matt.borghi and jason.sloan started SLO.BOR Media in 2001 as a vehicle for their releases, as well as others. SLO.BOR Media is primarily a record label, but focuses on a variety of media and forms of distribution. We are also quite concerned with packaging, design, new media, and conceptual art. Ultimately, the direction of SLO.BOR Media is driven by Matt and Jason’s interests and inspirations.
SLO.BOR Media was also quite concerned with packaging, and design, and with our first few releases put out only limited edition, hand-assembled recordings. In fact this was the initial direction of the label, but as the world, and the state of their artistry began to change, our views on the work and its distribution changed as well.
SLO.BOR was born from a variety of ideas that have to do with DIY (do-it-yourself) music and conceptual art. Labels like Dischord, and generally the grass roots approach to independent music influenced Matt. Matt loves the DIY approach, and believes that a job done best is a job done yourself. Jason was also influenced by these DIY approaches, but fused the elements of 4AD’s design master Vaughn Oliver and Factory Record’s designer Peter Saville’s work, with a little bit of Robert Rauschenberg thrown in to make his own post-everything hybrid of the 21st century aesthetic, and conceptual design.
Needless to say, both Jason and Matt were greatly influenced by music, both their own and others. In fact it was music that brought these two guys together. Matt was doing a stint as a music journalist and was inspired, after hearing Jason’s Space Between Beginnings, to do an interview with the Baltimore-based artist. Matt arranged a meeting, called him on the phone, and the rest, as they say, is history. The two hit it off immediately, the first phone call lasted for several hours, and Matt forgot all about the assignment. The two became fast friends and eventually began working together.
Matt and Jason began working jointly on a variety of music/sound collaborations, and then a series of live performances. Late in 2001 the idea of SLO.BOR was proposed, and within a few months the first release was off the ground. Several releases followed, but as the market and the economy changed, Matt and Jason stalled. They realized that they had done what they had set out to do, a series of limited edition recordings that emphasized hand-assembled packaging and design. They didn’t really know where to go next.
Matt began organizing his short-lived mbm.recs label. Where SLO.BOR emphasized a few, limited edition release with extensive hand-assembled packaging, Matt wanted mbm.recs to release a new record every month, and emphasize a streamlined packaging. Matt also wanted to do more work with design. Meanwhile Jason had kept the candle burning at SLO.BOR. One evening as Matt explained the concept of his new mbm.recs label to Jason the two began talking about Slo Bor, and what, if anything, was going to happen. Like all of their discussions the conversation moved into art, concept, and intention. The two decided that it was time to reignite the flame that had gotten SLO.BOR started, and so with that, SLO.BOR came back to life.
SLO.BOR Media has been brought to life with a vigor, and ambition that just wasn’t present in the beginning. There’s an awareness now. Jason and Matt learned a lot about the business, what works, and more importantly how they work together. There are a ton of great releases planned, many of which are going to take SLO.BOR away from their ambient-space roots.
