LWE’s seventh Talking Shopcast, mixed by Szare, was a diverse blend of techno with a heavy helping of their own as-yet-unreleased material. Be sure to add it to your collection before it’s archived this Friday, January 6th.

In these days of near-weightless laptops and tiny iPhone production studios, the lure of vintage sounds, unwieldy analogue gear and physical media is hardly a surprise. The Hague-based Crème Organization embodies these tenants fully, issuing 12″ after 12″ of classicist house and boggy modular synthscapes. Born out of the 90s West Coast scene in the Netherlands, Crème’s embrace of Midwest acid-house has at once kept true to the genre’s origin while operating according to its own idiosyncratic rulebook. The label has gotten better (and weirder) with each year, and 2011 saw loads of top shelf jackers from names like Myriadd, Willie Burns and Legowelt’s Chicago Shags project released bearing Crème catalog numbers. With a very solid decade under its belt, Crème is heading into it’s next ten years strong, so LWE figured it was about time we got to know a little more about this South Holland institution. Label head Jeroen, aka DJ TLR, shed a bit of light on the label and in the process provided our 13th Talking Shopcast — one heavy in unreleased Crème-y goodness.

Let’s start at the beginning: how did Crème Organization start?

DJ TLR: Honestly? I don’t really remember. I have hazy memories of being at the old Bunker house, where a round cheese with a salami swastika embedded in it was sitting in the freezer that DJ Gitano made, I remember that. [laughs] I was with Guy [Tavares] from Unit Moebius and Danny Legowelt and talking about it, but that’s about it. I made some tracks with Danny, got some demos, pressed some records on the Acid Planet account at the plant, backdoored my way into distribution and that was it. Within a week I had to repress, so I thought that was normal. [laughs] Little did I know…

What was your original intention with Crème, and how has that evolved over the years?

Nothing, I just like doing things and making something that’s my own. Plus I was around a bunch of talented people, really — frighteningly talented — and at that time we were right in the action. It seemed logical or something, like riding a wave. But there never was any mission statement and if it evolved it is along the lines of my own taste and that of the people I’m interested in.

What was the relationship between Crème and Bunker records?

I’ve known Guy since the late 80s more or less. We come from the same shit towns/scenes. Back in those days the alternative scene around the west coast was really small and he was a character, so we’d hang around the same venues and squats and stuff. Later on I started doing Internet things and throwing some parties, right around the time Bunker started again with the 3000 series and I was working on some websites like Global Darkness which got quite big at the time. We decided to sham ourselves into a world tour by just anouncing it on the Internet and to our surprise it actually started happening and people wanted to book dates and stuff. [laughs] Wweet!

It seems like the Netherlands have always fully embraced distinctly American sounds (notably Chicago house and Detroit electro), while adding their own twist and really making these sounds their own. What do you think is at the heart of the relationship between the Netherlands and Chicago/Detroit?

Chicago and Detroit are the cradle of house and techno, really some of the last major musical paradigm shifts. It’s hard to imagine how alien and crazy and flat-out exciting that sounded some 20 years ago but it had a huge impact all over the western world. I mean, look at the Germans, they’re still not over it. A lot of it snuck in here through the UK back in the day. It probably sounded so distinct because the people copying it didn’t know what they were doing yet and acted more on their own romantic ideas about the music than anything else. The world held more mysteries back then and your own imagination was more important. A lot of music was more distinctly regional back then. It had to be. You couldn’t just type “Chicago House” in Google and get more info than you can process.

What is the scene like in the west coast of the Netherlands?

Depends on what you’re looking for. But if you mean the club scene I don’t know, I only go to clubs if they pay me. But there is enough cool shit going on here to make life pretty comfortable.

Crème has a very strong visual identity. Who does your designs?

Godspill pretty much. He does about 75 percent, unless the artist demands he doesn’t and comes up with something cool themselves. Sometimes I do it myself when the mood grabs me. But mostly Godspill is part of the package deal.

Do you think it’s important for a label to have such a strong visual side?

It helps, but the music wins in the end. I mean, I have skipped god knows how many records with cool sleeves because the music sucked, you know, and the other way around, too, so I have a lot of shit sleeves in my collection. But yeah, when you have a cool record with a nice sleeve, what can beat that? Also, on a more boring level, a consistent graphic image helps with the branding — it comes across stronger and its good for the recognizability. Anyway, that’s all peasant economics.

Crème often issues very pretty colored vinyl. How much importance do you place on the physical piece of vinyl as an object?

The artifact is important to me. I collect myself and it’s great when records are nice. You can drag them into your cave and look at them and stuff, touch them, smell them, project onto them all the things you lack in normal life. It’s better then a girlfriend, ’cause when she shouts at you it sounds like music in your ears. So what are you waiting for, boys!

How have you adapted to the shifting vinyl market over the past decade?

Digitally. And by making records less about the DJ market and more about the vinyl freak market — it has to be worth buying. The days of the throwaway DJ tool are definitely over.

What’s a typical day like running the label?

Like being a mid-level floor manager at a Walmart: paperwork, politics, manipulation, calculation, scamming, and hanging out with/talking to/charming/swearing at people, people, people, and even more people. If you’re really lucky you get some music stuff to do but even then it’s mostly drowning in mid-priced bargain bin quality reissues of the electronic equivalent of Barry Manilow paddling a beige canoe over a sea of mediocrity.

What are a couple of releases that really stand out to you in the label’s back catalog?

That’s like a trap, man. They’re all special to me in some way or other!

What’s coming up for Crème?

Lately I’ve really been into doing videos for our globalXdarkness YouTube channel — plug, plug. For the rest I’m really excited by the upcoming releases, they’re crazy: Orgue Electronique, Robert Owens, Parking Attendant, John Heckle, Tevo Howard, Legowelt, Trackman Lafonte, D’Marc Cantu. These are but a few of the names I drop into your collective laps, or mouse clickers. Also some cool parties and stuff coming up; seriously, I’m very excited about it all.

What can you tell me about the mix? How does it represent Crème as a label?

It’s upcoming Creme stuff, mixed with some things from people and labels I like these days, like WT Records, L.I.E.S., M>O>S, stuff like that. They’re all connected artists in some way or other, even if only musically. Most of it’s unreleased I think, at least at the time I got it.

Talking Shopcast 13: DJ TLR (62:47)

Tracklist:

01. Xosar, “2012″ [white]
02. John Heckle, “Last Magic Maker” [Crème Organization*]
03. Alex Israel, “Welcome To Guntersville” [WT Records]
04. Trackman Lafonte & Bonquiqui, “More Then A Cat Has Ever Seen”
[Crème Organization*]
05. The Actor, Picture 210 [Trumpett]
06. Marco Passerani, “White Dwarf” [Running Back]
07. D’Marc Cantu, “10x As Strong” [Lux Records]
08. Steve Summers, “Different Paths” [L.I.E.S.]
09. Trackman Lafonte & Bonquiqui, “The Feeling” [Crème Organization*]
10. Willie Burns, “unreleased remix” [Crème Organization*]
11. Chicago Skyway,” Marie” (Aroy Dee Edit) [M>O>S Recordings*]
12. Argy, “Daze To Come” [Versatile Records]
13. Orgue Electronique ft. Robert Owens, “Our House” (KiNK & Neville Watson Ruff Kut1) [Crème Organization*]
14. Xosar, “Bangladeshi Pagan House” [white]
15. Larry Heard, “Winterflower” [Rebirth]
16. John Heckle, “On the Fields” [Crème Organization*]
17. Trackman Lafonte & Bonquiqui,” Trackman Lafonte” [Crème Organization*]
18. DJ Overdose, “Fabriek” [Crème Organization*]
* denotes tracks which, as of the time of publishing, are unreleased

LWE’s sixth Talking Shopcast was an hour of lush, funky house by Japanese producer and Yore affiliate Kez YM. Be sure to add it to your collection before it’s archived this Friday, December 2nd.

2011 has seen a proliferation of releases from 100% Silk, the dance offshoot of Los Angeles experimental institution Not Not Fun. What initially seemed like the varied results of Not Not Fun artists dabbling in dance music has since blossomed into a fully functional crossover zone. Sonically, 100% Silk fills a niche between the art-school new-new age of its parent label and the gnarled Rust Belt electronics of producers like Omar-S and Hieroglyphic Being. The releases by Ital, Sir Stephen, Innergaze, and Magic Touch are rough around the edges and halfway naive, but they nevertheless end up sounding pretty aware of dance music’s roots, like outsider re-envisionings of old school tropes. Then again, 100% Silk is probably going to be as hard to pin down as Not Not Fun — one of its recent releases, Octo Octa’s clean-cut Let Me See You, could potentially have come out on Rush Hour or Numbers. This all amounts to one of the year’s major developments, so we called label owner Amanda Brown to discuss the label’s origins, its aesthetics, and its future. LWE also commissioned Magic Touch to represent the label with a mix, and his selection is an energetic exploration of classic sounds, with some original edits and new material to boot.

Please state your name and what you do at 100% Silk.

Amanda Brown: I’m Amanda Brown; I run it. I mean, you don’t want to know the nitty-gritty. I do everything. I own it. Is that a better word than I run it? I own it. I’m the janitor that cleans up after it.

So how and why did you start the label? What was the impetus?

Well, you know Britt [Brown] and I have been running Not Not Fun since, like, 2003, 2004. He knows better the exact date, but around then. And you know, in all those years it’s kind of like — you can only be so much of a trendsetter, and you can only be so much of a tastemaker because you’re really just listening to the underground, and you’re waiting for demos, and you’re giving as much as you’re getting. And so when the best people in music were making drone, we were getting great drone records and putting out great drone records. And the same with psychedelic rock, and the same with lo-fi garage, and the same with ambient stuff, and the same with lo-fi pop and everything. But you can’t really step out of the mold too far, you know? I used to say, ‘Oh, we’ll turn a corner and one day we’ll start getting hip-hop demos, and we’ll start getting rap demos, and we’ll start getting R&B demos. You know, that day just would never come because you can’t always break into those worlds, and you can’t always move those scenes closer to you. I guess I just kept wanting to do dancier stuff, and I kept wanting to do music with a lot of movement to it, and we just weren’t getting those demos.

Around a year and a half ago I started to notice that a lot of my friends who were making music were actually beginning to make more beat-based music, and it was kind of like — not a hidden thing, but it was a side, side, side project under-the-radar thing. And I kept thinking, ‘I think this is real, and I think that this is happening, but everybody’s a little nervous about it because, obviously, the underground isn’t always very open to change.’ I used to think of it as really open minded, but I think it’s like a lumbering ship and it’s really hard to move people in different directions. But as the months went on, and guided by Daniel Martin-McCormick — who does Ital and Sex Worker and Mi Ami — we were just talking about it, and I was like, ‘I think I’m going to start my own dance label.’ And of course Britt was like, ‘That’s ridiculous. You have so much work to do. You’ve got your own label now; you won’t ever be able to do it.’ And in a way he was right, and it’s really stressful. [laughs] I just started saying to all my friends, ‘OK, if you make dance music, let’s put it out.’ You know, ‘Let’s push it a little bit, and see how much we can get away with.’ Because as you know, or you may not know, the dance world is very strict and very cut off. It’s much like the hip-hop, rap world; there’s a strain of people making that kind of music and they want to be famous. They want to be rich, and they don’t want to go through the underground channels, which makes total sense to me. So I was like, ‘Well, we’ll just sit around, and we’ll wait for everyone to come to us.’ And the first few records I put out were my friends, and then the demos started to come in. And everything changed. And I was lucky.

Yeah, I was going to ask about that: The first few records were from people who had already released or were currently releasing on Not Not Fun or were also releasing on Not Not Fun — like The Deeep or Ital. But have all the recent things been your A&R work? Like Octo Octa, who hasn’t released on Not Not Fun, how have you gone about finding these people — have the more recent releases all been from demos?

