We started Future Rust in 2019 with the vision of creating a record label that featured and celebrated innovative handpan music. The handpan (aka cupola, pantam, or “hang drum”) is barely two decades old– an infant, by traditional instrument standards– and we wanted to build a platform and community that encouraged experimentation. With the release of Future Rust: Volume 1, a compilation album that included renowned artists such as Manu Delago, David Kuckhermann, Kabeção, and Dante Bucci, as well as the launch of the first annual International Handpan Day, Future Rust quickly made a name for itself in the handpan community.
In the years following, it became clear to us that we were actually chasing after an even bigger idea – something that we couldn’t quite put our finger on. Meanwhile, we began to notice that our interests were gradually shifting away from music that uses the handpan as the centrepiece, in favour of music that creatively incorporates the handpan through more abstract methods.
This conceptual shift put us in a difficult position. We were unsure of where this new musical direction might take us, or if anyone else would join us in our journey. We were also skeptical of completely leaving our roots as a “handpan label”; after all, new players are emerging all around the world, and there’s clearly so much brilliant handpan-centric music that has yet to be made.
The answer was staring us right in the face:
We simply don’t have to choose between these two different musical directions. Instead, we are setting out to cultivate a platform that celebrates all types of innovation. Whether it be handpan-centric, handpan-adjacent, or entirely “post-handpan”, Future Rust will encourage any style of creativity that reflects deeply on both the past and future of the instrument.
We ARE accepting unsolicited demos: If you’re an artist who shares our vision, feel free to send LINKS to your (unreleased, unsigned) music to demos (at) futurerustrecords (dot com). Do not send files, our email filters will eat them. We look forward to hearing your submissions.
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Founder: Lauri Wuolio
Cocreator: Connor Shafran
Visual Designer: Jaakko Suomalainen