Astral Spirits

• Name — Astral Spirits Records • Founded — 2014 • Founder — Nathan Cross • Genre — * free jazz • improvisation • experimental • Location — Austin, Texas, U.S. • Website — astralspiritsrecords.com

In the early 2010s, Cross began to consider starting a record label or a live-recorded series as a way to stay involved in music without touring extensively. He spoke with Morgan Coy of Monofonus Press while in the early planning stages, and Coy encouraged him to start a label under the Monofonus umbrella. Cross named the label after a recurring song title in Joe McPhee's work: the first "Astral Spirits" track appeared on McPhee's Trinity, recorded in 1971, and he continued to use the name on later releases (e.g., Oleo and In the Spirit). Astral Spirits began as a cassette-based label, but later expanded to include vinyl and CDs. All albums are also available as digital releases, but the catalogue is not available through low-revenue streaming services such as Spotify. Since the label's inception, Cross has handled most logistics––aside from artwork and layout––himself, including curation, press, and shipping.

The Astral Spirits logo was designed by Mason McFee, who also chose the label's signature Cooper Black font; for the first two years, McFee created all tape and LP artwork. Jaime Zuverza later took over design, eventually developing a template for the label's distinctive visual aesthetic; he listens to, and creates artwork specifically for, the majority of Astral Spirits releases.