The Internet is just this very dorky thing where you can exist on it for four-and-a-half minutes and 9,000 people are going to find you. It’s something I just am always blown away by. I put out a few records, just a few, and I only had a blog up for a few months, and everybody just started coming to me. I was really lucky because I think through Daniel and Damon [Palermo] — who’s also in Mi Ami, and a few other friends — they would suggest to their friends, ‘Oh, send some demos to Amanda; she’s really open minded about dance music.’ And so that’s how I met Innergaze — Jason [Letkiewicz] and Aurora [Halal] are really good friends with Daniel and Damon. A lot of other people are through links, but honestly, I would just start getting demos from people who were amazing. I was like, ‘You don’t even need me. You should go straight to DFA; you should go straight to R&S or Hyperdub or Planet Mu or something. You don’t need me. I’m way, way, way novice at this.’ And everyone was like, ‘Hey, why not? It’s exciting to be part of something new, and it’s exciting to be part of something open minded.’

I’m really obsessed with artists. I like being a fan more than anything. I think I just provide a real, warm, kind of caring little community, and I think that is really nice for dance producers who usually get — I wouldn’t say a “cold” reaction from labels, but just a very straightforward business-like relationship. And I try to be more nurturing. I haven’t been doing it long enough to be able to say I can make everybody happy, but I work really, really, really hard to make sure the artists are happy, more than anything. Because I think if they’re happy, they’ll make the best music, and then the fans will be happy so it’s a direct thing. And Michael [Morrison] from Octo Octa just wrote me out of nowhere, and I was absolutely blown away and completely ecstatic. He sent me one song — or he just sent me a link to his SoundCloud page, and I was like, ‘What in the world?’ It’s like that lucky moment where you’re like, ‘Oh my god.’ All I did was get an email address. I’m so fortunate that people want to release with me.’ In a larger sense, I think, obviously, if I could do this for a really long time, if I could do this for as long as Not Not Fun, I’d like to think that people all over the world, making all different kinds of dance music would write to me. I may not release jacked-up techno, or like happy hardcore, but I’d like to think one day I’d get a demo like that. I’m open to hear everything. So I’m just looking forward to the craziness that will come.

I guess on a similar note, compared to Not Not Fun, you’ve only released 12″s so far and MP3s, but if one of these new artists like Octo Octa — if they wanted to release a full LP, would you put that on Not Not Fun or Silk?

I’m already doing a few EPs and LPs. I have a longer Maria Minerva Silk record coming out, and longer records by people, and they’ll all be on Silk and have their own jackets with their own art, and they won’t be part of the 12″ series. They’ll be longer form.

Is there any, like, deciding factor that puts something on one or the other? Like The Deeep had an album — well, maybe that was pre-Silk. But I mean, the LA Vampires Goes Ital record was on Not Not Fun. Is there any deciding factor that means you put a release out on one or the other?

You know, if singles are really, really, really dancey, and they’re dance music, they’re going to go on Silk. Not Not Fun does not do strict dance music. And we try not to be genre-based, and we try to be just all over the place so we can put out the best music in all genres, but on Silk I can’t do that. If someone sends me a really, really great demo but it’s not dance music, I can’t put it out. If I love it, though, I’ll say we can maybe put that out on Not Not Fun. But I have to be a little stricter with the side label because I’m trying to do something genre specific.

For each release how much selection of tracks do you do? Or curation?

Oh yeah, well, it depends. With a lot of dance artists, what they prefer to do is 12″s on a bunch of different labels. So they don’t necessarily all want to make LP-length records. So sometimes people will just send me two or three tracks, and that’s it. There’s not much of a curatorial position because that’s what they have to give, and that’s what they want to be on my label. With other people, though, sometimes they’ll send me seven, eight songs, and they’ll say, ‘Which ones do you prefer? And which ones do you think have the best movement?’ And that’s what I did with Michael, with Octo Octa, he had a lot of songs, and I was like, ‘I feel like these four go together the best, and –’ You know, I’m only as much a part of the process as they need me to be. I love to give an opinion, and I think one of the only things I’m good at, maybe, is sort of knowing how my own audience is going to react. You run a label for a long time, and you see in trends, and you see outside of trends, and you see who’s buying what and why, and how they feel about it, and what they feel about the things they love and the things they hate. And so if someone can give me nine or 10 tracks, I can probably tell the tracks that are going to go over the best. When I’m put in that position, I definitely have an opinion, and I do as much as I can to steer people in the right direction. I think as myself, as an artist too, I also need an editor, and I also need someone to come in and say, ‘Amanda, these aren’t your best tracks; these are.’

I think we all need to come outside of our bubble sometimes. I think when artists are open to that, I try to give the best feedback I can and help them craft the best three or four song EP. But other people — you know, I’m about to put out this record by Paul Dickow, who does Strategy — he lives in Portland or something. He’s amazing, and he doesn’t need me to tell him a lot. And I mean that as the highest compliment. Not that when people need my opinion, they’re not already brilliant, but Paul is so smart about his own music, and he was like, ‘These are the tracks I think would work best,’ and he was right about all of them. And he was like, ‘And this is the sequence I have, and –’ you know? I just sort of sit back, and I go, ‘Alright, man. You know exactly what you’re talking about,’ and in those scenarios we’re both fortunate, and in the other scenario we’re also both fortunate. You can always benefit from a label head’s curatorial skills. I know I have in the past, as LA Vampires, and in Pocahaunted too. So you just give as much as the artist wants you to give.

Who does the design work? And also, the artwork has been in uniform sets of five or six so far. Is that kind of cohesive artwork important to you? It kind of reminds me of Strictly Rhythm or something, where every record looks the same.

I pick the image for everything, and I’m lucky enough that I have design friends who do the layouts and the logos, and just help me make it as beautiful and as interesting as possible. The first one was my friend Jesselisa Moretti; the second one was this amazing designer named Bobby Houlihan, who’s incredible. And the third one is about to come out. I have one more record in the second sleeve, and then the third sleeve will begin, and I designed that one. Just myself. I don’t know, I think for me, collecting dance 12″s… I personally have no affiliation with a plain, white sleeve or a plain, black sleeve. And that’s what you’ll see a lot, you know, when people are DJing, and that’s more of the commodity of dance music. It’s these uniform things — it’s not necessarily about the art on the sleeve; it’s about the music and having the white label and sort of being as easy to make and easy to produce and get around as possible. But I don’t really feel a connection to that, necessarily.

What I really used to respond to when I was younger and first started collecting records was disco sleeves that would be — you know, like the Casablanca sleeve, for example. All of their 12″s would be in that one particular sleeve. But this sleeve had art on it, and it was very label-based, and it didn’t seem as bleak as just a black sleeve or a white sleeve. But it was also, like, ‘Hey, these are candy.’ Like, ‘These are just bite-sized candy. So I’m not going to make a cover for each one.’ And with Not Not Fun, the projects are giant and the artist relationships are sometimes years in development, and with Silk I wanted to be much more — I just wanted to put out more music, and I wanted to be able to say ‘OK, let’s put it out, and let’s not stress about the art right now. Let’s just get the music out, and I’ll make a beautiful sleeve, and we’ll run off 500, and then they’ll sell out, and they’ll be these great little time capsule pieces of candy.’ But you know, as the label goes on and people want to do longer things, we’ll start making sleeves that are particular to the records, but right now I think people sort of like that collectible, collect-them-all feeling. At least I hope so.

Are there any label past or present that you’re particularly inspired by in running 100% Silk?

You know, I have so much respect for all dance labels working now, in particular DFA, R&S, Hyperdub, Future Times, and Planet Mu. I just think doing it right now is difficult, you know? Because it’s not 1988. It’s not 1992. It’s not the most vibrant time in history for dance, you know? It’s hard to keep it up now. A lot of people make glitchy music, a lot of people make weird hybrid dance music — it’s hard to say, ‘I’m going to continue to cultivate and appreciate dance music.’ Because, dance parties and stuff like that are really rare. Live DJs DJing house music is rare, and acid music is rare. Because once rave came it was, like, a lot of things had changed. And so I think anyone who’s still doing that now and has their own aesthetic and their own taste is to be absolutely applauded. I think the people who are doing it at all — that’s just, like, amazing to me.

It’s really hard work to convince people to like dance music because I think a lot of people are really attached to guitars. I think guitars are the albatross around the neck of the underground. It’s hard to think of someone, ‘This music is soulful, and it doesn’t have any guitars on it. It’s soulful, and it doesn’t have any singing on it.’ Or, ‘It’s soulful, and it doesn’t have any live drums on it.’ So in that way, of course I have such an appreciation for that. But when it just comes to the aesthetics and the ideas behind running labels, I grew up on Kill Rock Stars and K Records, early Matador and Merge and Touch and Go and stuff. I just think that any — any one person or any one team that keeps the underground vibrant, and keeps putting time and energy and love into it and keeps saying, ‘Let’s get deeper, let’s get weirder,’ That’s how you create legends. And I’m not looking to be a legend myself, but I’m certainly looking to create legends out of the amazing artists that are on my label. I’d like the majority of them to go down in history. You know, that’s pretty much the cockiest thing a person can say, but it’s true: I’d love them all to be really respected and well known and over time become these little beacons of dance hope. So I’m just going to push on until that happens.

Regarding people DJing house music today or doing it legit today and how rare that is, how much do you think the actual club experience informs the label? I know there have been a couple of 100% Silk nights recently.

I mean, I would love there to be weekly nights, monthly nights, all over the country, the world. I joke all the time [that] I’m going to go to Ibiza and take over. But I think the point is to bring sort of thing back to the forefront. I think a lot of people go to underground shows, and I think a lot of people find their one or two little venues in their city or state, and they hover around them and wait for good bands to come and wait for the best nights. And sometimes not even, they just go to get a drink, and hope they’re going to catch a band tonight. And for me, I would love that to be true of dance music, and I would love more dance clubs to open up that were after hours or late hours stuff with people DJing and playing. I think that that would really change the landscape of dance music. Instead of a giant rave that you have to go to the desert to see — or the more crazy pop-hybrid nights where it’s kind of like jacked-up Katy Perry dance, and it’s not really strict dance, you know?

I wish that the house [scene] was really vibrant in my city, in Los Angeles. I can’t speak for the rest of the country or world, but I know that if that’s the kind of music you DJ or play, it’s really hard in this city to find a forum for it. So I’m working on that, but yeah, I feel like if there was more of that, it would really change how people look at dance music because experiencing it live is the ultimate. It’s much better than having it on record, it’s much better than hearing it on the computer, obviously. It’s the experience, you know? And I think that the experience is the top, and we’re about to go on a 100% Silk tour in November — that I just booked — for a week through the east coast. That’ll be the first taste test of, can we convert people in seven cities into being full-on dance fans, by just playing them the best dance music, and providing them with a full night of dancing and sweating and getting down and being vibrant and alive. Or will everyone just come with their arms folded and enjoy the music, but sort of just stand there because they don’t really dance or know how to dance. So that will be the first test, I guess.

What cities are you playing on that?

We’re playing Brooklyn, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and D.C. Cleveland — that should be crazy.

Cleveland?

Yeah. [laughs]

Yeah, sounds — I can’t imagine, actually.

I know, neither can we, and that’s why it’s going to be bizarre.

So aside from that, what’s coming up for the label?

Really good stuff. I mean, really good records. It’s funny because I think a long time ago when I first started Not Not Fun and people would ask questions like that I would be like, ‘Oh, some records, and we’re working hard.’ Because everything felt like an ego trip. If I would say any record was good, I felt like I was blowing myself up, but these days, you know, whatever. I can just tell you it’s the best music ever, and I’m really excited about it, and I’m really excited for people to hear it. Records by Strategy and Polonaise and Moon Pool & Dead Band and more Maria Minerva and this guy named Bayou, who’s awesome, and just a lot of really incredible thoughtful stuff from all the country, and a few people from outside of the States. And yeah, the Silk tours and hopefully some Silk nights and some LA Vampires stuff. And world domination? Dance domination?

Yeah, hopefully.

It’ll never be world domination, but if someone wants to dance, I’m hoping to speak with them directly. You know? That’s the goal.

