The recent digitalization of the music industry has created many new communities and entities that are exclusively internet-based, one of these is the net label. A net label is a record label that distributes its music almost exclusively over the internet through formats such as MP3. 

Petal Port is an example of a net label created locally in Petaluma. Petal Port’s founders, Nik Clay and Timothy Lindsay, describe Petal Port as “an independent music label with an emphasis on the meshing of artistic mediums. It’s a home for artists to collaborate and encourage one another, as well as promote experimentation without limitation.” 

Petal Port has an emphasis on a community of artists who have their own creations but also have collaborations with each other. 

“The most important part of Petal Port is that artists feel comfortable collaborating with each other,” said co-founder Nik Clay. 

The net label format is low commitment, which creates a stress-free atmosphere for the artists on the label.

“We both just wanted to have a label where we felt like we had a home,” Clay said when describing his and Lindsay’s experience with net labels had been majority EDM/electronic music, which they didn’t feel connected to. 

“Our music is mostly analog,” Clay said. “It’s guitar oriented music that is accentuated. We try to keep our music as organic as possible but we will fill in the blanks with electronics when we need to.”

Petal Port currently has four artists signed as well as one dedicated visual artist. The artists are Noah Hafford, who goes by Crying on Vacation; Clay, whose project is titled Honey Rocket; Brett Hanley, who goes by Larksburg; Timothy Lindsay, whose project is titled The Playgrounds; and the visual artist is Alyssa Leandra Dalangin.

“Collaboration is the number one tag on all of my music, I like to get as many of my friends together as possible to make music together.” Clay said he takes his inspiration from artists such as Supercar and The Microphones, and the subjects prominent in his project are his personal favorite things and people, ranging anywhere from fast food to the ocean. When discussing his responsibilities as Petal Port’s co-founder, he said “It consists of organization, social media, talent scouting, video editing and graphic design.” 

The other member of Petal Port, Hanley, writes off-beat, lo-fi indie-pop under the name Larksburg. 

“I’ve been writing music since I was thirteen, once I started playing guitar,” Hanley said. 

Hanley takes inspiration from many different artists, but especially from artists who characteristically record in old school methods, such as cassette tapes, known as lo-fi. 

“I’ve put out almost exclusively lo-fi releases,” Hanley said. “I’m not recording lo-fi because I have to, but because I like the aesthetic and the sound.” 

Even though Petal Port is a net label, they are also releasing physical copies of their music on CDs and cassettes in their online store. Petal Port’s first release as a label is titled “Petal Port Volume 1” on Saturday, which is a collaboration of about three songs from each of the signed artists.

 “We are accepting submissions for Petal Port, but we aren’t looking for a specific sound,” said Clay. “What we are doing is just really homegrown.” 

To find more information on Petal Port and the signed artists, visit petalportmusic.com.