touch of a certain well-behaved traditionalism on the part of the label’s image grants hope for the classical music industry to survive its crisis.

I’m happy to give an inside look into Alex Bohn’s work in progress and welcome him to Fanfare.

Alex, seeing the homepage of Canadian Classical Records made me feel hopeful and happy for the industry and for the art. What made you search and find the sense of authenticity by creating that image?

When people discover us and venture to our website, I hope they get a sense of elegance and familiarity, but also that sense of hope that you mentioned, and a lightness. The logo itself is kind of an homage to this past idea of luxury and opulence that I think a lot of people relate to classical or Western acoustic music, but with the colors I wanted to ground us a bit more in today. I am personally tired of gray and white and minimalism and sparse product design, and I am looking for something that has more character which relates to the music we release. I am very glad you found it successful and see the authenticity in all of it.

When and how did you decide to go for the new label?

Starting this label has been something I’ve thought of for a long time. I’ve been navigating the music industry as a student and a professional for some time now. I have been in many different roles in my career and seen a ton of different facets of the music industry. The timing of this seemed right, I was just coming off a big move across the continent and back and was looking into the next step for me and how I can best serve the area where I live. After hemming and hawing about all this, the Mysterium Duo approached me about recording this album of Palestrina works, and I floated the idea to see if it was something of interest. They were on board, which kind of kicked me in the butt to get going on it and make it happen for real. That is where I currently stand. I made it happen, and we are moving forward and will see how far we can take it!

How do you plan to combine the values of art with needs of business?

This is a very tricky question and a tight line to walk, that balance of art but also the need of the label to commodify it and sell it. I think in this case and a lot of projects we take in, the art comes first. The writing by the composers, the practicing and refining by the musicians, and then the technicality of the capture and production is all the art. Moving into the next part of that process, it’s my job now to convey that we respect the artistry and all that effort, but we also want to make sure that we can all eat and get paid. To do that is now to tell this story to a wider audience in ways that can be easier sold and understood. I think there is an understanding of why being a small label and working very closely with the artists is important. I can convey that I understand how personal this project this, but also that we want people to hear it and for us to make some money back. But really the most important thing here is that people hear the music and enjoy it.

Is it possible to measure the absolute quality of a musical release?

To be pragmatic, I don’t think we can measure “absolute quality,” but if I can put on my engineering/producer’s hat for a second, I think we can get close for objectively judging if something is of quality or not. In a lot of my training and even when I teach, technical listening skills and objective approaches to music listening are a huge aspect I’ve spent a lot of time working on: listening to how instruments reverberate in their spaces, how it was captured, the balance between each instrument and the space, all within the context and intention of the artists and composers. All these things come together and allow us to judge the merit of pieces based on our own internal tastes. And if a bunch of those opinions all line up in the same way from a bunch of different people, then you’ve got something magical and of quality.

Where does the subjective “like/dislike” end and the objective “good and bad” begin? Or does it ever begin?

It’s always a balancing act between what we like and what is objectively good. I think we as producers and engineers and artists are always fighting this battle of what we want, while also thinking what has been successful before us and how can we incorporate our tastes and thoughts into those things previously deemed successful. I think the most successful producers and artists have those thoughts and ideas perfectly in balance; then it’s easy to find that magical sound of what they like and what is objectively good as well. I would like to add that what we aim to teach aspiring engineers is the use of reference material, comparing what we have against others that have been deemed of quality, and striving to use the best examples of all types of work and emulate that to the best of our abilities. Of course, this might not always be successful, but it gives us a point of reference to strive toward while remaining somewhat true in our own work.

By choosing a project, is there often a contradiction, like artistic value versus potential saleability?

There definitely is a line, but the joy of being a small independent boutique label is that, for me, artistic value is saleability. I am very interested in new thoughts or new ideas on older works. I was talking with a musician the other day about this balance of the traditional European way of “classical” music and trying to incorporate Canadianism to the sound. I think Canadians, especially where I am located, on the prairies, have a unique relationship with the east and with European classical music, in that the understanding or take on it is slightly different. Which is something I love, the possibilities of making something not traditionally European classical, but Canadian classical, and showing the traditional classical world a fresh take.

What makes you decide whether to take a project or not?

Right now, I’m fully open to anything that truly speaks to me and seems to be interesting. We are a very new and young label, so there is no direction or pigeonhole we have put ourselves into. I am free to look at and consider all releases, which is very exciting.

And the record/release conditions for musical artists?

The conditions are simple from a distribution method; I get paid for the work of putting together the package of submitting to streaming services or facilitating the releases on physical media. The artist maintains the rights to the music (unless you’re reading this in the distant future and I’ve started offering exclusive deals), but it’s my job to make sure it gets sold. Split is negotiated between the label and the musicians about the release.

Do you sign in an exclusive or flexible manner?

We are currently running a flexible and mostly physical/digital hybrid distribution model. As we continue to grow and develop our reputation, I would love to offer exclusive deals with fantastic up-and-coming Canadian artists and help build their careers.

As soon an album is released, is it available for free streaming? How sustainable is it to run a new record label?