Talking Shopcast 12: Magic Touch (50:01)

Tracklist:

01. 4th Measure Men, “Given” (MK Dub) [Area 10]
02. Lian Ross, “Do You Wanna’ Funk” [Chic*]
03. Underground Resistance ft Yolanda, “Living For The Nite” (For The Club) [Underground Resistance*]
04. Raw Elements, “Lost in Time” [Final Cut]
05. Master C&J, “Dub It” [State Street Records*]
06. Da Posse ft Martell, “Searchin’ Hard” (Acid Mix) [Dance Mania*]
‪07. Congress, “40 Miles” (Instrumental) [Inner Rhythm*]
08. Inner City, “(That Man) He’s All Mine” (Marc Kinchen Vocal Remix) [Virgin*]
09. Soft House Company, “…A Little Piano [Global Village*]
10.1. Soft House Company, “…A Little Piano [Global Village*] /
10.2. Raiders Of The Lost Arp, “Beyond The Dark” (DJ S2/Los Hermanos Mix) [Nature Records*]
10.3. Asso, “Don’t Stop” [Ace Records*]
11.1. Asso, “Don’t Stop” [Ace Records*]
11.2. L.E.B. Harmony, “Feeling Love” [Melba*]
11.3. Jermaine Jackson, “Erucu” [Tamla*]
12. Ron Hardy, “Baby Baby Aw Shucks” [Partehardy Records*]
13.1. Asso, “Don’t Stop” [Ace Records*]
13.2. Jermaine Jackson, “Erucu” [Tamla*]
13.3. Two Men From Jersey, “So Special” [Bass Boy Records*]
14. Bobby Browser, “Smooth Cruise” [100% Silk]
* denotes tracks which are edited or unreleased

Delsin certainly has come along way from its humble beginnings 15 years ago. The Dutch label started with 50 cassette copies of owner Marsel van der Wielen’s own Peel Seamus productions and continued to slowly build an identity that grew from deep electronica, broken beat and electro to what it’s best known for now — post-Detroit techno charting the fringes of the galaxy. While 2010 saw a bit of a slow down and new names such as Conforce and A Made Up Sound being brought into the fold, Delsin appears to be ripe for new conquests of sound. We caught up with van der Wielen to reflect on the long, strange journey the label has taken and where he sees it leading to next. We also drafted Delsin/Ann Aimee cohort Delta Funktionen (who plays the Bunker this Friday) to mix together Talking Shopcast 10 as a special treat.

How did you first become involved in electronic music and what lead you to start Delsin originally?

Marsel van der Wielen: It probably doesn’t differ that much from other people of my age. As a young kid I was already into a lot of pop music, taping everything from radio, etc. At that time there were also those things around we simply called mixes, which was done by tape-editing if I’m correct, cutting up of all kinds of tunes. I was also into computers; I fell heavily in love with my Commodore 64, gaming and those things. With groups like MARRS and S’Express, those things kind of came together for me. I was 13/14 at that time, and we simply called it computer music. In 1988 the whole acid house explosion came along, mainly releases through the UK, introducing artists as Royal House/Todd Terry, Phuture, Humanoid, Bomb The Bass, 808 State, Fast Eddie, etc. I was kind of a DJ at a local youth culture venue — although I doubt to which degree it deserved that word — which gave me the ability to buy records and start collecting. From 1990 onwards I got more interested in less ‘party’/more listening music like Orbital, The Orb, 808 State. In 1991 it really took off for me with the whole second wave of Detroit, with Planet E, Kenny Larkin, Underground Resistance, shortly followed by the whole UK wave things as Warp/Artificial Intelligence, Aphex Twin, B12, Global Communication, etc. Around 1992 I also bought my first piece of equipment, a Roland Workstation W30. I sent some demos out to my favorite labels back then, like Eevo Lute, ART, etc. With no response, I thought, let’s release it myself.

You began with a release by yourself as Peel Seamus and on cassette. What were you aspirations for the label back then? Did you think it would grow to where it is today?

Actually that first release was also my last demo. I pressed 50 tapes, I think. Sent some as demos and sold the rest of them myself, through friends and through the Internet. With no reply to the demo, I took the next step to press the records myself. As a collector I was always already heavily into labels, the whole thing with which artists, which music, which artwork, which order, frequency of releasing, etc. A lot of other people seem a lot more into DJs, mixes and stuff, but for me, being a label boss was always a dream when buying those first records back then. But actually there’s never been a big plan; it went from release to release. When I started there was once an idea not to do any CD-releases, but to do 10 EPs or so and then quit, a bit like Basic Channel. But it seems we’re at release 84 now.

In the ’90s you were involved with a website called Forcefield that in retrospect almost seems like an early version of what music blogs are today. Can you tell us about your involvement with that site?

That was in the very early days of the World Wide Web. I thought it was fun to have my own site, which was actually called Delsin at the time — like six months before I put out that release on cassette. I had put my own music on there, links to other sites, then I thought, let’s start adding reviews from records I buy. Then the great Dutch journalist Rene Passet asked me if I was interested in hosting his interviews in English — great interviews with Autechre, Herbert, et al. — and I started to add mixes by myself, re-typed some old interviews with Derrick May from 1988, and so on. Then for a short time I split it into two sites, with Delsin Inside and Delsin Outside, as the content was kind of mixed up. Delsin Outside was then renamed to Forcefield. Actually with Forcefield we did everything that’s being done now. I was scanning all the records, adding 30 seconds of audio. After a time I started the Forcefield Jukebox which was actually kind of like Spotify avant la lettre, people could email me to put on rare records they couldn’t find (Discogs didn’t yet exist) and I made a recording so the track could be streamed to RealPlayer.

Do you think music blogs have improved on or diminished what Forcefield or similar sites of that time were able to accomplish?

It hasn’t really changed I think. It’s all about the quality of content. As a record label I know a lot of (semi-)journalists are around, asking for promos and only writing positive things about your music as they otherwise seem afraid they don’t get music for free. It should be good if we get more independent and more critical. Less fanzine, so to say. It’s like information overload, and sites can distinguish themselves by filtering all information around, not overloading their visitors.

I also remember that the mixes you had posted on Forcefield/Delsin were a little different from the norm. There would be shorter mixes and ones very narrowly focused on a specific time, sound or location. In a way they seemed like miniature histories. What was your aim with doing the mixes that way?

Those were on Forcefield, yes! I remember one from UK techno, or one was the second wave of Chicago house. They were all about spreading knowledge, giving people information. I really come from the music-listening side of things, much less from the dance floor side. Maybe I should give myself a new DJ name as The Librarian.

From the artwork for Planet Delsin

Early releases on Delsin were unique and diverse, not always keeping the dance floor in mind. And that yielded some amazing work for that time (Dynarec, Yotoko, $tinkworx, etc.). Do you regret not being able to still be a champion of that diversity?

Thanks for the compliments. Hmm, yeah I think with the change in direction we might have lost some fans, but also won lots of new one. It’s also dependent on which material I get sent by artists. There’s always a kind of restless feeling in me, maybe starting another label for other kinds of music/styles. But it needs a critical mass, to fit together, to feel good. It also has to do with experience and getting older; Delsin started out pretty naive, but after releasing that amount of releases you see things repeating, there’s less of an automatic rush for doing things. You see the same thing for artists, who start producing mostly when they are in their early 20′s and everything goes naturally, they are growing and growing, but in a lot of cases that fades when you’re doing it for several years. As a label boss it’s much easier, as you can depend on the creativity of a pool of artists, but you need to keep it fun and challenging for yourself, and in that way adapt and re-invent the things you’re doing. But to answer your question — yes, sometimes I miss the diversity. For that reason I’m very happy we’re doing the John Beltran Best of Ambient album on lovely triple vinyl, full of his wonderful music.

Your 50th release, Planet Delsin, was supposed to be your swan song. What made you decide Delsin needed to continue?

I kind of lost the spirit and motivation, so I took a semi-break in 2005 when Shed’s single and the Planet Delsin compilation was released. Delsin used to be a broader label, more an “I release whatever I like” label. From Planet Delsin onwards I became more focused and narrowed it so it’s more clear to the audience what to expect. You can also call it marketing, if you want. It’s more like I’m operating from a bigger distance. It now serves the music and artists as much as it serves me. So what I sort of call Delsin 2.0, which is what the last compilation was called as well, it’s more of a broad techno label.

Ann Aimee was started as a “Delsin offshoot for deep electronica.” After the first four releases I have a hard time distinguishing it from Delsin. Do you think Ann Aimee has fulfilled that original ambition?

Ann Aimee kind of stopped in 2004, after four singles and four albums. It was the same time as taking the break for Delsin as well. I spoke to Boris Tellegen (cover artist Delta) from time to time, and he was still up for doing those wonderful covers, and I was as well, of course. And around late 2007 I received material from new artists doing more dubby, darker techno, which didn’t directly fit with Delsin but I very much liked. So James Kumo’s first single was the re-start of Ann Aimee. Actually it’s Ann Aimee 2.0 as well, as we have Delsin 2.0. Sorry for all confusion. But to be honest, sometimes I’m not fully aware of what I’m doing — it probably would have better to start a new label, but I was too lazy to figure out a new label name. My apologies!

As you mentioned, Ann Aimee releases have been designed by graphic artist Boris Tellegen. How important is design to either label’s overall aesthetic and in what ways is that best expressed through a visual medium?

It adds up to a release. In the beginning and most of all it’s still the music which counts. I mean, check Discogs or whatever; white labels also can sell a lot. But artwork can really add to the music, as for the same it could downgrade the music if it’s not the prettiest. It should fit the music. You can communicate more, but if the music is not the best, cool artwork won’t make it any better.

You have an Ann Aimee compilation coming out soon. Can you tell us what you have in store for that release? New unreleased tracks or a summary of the label’s stand out moments so far?

It’s a compilation I’m doing together with Niels Luinenburg aka Delta Funktionen. It’s all going to be new tracks, bringing together some of our favorite new producers from the last five years, some from the label but also others who to our ears have a sound in common. Artists included are Delta Funktionen, Mike Dehnert, Skudge, Sigha, Peter van Hoesen, Redshape, Roman Lindau, Milton Bradley, Marcel Dettmann, and some others we will reveal later.

Delsin has had a tight relationship with M>O>S Recordings and NWAQ for some time. How did those partnerships come to be? What similarities and differences do you see between Delsin and them?

M>O>S and NWAQ are two labels I co-run, respectively with Aroy Dee and Newworldaquarium. It’s mostly to create creative space for them as well. Apart from that, it’s fun to work on projects together, and it’s a good excuse to release more music. They do most of the A&R and I take care of production, promotion and financial things. It feels good to have a broader platform.

Delsin was the first label to take a chance on Shed back in 2004. What did you see in his productions that made you want to sign him?

I was working at the mail order for the Rush Hour record shop, so I always heard all the new music coming in. At the time his first EP Red Planet Express came out, very out of nowhere. I remember running from the back into the store, checking what this was all about. It immediately blew me away, a new artist, a new label with this wonderful music. It had the same intense beauty as a lot of releases had on my favourite early ’90s years, releases by Carl Craig, Balil, Kenny Larkin, Link/Global Communication etc. Soulful strings combined with shuffling freestyle rhythms.

Delsin has always seemed to place emphasis on the artist album, with some definitive statements being made. Yet we didn’t see one come this year. Do you foresee that Delsin will continue with albums or is this less viable in today’s marketplace?

Yes, I very would like to. I think it even works better in today’s marketplace. With the digital downloads, it’s all moving towards more track based consumption of music. I really don’t like that myself. I mean, for same tracks it probably works, and probably for DJs as well, as they often see the tracks as tools for what they are doing. This has nothing to do with digital, but I’m very interested in what bigger story an artist wants to tell with his album. It’s the same reason I don’t often listen to an album in a random order. I want to listen in which way the artist wants to present his bigger story. But not a lot of artists are up for doing albums, it’s way different then doing an EP or one track. Luckily there are two new artist albums coming, one by Mike Dehnert and one by Morphosis, and I hope to do more.

