Projekt is a Portland, Oregon-based

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

started by

Sam Rosenthal Sam Rosenthal is an American musician, composer, artist, and novelist. He is the founder and leader of the band Black Tape for a Blue Girl and the Projekt Records record label. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his son and cat. Rosenthal was inter ...

in 1983. Projekt releases music in the styles of

darkwave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

ethereal Ethereal may refer to: *Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 *Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music *Wireshark, formerly named Ethereal, a free and open-source pack ...

, dream-pop, and dark cabaret. Projekt artists include Sam Rosenthal's own Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Steve Roach, Voltaire, Erik Wøllo, Unto Ashes,

Weep A weep, a weep hole, or a weep-brick is a small opening that allows water to drain from within an assembly. Weeps are located at the bottom of the object to allow for drainage; the weep hole must be sized adequately to overcome surface tension ...

( Doc Hammer, co-writer of the Adult Swim show The Venture Bros.), Mira, and

Android Lust Android Lust is the solo project of Shikhee D’iordna, that combines elements of rock, electropop, electro-industrial and classical styles into a blend of music that she describes as "electronic and dark." History Shikhee D’iordna was born in ...

History

Based over the years in

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Brooklyn, Projekt is now located in Portland, Oregon. Projekt had released 305 titles as of summer 2014, with an additional 25 physical CDs on the Projekt: Archive (formerly Relic) sub-label. Archive also is the home to an additional 85 digital titles. Popmatters wrote of the label, "Founded in 1983 by Sam Rosenthal, Projekt concentrated on releasing dream-pop, neoclassical, ambient, gothic rock and shoegaze bands, and Rosenthal’s own group, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, was an early exponent of darkwave’s hallmark mournful cabaret.”

Label support of digital sales

Sam Rosenthal is a strong supporter of MP3 and digital downloads. While Rosenthal has ensured that digital files of his artists are available for legitimate download, in the early days of MP3s he also praised downloads even when not accessed via official channels. Editorials on the Projekt Web site (dating back to January 2001) countered the assumption that all labels oppose all unofficial MP3 downloads. While Rosenthal did not condone downloading entire albums without paying, his view is that those exposed to music, by whatever route, will ultimately purchase albums and support the artists they enjoy. In the ensuing years, his views have changed and now he speaks out against unauthorized downloading. After the January 20, 2012, takedown of Megaupload, Rosenthal went on to speak out about how artists can get their files taken down, and in support of the DoJ shut-down of sites hosting illegal music.

Projektfest

Projekt Records also presents

Projektfest Projekt is a Portland, Oregon-based independent record label started by Sam Rosenthal in 1983. Projekt releases music in the styles of darkwave, ambient, shoegaze, gothic rock, ethereal, dream-pop, and dark cabaret. Projekt artists include Sam ...

, a semi-annual festival of gothic and ethereal music, featuring primarily (but not exclusively) Projekt artists. In 1996, Projektfest ran for two days in Chicago. In 1997, Chicago was again host to two days of Projektfest and a few weeks later another day of performances were hosted in Mexico City. In 1998, Projektfest was a series of four one-day events in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City. The 2002 Projektfest was held over three days in Philadelphia, at the Trocadero and other sites. Projekt hosted Projektfest '07 as part of the

Blacksun Festival The Blacksun Festival was an annual 3-day goth and industrial music international festival held in New Haven, Connecticut, spread out between several different venues. History The festival started in 2005. The festival billed itself as more tha ...

in New Haven, Connecticut, in August. Projektfest'10 was held July 30 & 31, 2010. Projektfest '11 was held November 12, 2011, at The Middle East (nightclub) in Cambridge, MA, featuring the artists Voltaire, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, and Weep.
Projektfest '11 Web site

Notable artist

Current roster

Alio Die Alio Die, the stage name of Stefano Musso, is an Italian ambient-music composer and producer. Stefano Musso studied art and electronics in Milan, Italy, and began performing music in 1989. Overview His music is a fusion of acoustical elements ...

* All My Faith Lost... * As Lonely As Dave Bowman * Black Tape for a Blue Girl *

deepspace Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, pred ...

* Forrest Fang *

Katzenjammer Kabarett Katzenjammer Kabarett is a French four-piece dark cabaret band from Paris, France. Aesthetically inspired by German Weimar-era cabarets and burlesque shows, the band also chose a name of German origin that literally translates to "cat's wail c ...

Lovesliescrushing Lovesliescrushing (stylized lovesliescrushing) is an American Ambient music, ambient and Shoegazing, shoegaze band from East Lansing, Michigan, United States, formed in 1991. The two primary members of the band are Scott Cortez (guitars, loops, tr ...

