Welcome to “The Right Talk”, The Online Talk Show where The Right Hand Path speaks to Celebrities from the world of Metal music. Our Celebrity Guest today is Patrick A Hasson, the Founder & Owner of the Maine, the U.S.A.-based “First Church Of The Left Hand Path Records” in this Exclusive Interview to an “Indian Metal Music” magazine.
The Right Hand Path: Metalik Greetings Patrick, how are things in your life and in Maine?
Patrick A Hasson: Greetings and thank you for the interview. Right now I am currently relocating from Northern Maine to the Southern Maine city of Portland. Its a fucking mess.
The Right Hand Path: Please accept my congratulations for this new Enterprise of yours, that is, the First Church Of The Left Hand Path Records. I believe you created this on Friday, April 10, 2009 [if I were to consider the first dated post on the Official Website of The First Church Of The Left Hand Path on “a piddly distro list at the moment + upcoming projects]. Please correct me if I have got the facts wrong here.
Patrick A Hasson: No that would be correct. Ive been planning on creating a label for a while but I finally decided to with TFC then.
The Right Hand Path: From my understanding of The Left Hand Path and The Right Hand Path, I must say, that, I have come to the conclusion that the former believes in Individualistic way of life and the latter in to say a Divine/God Ordained way of life. This is what I also understand from the first post “Greetings” on the website wherein you state the below-mentioned
First Church Of The Left Hand Path | Official Website
“We salute the individualist, as we believe the Left Hand Path is that of choice, freedom, and individuality, as opposed to the Right Hand Path of servitude, slavery, and bondage.”
So, according to my understanding, The Left Hand Path rejects/does not believe in God and Religion.
From this point of view I see a contradiction in the record label’s name that is it has the word “Church” which is at majority of the times associated with Christianity, a religion in itself and the words “The Left Hand Path” which is associated with Individuality and supposed to be against/not believing in God and Religion.
Can you explain this contradiction in the name? Or would I be right in assuming that since Religion isn’t something that we choose at the time of our birth and somehow stays in our life till our Death irrespective of whether we like it or not and therefore the word “Church” incase you are a Christian by birth and upbringing
Or preceded by the word “First” to support or present belief that the Individual is God of His/Her Own and therefore they are their own “First Church”?
Patrick A Hasson: I chose the moniker due to the great power in religion. To me, religion is more than baseless prayers to nothing. In that, a church is much more to me than a place to go once a week to kneel and compare clothing. My church is four huge trees huddled together. There I feel separate from humanity.
You would be right in suggesting that the primacy of “first” is in regard to the God in Man and his own primacy.
The Right Hand Path: Would I be right in assuming that the First Church Of The Left Hand Path Records is a music label for esoteric/avant-garde genres of music than Rock and Metal in specific from the below-mentioned
First Church Of The Left Hand Path | Official Website
“We cater mainly to the bands that populate the outer fringes of subculture. Black Metal, Death Metal, Hardcore, Grindcore, Noise, Neo-folk.”
Are these your/your teams’ [if any at the First Church Of The Left Hand Path Records] personal musical preferences?
Would you be kind enough to narrate the genesis of First Church Of The Left Hand Path Records based on this? What was the idea in your mind when you gave the brief to Dale Cooper of Subtrocity for the logo?
What does the slogan “insisto semita liberatio
mean? Is it Latin or something which might mean “Liberate Us From Semite/-ism [Judeo-Christianity] Insistence [on Christianity and Jesus being the One and Only and True One]?
Patrick A Hasson: That is but a small spectrum of my musical taste, however it is what I choose to release because I want my releases to be the thoughts of individuals, not mass consumption for pigs at the trough.
Insisto Semita Liberatio is Latin. Roughly translated, it becomes “Walk the path of Liberation”
The Right Hand Path: With reference to the above-mentioned genres of music, you’ve also stated
First Church Of The Left Hand Path | Official Website
“We will however release artists outside of this realm if they have sufficient merit and fall into our taste in music (which is very wide).”
So how does the label search for bands, do you have talent scouts working for you/contacts in different countries? Do you go to concerts/performances to check out up and coming bands?
What in your words would be “subculture” since a majority of your genres belong to Metal, which in itself, is a sub-genre of Rock Music. And by Neo-folk do you mean to include Metal/Non-Metal music similar to it?