So how are albums working better if people are buying just single tracks more and more?

What I meant is since it’s much easier to get music, I think people will get a bit tired of the immediate fulfilling their demands. You can compare it a bit with how books work: it feels wonderful to be “offline” or disconnected from the Internet and your mobile, and just be with that one book you have with you on holiday. I mean, there’s that rush of getting and collecting new music (or things), and that’s a very different aspect from enjoying and listening music. And albums force you more to sit down and actually listen to music, instead of gathering or hunting for those other newer tracks and music.

Now that the buying public knows what to expect from Delsin, do you feel that those expectations have an impact on the direction of the label? Is there a chance that with this Mike Dehnert release we might see Delsin playing to the Berghain crowd’s preferences?

Hmmm, not really. I still want to feel all music I release myself, mostly with the simple question, “Should I buy this release myself? Is it relevant to release this?” Genres become popular and popularity fades, sometimes it matches, sometimes it doesn’t. As a label boss, it would be stupid to completely ignore the outside world, but mostly I hope the music released is timeless, so the quality still stands after a couple of years.

What can we expect to hear from Delsin in 2011?

Luckily more albums. On Delsin there will be the debut album by Mike Dehnert, bringing pretty straight in-your-face quality techno. And together with the Morphine and M>O>S Recordings labels we will present the debut album by Morphosis, of which a prelude a remix EP has been released. Also almost ready to release is a “best ambient works” album by one of my all-time favorite artists, John Beltran. So needless to say I’m very proud of that one! Then there’s the new Ann Aimee compilation, which we will present as four separate EPs and one CD. Furthermore there will be new singles by Aroy Dee, Delta Funktionen, Conforce, and I still have to get together an MK reissue for which I already licensed a track two years ago, as the second in the series of the X-DSR releases (first one was a re-issue by Dan Curtin/Planetary).

Talking Shopcast 10: Delta Funktionen (61:02)

Tracklist:

01. Donato Dozzy, “Untitled” [Further Records]
02. Unknown artist, “Revolution” [white]
03. Iori, “Spaciotemporal” [Phonica White]
04. Bleak, “Isolated” [Sudden Drop]
05. Marcel Dettmann, “Captivate” [Ostgut Ton]
06. Area Forty One, “Untitled” [*]
07. Steve Poindexter, “Born To Freak” [Muzique Records]
08. Photek, “Glamourama” [Virgin Records]
09. Gesloten Cirkel, “Twisted Balloon” [Murder Capital]
10. Mike Dehnert, “MD” [Fachwerk]
11. Geeeman, “Computer Jackin’” [Clone Jack For Daze]
12. 2 AM/FM, “Desolate Cities” [M>O>S Recordings]
13. Unknown artist, “Lost Tracks” [white]
* denotes tracks which, as of the time of publishing, are unreleased

Not only is Carl Craig one of the most prolific electronic producers out of the 313 postcode, but with a discography rooted in techno that has stretched through free-form electronica, modern classical, jazz and beyond, he is proving to be one of the great musical artists of his generation. His Planet E label has charted the majority of his career and pseudonyms, from some of his earliest releases as 69, through to seminal albums like More Songs About Food And Revolutionary Art. It has also played home to exceptional releases from Moodymann, Kenny Larkin, Kevin Saunderson and Recloose. While other producers and labels have come and gone, Carl Craig and Planet E have forged a path ever forward, pushing themselves and their art to uncharted territory. Carl was kind enough to talk to LWE about what makes his twenty year old record label tick, and offered valuable insight into some of his other projects outside of Planet E. He also drafted Monty Luke to compile Talking Shopcast 09, an exclusive mix of Planet E works from the past present and future.

You launched Planet E very early in your career. You were already finding success on labels like Fragile and Transmat. What was the reason for starting your own label?

Carl Craig: Well I already had Retroactive Records before Planet E, but I had a partner in the label and it got to the point where I just didn’t want anyone else having any say in my music. Some artists like to be affirmed by other people’s thoughts about what their music is supposed to be, but I already had a clear idea about what I wanted my music to be so I didn’t need anyone else telling me what needed to be changed or altered because I already felt strong about what I was doing, so I started Planet E.

What was your vision when you started Planet E and has that changed at all over the years?

The vision was for it to be this futuristic music that was kind of in line with the current trend at the time of electronic music coming out, but also a little bit in front of it. Also free-form, too, so it wouldn’t be like — since 808 State had put out Pacific State, that every record we made would sound like Pacific State, you know? Like with 69, it wasn’t necessarily in line with anything directly, it was just part of the overall movement that was happening, but it went on to some other shit. It took influences from what Shut Up and Dance were doing, it took influences from what I was already doing and had been influenced by and threw it all into a melting pot. That was how things like “Bug In The Bassbin” happened and Piece’s “Free Your Mind” and “Free Your Soul” happened. All these kinds of different music that were all pushing forward in a very futuristic direction and not being contained by any walls or this concept of what electronic music or techno should be. It was kind of like rolling the dice in terms of what we’d release next. Whereas you had like Strictly Rhythm saying like, ‘Okay we need a hit for our next record, we’ll release a Masters At Work, or Roger Sanchez, we gotta have a Roger Sanchez record,’ We were more like, ‘Okay Kirk Degiorgio is my boy, he’s got this track from his label, let’s do it.’ It was a friendly thing and because we liked what people did and because it was forward and interesting.

After twenty years of running the same label how do you keep something as prone to trends like an electronic record label fresh?

I think now it’s more important for us to pay attention to our clientèle, because before I was kind of this rogue musician just doing whatever I wanted to do. And listening to our clientèle now, they’re screaming for the rogue musician. [laughs] You know, I still put out music that I like and that I find interesting but because record sales are so low we’re all fighting for the same shit. It’s not like if Aphex Twin releases a record and 15,000-20,000 people buy it, and now you get the new version of Aphex Twin come out and he’s relegated to 500 copies. You know it’s not the same times any more, so you have a lot of labels doing whatever it takes to sell their product. But you know if you’re selling like 500 copies in comparison to being able to sell like, 20,000, then fuck what everybody else is doing because 500 copies ain’t shit, so let’s just put out music that’s fresh and interesting and of the next variety. So May was our Detroit music month and we released Detroit records; you had the Kenny Larkin release; you had the Reference release, you had Urban Tribe and The Oliverwho Factory. And that was a statement that needed to be made, that we make music and we support music from Detroit.

You’ve always looked much further afield than just Detroit or America too.

Yeah, I mean, it’s basically just the stuff that I like. There’s only been the odd, very rare occasion that we’ve released something that I haven’t really been supportive of. Everything comes by me and needs to be something that pleases my ears and falls in line with the label, or something that other people just need to hear.

Artists can build an image of themselves for the public and likewise the public build one up of the artist over time. How did you want to be seen when you were starting out?

I didn’t really have the concept of what people were supposed to imagine. It’s not like I wanted people to see me as the Warhol of techno music or anything. It wasn’t until later anyway that I discovered Miles Davis that some aspects of my artistic character came out a bit more in relation to that. The first step was just to make this music.

One of the things that Planet E has done recently is start distributing some other Detroit labels. What was the reason behind this?

It was more a support thing. DJ Deep and I were talking and this was about the time I had finished mixing the Etienne Jaumet record and he had this Kerri Chandler record and he was telling me that the pre-sales were really low. I just thought, this is Kerri Chandler, that’s kind of bullshit. Why aren’t more copies being pressed, people love this guy. So I just told him, look man I think this should be doing more than it’s doing, if you want to try it on our side I can give you a hand. So he came over with the Ben Klock record and that’s where we started. We had started doing a couple of things with KMS a few years ago with the Elevate History remixes too.

What have been some of the moments of the label that have creatively been some of your moments of big growth and change?

I guess when I started putting out albums from other artists was a big growth, so when we released the Moodymann album and when we released the Recloose album, that was a big growth for us. We had a distribution deal at the time with Caroline and that was a big deal, for me at least. After we did that we found we didn’t really have the infrastructure to be able to handle big releases like that or have a distribution deal like that, so we had to refine what we were doing and pull back. Now we’re kind of pushing forward again. So it’s one of those things of doing what you have to, to stay in business. We grow but then we have to refine, or restrict, and then grow again. But I think for us by putting out other artists, that has been our biggest growth factor. I don’t mean to say this in any way that could be construed as anything else but I made the label based on my own music so it can survive just by me releasing my music, but it starts moving into other dimensions by releasing other artists.

It must be hard balancing something you are so passionate about with something that is a commercial enterprise.

Yeah, but I mean for me it’s very important to release something I believe in whether I think it will sell well or not, because for me it is about the importance of the music. Because you have a lot of labels that just put out music that is the same old same old and they kind of go out of business or fade into the background. You have labels that were dominant for a year because their sound was dominant and the next year they’re gone. With Planet E, my influences have been so many. When I was a kid I would look at labels like Warner Brothers who had Funkadelic, B52′s and their offshoots like Sire who had Talking Heads and all this kind of music that was different and was all hot. Casablanca, they had Donna Summer and Parliament, even KISS was on that label, not that I was into them. But having such a broad range of music, that’s how I wanted Planet E to be seen as well, the same way I saw these labels as a ten year old kid.

You were involved in the DEMF again this year after a very lengthy break. How was that for you?

It was good. I mean I was in there as a consultant really. I couldn’t walk in to the situation and say, ‘Hey, I’m the creative director this is how it’s going to be.’ These guys have been doing the festival for the past four years so I’m not going to walk in and push them around. I just gave them suggestions where they asked for them. I wasn’t going to be this big ego walking in after ten years and thinking I was going to run things, it just wasn’t going to happen.

But it was an enjoyable experience for you?

Yeah it was cool, I mean I got to do my thing and focus on the label without having to worry about any small, petty bullshit that can be involved in doing these things. When I did it ten years ago there were just all these things you had to deal with, so many people you have to make happy, whether it’s the artists talking shit in the background or the audience not happy with the way things are done, or maybe the contracts saying that you need a hundred red M&M’s in a clear glass fish bowl or something like that. So all that stuff I didn’t have to deal with, which was great. I mean, I’m a fucking artist as well so I don’t want to have to deal with all of that making sure someone’s back is being rubbed, I want my back rubbed. [laughs]

At the festival you presented a seminar in conjunction with the Detroit School of Arts and the Carl Craig Foundation. Tell us about the foundation.

You know everything I do now, I’ve come to realize I relate back to my teen years or as a pre-teen and how I heard music and how I was influenced, all the things I loved about being a teenager. It’s all hindsight, and I realize I can’t go back and give myself advice about how to talk to some girl, but I can help out teenagers now with some of the music stuff. Back in the second year of the festival I went back to my old high school with the help of this DJ called Magic Mike who was on the public school radio station. So I went back there with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson because I wanted to make sure that the kids who went to the school that I went to understood that when you have a dream and you follow it you can end up being wherever you want to be. And I was in this situation at the time where I was very happy with what I’d done with being able to travel the world and do my music. And for them to also see Derrick and Kevin and see what we’d been able to do and the different sides of the music industry, it was very new for them.

I mean in 1978 when my parents drove me across the country and I took this little orange skateboard with me, I never for a moment thought that that skateboard could be a way to end up living in mansions and driving Lamborghini’s. It would never have dawned on me, but if someone had come to my school and told me all this, it would have been a real eye-opener for me. So that’s what I want to do with the foundation, to show people that you can really make a great living out of doing something that you love doing. It’s also to show these kids that there is a lot of music outside of what they hear on the radio, because the radio is still really bad, so it’s important to let the kids know what else is out there. So with the foundation, I’m a commissioner on the Detroit Entertainment Commission along with Dr. Cotton from the Detroit School of Arts and one of the other things that I wanted to do with the foundation was to educate as well as fund raise and tie-in with other foundations. There was a viewing from “Suite For Ma Dukes,” which was the 60 piece orchestra movement that was done of all of J. Dilla’s music. So I brought Dilla’s mother in to speak to the commission about Dilla’s music, so that they would understand who he was.

