hfn music x METAL Magazine

Tobias Lampe of hfn music interviewed by METAL Magazine

"Based in the vibrant harbour of the Hamburg scene, Tobias Lampe has worn many hats over the years: promoter, DJ, photographer. In 2009, he decided to break out and establish hfn music, a beacon for eclectic sounds. Since then, the label has put out seminal records, one after the other, and this year they celebrate their 100th release, a breathtaking Trentemøller remix of Blaue Blume’s Lovable."

This is how METAL Magazine summarizes how Tobias Lampe - head of hfn music - founded this label. The Barcelona based lifestyle magazine decided to feature hfn music's history in an interview feature, where Tobias talks about the start and evolution of the label and how we are holding up through Covid-19 times. And of course what amazing music is to come next! Read the full interview here: METAL Magazine x Tobias Lampe.

 

Here's a little preview of the interview:

What is your process when scouting for new talent? How do you work with your artists?

There is no established routine other than listening to demos or seeing new talents live, get a recommendation or stumble upon them when browsing around. We never do any Soundcloud or similar research, for example.

For some reason, we were always lucky that we never needed to release or design anything to survive, so it is in fact a ‘guts-driven’ label in the sense that the only philosophy is and was: we need to love the music and like the artists behind it, and share some vision for a long-term musical relationship.

I mean, there are many possible philosophies to run a label, but I’ve always been looking into one long-time cooperation rather than signing a bunch of one-offs. So when we sign an artist, we also want to continue working together and build something over time.

hfn is a proud export of Hamburg, how has the community and scene evolved over time since the label’s inception?

Diversification is the best word maybe. We have many great and vital micro scenes, creative people and camps under the bigger umbrella of the so-called ‘music scene in Hamburg’. In my view, the Reeperbahn Festival has also helped a lot over the last years to get the scene even more international than it was before. The creative output is immense and, in my opinion, got bigger and better over the years while the music landscape surely changed a lot. That being said, Hamburg has always had vital scenes – look no further than the Beatles.