I founded PACAYA records as I was releasing my debut album in 2014. The vision was for the record label to function as an artist collective where everyone had a say, where everyone could and should help out and where the bands could keep the rights to their compositions and get all the revenue and royalty generated by their music.  

After a few years we had grown to 20 bands with over 30 releases, we had arranged concerts and festivals, including at Stora Teatern in Gothenburg.  

I also wanted us as a record label to raise the issue and take an active stance on gender equality in Sweden's music life, so now we just publish and work with bands where at least half of the participating musicians define themselves as women, non-binary or transgender. 

It both is and has been fantastic to see PACAYA records grow into the artist-driven collective it has become. I hope that we can inspire others to start their own collective and share the power that comes from working together and helping each other to move forward!

- Lovisa Samuelsson, founder of PACAYA records