Great questions, which leads me into a thought about why we create or share our art with the world and what you might mean by sustainable. Physically and emotionally, seeing the music released into the world, having it shared with everyone everywhere and knowing that all the hard work has culminated in something beautiful is extremely sustainable and fulfilling. Financially speaking, streaming services don’t pay artists enough—that’s no secret. If we are trying to create financially viable works and our goal is to make money, then relying on streaming alone is not enough, and there is work to be done at the individual level through shows or physical media. Relying just on streaming as a sole source of income is not sustainable, but combining everything together, I do believe we can sustain ourselves.

The famous masterpieces have been recorded already in numerous versions: live and studio, by the great legends, the prodigies, and niche performers. New repertoire which is up to a premiere is “no name” and therefore hard to make resonate with a large number of people. How do you plan to deal with this?

This is my main challenge and the question I’m constantly asking myself. How do we get people to hear us, our artists, and the music we release? How do we stand out? I believe a lot of this power is in the hands of the musicians and artists themselves. Most album sales happen when artists and musicians engage person to person at shows or in the community. In order to resonate with a new audience, I find it very important to meet people face to face.

In 10 years from now, what would you like Canadian Classical Records to look/sound like?

I’d love still to be doing this and building it in 10 years’ time. There is no timeline on achieving things, just when things seem right to progress. I obviously have a business plan with benchmarks that I’d like to hit as far as releases per year, annual sales, planned roll-out of certain features, etc., but I think I’d love just to keep growing right now, create a community around the label, and make sure people can get really excited when we are releasing something new or interesting. If in 10 years, we have a dedicated fan base and the ability to fully market and sell our great music, I would be ecstatic.

You’ve chosen the Mysterium Duo with music by Palestrina for your debut album; why?

Honestly, it was just the timing. I recently moved back to Canada after living abroad, and I was approached by the duo to record their new album. They originally didn’t have much of a plan on releasing it, they just knew that they really wanted to record this music after their tour of Italy. I was already planning on launching the label and basically had everything ready to go besides a day and the kick in the butt that I needed. I pitched the idea to them, and they agreed, so that is what really spurred it on.

The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (in Alberta, Canada) has an enormous history, and a touch of a Demeter farm for brilliant and inspired classical music-making. It is perhaps unique in the world in being focused on the artistic side. Would you say a few words about your time at Banff?

Banff is an amazing experience, and my time there working along with the people I met and was taught by really shaped how I’ve developed as an engineer and how I understand and can listen to music. Working alongside great people and getting to work with some of the best musicians can’t be overstated. Everyone listens to music so differently and understands things at such different levels. When you can put yourself in a situation where everyone is working at such a high level and enjoying it, having fun, it becomes such a wonderfully enriching experience to learn and grow.

When did you decide to make your living by producing classical music recordings?

It’s a scary thought; I’m not totally blind to the reality of doing this as my livelihood, especially in prairie Canada, and that it will take a lot of work and a lot of passion. I do fully believe in the work of the musicians I represent and the work that I do. I do believe there is value and substance to what I am trying to achieve.

Is it still possible to build up an existence in that field for people under 40?

Definitely! There are still so many opportunities for people of all ages, and especially now as a generation starts to retire, there is so much more room for people under 40 to create space for themselves and carve out an existence. It’s still not easy, I don’t think it has ever been easy, but for those who are driven and passionate about their art and craft, there is room. Just keep going.

What is it going to be like in a couple of decades?

I think that’s impossible to know, things move so quickly and change so quickly. What we can do is prioritize ourselves and our art, and aim to remain true to ourselves and to what originally drove us to be here and do this work.

You’ve got a teaching position, probably more than one. Is it still advisable for young people to go for a profession in a field where being replaced by AI in the near future is a realistic scenario?

You’d be surprised how anti-AI these students are, even on bringing it up or giving them a choice to interact with it. Most say no, and I think this is because of this intrinsic human part of us that wants to create something. To me, art and music is so intrinsically human and real that AI cannot replace it. So, I have to disagree that AI replacing real people playing instruments is a realistic scenario. I think humans will persist and be more drawn to seeing live music more than ever to reconnect with what it means to be human, and to see real people playing real instruments … but maybe I’m an optimist or just hopeful.

What makes human skills irreplaceable by AI in the music-making/producing industry?

AI doesn’t have emotion, feeling, taste, passion, love, sadness, empathy, etc, etc. It cannot hear or make choices in real life. It cannot record or capture a concert or produce an album, as it cannot differentiate between two different passages played similarly from a technical standpoint, but one with more emotion than another. All the things that make us human in the performance and the capture of that performance cannot be done by AI. Sure, it can generate notes and sounds through algorithms, but to me that is soulless and lacks any connection to the piece and to the art. It doesn’t answer the question of why it is creating.

I think people were shocked and excited, and then finally scared, when all this AI stuff came out of nowhere so quickly. People had an emotional response—I know I did—that caused these major kneejerk reactions and doomsaying. I do believe once the dust settles and we can think about it clearly, questions like these won’t seem so important or elicit big responses, because the answer will be that AI is not replacing humans and not replacing art and creativity and the capture/release/creation of it all. But again, maybe I’m just optimistic.

If I asked you to pick just a single piece of music and name it The One for the time to come, what would that be?

What an impossible task. The piece that keeps on giving, for me, is Holst’s The Planets. I’ve currently been listening to a version by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Karajan which I love, although I’m a major fan of Appalachian Spring. Don’t make me pick just one!

I hope to stay up to date and catch up soon again.