About

Whitelabrecs was set up in late 2015 by Lincolnshire (UK) based artist Harry Towell, as an outlet to release experimental electronic and acoustic music. It followed on from netlabel Audio Gourmet and was inspired by the white label vinyl bootlegs Harry used to collect from local record shops in his DJing days.

Harry also records music under his own name, as Spheruleus and as part of Paper Relics, alongside brother Stuart. He has been running record labels since 2010, initially as a means to self-release his music and the Whitelabrecs discography has seen him work with over 150 artists from across the world, building a legacy collection of ambient, electro-acoustic, modern classical and cinematic electronica styles.

whitelabrecs history

2016 - 2018

Whitelabrecs’ initial packaging style sought to recreate bootleg records with card outer sleeves featuring a circular cut-out showing a rubber-stamped white label disc and album artwork as a polaroid insert. There was however a twist; these editions, limited to just 50 hand-made copies, were CDrs and not vinyl and they looked just like mini white label records.

2019

In 2019 we launched a more premium CDr packaging style, also mimicking the vinyl format. This time we entered the world of print and created gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs in increased editions of 100 copies. This allowed us to work with a range of photographers and visual artists and create something that bit more beautiful. The first of these was Sleeplaboratory1.0, a concept album inspired by sleep and this has since become our flagship compilation. 2019 was also the start of an anonymous project from an artist called Glåsbird and their A Sonic Expedition series.

2020

Like industries across the world everywhere, 2020 was our most challenging year as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. We were unable to post out any orders for around 3 months and had to get creative to keep the label going. We launched a digital only series called Home Diaries that ran through the summer that year, in which artists were asked to make a record to document their experiences during lockdown. We managed to build a collection of 30 albums and EPs, working with artists from across the globe. By the end of the summer, we were able to continue producing our CDs.

2021

In 2021 we decided to get a logo professionally designed for a bit of a brand refresh. We started the year with a special double-disc presentation-box edition of our Home Diaries series, as a compilation featuring a track from each of the 30 records and a photo booklet. It was complete with the series artwork re-created by painter Adrian Lane. We also reached the 100 album milestone and marked the occasion with a compilation album. We asked our listeners to vote for their favourite albums and selected tracks from the top 15.

2022

In '22 we launched a digital-only series called eRecords as a chance to work a little more with the digital format, but with a view to bring this to life more. Each edition includes a PDF scrapbook containing pictures, liner notes and artist insights. We wanted to build on our discography and have a chance to work with more artists.

2023
In '23 we added a new style of CDr; the record wallet edition. These take the card wallet with a circular cut-out from where we started but instead of being white labels, everything is printed. So the sleeves have the cover artwork printed to them, which continues onto the disc label. The disc's vinyl-effect grooves are printed with a marble-effect image. These look like disco-sleeves or mini 7" records. Glåsbird's 8 album A Sonic Expedition series also finished with the release of Antarctica.

2024
To be continued...