
About this episode
Jarrett Fuller interviews Sam Valenti IV about the intersection of music and design, the cultural significance of record labels, and curatorial roles in the digital age.
Sam Valenti IV is the founder of Ghostly International, a music label and art company he founded in 1999 and known for experimental electronic artists like Matthew Dear, Tycho, and Galcher Lustwerk. On the occasion of Ghostly’s 25th anniversary, they just released We’ll Never Stop Living This Way: A Ghostly International Catalogue, a large coffee-table book celebrating the label’s artists, designers, and ethos. In this conversation, Jarrett and Sam talk about the relationship between music and design, the record label as a cultural brand, and the role of the curator in the age of the algorithm. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/280-sam-valenti — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com
People in this episode
Host: Jarrett Fuller
Guest: Sam Valenti IV
Topics covered
- music
- design
- record label
- cultural brand
- curation
- algorithm
Keywords
- Ghostly International
- Sam Valenti IV
- music label
- art company
- experimental electronic
- curator
- algorithm
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Ghostly International
Books & works: We’ll Never Stop Living This Way: A Ghostly International Catalogue
More episodes of Scratching the Surface
- 30. Abbott Miller (Originally aired 5/31/17) · June 10, 2026 · 59 min
- 290. Giorgia Lupi · May 27, 2026 · 1h 0m
- 289. Marco Ferrari · May 12, 2026 · 1h 4m
- 288. Alan Ricks & Sierra Bainbridge · April 29, 2026 · 1h 1m
- 287. Jeremy Till & Tatjana Schneider · April 15, 2026 · 57 min
- 286. Heidi Korsavong & Benjamin Critton · April 1, 2026 · 1h 11m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Scratching the Surface podcast page.