01/10/2025
The world is burning and we continue to pretend. It’s difficult to live and keep a clear conscience when everything around us is in chaos. I avoided grand political speeches for a long time, but coming from an anarchist family, a communist culture and nourished by a punk spirit, I can no longer stomach what is happening: wars, repression, genocide—humanity is devouring itself and that’s really grossed me out.
Lacking any concrete career plan, I created Creaked in 1998 to be free—to do things without compromise. The fact that the label still exists today is almost a miracle—especially in the face of a music industry devoured by capitalism, algorithms and profitability at all costs. My only driving force remains raw creation, without any borders, any genres nor flags.
Streaming is a crushing machine: ecological disaster, social exploitation, cultural uniformity. Social media is hardly any better: ego are showcased and fueled by the obsession with likes. This is the backdrop against which artists must move forward, constantly hooked up to a system they know is toxic.
Take a stand? It’s a war of hypocrisy. Leave Spotify? Obviously. But then we’d also have to cut off Apple, YouTube and Meta —the entire ecosystem that traps us. Boycott Israel? Yes, of course. But what about the countries that arm and finance it? Should we punish people for the crimes of states and their governments? We are too quick to forget Rwanda, ex-Yugoslavia, the Kurds, Guatemala, Kashmir, Burma, Uyghur, Armenia … and too many forgotten others. Horror has never known any boundaries.
And meanwhile, Switzerland basks in its privileges. It is a bitter luxury to be able to question all this from a comfortable and complicit country. But to remain silent would be worse. Free Palestine, free Sudan, free Congo and free all persecuted people all around the world!
Léo and the Creaked team
