I would like to add some words from my personal side and write a kind of “flashback of Metapsychic Rec.“ and in which conditions this net-label was born and directed.

Metapsychic Rec. is first of all a friendship story between me, Filipe and Martin. I would not enter in details about my friendship with Filipe, since those things must remain private, but maybe a few elements can help you to understand how our friendship and this label were connected. I met Filipe two years ago now, after a mail I sent him and a chat on msn. We became quickly friend. At that time, he was very kind and friendly, modest about his person, even if he knew he was a talented artist. He didn’t have lot of friends and his situation in real life was really hard. So he was happy to meet someone, even on the net, who didn’t have only interest in his music, but in all the subjects of his life. We spent hours an hours, almost every day speaking on msn, till very late hours the night. As every person (me included), he had problems, being sometimes depressed or frustrated by his conditions, and I was most of the time present on msn or on the phone to discuss about those problems and support him in those bad moments, - something unfortunately that he totally forgot nowadays… Then he stopped to call me “my friend” and said instead “my brother”, because he said I was “very important for him”. Regarding music, we shared the same passion of goa trance, had almost the same tastes. While we are discussing on the msn, he used to send me, at the same time, extracts of experiments, productions he was creating in live. He considered me as “his beta tester”, because I gave him my personal opinion, some good advices or ideas to develop and make his tracks to progress, I even submitted him title names. I’m probably the one person who followed so closely Filipe’s musical evolution. That period of our friendship was without doubt one of the best of my life and also an unbelievable experience as goa fan. I will not forget it even if our friendship has ended in very bad terms today.

Back in august 2006, after the return of my holidays, Filipe talked to me about a project he had in mind. At that time, he felt very frustrated to not release more tracks, his recent productions didn’t get the reception he hoped from his own label, Suntrip Records. He released only one track on cd, “Metamorphosis” and some more for free on forums. But he wanted to do more (who can’t blame it for that?). He thought about a palliative solution: to create a label or something which looks like it on his own, so he can be totally free to release what/when he wants. But this project needed help to be built and to come off. That’s why he purposed me, his “best-net friend” as he used to call me by the past, to set up together this project. I was reticent at the beginning to take part of it for two reasons: the first one because I had a terrible lack of time in my real life, which didn’t allow me much outside activities or hobbies; the second because I was afraid and embarrassed of possible interferences and misunderstandings between this project and his own label, Suntrip (that’s why I insisted a lot lately to clearly distinguish our project as initiative and Suntrip as real label). After some talks, he guarantees me that his situation with Suntrip didn’t change, that he will still remain a Suntrip artist and furthermore that Anoebis supported us in this initiative. I was Filipe’s friend and as a friend I wanted and had to help him. So I finally accepted and we BOTH started to create our net-label.

We needed a name to call it. It was me who found it : Meta-psychic Rec., because the goa music has the possibility to create mentally (=psychic) some visions of paradise or after-death experience (=meta). Filipe liked the senses of this title and agreed with it. He registered a free account to create our metapsychic website. His brother helped us to create our logo then. He started to build our www.metapsychicrecords.com site with a couple of pages and sections, but after some weeks, I asked him to give me the passwords and to manage it myself, because the site was in real disorder and needed definitely further developments and above all, to be updated.

Quickly then, me and Filipe worked intensively on our first compilation project, VA/Pyramidal Trancendence. I noticed a while ago some excellent goa artists & tracks (Sine Die, Aura, Travma, Infinite Dimensions, Afgin), Filipe made some researches on the net, met totally unknown talented artists like Astrancer & Mindsphere and talked to Ethereal for the remix of “Stream Of Life” and to Colorbox for the mastering, since he knew both. We compiled our ideas together and this compilation was the consequence of a total synergy between us and we were both very proud of the result.

