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Rafael Leafar

Rafael Leafar {2020 Film & Music Kresge Artist Fellow} is a rare multi-instrumentalist who can combine great passion, intellectual discipline, and a spiritual fire that is evocative of great artistic creativity.

He has established himself as a remarkable composer and musician not defined by any one particular genre or style.

Hailing from Detroit, Rafael’s connection to music was his parent’s music catalog of 20th century Black American Music that was fostered from a musical family at an early age.

Over the years since 2009 recording & performances with; Reggie Workman, Jeff Mills, Moodyman, Robert Hurst, Marcus Belgrave, Luis Resto, Vincent Chandler, Marion Hayden, Sterling Toles, Detroit Jazz Festival Band, Kamau Kenyatta, and Detroit Composers Collective.

Label

Axis Records

In the music industry, direct-to-fan is the equivalent of short circuit in food. It's like buying fruits and vegetables directly from the producer.

Like the short food circuit, the direct-to-fan purchase guarantees fairer remuneration for artists and labels (about 75% of a direct-to-fan sale goes to the producer), allowing them to sustain the development of their artistic projects.

The number of intermediaries is reduced to a minimum and transport costs, as well as the associated CO2 emissions, are optimized.

This new direct sales channel also makes it possible to fill cultural deserts and to receive your disc on the day of its official release thanks to pre-orders.

In summary, as soon as the Direct-to-fan tag appears, it means that there is only us between the artists, the labels and you.

Within our direct-to-fan offer, you have access to exclusive and limited editions that you will not find anywhere else!

They are improved and increased versions of the standard version are the result of the relationships we have with our partners.

Exclusive editions are at the heart of a release strategy of an album. It is a very strong desire on the part of artists and labels to reward their fans in the first place.

Thylacine, octobre 2022
@ Bigwax.io Paris - France

For example: signed edition, numbered edition, colored vinyl, poster, fanzine, felt, concert ticket, patch, alternative visual, cover... This can also be exclusive merchandising sold alone or in a bundle version of the release.

Jacques, février 2022
@ Bigwax.io Paris - France

Most of the exclusive editions are manufactured by our Squeezer pressing branch, ensuring that we are the first to receive the stock.

Thanks to pre-orders, we make everything possible to deliver your exclusive editions on the day of the official release.

Squeezer is our pressing branch. This means that we accompany labels and artists at every stage of the process of making a record. Behind the Made by Squeezer tag are important values :

For more than 10 years, all our records (vinyls, CDs) have been pressed at Optimal Media in Germany, a company with a strong ecological commitment that has earned a reputation as a leading service provider for the Media Industry. (recycled vinyl and paper, plant-based ink, FSC paper).

Optimal Media today counts among its members one of the best quality control manager in the world and offers the most competitive and reliable deadlines on the market.

-> Thorsten Megow - Making Vinyl

Optimal Media most notable projects, the essential Limited 14-LP Boxed Edition by The Beatles reissued for the original master tapes.

With more than 5 million records pressed, Squeezer is also a reference on the French market for Independents of all sizes with vinyl pressings such as FKJ, Lomepal, The Dø, Sébastien Tellier, Flavier Berger, PNL, Wax Tailor, Vitalic, Jacques , Dabeul, etc.

Award

In 2017, Squeezer won the Alex Award for best overall packaging in Detroit (US) for the vinyl project Black Rck, produced in collaboration with the Akatre studio.

2017 – Alex Award – Making Vinyl (US) First Price “Best Overall Package” Vinyl for Blck Rck – Akatre.

Pre-ordering is above all a relationship of trust since you make your purchase in advance in exchange for the promise of delivery at a later date.

But did you know it's much more than that?

Pre-ordering avoids overproduction and therefore overstocking. It gives us the opportunity to pay labels and artists ahead of the release of an album, to cover part of the many expenses related to the production and promotion of a record before it is in your hands.

Pre-ordering is an opportunity on all levels; pre-ordering means reserving your copy to avoid possible stock shortages, giving artists and labels more leeway and offering us the logistical flexibility to deliver to you on the right date.

Warning: Remember to look carefully at the shipping date shown on the product page!

100% Recycling vinyl record
Environmentally friendly products

The Re-Vinyl offers you a sustainable alternative. The vinyl record is produced using 100% recycled materials from the in-house material recovery directly at the pressing plant Optimal Media in Germany (Our exclusive partner for pressing).

Whether as Black and or as Coloured Re-Vinyl with random colour composition, all records are with the DIN standards for industrially manufactured vinyl records.

The PVC granulate is obtained by the shredding of edge trimmings and production returns and is free of paper residues and dirt.

Black Re-Vinyl

Vinyl record made of 100 % black recycled PVC.

Coloured Re-Vinyl

Vinyl record made of 100 % multi-coloured recycled PVC.
Every vinyl record is one of a kind: the colour composition depends on the raw material available and cannot be selected freely.

Sustainability and ecology are becoming more and more part of social consciousness, hence the need to find solutions within the production of vinyl records to reduce the use of fossil raw materials and CO2 emissions.

BioVinyl is a sustainable product made from bio-based PVC and is proven to be the most reliable alternative to PVC on the market.

The oil formerly necessary for the production of S-PVC is replaced here by the recycling of used cooking oils or industrial waste gases for a quality identical to a conventional standard or color pressing.

In addition, the entire BioVinyl manufacturing process is subject to ISCC PLUS certification, which guarantees a responsible and sustainable PVC sector in terms of the circular economy and transparency in the supply chain.