Few new music  publications are being printed these days. So starting a music magazine called Record Culture, seems like you might be digging yourself in an even deeper hole. And yet, Record Culture, with its Apartmento-inspired design, and nostalgic vibrations, may be just right rhythm music journalism needed to shake things up. The man for the job is Karl Henkell. He used to live in a loft in Brooklyn with an artist roommate who was restoring the space himself, equipped with a disco ball and a ‘73 Chevy Caprice to get him across the bridge. He’s interviewed the editor of The Paris Review and Moby. It sounds like the story of many 20-something male writers who eventually get discovered by the Vice franchise. And yet, Karl Henkell is different. He moved to Australia where he has since started his own magazine this year, Record Culture. The magazine combines his experience working at Vice and as a blog editor for Surface to Air, but with a chance for a hands-on experience. Record is a music magazine that takes you into the music industry through their creative spaces. His premiere issue chose to focus on electronic artists, who have an appreciation for history while using the newest technology: From the musical stylings of Kindness to fashion designers Pageant who discuss what they play in their design studio. 

Can you give our readers some background on your prior professional experiences? What made you feel now was the time to start your own magazine?

I’ve been working as a writer and editor for many years, and have been a fan of print media for even longer. Titles like the skateboard magazine Big Brother and Lodown magazine were very influential to me as I was growing up. The seed of an idea to start a magazine came in 2011 when I was blog editor for Surface to Air. There was such an inspiring group of creative people surrounding the brand. It was the high time for blogs, so we focused our efforts online. I was going out to people’s studios with my friend Carol Burri to interview them and shoot their portraits with his Hasselblad camera. We both knew that shooting medium format for a blog was a little ridiculous, but it also made it fun.

How did you go about determining the budget for the magazine? Did you manage to stick to it? What was the biggest challenge in terms of production?

I knew that printing would be the main cost in making the magazine, so it was fairly clear from the outset. Other than that it just requires a lot of time, and the support of many people working out of love for the project. The biggest challenge in terms of production was staying focused on details that most people will never notice. Making sure colors are printed correctly, that typos don’t slip into the text and so on. Luckily my designer Holly Canham is well-versed in print design and had no problem meeting the very specific demands of the printer.

What was the process of reaching out to your subjects as a new magazine? Did you have any difficulty reaching out to anyone who was more of a “heavy-hitter” like Kindness?

As with all things, persistence pays off. Many clichés come to mind, like ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’, but those saying ring true. There’s not an exact formula to follow. Also, the thank you section is filled with names of people who helped me along the way. I think just being polite and genuinely interested goes a really long way. Having said that, it did get easier as the project took shape. My interview with Philippe Zdar was actually the first, and even though he is the biggest name in the issue, he is also a really warm and inviting person.

Interestingly, not every subject you chose to feature is directly linked with the music industry—like designers Pageant. Why did feel this mix was important? What are you trying to say by having a magazine called Record with subjects both directly related to the industry and those who only interact with music as hobbyists?

That mix is very important, as we aim to illustrate the community surrounding the music. We think it’s artificial to separate music from other creative fields. The nightclub, for example, is a creative hub. You can meet some of the most creative people from different fields on a sweaty, smokey dance floor at 2am. When you deconstruct the scene, you’ve got fashion designers, graphic designers, musicians, everything, all coming together for this one thing.  Pageant were a good fit for a number of reasons. Their collaboration with the band HTRK is one reason, but also their runway shows have music programmed by Laila Sakini, who is another artist featured in this issue. The links might not be obvious at first, but these worlds are all linked.

First Published On New Distribution House