But a label can’t be called a label without a distribution, and the same thing goes to an initiative. We didn’t have a clue about hosting, about mp3/wav fast lines, about how to diffuse with the most efficient way, this compilation over the net. Who can do that? Who can we trust enough for such job? Filipe got an immediate idea. And the key element which was missing to complete our label structure was Martin “oCtodur”. Filipe contacted him, because he was a long-time friend of him, had lot of experience with Hypnotica Records and a great knowledge in graphics, websites and hosting. He accepted to let his darkpsy label in the corner, to give all his attention and work for us. Martin did an awesome job for the net distribution of Pyramidal Trancendence and was definitely our best hope for a promised future of Metapsychic Rec. He became our sales manager, because we knew that he will be able soon or later to transform our initiative into a real label with a cd distribution. And indeed, after only one year of existence, Martin was on the verge of doing it.

That’s why Metapsychic Rec. consists not in 1 or 2, but in 3 persons who were or became friends through the same passion of music and the alchemy of their work. Without one of us, we wouldn’t have had this unpredictable success of Pyramidal Trancendence. And we don’t forget also the amazing contribution of Astrancer and Colorbox who were part of our team. We didn’t know precisely how many persons have downloaded our first VA/, since other partners like Ektoplasm and Sonic Energy for ex, and also P2P sites diffused it as well from their side, but we count in terabytes the quantities downloaded from our web server and persons still continue to download it nowadays. For the Vox album, the server crashed literarily after a few days by the huge number of downloads.

After only two releases, “Pyramidal Trancendence” & “Ataraxia” E.P., Metapsychic Rec. future became quickly uncertain, to not say chaotic. Filipe came back from Goa Horizon party in Belgium, he solved all his issues with Filteria, Mars & Anoebis and told me that he will start to work right on an “Ataraxia” album for his professional label, Suntrip. Therefore he would not have much time to work for some months on Metapsychic releases. But he assured me he would still be able to contribute in this project after his album was released. I was happy for him to learn this great news, and there was no discussion about it, since Suntrip was his real label at that time. So I told him, no worries, that we can suspend our activities until he come back. Just a few weeks later, after a misunderstanding with Suntrip, the track “Mysteries Of The Women” is cancelled from Twist Dreams compilation. Filipe cut the contact with Mars, still keep some fragile relations with his friend, Anoebis. He decided to give all his attention now on Metapsychic Rec. and say that he didn’t mind to release the “ataraxia” album for free. I was embarrassed by this situation, by the possible tensions and consequences created by those new issues between Suntrip and Filipe for Metapsychic, and I didn’t see with a good eye his departure from his long-time friend label. Some time has passed and good surprise: after a talk with Anoebis with who he kept some contacts, he announced us that he’s back in Suntrip, that the track “Regeneration” is now Suntrip material. He changed opinion once again, we had to suspend once again our activities, but I didn’t say anything, I was once again happy for him, because there was any comparison between metapsychic, a totally free and underground initiative and suntrip, a real pro label with experience and cd distribution. I thought also that this action will put, at the same time, an end to those tensions between labels. I dreamed too much since a few weeks after, “here we go again”, he left Suntrip for good this time after a dispute with Anoebis and come back working exclusively to Metapsychic… In the meantime, I forgot to mention that Shivlink records appeared and Dj Nick contacted Filipe. And there, same thing, the one day with Shivlink, the other day with Suntrip, the other Metapsychic, an infinite “waltz of labels”, directed by Filipe’s mood and interests. In the end of his relations with Shivlink after two or three coming and going, being completely lost by his multiple mind changing, I got a terrible headache. I talked with him and Martin and I expressed the wish, at that time, to quit the label, because I became very pessimistic about the metapsychic future and this unstable and annoying situation. But after some talks, I decided to not quit and stay in the label, because we had projects planned, artists who I can’t leave like this, and who I promised to release their album like Mindsphere. Filipe convinced me saying he will never quit again Metapsychic, that he’s tired of labels, he doesn’t mind to release his music for free… “meta 4 eva”, “meta rocks” he repeated. And this expression: “Quitting Metapsychic is dying for us” = if one of us left, it’s the end of this project for all of us. I had in mind that, and after all his disputes with the other labels, he didn’t have other choice than to stay with us. So I let him a last chance to prove me that he will stay fixed this time.

