Michael Interview + Preview | Independent Music Exchange
Building for a weekend of buzz with music lovers and labels alike
Ahead of the Independent Music Exchange, happening June 6 - 7 at Northcote Town Hall, one of the founders Michael Kucyk joins Tempo to talk about how it started, preview the weekend and give some interesting insights into his label Efficient Space.
Hi Michael, thanks for joining me at Tempo. You are one of the organisers for The Independent Music Exchange alongside Maryos Syawish (Research Records) and Corey Kikos (Butter Sessions) who have come up with the concept of creating a space where independent music can be discovered, shared and sustained. I am keen to hear how it all started and why you collectively felt the need for it to exist?
For a long spell, Butter Sessions, Research Records and Efficient Space all operated out of a seven-bedroom house in the heart of Carlton, hosting regular pop-up shops from the corner door. It was always a blast meeting supporters face-to-face, including many recurring names from our respective mail orders, and realising that without those people we’d be nothing. So, I guess the IME is the most blown-up version of this. Operating a label yourself can be a bit isolating, so we also wanted to rope in all our peers while bridging a gap with others operating across different genres.
As a label operator yourself for Efficient Space you would understand first-hand the effort and sheer love you must have for music to be operating in the physical in this environment saturated by digital platforms. Can you tell us what makes you so passionate and keen to keep putting records out?
Vinyl has run my life for more than two decades.
Beyond the music itself, I’ve always loved album artwork, learning through credits and understanding how records come together. It’s also been the vehicle for meeting like-minded people around the world and the basis for many lifelong friendships.
We run our own distribution in Australia and I’m basically slinging records to the same store owners who introduced me to so much foundational music as a whippersnapper.
The Independent Music Exchange will have a huge variety on offer from homespun hobby projects to globally established stables, particularly spotlighting labels committed to physical formats. How were the labels selected and how tricky is it to manage the 50 or so that will be involved?
We did some pretty extensive outreach, trying to consult as many people operating in genres and sounds outside our own. It wasn’t an easy task, but that’s also the reality of most independent labels, often functioning as side passion projects alongside full-time hustles.
I really appreciate the idea that labels can connect directly with the communities that sustain them as this is super rare and there is also the opportunity for labels to share knowledge and ideas with potential for collaboration. How has this worked in the past and have you noticed some cool things that have sprung out of previous events?
The IME has actually only happened once before as part of the now-defunct The Eighty-Six. It was a real buzz and one of the most rewarding experiences of recent years. We’ve been door-knocking ever since and finally found support from the Victorian Music Development Office and Music Australia to bring it back.
A lot of these independent labels passionately exist in their own bubbles, often below the surface of the conventional industry and subsequently ignored by conferences. This one is built differently - by and for the communities it hopes to represent.
Across the weekend, these labels will set up shop, offering vinyl, cassettes, merchandise, zines, test pressings, posters, warehouse finds and artist-signed items. Can you spotlight any of the things you are most excited about?
Labels have actually been pretty tight-lipped about what they’ll be bringing down this far out, but I’m personally busting a gut to get some out-of-print label classics back on the table from YL Hooi and Keanu Nelson, alongside the latest issue of our magazine, which has been two years in the making.
It’ll be a trip having the likes of HTRK, Eddy Current Suppression Ring and King Gizzard selling directly to fans.
Apart from all the excitement that will be going on visually and for all the buyers out there you also will be running an education programme featuring panel discussions. Can you fill us in about what this will look like?
We’ll be hosting panels throughout the weekend in the studio next door to the market, aimed at aspiring labels, artists wanting to go indie, or just the broader public engaged with the culture. We’ll discuss everything from running an independent label 101 to building meaningful international connections.
With indie labels generally motivated by far more than sales, they can also play an important role in supporting and platforming marginalised communities, so we’ll be discussing the nuanced responsibilities that come with that territory too.
The panels are led by specialists in their respective fields, drawing from lived experience across independent music and community practice. And it’s free!
As someone who has been part of the community for a long time in radio at Triple R with your show Noise in My Head and of course your label, can you tell us why you think Melb/Naarm has such a thriving scene, and what does it mean to you?
I definitely feel like both 3RRR and PBS 106.7FM have been instrumental in this. For 50 and 47 years respectively, these non-playlisted community stations have laid the groundwork for more adventurous ears and rallied against monoculture. You won’t find two pillars like this operating within the same city elsewhere in the world. You can hear it in the artists this city produces, and see it in the amount of venues, record stores and labels that continue to thrive here.
Do you have any other exciting plans for 2026 and beyond that you would like to share with us?
Keanu Nelson has almost finished recording his Wilurarrakutu follow-up, again with Yuta Matsumura in the producer’s seat. It’s been a pretty major evolution, and I’m really excited for people to hear where he’s headed next. YL Hooi also has a comeback single on the way featuring a Mad Professor remix amongst other surprises. We’ve also got a few more special events to squeeze out of our 10th anniversary, including a screening of the Crown and Country film and a live presentation of Mike Nock’s seminal ECM work Ondas.
Finally, who are your favourite local Melb/Naarm bands at the moment and who would you like to see interviewed for Tempo?
Hantu, Krakatau and Blue Communications.
