Beneath the Label: Head Front Panel

In an age when genre boundaries are increasingly being broken down and cast to one side; when stylistic cross-pollination is producing more electronic labels with ever-expanding and multi-faceted remits, it can often be hard to find a sure thing to suit your own personal tastes. That’s not to say the widening and deepening of the pool of possibility and experimentation within club music isn’t to be welcomed – far from it. Yet, sometimes it’s refreshing to come across a label with a firm focus – one which can quickly earn that prestigious 'buy-on-sight' status. After only four releases, pressed in limited runs of 150 copies, Head Front Panel is looking set to be one such gem.  

Emerging earlier this year as a sub-label of the impeccable Tabernacle outlet, HFP focuses exclusively on techno – and blistering, no-holds-barred techno at that. Released in pairs beginning in February, the series already has many pondering the identity of its anonymous contributors, such is the quality on offer thus far. In keeping with the finest traditions of faceless techno, the records appeared with little promotional fanfare, and in striking sleeves adorned with images of tribesmen in colourful ceremonial headdress. Crucially, the music contained within each four-track offering has vindicated the decision to avoid over-hyped blurbs, and the bar has been set tantalisingly high for the remainder of the run. With the series gaining momentum, we caught up with Tabrnacle co-founder, Andrew Ingram to pick his brains about the label’s new venture.   

Hi, Andrew! What’s new at Tabernacle HQ?
The cat is enjoying the increasing amount of cardboard in the house – our first sub-label is in full swing. New artists have joined us from London and Holland. The perennials are suffering snail attack in the garden and we're dusting off the BBQ.

How did the concept for Head Front Panel develop and what was behind the decision to keep contributors anonymous?
We suddenly found ourselves sitting on an arsenal of techno. It would’ve taken us months to put it all out so we decided to detach it from Tabernacle. The anonymity further separates the two labels, and we all felt it suited the tracks.

So far, the HFP records have tended towards a particularly full-on, frenetic brand of techno. Is the plan to maintain that kind of momentum throughout the series?
That is the plan, yes. There is plenty of techno around as always, but not much like this.

Can you tell us about the idea for the artwork?
My dad went to Papua New Guinea in the 80s and brought us back some tourist guides on local festivals and celebrations. I found them the other month. The heads selected match the tracks – very colourful, tribal and wild.

The records seem to be shifting well. Will you look at repressing at any stage or are they strictly limited?
We’re not thinking about repressing anything at the moment. Once this project is finished, we look forward to moving onto something else.

What can you tell us about the events side of things?
We’re planning to make our Slabs parties more regular again, continuing our focus towards DJs playing on decks on tables, not ‘legend’ bookings.

Finally, what can we look forward to from Tabernacle and Head Front Panel in the coming months?
We’ve got plenty more electro coming up on Tabernacle, plus an EP with three great varied remixes of John Heckle by Call Super, Moon B and Vercetti Technicolor. Meanwhile the Head Front Panel series will continue to appear in pairs until the end of 2014.