Metapsychic Rec. activities started again. After months of delay, we finally released our second compilation, “Human Hyperactivation”. Filipe talked with Dave (Infinite Dimensions) and told us that he wants to change our free policy and replace it by payable downloads and it was time for us to become pro. Me and Martin were reticent to start this new policy with this compilation, because it wasn’t an impact release according to us, and we promised to give it for free by the past. But Filipe insisted, was in a difficult situation in his real life, saying that he and all the artists deserved to get paid for their work: something that we can understand and we finally all accepted to do it.

In August, he moved back in Portugal for personal reasons and he needed time to “fix” his new life. We didn’t blame it, as every person has his priorities in his private life and has sometime to focalize on it. During the period between august and october, Filipe was like a ghost in the label, weeks without to get some news from him, no mails, nothing. I rarely found him on msn and spoke more than 5 minutes as he left very quickly our conversations. I tried to phone him a couple of times without success, no answer to my messages. It was like he has disappeared completely. He said before his departure that he let his pc and gears in Ireland. But I found weird though that his hip hop account on myspace was regularly updated during this period…

Anyway, me and Martin worked as hell to maintain all our activities and to start new ones, even if we had the worse difficulties to get in touch together and find free time of our daily jobs. We had lot of ideas to develop and extend more our influence on the net and on parties. We took the important decision to become an official label and Filipe was happy about it. Me and Martin alone worked on this project, mostly Martin in fact who was doing the most difficult administrative job to reunite all the legal papers, to discuss with distributor and the press factory and other many things... Two albums were programmed to be released in cd for December & January: Mindsphere and Pandemonium! albums. So lot of works and very few time to do them. But with lot of efforts, we are finally close to accomplish this project. Mindsphere album was ready, just a few details to remain before to send it to the press. Same thing with Pand! and the covers to fix, it was ready to get pressed as well. And here we have to put a big STOP to this evolution… Filipe got an offer from another label and is seriously thinking to leave us in the middle of our work!

There, we are shocked, tired, unable to react… He changed mind for the umpteenth time, but this time, things are too serious. We are one step to send his album to the press factory, but he doesn’t care about it!! He prefers to leave us and to take a big money sum instead from Photropic Records. He drops a last ultimatum to Martin before to take his decision…

Me and Martin had a serious foreboding of a possible departure of Filipe, when he presented us his new melodic full-on style and two productions he wanted to release as E.P. on Buddha Mantra Records. He said that he will produce right now melodic full-on, because “it’s working better in Portugal”. Full-on music you said? Something unthinkable for us, because he was from the beginning of his career a violent full-on hater, and he used to tell us that he will never produce “such crap music with such dirty and miserable basslines” in his life. But anyway, we thought that he had the right to change mind and produced whatever music he wants.
However we told him there is no way that full-on music appears on Metapsychic Rec. and the reason was simple: we are exclusively a goa label and goa music was the reason of the label’s creation. A logical notice that he probably didn’t appreciate, since he called me “genre racist” after his decision to leave the label…
If he told us that he wants to quit the label to start to produce full-on, we would have accepted it, because honestly we couldn’t have released this music. But, at least, we hoped that he would wait the Pandemonium album to be out before to quit the label. He didn’t…

He decided to quit everything in one second: his own label, his friends, his artists of whom he was responsible, all our current projects, all what we built and created by our hands. We had also a compilation planned, called “Kazillion” and artists who were working on tracks for it! How can he do it to us, to the artists? We are impressed by a such degree of selfishness and he confirmed it saying to us on msn : “I want the best for ME, you don’t know how to do business, you are extremely unprofessional”! Disgusted by his attitude, we let him go for Photropic Rec., at least we hoped that he would not create more problems and let us and Metapsychic Rec. quiet for good. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case…

We exchanged very short messages after that, but when we told him that we want still to release Mindsphere album (after all, Mindsphere has nothing to do Filipe’s departure), he became jealous and paranoiac. The same day, late in the night, he changed all the passwords of all our websites and sent me then a “final speech and good bye” mail in which he affirmed in a few words : “I AM the boss, I fire you from my label, you were not a friend.” So here is the big paradox: he left our label, but wants to keep it, at the same time, to not let us to continue our work… And worse thing, Mindsphere is becoming the hostage of Filipe’s incomprehensive and childish actions!

