In a time where the Metal scene is growing rapidly it can be certainly hard to stand out, but with a name like Czar Of Crickets Productions you really can't ignore the name. Starting out eight years ago out of pure spontaneity and a passion for the heavier side of music Fredryk Rotter started the label with a mix of genre's hosting to a wide variety of bands, the label manager has his own band ZATROKREV which gave him an insight from a bands point of view and helped the label get further.

Czar Of Crickets Productions splits in to two halves, Czar Of Bullets and Czar of Revelations, the metal side Czar Of Bullets is full of bands such as TREACHERY, THE BURDEN REMAINS, PALMER, COILCRY and so many more whilst Czar Of Revelations has so many sub genres such as Rock n Roll and Folk with bands like ZLANG ZLUT, CARMA STAR, SERAFYN and STRONG THERAPY who are all exceptionally talented in their own ways no matter what side of the label they play.

What makes this label like so many others yet so unique is that Fredryk does this completely out of his own funds and passionate, due to not having funds to put his bands on samplers and advertisements he and the label entirely rely on sites like Metal Temple and their bands doing well with sales to keep the label afloat to promote the artists, Rotter stated in an interview that he is glad he didn't work for a different label saying that he can let his creativity flow with where he is currently.

Czar Of Crickets Productions hopes to be still going strong within the next 5 years with even more bands on it's roster whilst Fredryk Rotter may be on tour with his own band he still has a lot going on and has no signs of stopping, he believes that with how it's been going in the last few years and with major distribution deals with the likes of Plastichead he reckons that this is going to become a major thing.

Will the label keep working with underground artists or grow towards more mainstream bands? Who knows, the label hope to keep their work ethic whilst the music industry is constantly changes and they have lots of great years ahead of them.

Hi Emily ! I'm doing good. I'm glad to speak about my label. Thank you for your interest.

On some points it feels similar to me like running a band. It's a work which is based on passion, idealism and a big effort.

Eight years ago I had a spontaneous impulse to do that. One morning I woke up and I was knew I have to do that. I realised that there are many talented artists around me that didn't get any support at all, I wanted to change that. And as a musician dealing with several labels I wanted to understand what's behind such a company.

I think it's my nature, that I need to create my own stuff. I wanted to do it my way from the beginning. I like to understand the details and I like to carry the responsibility.

Indeed, it was not easy. Nowadays there are so many labels around. Everybody can do it and everybody wants to be recognized, so it's certainly not easy for any small label to get the peoples' attention.

Yes, I think it's maybe one of the reasons for the good cooperation with the bands I work with. I know both sides and I have an understanding for a bands' views and goals. Often I am pretty involved into the artists' works. I even play with some of them when they need a replacement on guitar or bass. The communication is important for me, not only about the business plans, but also about how they work in the band, how they create their songs and what their lyrics are about.

The hardest part is to survive beside the big labels that rule the music industry. I don't have the money to put adverts and to put the bands on samplers in big magazines. It's harder to get recognised that way, because I am financially not attractive for the press. So I am kind of dependent of the true supporters like you guys.

Proud is maybe the wrong word. I love what I do and I love to work for bands, to get a good promo for them and being a part of what they do. Czar Of Crickets Productions is like a big family of individuals where we take care of each other. We have similar goals. This all makes us step forward which brings along our creation. There are certainly some moments I'm getting proud, like when I am able to get a good feature in a good magazine. I like to be part of a bands' success.

The main thing is probably that we don't put any musical boundaries on ourselves. We're not representing any certain genre and are open to nearly every kind of style, without any commercial thinking.

Czar Of Bullets represents the metal side and all the genres that fit into it regarding their intensity and their noise level. Czar Of Revelations is the home of all the others. That can be stylistically Rock'N'Roll, Experimental, Straight Rock, Folk, Singer-Songwriting, Pop. Ambient, Indie or whatever

It would be certainly simpler to focus on one or two genres. Then wait a few years to get the right fan base together. But honestly that would bore me. I like to work in different genres. It shows me different facets and I got to do with different kinds of press. It's always a new challenge, where I learn a lot.

That's hard to say. All the bands are promising in a way. I would say that our upcoming releases from Zlang Zlut and Serafyn are both very promising.

Zlang Zlut is a very special rock duo with only cello, drums and vocals. They do pretty much straight rock. In spite of this unusual lineup, their songs are very catchy and especially the cello gives it really an own brand. They are amazing musicians, both teach at classical school and they both have a long musicial history.

Serafyn is a young folk-pop band. I'm going to release their first digital single on June 23[sup]rd[/sup] . They already reached really a lot of listeners on the web, which is absolutely mind blowing for a young, unknown band that comes from the busking side.

Yes I do! After a long time I'd love to do something doomy or sludgy again, just something really heavy. We'll see what will happen.

I hope I will be able to build my living on that. I am sick of doing part-time jobs. The good thing with this label is, that usually I am also able to do this work when I'm no tour with one of my bands. As long a s I have my laptop and Wi-Fi I am ready to go. So for example worst case I can earn money while I'm on a bad paid tour. Running this label is something I really feel well with. But it's hard to say where this label will be in 5 years. The music market goes through constant changes especially because of all the digital developments. labels, distributors, bands and copyright companies adapt to that. If I would use my pragmatic thinking I'd say it's all going to end in a few years, but I believe in what we do and I don't wanna fear the future. So fingers crossed, in 5 years we're going to have a good time and we'll find a way to survive.

I don't care if it's mainstream or underground as long it's honest and as long it's touching me. The way I'm running my label I am not dependent of a certain artist which is selling a lot of records. When I work for a band I'm unfortunately not in the position to bear the risk to lose money. It already happened enough in the past. Bands pay everything on their own and they pay my work or give me favours. But they get 100% from the income through my distributors and keep all the copyrights. It's a bit like a promo agency with the difference that my work happens international and I got channels to distribute the artists' sound carriers.

There are turns I'd love to work with. Fucking hell I don't know what to say!

It's a pretty small scene in a small city. At the moment we have bit of a lack of good venues. And for those who exist it's hard to pay their bills or they got trouble with neighbours or the police. Luckily there are always young people that try to do something against that.

Yes, I definitely look forward to work with Plastic Head. The UK market is very important and it's good to be linked to that.

Be patient, stay fair with bands and work hard

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
FACEBOOK