* Mercury's Antennae * Mark A. Michaels & Patricia Johnson * Mirabilis * Revue Noir *

* Steve Roach *

Soriah Soriah (born Enrique Ugalde; April 1, 1971) is an American overtone singing, overtone singer, performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and shamanism, shamanic ritualist headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon and The Tuva, Tuvan Rep ...

* Soul Whirling Somewhere * Unto Ashes * Vidna Obmana * Voltaire * Erik Wøllo * theAdelaidean

Past roster

Amber Route The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Prehistoric trade routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. ...

Arcanta WTII Records is an independent record label created in 2001 in music, 2001 by former Wax Trax! Records employee Bart Pfanenstiel, and David Schock. History WTII established The concept behind WTII started in 1999 while Bart Pfanenstiel was ...

Arcana Arcana may refer to: Music * Arcana (American band), an American jazz band * Arcana (Swedish band), a Swedish dark wave band * Arcana (record label), a French classical record label * Arcana (album), ''Arcana'' (album), a 2001 album by Edenbridge ...

* Area * Attrition * Audra * The Arms of Someone New *

Autumn's Grey Solace Autumn's Grey Solace is an American Ethereal Wave, ethereal wave and dream pop duo from St. Augustine, Florida, St. Augustine, Florida, United States. It consists of soprano vocalist and keyboardist Erin Welton and guitarist Scott Ferrell. They ...

Controlled Bleeding Controlled Bleeding was an experimental music group based in Massapequa, New York, United States. The group was founded by Paul Lemos, the group's only consistent member. Most of Controlled Bleeding's released recordings feature two main collabor ...

* Dark Sanctuary *

Eden Eden may refer to: * Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis Places and jurisdictions Canada * Eden, Ontario * Eden High School Middle East * Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric * Camp Eden, Iraq O ...

* Every silver lining has a cloud * Faith & Disease *

Fear Falls Burning Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

Jeff Greinke Jeff Greinke is an American ambient music and jazz artist and composer currently based in Tucson, Arizona. He is known as one of the pioneers of dark ambient music, with his earlier solo albums often compared to works by Robert Rich, Brian Eno ...

Lisa Hammer Lisa Hammer (née Houle; born April 4, 1967 in Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.) is an American filmmaker, actress, composer and singer and is the sister of director James Merendino (''SLC Punk!'').By Mike White, Cashiers Du Cinemart, (archived versio ...

* Human Drama * Judgment of Paris * Khvarena *

Love Spirals Downwards Love Spirals Downwards was an American, California-based band, that incorporated ethereal wave, dream pop, drum and bass and electronica. History Love Spirals Downwards was begun by multi-instrumentalist Ryan Lum and then-girlfriend Suzann ...

Lovespirals Lovespirals is an American dream pop and electronic music band from Southern California, featuring husband and wife, multi-instrumentalist/producer Ryan Lum and lyricist/vocalist Anji Bee. History The origins of Lovespirals began with a 1998 side ...

* lowsunday * Lux Interna * Lycia * Makaras Pen * Mira *

Mors Syphilitica Mors Syphilitica was an American gothic rock/ethereal band formed in 1995 in New York City by Lisa Hammer (''née'' Houle) and Eric Hammer after the breakup of their prior band Requiem in White. Their music combined often-surreal lyrics with unus ...

* Mortiis *

O Yuki Conjugate O Yuki Conjugate (OYC) are an English post-industrial/ ambient musical group founded in 1982 in Nottingham by Roger Horberry and Andrew Hulme and still - intermittently - active today. Their music has been variously described as 'ambient', 'four ...

Ordo Equitum Solis Ordo Equitum Solis (abbreviated OES) are an alternative music band consisting of French Leithana, pseudonym of Nathalie Herrera (vocals, keyboards, zither, percussions) and Italian Deraclamo, pseudonym of Paolo De Marco (vocals, guitar). The duo ...

* Radiana *

Shinjuku Thief is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administratio ...

* Slap * Tearwave * Thanatos * The Sleep of Reason * The Twilight Garden *

This Ascension This Ascension is a gothic/ethereal band from Santa Barbara, Southern California that formed in 1988. They released four albums and two 7" vinyl singles on their label Tess Records, between 1989 and 1999. They also released a best of compilati ...

* Peter Ulrich *

Tara VanFlower Tara VanFlower is an American singer-songwriter, known for her vocal contributions to darkwave group Lycia. In 1999 she released '' This Womb Like Liquid Honey'' on Projekt Records. She released a second album titled '' My Little Fire-Filled Hear ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Ambient music record labels Goth record labels American independent record labels Record labels established in 1983