Elestial Sound is an

art collective An artist collective or art group or artist group is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything t ...

and record label based in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, US. Founded in 2011, the label focused on printing and distributing Florida-based

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

and

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

music. It then became an

artist cooperative An artist cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is an autonomous visual arts organization, enterprise, or association jointly owned and democratically controlled by its members. Artist cooperatives are legal entities organized as non-capital st ...

. The cooperative structure accommodates a fluctuating number of member-owners: twenty to thirty individuals who operate the company's marketing, video, live production, A&R, and sales departments. The label is known in the region for its live production consisting of site-specific

art installations Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific art, site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior intervent ...

that serve as immersive performance environments for its artists.

History

Formation

Elestial Sound began as an amalgamation of the many elements and people involved in the North Florida music scene. An art studio in Gainesville, Florida, called the Church of Holy Colors, run by Evan Galbicka and collaborators Joey Fillastre and Felici Asteinza, became a nexus for many of the future Elestial Sound members and served as a DIY venue space for the thriving experimental and electronic music scene in the region. The fusion of art installation and musical performance by the community of artists and musicians in the area helped shape the aesthetic and direction of the label in the following years.

Early years

Established in September 2011 by Gabriel Ortiz, the label celebrated its first two releases with an artist showcase in their hometown of Gainesville. In December 2011, Ortiz partnered with Davis Hart, a native to the Florida music scene. As a result, the company expanded its vision to include comprehensive artist development and support, providing in-house marketing, video production, and tour support with waste vegetable oil-powered buses. Within the first three months of 2012,

Hundred Waters Hundred Waters is an American band formed in Gainesville, Florida in October 2011, composed of Nicole Miglis (vocals, piano, production, flute), Trayer Tryon (production, electronics, bass) and Zach Tetreault (drums, percussion, trumpet). The gr ...

' debut album was released and two touring buses were converted to run on vegetable oil, providing support to bands Jane Jane Pollock, Levek and Hundred Waters on nationwide tours. During these initial tours, Elestial Sound simultaneously curated showcases at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

and Florida-based festival Total Bummer 3D featuring headliners Prince Rama and Hundred Waters. In May 2012, Hart acquired a warehouse in Gainesville which served as a venue for the label and multipurpose workshop for stage construction and bus maintenance. The Elestial Sound Headquarters would go on to host a number of label showcases throughout 2013 and 2014, featuring Hundred Waters,

Quintron and Miss Pussycat Quintron (real name Robert Rolston; born c. 1967 in Germany) is an American musician and one-man-band. He is a nightclub organist and inventor, who has patented a number of his own inventions and often performs at his own private club, the Spell ...

, Levek, Jane Jane Pollock, the Dewars, MSNRA, Ghost Fields, Euglossine and others. These early shows in their own space helped build a reputation for the label in Gainesville as a live production company capable of combining

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

and live music into a cohesive experience.

Transition to cooperative structure

In late 2013, Ortiz and Hart decided to restructure the company into a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

. Without any real precedent for a cooperative record label, Hart took ideas from producer and worker cooperatives in the grocery industry to write the company's

bylaws A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authority. The higher authority, generally a legislature or some other ...

. Since 2013, the cooperative has continued to release records, provide artist development and construct site-specific art installations around the Southeast. The cooperative consists of a fluctuating cast of worker and producer member-owners. A board of directors guides the label in its artist selection and financial decisions and its worker owners carry out the company's day-to-day logistics. The cooperative uses a dynamic equity split system in which the owners earn equity in the company based on their individual contributions to the cooperative. In July 2014, a new property was acquired in order to construct a recording studio and house the different departments of the company. Renovations began shortly after the acquisition and the facility is expected to be fully operational by 2017.

Discography

*ES000 - ''Arbol Transmissions/Floating Split'' - Arbol Transmissions, Floating *ES001 - ''City'' - Floating *ES002 - ''Self Titled'' - Orchal and Vir *ES003 - ''Self Titled'' - Jane Jane Pollock *ES004 - ''Chefs Volume I'' - He Dog, High Rule *ES005 - ''Self Titled'' - Hundred Waters *ES006 - ''Elestial Sound 2013 Compilation'' *ES007 - ''Olive Juice'' - Emily Reo *ES008 - ''Tristaria'' - Euglossine *ES009 - ''Nocturnal'' - MSNRA *ES010 - ''Self Titled'' - Chromadadata *ES011 - ''Chefs Volume II H2O'' - Orchal & Vir, Floating *ES012 - ''Lustrous'' - Euglossine *ES013 - ''Pontchartrain Beach'' - Danny *ES014 - ''Hyper Pollen Temple'' - Kane Pour *ES015 - ''Elestial Sound 2015 Compilation'' *ES016 - ''Self Titled'' - Woset *ES017 - ''Rise and Fall'' - Mariama Ndure *ES018 - ''Stress Dreams'' - Jacob Silver *ES019 - ''Fruit'' - AAA *ES020 - ''Elestial Sound 2016 Compilation'' *ES021 - ''Bhsaaveaegi'' - Jeffry Astin

References

{{Authority control American independent record labels Electronic music record labels Artist cooperatives in the United States 2011 establishments in Florida Cooperatives based in Florida