The Brag

Carl Craig
Twenty Years Of Planet E
By Alasdair Duncan

Carl Craig’s Planet E is that rarest of success stories: a boutique label that has stayed in business for two decades, releasing quality techno records from its founder and a host of other electronic music luminaries. “I guess I really started the label because I didn’t want anybody else telling me what records I could and couldn’t put out,” Carl Craig tells me, of Planet E’s inception. “I’m totally fine with people telling me how to make my records better and giving me suggestions, but I wanted an avenue to release the stuff I was making and the stuff I loved.” For the young Craig, getting his head around the business side of running a record label was a steep learning curve. “I only went to high school and had a little bit of college, maybe a year, where I only took one or two business classes,” he says, “so I really had to find my own way into it – but where there’s a will there’s a way”

As Craig sees it, the biggest change in electronic music over the last two decades has been one of accessibility. “When I was a kid, electronic artists were trying to make pop records, even people like Kraftwerk,” he says. “The birth of rave, coupled with the more ready availability of electronic gear, opened things up a lot, and made it possible just to have fun.” He uses the example of the track ‘Chime’, by Orbital. Those guys, Craig says, weren’t trying to make a commercial record – they just made the record they wanted to, and it found its way onto the charts because a lot of people really liked what they were doing. “In the early days of electronic music, people like The Human League and Devo were making pop records,” Craig says, “but it became less about pop,
and more about just following whatever path you wanted.”

Planet E is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a compilation, an era-spanning set somewhat hubristically entitled 20 Fucking Years: We Ain’t Dead Yet. Craig is considered to be one of the godfathers of techno, and he has certainly stuck to his guns throughout his time at Planet E, delivering fine and uncompromising music. But that’s not to say that Planet E have never had to compromise. A few years ago, the label started selling digital tracks, something Craig initially swore they would never do. “Vinyl sales have been decreasing over the years,” Craig explains, when I ask about the reasoning behind this decision. “There’s a threshold that I had where I thought, if I can’t sell more than this number of vinyl records, then what’s the point trying to do it? I have a small staff, but they’re still staff, and they need to make a living.” If sales for a new-release vinyl would once have been 10,000, these days Craig reckons you’d be lucky to crack one tenth of that. “Whether you’re a major label or an independent or a guy making tracks out of his basement, there comes a point where you really need to assess what you’re doing and figure out if it’s practical.”

Craig is also celebrating his label’s 20th anniversary with a tour, that will bring him as far as Australia to spin records for the masses. “I’ll be delving into the back catalogue and the recent catalogue, and then just play some pieces I like that I feel will be right for the event,” Craig says. “I’m not sure what the lineup will be or who else will be there, but I just know I’m coming, and that’s enough!”

What: 20 Fucking Years: We Aint Dead Yet is out now through Planet E
Where: The Metro Theatre
When: Saturday December 17