It’s been eleven years since Secession was launched from the Smith Street studios it shared with Toy Satellite in Fitzroy, Melbourne. In all that time we managed only three site upgrades and two content management systems. We’re now running on the terribly flexible Wordpress.

This new site supports an improved integration with PayPal, direct links to our podcast and soon, many more free downloads from our back catalogue of unreleased and sold out works.

Along with our site upgrade we’ve joined the masses on Twitter. Follow us on @secessionr. I doubt you’ll see us on Facebook. I’d rather be making music than posting updates. But you will find artist pages on Facebook and MySpace which, if they’re active, will be available from our individual artist pages here.

DOODS at Secession, Fitzroy, 1998.

So why persist with a music publishing label?

It’s pretty simple really.

Firstly, after near on thirty years I still make music and enjoy having some level of control over the process of both production and distribution. Self-owned and managed labels still affords one that opportunity. Secondly, many people, I believe, not only enjoy downloading their music, but would still purchase a beautifully produced package of recorded works. These can be held, admired, collected and more importantly, listened to at a vastly superior quality to any of the audio compression formats now available.

Additionally, when you purchase a Secession product, you’re directly supporting an artists’ run business. There are no middle-people. In fact, in most instances I’ll also be the person who packages your purchase and takes it to a post office. It’s all part of the process of making music now. I enjoy it immensely.

I made this statement a year ago, at the time we turned 10. It still stands:

Secession has consistently applied itself to music and sound works that extend the capabilities of our artists, that challenges and excites, that inspires and reflects the common attributes of diversity in a world suffering the dynamics of economies that deplete natural resources and enclose creative and cultural endeavour in protections that stifle innovation, breeding sameness and a dangerously dull, careless society.

I may take my time with releases. Ollie Olsen once advised me to never rush the kind of music we now write and perform. Sometimes it is just as important to reflect on what occurs around one as it is to synthesis our internal musings into tangible, listening experiences that can encourage one to go a little crazy with curiosity… I’m all for more awe!