We also decided to do something at the DSA where we could show the kids the professional aspects of the industry. They already have good equipment there and good teachers, but what we did was bring established engineers and studio owners and get them to talk with the kids about how they use Pro-Tools and things like that. So Derrick and Kevin came in and the Paxahau guys came, Mr. Porter who produces for Dr. Dre and Eminem and on the last day Francisco Tristano. It was really good for the kids, but equally for the people who came in, as a lot of them didn’t know about the Detroit School of Arts either.

Download: Talking Shopcast 09: Monty Luke (60:49)

Tracklist:

01. Paul Woolford, “Achilles” (promo edit) [Planet E*]
02. Franck Roger, “Re-Scape” [Guilty Pleasures]
03. Agent X, “Driftin” [Planet E]
04. Kirk Degiorgio, “Vesuvio” [Planet E]
05. Quadrant, Hyperprism (edit) [Planet E]
06. Psycatron ft. Blake Baxter, “She Is Music” (promo edit) [Guilty Pleasures*]
07. Newworldaquarium, “Trespassers” [Planet E]
08. Reference, “Best Night in Detroit” [Planet E]
09. The Oliverwho Factory, “Nightlights” (C2 Bonus Beats) [Planet E]
10. Monty Luke, “Art, Love & War” (C2 Version) [Planet E]
11. Paperclip People, “Slam Dance” [Planet E]
12. Paperclip People, “Clear and Present” [Planet E]
* denotes tracks which, as of the time of publishing, are unreleased

Welcome to the latest edition of our series of interviews and mixes affectionately titled Talking Shopcasts. The majority of media and fan attention gets showered on the artists who create the music we love to listen to/DJ with/dance to, and for good reasons. But without the hard work, keen ears, and business savvy of label staff we might never hear these tunes at all. For our eighth edition we visited Bridgeport, Connecticut, home of Jus-Ed and his Underground Quality label. While Chicago and Detroit may be the first cities that come to mind at the mention of American dance music, New York has a long and storied history in house music and the Underground Quality crew are undoubtedly the faces of today’s New York house scene. The label introduced many of us not only to New York faces but also a couple of Russian newcomers in Anton Zap and Nina Kraviz, who have become some of the most hotly tipped producers out there. Our chat with Ed delved into both the troubles and the benefits of running a label, especially in the U.S., and while wisdom was being shared we sampled some of Ed’s extraordinary ribs. We also provide an exclusive mix by Anthony Parasole, Deconstruct Label boss and one of New York’s finest DJs whose Club House party next Friday will feature both himself and Ed in the mix.

How did Underground Quality start?

Edward McKeithen: The name was established by Vic Money. There’s a cat in Detroit who did the logo, DJ Tresor I think, but the building of Underground Quality was Vic and me. Vic was head of a big marketing company, doing both high-end, elegant marketing as well as using street tactics. He employed underground cats to DJ at events and stuff; he cared a lot about the scene. He was also for quite a few years a 98.7 Kiss master mixer. So I knew Vic by name and from the radio. He was doing a party at some bar, a 98.7 Kiss party playing R&B and house, so I was like “I gotta go down there, I wanna meet Vic Money!” I went and we hit it off, he gave me a CD and his contact info because he was going down to the Winter Music Conference. This was 2001. So we met up in Miami and hung out, and he was on all the guestlists and we got to know each other. He said he was doing a residency at the Ludlow Bar on the Lower East Side and he wanted me to come down. I told him I had retired, that I hadn’t DJed since ’85, that I didn’t even have any records, but he said, ‘Just bring what you have.’ So I showed up with like seven records I got from the Winter Music Conference, and he asked where all my records were. I told him that this was all I had, so he said, ‘Just keep playing them then!’ Two or three records in it was clear I could DJ, so he asked me to get down on the residency.

Vic and I felt that the scene needed a different look and a different atmosphere for parties. Even today you can go to six different parties in New York and hear the same records, so what makes any of those parties special? The powers that be weren’t interested in opening up the scene for any new talent, so we just decided to do something about it. UQ was just the mark of a good party.

And when did you decide to start releasing records?

2004 is when we turned it into a label. Vic retired around 2002, got rid of all of his records, and that worried me because Vic was like the passageway. I was literally just Ed. I wasn’t done though, so I took over and then released my first CD album in 2004. My home base was at Halcyon, the old one on Smith St., and I did a Underground Quality radio show for like two years. The last event I did there I had eleven DJs play in three hours. They came from as far as Boston and DC. I would try to name them but would probably get in trouble for forgetting someone’s name, so you guys know who you are. [laughs]

I sold about 10 copies of my first album that night, and the original pressing was only 100. I saw it on eBay recently, someone was selling it for like $60 or something. I’m not even dead yet! I didn’t think it would get to this point.

How do you decide which records get released on the label? You release from both local artists as well as overseas ones such as Nina Kraviz, Anton Zap and Smallpeople.

First I establish a report with potential artists. I’m not an email person, I want to at least talk to people on the phone. Everybody that I’ve dealt with has been struggling or shitted on by the industry, and they all have an extensive history with music. Nina’s young but she’s been around music her whole life, and Anton was in a band and is sort of the originator of deep house in Russia. They’re driven, and these are qualities that I identify with, because I’m there with them. And when you hear the music…

So it’s very intimate. I was talking to Dan Bell about how labels used to be run, and they used to pigeonhole artists. There were also the understudies who were told, ‘Do this and you’ll get released,’ but never were. They were hypemen, assistants, but always waiting. That was always so irritating to me. You give a DJ a track, they say they like it and that they’ll play it, and you show up and wait all night but they never play it. It takes a lot of courage for someone to make a track and give it to you. We’re sensitive about our material, because you don’t want to put shit out. You want your music to sound like you and be quality.

One of the stipulations of releasing on Underground Quality is that you’re going to establish your own label. There was like a big forest fire that just burned down all of the house music in the US. How do you help? Well, when there’s a forest fire, you need people to go out there and plant new trees. This is my strategy. The old time labels, they probably got tired with the influx of garbage music, and people only looking to get that one hit. People walk around like they’re the shit, but it’s only one record, there’s nothing else after that. So the money get is to put this together and take care of my kids. I looked at the twelve step programs, where each group is autonomous. If one group does something outside of the norm, it just affects that group, not the whole body. Everybody who has released on Underground Quality is autonomous. The connection is there, but they make their own decisions. The worst thing you can do as a new producer is ask people what they think, because they will give you their opinion based on their tastes. There’s one or two nuts out there who think that I’m lucky. That’s probably the worst thing you could say to me, because I’m not lucky. I’ve been working hard since 2001, and nothing has come easy for me in this industry.

Jus Ed in the mix

American house music has made a comeback over the past couple of years after some time in the wilderness. Do you think this has more to do with a recent surge of quality music or is it just the franticly changing tastes of the dance music scene?

For me to answer that, I would be taking on a position that I’m not qualified for. That should be left for more of a veteran. I will say that what goes around comes around. There’s a saying that “there’s nothing new under the sun.” It’s just a timing thing. Broken beat will come around, drum and bass will come back around. It’ll come back in a different form or shape, but it will. The big contributing factor to U.S. house music becoming big again is the fact that Europe has embraced it. I mean, this is the reason that I’m being interviewed by you. No one in the States was interested in Jus Ed. When Germany heard my tune on the FXHE compilation, they kept asking who “Joos Ed” was. [laughs] They were interested, and that’s why I love playing in Germany. We have the Smallpeople party in Hamburg and then I get to go to Scotland. I’ve wanted to go there for a long time.

As an american label, do you find it particularly difficult to get distribution, both in the US and worldwide?

Well distribution is, in my mind, like organized crime. You have the different families and everything. They’re not bad or good people, they’re just effective or they’re not. If they’re effective they’re pushing your music to the world, not just easy-sale areas. It’s difficult, because they have more shit music coming in than quality music. I hear so many copycat tracks, and I have records sitting around that are seven years old that sound much better. I’ll dust those off instead. Some people might be offended, saying that I’m not supporting vinyl or something, but I am. My whole radio show is dedicated to new music, and to new artists. But if you send me garbage, come on. I’ve positioned myself in the industry to do what I want to do.

In all fairness, each distribution has its right to do right by artists. Taxes and shipping fees, they get hit in the head with that. Even if they’re getting a record at wholesale price for like $4.25 per record, after they pay for those it’s up to about $6. And then once it gets to Europe, these records are very expensive. One of the reasons I went with Rubadub is because a large part of my market is overseas, and they can get it at a lower price and pass it on to the record stores. For the U.S. I just do it myself. If a record store pays €6 wholesale from a distributor, he’s supposed to be able to double his money. So he’s selling the record for €12, and people just don’t have that kind of money. I never had money for records, but I made it so that I could buy them. I bought a Cadenza record here for $18, a single sided one, because I wanted it, because it was dope, and because I knew a lot of people wouldn’t have it.

Underground Quality presses vinyl but avoids making mp3s available aside from the handful on the UQ mp3 shop. Why is this?

I started my website in 2004, and my goal is to be self-sufficient. I want it so that if all else fails you can still get my music. A good number of people have gone direct to my site to buy the records, and in the last two years I did an exclusive with Beatport for my back catalogue (just the CDs) and then I offer some mp3s on my site. But the model is this: vinyl is to stay vinyl. Digital is digital. That’s the way I’m living and I know plenty of other guys who feel the same. It just kind of lessens the value of the record if two weeks later it’s available digitally (or if it comes out digitally and then they try to press it later). People say vinyl is dead; vinyl isn’t dead, it’s just condensed. There’s not a lot of room for shit music anymore. So it makes everyone step up their game. There are only so many tracks you can press. Having a record means you do research. You bought into that artist’s vision. Vinyl will never be abolished since it was really the first popular form to capture sound. It’s like saying the telephone will be dead, that we’ll all just have chips in our head instead. It’s just not happening.

But I plan to expand the mp3 store in the future. The only problem with digital is just that I make more money with vinyl than digital. There’s you know, one in every five-hundred producers, who makes a track that keeps selling and selling digitally and they make thousands of dollars. And that’s dope, but it doesn’t work for me. I just sell a couple digital files myself since it’s so easy to sell digital files yourself. It takes time, you have to go at it with more than just a passion, because it’s a business as well. I’m still learning, I learned that on my website I lack keywords so that Google picks it up. I’m learning, but I still have to keep my daytime job.

Running a record label is no easy feat these days. In the face of the economy, shipping costs and illegal mp3s, what keeps you going?

The illegal downloads have gone down since I got with a publishing company, so they’ll go after people illegally selling my stuff. The real people who respect hard work and effort will search out and buy the records. I had one guy in Zurich come up to me and apologize, saying that he had downloaded some stuff illegally and that he felt bad and wanted to buy some stuff from me. The Internet just makes people less personal; they feel detached. They’re in their room alone, and feel like nobody cares, so they can just take things. More artists should speak out and let people know that this is hurting them. I mean, I can’t make music if I can’t make at least some sort of living off of it. And people will say, ‘Oh, but you’re not in it for the music then, you’re in it for the money.’ I gotta pay for electricity to run the machines that I bought.

I’m also flying overseas to play gigs. I’ve got kids and a family, what if something happened? What club will send your fee to your family with some flowers and say that they’re sorry? I was with people who were complaining about DJ fees, and when I brought this up the table went silent. No one wants to look at life the way it is. I think the volcano incident recently provided a reality check. When it went off a lot of clubs lost money, a lot of promoters lost money, I lost money. That’s just mother nature. I play gigs because I love it and it helps pay the mortgage; maybe if I were single I would be saying something different.

Anyway, the mp3 thing will still keep going on. Before digital files it was bootlegs. Distributors repress stuff, this will always go on. What I count on is people supporting what I do and supporting the label. If I didn’t trust people I would quit. I almost did. Two days after I shipped the House Goodies Vol. 3 CDs to the distributor it was on three different websites. Already I’ve seen the Next Level CD on websites for free. The free thing is what really gets me. I saw on one site there was about 200 downloads of the CD. That’s almost $2000, a mortgage payment for me, that I’m not getting. Maybe these people do this because they want to be popular, or they’re lonely, they have nothing better to do. But I believe in karma, it comes around.