The msn log explains what happened after, and fortunately for us, if Filipe didn’t make this mistake when he modified all the passwords, if Filipe didn’t utilize the same password for all the accounts, this announcement and mindsphere album would have probably never been released today.

We would have appreciated at least some apologies from Filipe’s part for all those very bad events he created, but we are aware that this will never happen. He’s so proud of himself that he would prefer to sink into his lies and the msn log conversation is a clear demonstration of it.

Because of those stories without beginning nor end, I feel very sorry, ashamed and sad to disappoint our artists & friends, and above all, the persons who believed and supported us all this time, who saw in us as one more hope for a potential rebirth of the goa music. And it’s very difficult for me to tell you that, in the present circumstances, we have no other option than to close our label and to retire from the trance industry. Some persons asked me : why you and Martin don’t you direct Metapsychic Rec. together? I tell them the same answer: except the fact that we are very tired and disappointed by this sad experience, we simply can’t continue anymore, because too much bad events have created unhealthy conditions and atmosphere in this label, and we are now more well-known for our conflicts than for our music. And since Filipe was one of the founders and part of the label, his presence and imprint will still follow us as a shadow.

But we are proud to say that if we draw up the balance-sheet of our label, musically very positive points are revealed. Some of the artists who took part of our initiative found labels: Astrancer & Liquid Flow joined Shivlink Rec., Afgin is now a resident artist of Suntrip Rec., Subra created his own label; others well-known as Ethereal and Color Box are back in action ; djs and artists like Vox, dj M.U.T.E. for ex have toured around Eastern Europe the past summer and played next to pioneers. The fact of being free has been definitely the promotional motor of new horizons and professional perspectives for all those artists.

It’s maybe the end of the metapsychic adventure, but not the end of our common goa quest. In our small community, I smelt a new wave of enthusiasm, started first by Suntrip Rec., supported by us and other labels then. And this same enthusiasm doesn’t stop growing nowadays. New talented artists have seen the light, new labels are appearing, taken over from generous individual initiatives as Ektoplazm, OiG, Alien Community and other net-labels or organizations. 2007 has been a great vintage for the goa music, and it’s been years that we didn’t see so many goa releases out, even if some of them were distributed for free. This is what I would define like “The Awakening” of this music and that’s why I’m confident for a promising future of goa-trance.

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Some words to Filipe:
Regarding your myspace account, it’s me who took control of it with the same password you utilized with your other sites. And I will explain you for which reason:
By this action, I wanted to give you a lesson for your unacceptable egocentric attitude towards me and Martin, and make you feel what I felt when you hacked the myspace website (and I forget also the gmail and psynews accounts…) that I HAVE CREATED AND BUILD and that you didn’t add the right to steal and to keep for yourself! But worse thing, you didn’t have the right to delete the metapsychic website for which I spent hours and hours till very late the nights to keep it updated (while you were sleeping quietly in your bed…). This site didn’t even belong to you, since it is Martin who paid the GoDaddy domain with the money of his daily work. Did you think at least about it? No! It’s another proof of your nasty actions and that you care only and only about yourself. It’s not because you are a talented artist that you can do whatever you want, and you have to understand it right now! Too bad for you, you didn’t succeed in your paranoiac vengeance, Martin has been able to restore the website

Furthermore, I had all our contacts on both gmail and myspace, and you didn’t let me inform our artists about the chaotic situation in the label and the end of our activities. I couldn’t even inform the radios that our weekly show is cancelled after only one episode…And you didn’t do all those important things yourself at least, since I discovered 20 unchecked mails when I get access to the sites again, and which were waiting for answers…

If I would follow your “eye for eye” reasoning that you explain so well in the msn log conversation with Martin, I would have simply cancelled your account. On the contrary, I didn’t do it anything and you’ll notice that I didn’t enter your page since the day I changed the password. Therefore, your privacy hasn’t been violated and you’ll find all your new messages unchecked. My thought was to purpose you a compromise: to rebuild the metapsychic website that you deleted and for which I worked very hard and to give you back your myspace account. But I’m tired to play this kind of game, and I doubt that you’ll understand your mistakes… So I give you back your account for which I have any interest. Check your PM to get your password again ;)