Twenty years ago, music fan Leonardo Pavkovic founded MoonJune as a label on which Canterbury scene musicians could release their music. Some 200 records later, it’s stretched beyond the English city to cross boundaries, as well as borders. As Pavkovic celebrates MoonJune’s 20th anniversary, Prog catches up with the label founder to learn about his passion for unusual and exciting collaborations around the globe.

Words: Sid Smith Images: Courtesy of MoonJune

Leonardo Pavkovic spends a lot of his life talking. Talking to his family, to promoters, to musicians, to airlines, vehicle rentals, pressing plants, printers, venues, engineers, post office clerks, hotels, insurance agents. Today, in a break from his usual calls, he’s talking to Prog about MoonJune Records, the record label he founded in 2001. Pavkovic isn’t always the easiest of interviewees to follow. Talking at his customary quick-fire speed, he can veer from one topic to another in rapid succession, such is his passion. In part, it’s simply an outward manifestation of the enthusiasm for the music he’s done so much to bring to the listening community.

Named after Robert Wyatt’s epic Moon In June, the label was initially associated with members of Soft Machine and the wider Canterbury scene, but over the last 20 years it’s matured into an outward-looking enterprise with an expansive, inclusive agenda focusing on music that often defies strict categorisation.