Fault Radio Label Spotlight: Left Hand Path
In 2016, Journalist/DJ Chris Zaldua and musician/DJ Nihar Bhatt decided to take their event concept Surface Tension, itself an attempt to merge the seemingly disparate strains of experimental and dance music into one coherent ethos, into its next phase. From this, Left Hand Path was born.
As Zaldua states, “The "left hand path" in the esoteric and occult tradition stands for the abandonment and rejection of orthodoxy, of traditional morality, of traditional authority, of the status quo — in other words, everything that is important to me and that I believe in”. A record label that takes Surface Tension’s “left-field/esoteric/industrial/whatever-you-call-it” music policy and runs far afield, The Left Hand Path focuses on Bay Area artists but not exclusively, with most of their releases emerging from that bubbling cauldron of creativity that’s always threatening to boil over.
Longtime experimental musician Cube, local drummer & Squirrels On Film boss Brian Hock aka C.L.A.W.S., Beloved producer and Ghost Ship casualty Johnny Igaz aka Nackt, emerging global techno talent Russell E. L. Butler, and Jacktone/100% Silk artist Michael Claus all have notable and fantastically diverse releases on the label that mix up notions of techno, so-called IDM, industrial, ambient and more.
Rounding out the roster is Taipei’s sound sculptors Forests 森林, whose LP Idol Collapse sees them venture into post-punk and krautrock territory, and LA producer Elon, whose fantastic Pneumania LP would be a throwback to Warp’s Artificial Intelligence series if it didn’t sound so fresh!
Moving forward with upcoming releases from both inside and outside The Bay, The Left Hand Path continues their mission, which might be encapsulated by their logo, an image of two hands clasped, one black, one white, with the left hand in the dominant position. As Zaldua told us, “This deeper meaning and symbolism informs everything that we do.
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