Having released two stunning EPs, Collar was a Australian duo who made music akin to that of Bob Moses, albeit more synth-focused with darker sounds. Gaining some editorial attention especially in the Australian electronic music scene, the pair even got interviewed and editorially covered on music publications and Spotify. However, mid-April in 2023, their music was pulled from all streaming services with the exception of four tracks remaining on YouTube in the form of either a lyric video or visualizer.
‘Strangest Desires’ was a personal favorite of mine, and by far the most successful track of theirs, not only from their first EP, but out of all of their tracks, upon further releases. Their debut EP was released by Amplifire Music, a small Australian record label that, at present, only shows one unrelated artist (The Jungle Giants) on the roster section of their website. Collar’s sophomore EP, ‘HARD TIME TO TAKE IT,’ appears to have been released independently, however upon further inspection, Spotify’s copyright line will tell you that said release is “© 2021 Amplifire Music / COLLAR MUSIC,” meaning this release was also put out by Amplifire.
1001 Tracklists displays Amplifire as having released Collar’s debut EP and three other singles by The Jungle Giants, but Discogs shows entirely different releases by The Jungle Giants in addition to music from other artists.
The inconsistency alone raises some real questions about Amplifire in and of itself, such as if the label is even legitimate and what the reasoning is for these moves. I reached out to Amplifire, but they refused to comment, which only opens up a whole additional slew of questions about both Collar and Amplifire.
If anyone has any information they’d like to share with Magnetic to make public, please contact us and reference this article, but for now, the fate of Collar remains a mystery. We would normally include a link to follow and stream Collar via, however since they have disappeared from the internet, the YouTube video (and subsequently channel) above is the only thing we have.