How do bands that want to sign with you approach you, what should they have in it them? How does it work?
Patrick A Hasson: I focus A & R on myself and my close friends for the time being. I like to work with what I know.
A Subculture would be a subset of another culture, and one that lays beneath the radar of the public at large. Black Metal for instance. And yes, I enjoy the romanticism and atmosphere that neo-folk creates.
The Right Hand Path: Your first release was Wholy Failure’s New Endtimes For Old Models limited to 25 copies. They play “Harsh ritualistic ambient drone, that occasionally crosses into Power Electronics territory.” according to your website.
What was the rationale behind this decision? Could you shed light on what is Power Electronics as a genre?
Patrick A Hasson: As I created music for WF, I released it would be the perfect first release for my label: Uncompromising, loud, and individualistic.
Power Electronics is an off-set of Noise music that often uses samples and reconstruction of sounds to create a hellish electronic din.
The Right Hand Path: I assume you have a distribution/co-marketing deal with Baleful Benediction Records and since you’ve mentioned their below-mentioned releases
Artist Avulse
Album Type And Release Type Demo, Cassette
Album Name Thousand Year Goatreich
Record Label Darkness Shade Records
[25 Copies. All are hand-numbered in blood and a limited number come with a fragment of bone.]
Artist Auspicium
Release Type Tape
Album Name Valde Atra Mare
Record Label Baleful Benediction Records
Price US $4
[Atmospheric black metal journey along rocky shores, jagged breakers, and majestic forests.]
Artists Avulse/Auspicium
Album Type And Release Type Split, Compact Disc [CD]
Album Name I’ll Still Laugh when All Around Me is Dust
Record Label Darkness Shade Records
Standard Artwork
Limited Artwork
[SOLD OUT Only 66 copies, and 16 of them are with a special artwork [2 types, standard and limited], done by Dale Cooper Of Subtrocity.
Do you also have a distribution/co-marketing deal with Thorn Laceration Records as you have mentioned Auspicium’s album Dawnland [60 copies]?
Are you looking at Distribution from a long-term point of view or as something for your label to grow and then branch out from it since you have also talked of your upcoming releases [via distribution] in your Tuesday, October 20, 2009 update
Patrick A Hasson: I carried all those releases as they are all my music. Auspicium and Avulse both project a side of my Psyche.
I choose to distribute my own music to make it more available. As far as it being an investment, I would really only like to distribute things that are exceptionally great or breathtaking.
The Right Hand Path: Please shed some light on Wholy Failure’s rest of my Trilogy of Human Extinction and other developments and achievements at the label as we talk at this point of time
Patrick A. Hasson: Technically, it is the Patrick A Hasson Trilogy. Each of my musical incarnations presents a part. Wholy Failure gave us New Endtimes for Old Models, Avulse will be releasing the second part, Granted but Grace from this World, in December through Darkness Shade Records, and the last part will be out in 2010 at some point, being Auspicium – Death Will Claim Us All. They all tell a part of the story.
The Right Hand Path: What are your plans for the record label? Do you plan to be an Indie or Major label in the time to come? Any plans to have a certain number of signing in a particular span of time, collaborations etc?
What do you plan to achieve with this or do you plan to being a platform/vehicle for Left Hand Path music?
Patrick A Hasson: For the time being, I plan on only doing my own or my good friends releases. However, if something comes along that is beyond incredible, I would jump right at that opportunity.
The Right Hand Path: Veering off to another Path you are also associated with Attila The Hun, a Black Metal Music download blog.
Also with For We Had No Road wherein you have posted lyrics? Is there an aspiring poet/lyricist/musician within you? Can we expect to see a Musical Avatar of yours in the time to come?
Please share your thoughts on these
Patrick A Hasson: I mainly do ATH to promote my stuff and smaller bands that ask me to upload their stuff for them, as promotion. As far as LSL, I wouldn’t say by any means am I a poet. There are three versions of my musical self out there, I’m sure the world doesn’t need anymore!.
The Right Hand Path: Patrick, it has been my pleasure knowing you and talking to you about Music, The First Church Of The Left Hand Path Records and associated topics. Thank you so much for this interview. Would you like to give a message to the readers/viewers of The Right Hand Path?
Patrick A Hasson: Thank you for having me and never forget, we walk alone to strengthen ourselves, to be predators to their prey.