What are a couple of your favorite releases on the label so far?

They’re all special, they all have a meaning. The Time Waits For No-One EP, with me, Jenifa and Fred, was great because Fred worked really well with Jenifa. It was important for both of them, really. The first Unity Kolabo record was a unification of East Coast with Midwest, with Omar-S…err, DJ Snotinburg and Kevin James. UQ-004, the Getting Ready EP, was the worst selling record I had put out. And then all of a sudden everybody wanted it, and it’s now caught up with all the others. Establishing the Russian connection was important, and at the time all I knew was Anton was making some great house music. I mean, if you hadn’t seen him you would have sworn he was black and from wherever I said he was from. It just shows you the soul in the music, and that it is a black thing, but it’s not a black thing. There are certain restaurants you can go to and the food just has soul, doesn’t matter which culture — Indian, Thai or whatever.

The Nina Kraviz record was really great because she’s so talented and she really performs when she DJs. And then there’s Levon. I knew Levon would be the great savior. And he got mad at me because I told him he would be more popular than me, partly because he’s white. I’m not racist or anything, but I’m not ignorant either. What matters to me is that the guys remain grounded and they stay true to their art and themselves. They need to keep the door open for the next person, and remind the powers that be that there are still artists who are business minded, who don’t have tech riders that say, ‘I need two bitches, a case of this, and an ounce of that.’ If people are inspired to do something, they need to take the higher road. I put myself into retirement in ’85 because of drugs, and there was nothing wrong with my talent. You show up at a gig wearing the same clothes for two weeks, there’s a problem. I’m almost 48, I dunno how much longer I’ll be hopping planes and shit. People ask me how I do it, playing at one club one night, a different one the next night, and then flying home. Well, I drink a lot of water and eat salad and get sleep. I’m here to do a job; I can vacation later. Mismanagement takes down clubs all the time, and its not just financial mismanagement. There are so many documentaries about this, you’d think people would remember. I mean, Panorama Bar/Berghain, they’re involved with the arts and the government. That’s handling your business, I take my hat off to them. That’s good fucking business and provides longevity. More people need to think on that level.

Back to the question, “Sweetness” was a big one, and people really gravitate toward it. It was inspired by Fred’s remix of “Voices,” and I made that one with my daughter in my arms, and the music soothed her because she didn’t want to go to sleep. Each record has its own significance. On the Next Level CD, the track “Play Date” was made while some kids were over with my son on a play date. And “Listening In” was made while Levon was listening in on the phone. It was really important to me when I got recognized on the end of the year label list on Resident Advisor, not because of the number but because I made an impact and was being recognized. I mean, I have an ego when it comes to DJing, it’s how it was when I was coming up. We had battles; it was all about your records. I’m just still trying to hone my skills.

We’re doing this interview at your home, so I was wondering how your family life impacts your music?

My drive for my family was due to a lack of family. I came home from prison in ’99, and you can’t forget where you came from. I’ve been given my life three times, and I’m not taking it for granted. When I go dance, I dance as hard as I can, same with playing out and work. You have to keep yourself grounded and keep shit simple. I teach my son that if you make a good choice you reap the benefits and if you make a bad one you pay the cost. That’s a golden rule, and somehow it eluded me for a number of years.

What does your studio look like, and how do you express yourself through your gear?

I get this all the time. If it don’t sound right, keep fucking with it until it does. You have to have a vision first. I understand how I want my music to sound. That took a minute in the beginning. I was so anti-whatever everyone else was doing, so I just let it flow. I have a good taste in music, and I have a musical education. A minor one, but I understand that things have to make sense, even if they don’t. My music makes sense, even if it doesn’t. There’s a rhythm there, a clarity, an emphasis on one or two parts. It’s based on what’s in my blood, I was raised up with this. You can see it with my son, if I put some music on now he’ll work it out. This is just part of our culture. Just hand claps from jump roping; I used to double dutch, and the hand clap rhythms would mesmerize me. [Ed's son Dustin starts clapping] See? Handclaps. There’s always something there.

It took until 2001 for me to actually embrace my talent. It’s easy for me to DJ, but to do it as a career, I’m still learning how to do that now. There’s still so much for me to learn, like publishing. Shit, I had like 100 songs out, and I’d say maybe 30 were getting played on the radio overseas. Once I got educated about that, I had to bring the whole crew up to speed as well. I don’t just limit myself to the Underground Quality people either. There are plenty of artists out there who I sit down with and help critique their mixdowns. There’s an art to mixing, to arranging a track. You could take the dopest elements and if you don’t know how to do the mixdown right it’ll be a bunch of noise. Just do your thing, and be the best at what you do. That’s success, because you’re happy. I don’t make music so people like me, I make it because I think it’s good, and I’m gonna play it.

Mark Farina said it in a magazine in 2001 or something, ‘Don’t be afraid to mess with your knobs.’ That’s the answer to my productions. I try shit out, and trust my ear. I make a lot of music based on where I am in life. I haven’t had time to make new music in about two months, and once I get this new computer up there’ll be some new shit coming out. The beauty of having your own label is you can decide if it gets released or not. There’s enough talented producers out there, that if they just trust the process of creation and believe in what they’re doing they’ll have their day.

We just got a record in from Juno called “The Freeze/The Meltdown” and it said it was by a popular New York DJ.

Yeah, they sent me that one! I’ve been playing it. I like what Juno did. They took a shot on an artist. I think it will encourage something that’s fallen off in the U.S. and around the world, where retailers take a risk and get behind an unknown local. That’s what underground is about. “Where the hell did that come from?” Doesn’t matter, because the music is hot. I was like the first one to have that because of the radio show. It’s surprising, I got like four artists record deals by playing their tracks on the show. The next thing I know they’re telling me, ‘Thanks man for playing my stuff on the show, they’re gonna press my shit!’ That’s excellent. Or sometimes it gives them the confidence to press it themselves. I’m always pushing artists, because I can’t take everybody. People need to take the time and spend their money. If you really believe in what you’re doing, spend your money on it.

Well, when I spoke to Levon, he was talking about the fact that he was sitting on top of the pressings of Double Jointed Sex Freak, and anxious about the fact that he had spent all of his money on it.

I do it every release. I’m in it to make a living, yes, but I’m not in it to get rich. If i get lucky and Sony wants me to do a remix or something, that’s awesome. But nine times out of ten, whatever money I get (ten, five, two grand) it’s already spent. The game is trying to get ahead. These cats in the ’90s could sell 100,000 copies of a record, seeing 150 grand on a release. And that’s just on the first run! The repress is even cheaper! Quality control is so key. I don’t sell records based on my name. Distributors and retailers sell them based on my name. I sell them based on the quality of the music.

Is there anyone you want to work with?

I mean, I get requests for remixes or collaborations, but I’m sticking to supporting my label. I mean, if Herbert or Charles Webster or Pépé Bradock or Kerri Chandler wanted to work with me, you know, just to name a few. If they asked me to do something, hell yeah. There’s shit from me to learn there, and to be even in the same realm would be an honor. These guys don’t need me. But as far as aspiring to make music with the big names, nah, that’s not my vision. I’m pushing me, my stuff. I’m a purist in that sense.

What does the future of Underground Quality look like?

Underground Quality is just gonna continue. Gonna do an EP with Steffi, there will be a DJ Jus-Ed versus Joey Anderson record, a new Tazz EP. And then vinyl releases from the Next Level CD. I’d like to be able to touch every part of the world musically. Hopefully I did my contribution to the scene, helping the scene grow. I’m excited about Kyle Hall. I heard him play and I said, ‘There’s no way he’s 19 years old.’ He’s doing shit we did in the ’80s, and he’s drawn a completely young crowd into the scene. Kids like him are our future, I just hope it continues.

Download: Talking Shopcast 08: Anthony Parasole (70:43)

Tracklist:
01. Steve Reich, “Come Out”
02. Link Wray and His Ray Men, “Rumble”
03. Morphosis, “Musafir” [M>O>S]
04. Joey Anderson, “Booth For Country” [CDR]
05. DJ Qu, “Tunnel Vision” [Strength Music]
06. Diaries, “Sketch 3″ [CDR]
07. Newworldaquarium, “The Force (Âme Remix)” [NWAQ]
08. Pacou, “Multipass” [Cache Records]
09. Donnacha Costello, “Grape A” [Minimise]
10. Slam Mode, “Autumn Disorder” [Desvio]
11. The Nova Dream Sequence, “Dream 14″ [Compost]
12. Nicholas, “On My Mind” [No More Hits]
13. DJ Sprinkles, “Sloppy 42′s” [Comatonse]
14. STL, “Vintage Hunter” [Something]
15. The White Stripes, “Little Acorns” [XL Recordings]

Welcome to the latest edition of our series of interviews and mixes affectionately titled Talking Shopcasts. The majority of media and fan attention gets showered on the artists who create the music we love to listen to/DJ with/dance to, and for good reasons. But without the hard work, keen ears and business savvy of label staff we might never hear these tunes at all. For our seventh edition we wanted to get the scoop on the inscrutable labels Frozen Border and Horizontal Ground. Until now we knew more about the labels’ stinging raw techno sound than who made the tracks, and for the most part that was all that mattered. Eschewing personality in favor of strict quality control has helped both Frozen Border and its more varied sibling Horizontal Ground stand out among swarms of white label imprints. Yet we couldn’t help but be curious about the thought put into such exacting operations and decided to reach out via email. The labels’ owner, Jeff, was relatively guarded but his responses shed a bit more light on one of contemporary techno’s darker corners. He was also generous enough to send us a top notch live set by Horizontal Ground artist 19.26.1.18.5 (aka Szare), which speaks just as loudly as Jeff’s carefully chosen words.

What spurred you to launch Frozen Border?

Jeff: I don’t think we launched it, that sounds very “Show Biz.” It just began.

What about Horizontal Ground?

More of the same with a different name.

Had you run any labels before this current group?

In a sense I did run labels before, but nothing on this current level.

Do you make any of the music for FB/HG?

No.

How many artists do you work with for your labels? Is it a close knit group or a
loose collective?

At the moment it’s 6 artists and I have never met one of them in person, so I would say it’s quite a loose collective.

When you pitched your vision for a label shrouded in relative anonymity to your artists, what were their reactions? Or was it the other way around?

No pitch, they are either in or out. All the music came from demos sent. The level of trust between us all is the thing I like the most.

These days many fans want to know more and more about the artists behind their favorite records. With this in mind, why go the other direction?

I think the answer is in the question.

Is anonymity in the music business important to you?

Not at all. I don’t think the dance music scene is even the music business (not in real terms); even at it’s most revealed it’s still really a bit of “micro fluff” on the backside of the music industry. Some DJs/producers might do well to remember that.

FB/HG’s rise coincided with a renewed artistic/public interest in austere white label records. Was this coincidence or perhaps a reaction to what was happening?

Maybe; there is some sort of honesty in it, but even that has become a bit overplayed now.

With how little information is available about your labels, I imagine every decision regarding your labels is made consciously: That in mind, is there was any reasoning behind the filled in/blank letters of the Frozen Border/Horizontal Ground names? Zen Order?

I thought all the references were obvious? Karl Regis (from Downwards) took me out into the woods one day to show me where Nico was buried; it made a deep impact so it’s all in homage to her.

What else it to come from Frozen Border/Horizontal Ground in 2010?

More quality music.

