For this week's blog post I had a free slot and thought I'd take a look back at my own music-collecting and record label-running history. Whilst I've become known for running Whitelabrecs over the last 9 years, prior to this I had three other labels. I got into running record labels naturally, being someone who has always enjoyed collecting and sharing music.

In this blog post you can read a little bit about my challenges, failures and lessons learnt. Starting with my short-lived DJing career!

BEFORE RECORD LABELS

As a teenager I’d record dance music played on the radio to make mixtapes on blank cassette tapes. I developed a taste for discovering more ‘underground’ music and without realising at the time, I also loved the sound of a manually tuned radio too! I’d buy singles on tape and CD, and would receive the occasional compilation album as a gift from my family. I inevitably got into DJing and I spent the money my late Grandad gave to me for driving lessons, on a set of turntables. My parents were not best pleased, but for me it was one of the best investments I ever made and laid the path for a musical future. I replaced those decks for a set of Technics 1210s when things started to get serious and I would spend all my wages on vinyl, scouring Juno Records on a daily basis for new Deep House and Jazz music. If I had to pick one particular label that I followed blindly, I’d say it was Guidance Recordings. There was so much excellent deep, chilled House music and I had a large chunk of their catalog. I loved the art of DJing, curating a mood for the listener and I knew at a young age that sharing my passion for music with others was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was starting to get regular gigs at local nightclubs and even earned a little pocket money to build up my record collection further. I used to DJ alongside a good friend and it sort of all hit an abrupt and ironic end when he decided to call it a day. Since he was the designated driver (I still hadn’t got the inclination to learn to drive!) I had no way to get to my gigs anymore. It was pretty devastating, but what helped at the time was the discovery of Ambient music. I won’t at this point recap my ‘Ambient Journey’ as that’s been covered in another blog post, which you can check out HERE.

LABEL 1: AUDIO GOURMET

After discovering Ambient music and being strapped for cash due to being a part time barman, I discovered a thriving netlabel scene in late 2007 and indulged myself in the many great labels such as Resting Bell, EKO and Test Tube. From 2010 to 2018 I ran Audio Gourmet, a record label where artists were invited to create a 15 minute ‘tea break’ EP. This came about at a time when I had a job as a furniture sales person. I hated it and spent most of my time in the showroom dreaming about a career in music, hand-writing music reviews and press releases to type up when I got home to my computer. I found myself clinging onto every last second of my 15 minute tea breaks at work, listening to Ambient records on my iPod. Cutting an album short after 15 minutes was frustrating and that’s where this netlabel concept was born. I wanted EPs that fit this exact time duration, for myself, but for others too. Audio Gourmet was my playground for learning how to run a record label, face challenges, make friends and experience what is needed to organise releases, working closely with multiple artists. I had a lot of help from Jonathan at Hibernate Records back then and he also helped with the production of the occasional CD release and shared a lot about how to design, produce and promote a physical record. I was a massive supporter of Hibernate and other labels such as Home Normal, 12k, Type, Low Point and many more and I would buy a lot of physical music. I saw so many different packaging styles and design aesthetics, and this was a foundation into what it’s like to be a music fan in the Ambient scene. I was making more and more connections with people, and my own music as Spheruleus was getting released on some of my favourite labels as well.

LABEL 2: TESSELLATE

The CDs I released on Audio Gourmet used to do pretty well and I enjoyed the process of posting out orders across the world. I came up with an idea for a sister label called Tessellate Recordings. The plan was to work on album releases with some of the artists I was in touch with via Audio Gourmet. I got a bit of a schedule together and I’m proud of the few records we put out. However, I found that I kept changing the packaging approach and the label sort of lacked any clear identity. The name ‘Tessellate’ didn’t link with anything in particular, apart from being a strangely artsy thing that was the only thing I enjoyed in maths when I was at school. The different packaging styles ranged from a hand-made CDr sleeve, a card wallet, a digipack and even… a vinyl effect CDr! Being honest, I wasn’t particularly strong at the hand-made package style and decided this was best left to the pros, such as Fluid Audio, Handstitched, Time Released Sound and now, Driftworks! I found that the printed items weren't sell as well as the hand made items and it all felt like a bit of mess. I lacked the experience and knowledge to carry it through and ultimately abandoned this label idea. I did keep Audio Gourmet going for a bit though.

LABEL 3: WAREHOUSE DECAY

At around the same time as Tessellate, I got reacquainted with my record collection and turntables, which had been in storage for some time. I was feeling really nostalgic about my DJing days and got obsessed with the idea of relaunching my ambitions to be a DJ. But I didn’t know anybody locally and so I wondered if I could make connections online as readily as I was able to in Ambient music. I made mixes and tried sharing these with fans of my Ambient labels, but I quickly found there wasn’t much appetite for House music in the Ambient crowd. My day job situation had changed; I was able to drive and worked in a neighbouring town as a kitchen designer in the family business. I’d be out on the road a fair bit and found myself driving to curious places, taking photos of abandoned buildings and inspiring scenes of urban decay. This led to an idea of launching a digital label called Warehouse Decay. This time, I had a clear brand and strong sense of identity that was missing in Tessellate. But, its undoing was ultimately the fact that I was so poorly connected, in a really saturated scene. By now I was no longer someone who went out to DJ gigs and parties and so I wasn’t meeting people to open any doors either. The slow progress sort of led me back to Ambient music…which soothed my soul once more!

LABEL 4: WHITELABRECS

We moved home in 2015 and had a spare room, and so I set up my turntables and vinyl which had previously been stored in the garage. When taking a look through my collection I was reminded of how I’d buy old white label bootlegs several years back in my DJing days, usually in local record shops. There'd be a white paper sleeve and the inner label would often be blank. Some would have rubber-stamped information on the inner label and it was this simple aesthetic that gave me the idea of Whitelabrecs! I knew I could get vinyl effect CDrs with a blank label, and I could get card sleeves with circular cut-outs to show the label. I could effectively re-create the white label vinyl bootleg, into a mini CD equivalent. This felt like the consistent hand-made idea I needed when I was trying to make a success of Tessellate, and it was something I was able to execute. I kept the run-counts low and followed this format for a good couple of years. I did the occasional printed compilation and then for my debut as Glåsbird, I really wanted to show off the cover artwork across a printed gatefold sleeve. At this point it was just a trial, but the 100 CDs sold out in a flash, so I decided to keep going with a printed vinyl-effect packaging style. And this is where we are today! I'm not saying I've made it but I'm certainly proud of what I've been able to achieve with Whitelabrecs and looking back at the catalog fills me with pride. The lesson perhaps is one of encouragement; persevere and learn from the challenges you face and if you stick at it, someday you might just land at something you're happy with.

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