Some might say there has been a rejuvenation in the last few years of instrumental electronic music at a hip-hop tempo. Would you say that’s true, or has the good stuff never gone away?

“I think the fact is a lot people have only just started to realise what’s going on. From early DJ Shadow and Mo Wax stuff (and probably before that too, but that is where I got on) there has been an incredibly strong stream of instrumental music with a hip-hop beat. Before Flylo and Hudson Mohawke were big, we were listening to Dimlite and Dabrye, and swapping Dilla and Madlib beat tapes. Instrumental hop hop didn’t start in 2008.”

For a label to issue vinyl is becoming a less popular choice, even though there are still people who really value that. Has it been tough for you to do, or is it just a question of getting it right?

“I think if you put out quality music all wrapped up in lovely artwork, people will buy it. I have definitely seen a massive growth in digital sales, but our vinyl sales have certainly not dropped off in the slightest! I can also say that these digital only labels are really missing a trick – having a physical release does push digital sales massively. Vinyl is still cool as fuck, I still buy shitloads, and it’s not going anywhere. I think digital-only labels suck cock, it’s lazy and boring, and shows no commitment to the music and artists you are releasing.”

What would you say to someone thinking of starting a label themselves?

“It’s tough giving people advice on this, and it’s something I’m always asked. I know a lot of seasoned industry people, who have ridiculous amounts of experience way over and above the experience I have, massively crashing and burning in their new ventures. All I can really say is, do something different, do something exciting, be passionate, accept advice, and find a distributor who won’t rip you off.”

Can you reveal how many different labels you’re running or have in the works?

“Hmm, I’ll tell you some of them. BRAiNMATH I’m sure everybody knows about already. I have always loved those cliquey, scene-setting labels, the ones with a real vibe about them, ever since I started listening to house and hip-hop in the 90s. RAMP has really been completely all over the place, so opposite to the thing that really made me fall in love with electronic music labels. So I set up BRAiNMATH to try and do something a bit more focused, and keep a visual theme running. It’s funny: since starting BRAiNMATH, a lot of the labels with a specific sound around at the moment who I revere seem to have moved away from what they were doing, and are now on the whole mash-up of styles thing I have been pushing with RAMP for a while.

“I’m just starting up PTN, which is kind of a house offshoot of RAMP. As I was saying earlier, the stuff we put out on RAMP is pretty messy, and the PTN sound is much cleaner. The first EP is Doc Daneeka, then Hackman, then Hypno with a Julio Bashmore remix.

“I do have another project brewing up, of which I have signed a few bits, but no more info until I have things finalised. Where musically RAMP and BRAiNMATH are based around a feeling I get from certain tracks, this new label is pretty concept-heavy, which I am interested in showing visually as well as musically. I’m genuinely excited about doing this, as the way I am signing music is so different to RAMP and BRAiNMATH. It’s challenging going for the concept, but still keeping the quality to the normal high standard.”

What has it been like working with Zomby? Would you say he’s basically one of the most talented musicians to come along for a while? Who else has been exciting to work with?

“You are putting words into my mouth there! It always makes me laugh how people play top trumps with producers. I’m not going to make sweeping generalisations about Zomby, but he really is a talented guy and has had an influence on what’s going on right now. I think I have over 4000 unreleased Zomby tunes on my Mac. One time I timed him making a tune. It took him 13 minutes, and the track was pretty good too! It can be up and down working with him, but I do think he is genuinely a nice guy and I like him a lot. One thing I don’t think people know about him is that he has an incredibly wry wit.

“I’ve been excited to work with most of the people on RAMP. Some of the bigger artists I had a lot of respect for before working with them did let me down in a big way, but I suppose I should have expected that. I think once people receive over a certain amount of attention or have been established for a while, egos tend to get very large. It is a massive shame, especially considering how relatively insignificant what we are doing is in the grand scheme of things. I suppose when you are immersed in this little world, as so many of us are, it’s easy for somebody to get carried away.

“Everybody I currently work with is absolutely amazing though, and I have built up real friendships with all of them. I count myself very lucky that I have found a path through life where on a day-to-day basis, not only do I get to do what I love, but I also get to work with incredibly talented musicians and a bunch of really lovely people.”

Robin Howells

Like RAMP? Think you might like RAMP? Well turn the page to stream a nine-track playlist of tracks from the label, some old and some new, kindly provided by Tom Kerridge. Shortstuff, 2562, Count Bass D, Zomby and more feature.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.