Talking Shopcast 07: Szare (69:33)

Tracklist:

01. Musafir, “Ninderli” [Stoned Asia]
02. Szare, “Kinshasa” [Dub]
03. Szare, “Snake Cave” [Horizontal Ground]
04. Szare, “Break East” [Dub]
05. Szare, “Beatdown” [Dub]
06. Marcel Dettmann, “Kernel” [Marcel Dettmann Records]
07. Szare, “Return to Ronto” [Horizontal Ground]
08. James Ruskin, “Solution” [Blueprint]
09. Jeff Mills, “Mysterious Stars” [Third Ear]
10. Szare, “Kinshasa” (Reprise) [Dub]
11. Levon Vincent, “The Medium is the Message” [Novel Sound]
12. Szare, “Fast Changes” [Dub]
13. Samuli Kemppi, “Joiku” [Prologue]
14. Actress, “Green Gal [Werk Discs]
15. Flying Saucer Attack, “Rainstorm Blues” (Szare Remix) [Dub]
16. Szare, “Mendeleev” [Dub]
17. Szare, “2042″ [Dub]
18. David Bowie, “Moss Garden” [RCA]

Welcome to the latest edition of our series of interviews and mixes affectionately titled Talking Shopcasts. The majority of media and fan attention gets showered on the artists who create the music we love to listen to/DJ with/dance to, and for good reason. But without the hard work, keen ears and business savvy of label staff, we’d be stuck only streaming tracks on their websites. For today’s installment, we focus on Yore Records of Cologne. If deep house has been one of the big stories in recent dance music, Yore has surely curated some of its finest and most lasting moments, doing so with an eclectic range that defies narrow definitions of “deep.” Spearheaded by Andy Vaz — the man behind the Background and A Touch Of Class labels, and a formidable producer in his own right — Yore aims for timeless sounds. Putting out records from all-time greats like Rick Wade has been a big part of the program, but so has Vaz’s keen ear for new talent. Tracks like Kez YM’s “Washing My Soul” and Trackleton’s “Traditional Folk Song” could masquerade as beloved classics twenty years deep, but their fresh approaches and distinct voices transcend imitation or even homage. In the interview below, Vaz discusses Yore’s goals and values, minimal and deep, and the potential value of adding friends on MySpace. To “deepen” your understanding of the label, we’re extremely pleased to host an exclusive mix from Kez YM, featuring music from Yore comrades, influences, and contemporaries. Want more Yore? Be sure to turn back to LWE’s very first podcast, an exclusive mix from Terrence Dixon, and check back soon for further spoils of our talk with Vaz.

Yore isn’t your first record label. As I understand it, you launched Background partly as a response to a problem: Terrence Dixon suddenly didn’t have a label to release his music. What inspired you to found Yore?

I was getting bored of the so-called “minimal” sound — precisely what the bastard people had turned “minimal techno,” which I was interested in, into. It got pimped and killed, little by little, until it was dead and empty-hearted. The minimal of the past few years had little do to with what we intended with Background, which was a mixture of the deep, the radical, the repetitive, the musical, etc. — all of that. Yore’s approach was to try and bring the soul back into the music — electronic music really being music, rather than just percussive loop-sounding stuff — a druggy sound — but something with a musical message. I also wanted to focus on the “timeless” factor. A good record with soul and musical ideas will hold up and stay in your shelves or DJ bags for years. Yore goes against the trend of silly “beaatch” type DJ Tools, one-hit wonders or any form of whatever the hype of the minute is. Yore will provide like-minded heads with unique deep sounds — not more, not less. The feedback the label gets from people around the globe proves that we seem to be accomplishing our goals. Through the messages we receive, we know we aren’t alone!

The name of your label suggests a reverence or maybe nostalgia for the past. How did you settle on the name “Yore”?

My girlfriend, who is a native English speaker, came up with it when I started thinking out loud about the name for the new imprint. I am so thankful for that. I think the name fits perfectly. Oldschool, Timeless, Classic. In days of yore…. Yeah.

Yore is a joint venture with Alessandro Vaccaro. How are duties shared and decisions made around Yore headquarters?

Very simple, I am A&R’ing Yore and handling the promotion while Alessandro handles the administrative side of things. We are just about to launch a new label together called Self Defence, where it will be the opposite model. Alessandro will be the upfront person and A&R for SDF, while I will mainly keep running Yore.

What kind of music will Self Defence specialize in?

Deep techno.

You’ve emphasized a “timeless” sound for Yore, as opposed to just an “old school” one. What separates these, in your opinion?

Well, I did grew up on Detroit and Chicago sounds. Started listening to it when I was 15 — I am 33 now. I think the music had such an impact in its early days! It was so strong, so raw and sexy and, yes, minimal — true minimal! I will always love that sound and I still am a heavy collector of US-flavored house music. However, Yore’s approach is not to sound old — it’s not about that. We cannot ignore that we live in the now and make use of what’s possible now. However, like I said before, I care less about these hundred new “all sound the same,” empty-headed records released each week. We want to put out quality music that will stand the test and be with you for years, just as my record collection will stay with me forever! I am serious! I play my 12″s every day! We want to make records for the lovers, the collectors and the tasty peeps out there — music from heads for heads. And we don’t want to put out a record just to be played for a month and then forgotten. Not an easy task at all, but we are working on it constantly. I have been running labels for eleven years now, and I think I can spot a hot artist or release by now.

Are you at all interested in reissuing older records?

No, that’s not my intention at all. Yore will hit you off with the new. If you want nostalgia, Discogs will be your partner. And that’s the best option. I dig Chi-house classics there on the daily. If you want the old and rare, there will be a price tag on it. I don’t see anything wrong with that. If you love an old record, go get it.

Over the last couple years, you’ve been a vocal critic of “soulless” or “arbitrary” music riding the minimal wave. Do you see similar problems in today’s resurgence of deep house?

Yes, it’s happening already. House gets pimped like they did with minimal, and they will be able to destroy it, no doubt! Now every week there’s tons of plain percussive wannabe house records adding one deepish sounding tone over tons of percussion, and people call it deep house — while it’s basically the same minimal techno with just a hint of a “deep.” Deep, however, is not a genre, it’s a feeling — an emotional energy.

Maybe this is a tricky question, but how would you define that feeling?

That’s the point — you can’t define it. You feel it or you don’t!

Speaking of people who do feel it, I have a couple questions about the Yore family. You’ve known Terrence Dixon for a while. How did you guys first meet?

Oh yeah, we go way back. I met him around 1997 or 1996. He used to stay with me numerous times each year, and I made quite regular visits to Detroit and stayed with him back then.

Yore has hosted a couple big returns — .xtrak and Memory Foundation each broke long silences, and chose Yore as the place to do it. Were those records that you pursued?

Oh yes. I have also known Todd since 1996, so that was an easy one. I’ve always been a fan of his early .xtrak stuff, and he came to mind first when I planned the launch of Yore. He fits right in! I had also admired Memory Foundation’s M-Plant stuff back when it was released. Feels like ages ago and that stuff still sounds fresh. Which proves my point — timeless stuff last forever! So I searched them down and talked them into getting involved again. I also see that as a strength of Yore. Reactivating talent that should not R.I.P yet, and making a new generation aware of some talent that they would have never stumbled across. I think that’s a very valid aim of a record label, rather then signing the latest hype of the month and sharing the “artist” with fifty other labels until the hype is over. That’s not what we stand for.

Of course, some fresh faces in the Yore roster have enjoyed some buzz this year. How did Trackleton and Kez YM first come to your attention?

Kez YM was a total coincidence. He added Yore as a friend on MySpace, and I clicked on the profile and got blown away with the deepest of the deep. He had to be signed. In fact, I believe in his talent so much that it’s the first exclusive signing to the label. We have a three-year exclusive recording deal, and I’m putting a lot of effort into making people aware of his music. It needs to be heard, and the first release did really well for us. Next one is currently being pressed. Warning! It’s so deep, it might change your world as you knew it when you hear it, so get your head right first!

I understand you were fairly hands-on in picking the tracks for Rick Wade’s The Good, The Bad And The Deep record. Do you often select the tracks that end up on a record, or do artists come to you with a package in mind?

I hand pick the tracks — always! If I don’t feel it a hundred percent, I will not put it out, regardless of who made the music. The label reflects my personal taste — just how it should be.

My assumption is that Yore depends more on vinyl sales than, say, Background did. Has the business model changed much from one label to another?

Yes, its definitely focused on vinyl. That’s also because I am such a vinyl addict. I’d eat vinyl, if it had to be. And Yore has already managed to become a collector’s imprint. Again, we make music from heads for like-minded heads. The true heads collect records, play records, love records — just as I do.

What role do digital sales play in Yore?

It’s slowly picking up, but its still kindergarten stuff, sales-wise. Enough for me and the artists to get some fresh sneakers once in a while. But I see tendencies for it to increase. I wish people in rich countries would stop downloading our music for free off the internet — that shit ain’t fair. Speaking of digital sales, though, in about three weeks we’ll open our own digital and vinyl shop!

Do you have a particular favorite release on Yore?

Tough one. Terrence Dixon, Train of Thought? Kez YM? Probably those, but they all sound sweet to me.

I see there’s a new Derrick Thompson record on the way. What else can we expect from Yore in the next year or so?

There’ll be “A Work in Progress,” a new Detroit-based talent co-produced by Chez Damier, and an Above Smoke EP, both on the way. Then the new Kez YM 12″, and my next EP right after. Thanks to everyone for reading and all the positive feedback we get! It’s you who is giving us the motivation to do what we do!

Talking Shopcast 06: Kez YM (60:00)

Tracklist:

01. Rondenion, “Storm” [Rush Hour Recordings]
02. Kai Alcé, “Feeding” [NDATL Muzik]
03. Loco Dice, “Black Truffles In The Snow” (Mike Huckaby’s The Jazzed Out S Y N T H Remix) [Desolat]
04. Lerosa, “Sketch” (Sad Mix) [Uzuri]
05. Vakula “Change The World” [*]
06. A Made Up Sound, “Late Drive” [Philpot]
07. Black Art Music, “Keepin’ The Groove” [Third Ear Recordings]
08. KiNK & Neville Watson, “Inside Out” [Hour House Is Your Rush Records]
09. Chez Damier, “Teach Me, Keep Me” [Mojuba]
10. Rick Wade, “Shamballa” [Yore Records]
11a. Ray Valioso, “You’ll Never Be Mine” [Deep Vibes Recordings]
11b. Patrice Scott, “Nuonce” [Minuendo Recordings]
12. Gherkin Jerks, “Acid Indigestion” [Gherkin Records]
13. Kez YM, “Butterfly” [Yore Records]
14. 2nd Avenew, “It’s The New” (Dub Mix) [Alleviated Records]
15. Kai Alcé, “Decay” [NDATL Muzik]
16. M. Pittman “Obession (Datsallivdatsalliv~`^*!!)” [FXHE Records]
17. DJ Qu & David S., “Nite Ride” [Strength Music]
18. Kez YM, “Natural” [*]
19. The Kings Of Late Night, “Fly Away” (West End Lounge Mix)
[West End Blue]
* denotes unreleased tracks

Welcome to the latest edition of our series of interviews and mixes affectionately titled Talking Shopcasts. The majority of media and fan attention gets showered on the artists who create the music we love to listen to/DJ with/dance to, and for good reasons. But without the hard work, keen ears and business savvy of label staff, we’d be stuck only streaming tracks on their websites. For our fifth volume, we focus on arguably Berlin’s hottest label, Ostgut Ton. It’s difficult to describe the label’s meteoric rise to the top of the pile without lapsing into hyperbole, as it evolved rapidly from merely Berghain/Panorama Bar’s label wing to a dominant force in underground dance music in fewer than four years. In that short time, Ostgut Ton has helped make stars of Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Cassy, Shed, Prosumer & Murat Tepeli, and almost anyone else who earns one of its coveted catalog numbers. Each must-purchase release pushes house and techno forward in a way few labels can claim without letting the success go their heads. With that in mind, we picked label manager (and LWE podcast alumnus) Nick Höppner’s brain about the label’s sound, its future, and even a tip for getting past Berghain’s bouncers. In case that’s not enough, we’ve also procured an exclusive and incredibly deep mix from Panorama Bar resident, Steffi.

Please tell me your your job title and what you do on a day-to-day basis for Ostgut Ton.

