DANIEL MILLER
Nearly 40 years on, and Mute Records is still a reliable stamp of quality. Having launched the careers of Depeche Mode, Erasure, Fad Gadget and Yazoo and having worked with D.A.F., Boyd Rice, Liaisons Dangereuses, Nick Cave, Diamanda Galás and many others, Mute continues to champion independent music such as Swans, who won the Hardest Working Band prize at the AIM Awards. Label founder Daniel Miller tells Classic Pop of his pride in Swans and about the future of Mute…
How healthy would you say the state of independent music is at the moment?
On a business level, it’s in a good state. Musically? It’s not bad. Truly independent music is rare at the moment. There are a lot of independent labels, and lots of traditionally ‘indie’ music, but what I call independent music like Swans are a rare breed. Swans are what I would call truly independent music. They’re something we should cherish, and we should nurture music like that.