Nick Höppner: I am Ostgut Ton’s label manager. I take care of all things administrative here at the label, i.e. licensing our compilations, booking mastering dates, setting deadlines for our artists, graphic designers, lay-outers and press sheet writers and trying to make everyone stick to those deadlines, translating press releases from German to English, coordinating schedules with our PR agency Tailored Communications, our distributor Kompakt and our manufacturer Handle With Care, handling third party licensing, accounting sales for all our releases and artists. I am not doing it alone though. I’m supported by Michael, one of Berghain’s co-owners. He’s taking care of most of the artwork together with our layouter Yusuf Etiman and different artists, illustrators and graphic designers. For some of the day to day business, I’m getting support by Nicole and Elif who are taking care of our booking and bills are taken care of by our company’s general financial accountant.

Tell me about the beginning of Ostgut Ton. Why and how did you start out? How did the name Ostgut Tontraeger come about?

First of all, the label’s name is Ostgut Ton. It started as Tonträger, which means carrier of sound in German, but after our first release we changed it to Ton, which is German for sound. Ostgut is the name of the company running Berghain and Panorama Bar and was the name of the club preceding Berghain, which included a smaller version of today’s Panorama Bar, where I have already been a resident DJ. Ostgut had to close at the beginning of 2003 due to a re-development plan of the entire area. There’s a massive O2 arena now where the club once was. As a reminder, especially of the Sunday afterhours at Ostgut’s little garden right next to the tracks coming out of Ostbahnhof, André Galluzzi did a mix called “Im Garten” (in the garden) on his own label Taksi Music after Ostgut finally closed. The idea for a label had been floating around for a while, but everyone was so busy running the club itself and it was never realized; so André and his business partner just did it as they already had the infrastructure.

When it became clear there would be a follow up club, I got in touch with the guys running it and offered my help in case they were still thinking about setting up their own label. They reacted very positively, but needed to spend more time on setting up the club itself. And six or seven months after Berghain and Panorama Bar had opened, I went to work on licensing our first mix, Berghain 01 by André Galluzzi. We didn’t have any big plans then. We wanted to make that compilation, that was it. Kompakt agreed to distribute it. My bosses advanced me with an incredible amount of trust. Although I had worked for a record label before, I wasn’t really experienced as I hadn’t been given any responsibilities at my former job. That’s how it started. A while later Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann, both residents at Berghain, left a demo with Michael and this demo became our first vinyl release.

What is Ostgut Ton’s mission statement, its modus operandi?

We just wanted to set up a platform for our residents to release music on, and that’s what we did.

How is the label’s roster decided? Is it strictly limited to Berghain/Panoramabar staples?

It is, with the exception of special projects like our ballet cooperation, where we asked artists like nsi., Luciano, Sleeparchive, The 7th Plain and Âme to write music for choregraphy staged by the Staatsballett inside Berghain, which we then released as Shut Up And Dance! Updated (Ostgutcd 03). Other special projects include the exclusive tracks we’ve released on vinyl for our mixes Berghain 02 & 03, although none of the artists involved have been complete strangers to the club. On the contrary: Norman Nodge is a resident, Radio Slave runs a label night at Panorama Bar, tobias. and Shed have had quite a strong affiliation through Cassy and Marcel Dettmann already.

An example of Berghain/Panorama Bar flyer artwork

Ostgut/Berghain stands out both as an insular, tight-knit music community and, as has been said, a “world capitol of techno.” Do you still see Ostgut Ton as a local label?

Mostly, yes — at least when you look at it from the production side of things. The core of the label is completely Berlin based, although we have just started to release material by one of our international residents, Luke Slater as Planetary Assault Systems, as well. He plays Berghain four times a year. In terms of how the label is perceived and where our music is bought, it totally is an international label, though.

How much freedom do Ostgut’s artists have in what they release? How much control do they have over the final product?

They have 100% control and freedom. It is not a rare thing for me to hear the music after it already has been mastered and the manufacturing process is already in full swing. We have declined to release music by one of our close artists only once. When it comes to artwork and packaging the label gets more involved, though. Michael is a very visual person and usually has quite an influence on how our releases end up looking.

What is one of your favorite releases on your own label? Why?

It has to be our first vinyl one, “Dawning” by Dettmann/Klock as its success came as a complete surprise. We have just put it out, no press or DJ promo. Marcel hadn’t released anything before and Ben only rarely before that, I think/ “Dawning” was such a fresh track at that time. It has this kind of dark seriousness about it and at the same time has a very playful edge. It combined straight banger qualities with an afterhours sensitivity making for quite a unique combination. It was a very satisfying experience.

Ostgut has risen quickly to the top of the pile in tandem with Berghain/Panoramabar. Is there a lot of pressure to maintain Ostgut’s top rated reputation? How does it impact your label decisions?

I would be lying if I said I’m not feeling any pressure at all. At the same time, we are trying to stick to what we believe in and what has worked for us in the past: Give the artists as much freedom as possible, do nice packaging, pay bills on time

In the last couple years the Berghain sound has crystallized and used to describe a generally dark and banging sort of techno. By contrast, Panorama Bar doesn’t seem as clearly defined. Do you think there is Panorama Bar sound, and if so, what is it?

First of all, I’d like to say that, for me, Berghain hasn’t such a defined sound as is always attributed from the outside. Of course, there are certain congruities between Marcel Fengler, Marcel Dettmann, Norman Nodge and Ben Klock especially. At the same time, they are very different from each other. Len Faki is something else completely already and all our other residents like Luke Slater, Rolando, Tama Sumo, Boris, ND_Baumecker and myself who are frequently playing downstairs as well are all adding different flavours to the Berghain pie. But you’re right in assuming that Berghain musically is a much more defined space as compared to Panorama Bar, where the music policy is much more open yet generally house-oriented. Up there anything might work. The stylistic range is very broad. Thus, it is a lot harder to pinpoint a certain sound, although I’d say that all of the residents have a very good understanding of where house is coming from in general.

Some have likened Ostgut’s signing of Luke Slater’s Planetary Assault Systems to the missing link between early-to-mid 90′s “hard” techno and contemporary sounds. Do you find that to be the case as well? Do you see Ostgut as something of an ambassador of that style?

Not really, to be honest. The way we have released the music as we did, has been more a matter of who had what available at what time. If some of the more house-y DJs and producers had been more prolific, it could have been the other way around completely. There has never been a master plan behind what we did. We just went along with it. Of course Luke Slater and our label are a good match. But again, the relationship with him goes back to a time when the thought of a label didn’t even exist. The guys behind Berghain have been promoting parties in Berlin since the mid 90s and started booking Luke at a very early stage. It is nice that it’s all falling into place, but it does so because of long term, quite personal relationships and not because of business plans.

Along those lines, is there a particular era of electronic music you feel is ripe for rediscovery?

Can’t think of one at the moment. Maybe, because in the environment of Berghain/Panorama Bar, it all has been always kind of present. We have so many residents, and Michael and Norbert have chosen DJs very well. Anything from Hi-NRG, deep house and loop-y, banging techno has always been represented, independent of current trends. This might sound a bit pompous, but it is how it is.

An example of Berghain/Panorama Bar flyer artwork

After hearing the Shut Up and Dance! Updated compilation and seeing artists like Animal Collective, who aren’t necessarily dance-oriented, on the Berghain schedule, is Ostgut Ton open to releasing more than dance music? Are there any plans on this front?

Yes, we are open for something like that, but there aren’t definitive plans at all.

Going back to Panorama Bar, are there plans for a second Panorama Bar mix CD?

Yes, indeed. I’ve almost completed licensing our second Panorama Bar CD which is compiled and mixed by Tama Sumo. It’s going to be released on October 19th and there will be exclusive tracks by Levon Vincent, Basic Soul Unit, Lerosa and our resident Steffi on a two part vinyl set.

How have the exclusive tracks for the Berghain mixes come about? Do the DJs propose the selections or do the producers approach Ostgut Ton with the tracks? Or is the label that’s making the suggestions?

It’s all in the DJs’ hands. They all are very well connected, some are even close friends with the contributors. As soon as they’ve decided which tracks to use, I get involved for the paperwork.

How do you think the proliferation of podcasts and live sets over the Internet impact the viability of mix CDs? Is there something that can be captured in a mix CD that’s missing from podcasts and downloaded live sets?

Economically speaking, in order to sell mix CDs these days there has to be an added value compared to podcasts and live mixes off the Internet. We are trying to achieve this by featuring exclusive material and I think we will even focus more on that in the future. So far it is working out for us, only meaning we are not losing money with the mixes

Although Ostgut Ton is by no means the first label affiliated with a club, it’s quite possibly the most popular in recent memory. Perhaps seeing your success, a number of other clubs have opted to release records and mix CDs as well. Do you think clubs make for good record labels? Why or why not?

Well, I think our success is very relative. Of course, we have fortunately been getting a lot of attention, but anyone who thinks we are making a lot of money with the label is clearly mistaken. Bookings are where the money’s coming in. I still think it is not a bad idea for a club to set up their own label, even today. A club already brings an office infrastructure, there is a network of DJs and artists to be tapped into, and there’s a great chance for cross-pollination between club and label, as long as both jobs are done well.

What are a few other labels, past and present, you respect/revere the most? Why?

Quite obvious, but Factory, because they really treated music as a piece of art to an extent where they actually lost money with mega hits (“Blue Monday”) without diverting an iota from the original idea. I really like how Innervisons are tackling the new challenges of running a record label today, plus they’re releasing good music. And although it’s probably really about time now to rethink their stance, I love Perlon’s stubbornness not to go digital.

The Berghain/Ostgut crowd seems to have a cozy relationship with Hard Wax. What is Ostgut’s relationship with some of the labels it releases/distributes?

Well, a lot of artists we are working with are distributing their labels through Hard Wax: Shed, Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, and Cassy. We’re all shopping for records there frequently. Prosumer, Marcel Dettmann and Shed work there, and Cassy used to until last year.

What can we expect from Ostgut Ton in the next year or so?

For the rest of 2009 there will be the new Panorama Bar mix, Ben Klock remixes by Sandwell District, Kenny Larkin and Robert Hood, a new Marcel Fengler 12″ as well as a new one by Prosumer & Murat Tepeli. At the end of 2010 it’s our five year anniversary and I hope we will come up with something nice to mark the occasion. I hope to release both a new Panorama Bar and a Berghain mix next year, as well as one or two artist albums and a string of 12″s including one by Steffi who provided the podcast for this feature. She’s very busy in the studio at the moment. There will also be a new Shed 12″ and maybe even a dubstep mix CD in cooperation with Scuba, who’s running the Sub:stance parties at Berghain four times a year.

And finally: Berghain’s bouncers are notorious for their seemingly random enforcement of door policy. Do you have any tips for getting in?

Don’t give up

Talking Shopcast 05: Steffi (76:14)

Tracklist:

01. Sven Weisemann, “Winter Tale” [Essay]
02. Linkwood Family, “Miles Away” (Intrusion Sunrise Dub) [Firecracker]
03. Tevo Howard, “Everyday House Music” (Album edit)
[Beautiful Granville Records]
04. Kerri Chandler, “Time Is Destiny” [Large Records]
05. Franck Roger, “Klubhead” [Real Tone Records]
06. Leonid, “Sadim” [Sistrum Recordings]
07. Neville Watson, “Up Yours” [Clone Jack For Daze Series]
08. House to House, “Taste My Love” (Tasty Club Mix) [Police]
09. Boddhi Satva, “Warriors Of Africa” (Seedadan Inst.) [Offering Recordings]
10. Scott Ferguson, “Any Day Now” (ElectroVox Remix)
[Deep Vibes Recordings]
11. DJ Boom “Kinda Kickin” [Phonography]
12. Parallel 9, “Domunis” [Music Man Records]
13. Mike Dehnert, “One O Eight” [Fachwerk]
14. OBX, “It’s All We Know (Trippin’ On Air)” [Ascension Records]
15. Shed, “Well Done – 033472 Edit” [Soloaction Records]