Label Profile: Silk Recordings

16 Sep 2010

Silk Recordings is a recently established collective of DJs, music producers, urban artists and other creative minded individuals. "We are dedicated to the production of exquisite, urban influenced electronic music," says label manager Forge. "We also believe in using creative media and marketing to promote our label and artists." We spoke to Forge to find out more...

When did you start Silk Recordings and why did you set it up?

Our label was born at the end of 2008 and our first releases were out at the start of 2009. The label was set up as an output for our own music as well as up-and-coming and established producers. Currently we are focusing on the more deep, experimental and intelligent spectrum of drum & bass. Although we don't like to label ourselves as one genre - you will hear liquid soulful tracks along with some harder dancefloor numbers throughout our earlier releases.

Now we have found our own style and uniqueness, we have a very clear vision of which direction we are going in. I think it takes any label at least 8-10 releases to find this out and if you look back on most major labels you'll see them develop and progress throughout their first releases.

Who is involved with running it?

Currently it is myself who handles all the day to day running, promotion, artists management, demos etc. Apart from myself we have Pixel Junglist who is our in-house designer for all our artwork and merchandise material. I also have to give a special mention to Nether who acts as a critique for future releases and has helped a lot in the early stages of the label.

What other labels, new or old, have inspired you?

I think in terms of running a business and a brand you can't really go past labels like Ram, Shogun, Hospital, etc and even though I may not agree with some of the releases, you can really value their business models and the incredible output they have had, both in the past and future releases.

For musicality and releases I'm really inspired by Darkestral, Exit, Hyperdub, Nightslugs and many more labels like these that push the boundaries. I also really respect labels that are not worrying about trends and are releasing music that may be a bit different or leftfield on what's currently selling now.

Tell us more about your key artists...

Furi Anga is one of our main artists and we are currently working on LP/CD project with him. He's from Finland and has releases on labels such as Med School, Translation, Shadybrain and various other top notch labels. He has a very unique production style and is geared towards the more minimal atmospheric sound; he always uses lots of vocals in his tracks and has a very uplifting and moody sound. On top of this I have to emphasize his amazing drum programming ability and the skill to blend different textures of light and dark together seamlessly. Furi has had one previous release on Silk - Inside the Sun was played by many a DJ and also featured on the widely heard Hospital podcast by London Electricity.

Furi Anga - Inside The Sun (CLIP) by silkrecordings

Dominic Ridgway is also one of our key artists. He has had two single releases previously and also has a collab on our forthcoming Ascension EP with eleven8 & MR FOUL. Dakosa also remixed his track (Beauty Falls) for the label's 13th release. Dominic has loads of releases forthcoming and he recently also won your Sabre Remix competition. We are currently looking at potentially bigger projects with Dominic and he also has a forthcoming 12" with us soon.

Dominic Ridgway, eleven8 & Mr Foul - My Road - (Clip) by silkrecordings

Bulb is also another valued artist in our roster with a more musical and uplifting style. He is currently putting the finishing touches to his EP which is forthcoming before the end of the year. He is one of Russia's best new talents and also has a downtempo project called Fill, with which he just released a free LP. His standout track Cruelty Support, which was released on our Suspended Animation EP a few months ago, gained a lot of support from many big names and was also featured on Marcus Intalex's RBMA show. Bulb has tracks forthcoming on labels such as Soul:R, Med School, Kokeshi and loads more, so it seems he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

Bulb - Cruelty Support (CLIP) by silkrecordings

Nether is also carving a path of his own. Current releases on 31, DSM and Silk, Nether is bringing back the true analogue sound, with big dub skanks and euphoric melodies you can really feel the warmth in this guys tunes. Using a hardware only set up, you can't go wrong with the massive old skool vibe Nether brings out in his music. Support from all the major players in the scene, his humungous remix of On The South has finally hit the stores and has been smashed all over club world for the last year.

Nether - True Believer (DSM) by Nether

What do you look for in potential artists?

Originality, experimental elements, high production quality and, above all, a great vibe!

What's the ethos behind the label?

To bring experimental music with integrity to the forefront of d&b and establishing a collective of artists and evolving a reputation based on their creative output.

What have been your biggest releases to date?

All of Dominic Ridgway's releases have caused quite a stir, Suspended Animation was played by a host of big name DJs and gained a lot of attention from outside of d&b as well. Empire's single Invaders / Nazca was tracklisted countless amounts of times across podcast and radio shows but I always say our biggest release is the next one to come out.

Empire - Invaders - (CLIP) by silkrecordings

Tell us more about your forthcoming EP...

Ascension is a belief that some individuals may have ascended beyond this earth and into another universe. Such is the case with Silk's 15th release aptly titled The Ascension EP. The EP comprises producers spanning from two countries that are currently on top of the electronic music scene - UK and Russia. With a concept built on big bass and experimentation, each track contains the best in the experimental concept that Silk is built on, but also keeping a deep, dark, minimalist vibe throughout. These four tracks can be played at low volume on your iPod or dropped on the biggest club systems and still have the maximum effect that you are looking for.

Got any other releases in the pipeline you can tell us about?

We have a forthcoming LP/CD release by Furi Anga. The CD will also come in a limited edition box set with only 150 available and it will include a t-shirt, stickers and a few other promo materials inside. The artwork is being done by the same artist the graced Goldie's last LP Sinus Tempus. The LP will also feature a four track EP remixed by some of the scene's most established artists, more on this soon. Digital release wise we have Bulb's EP, which is nearly complete. The EP will feature Lonely Gravity and Default Settings plus a vocal track and another more hard edged tune. We've got various other bits and pieces signed for different projects and also have forthcoming 12" from Nether, eleven8, Dominic Ridgway and Bulb.

Tell us more about the free track you're giving away...

We have only ever given one other tune away before, which is Blue Motion's Shimmering Horizons and it's still available for those that don't have it.

Blue Motion - Shimmering Horizons [FREE TUNE] by silkrecordings

You can download eleven8 - They Don't Mix below. This track was exclusively produced by eleven8 for Silk and has never been played or downloaded by anyone before today. The track also has been professionally mastered so don't worry about getting a low quality track, were giving you the very best. It's available as a 320 kbps MP3 here but we'll be giving it away as a .wav on our SoundCloud page soon. Although mainly a dubstep producer this is one of eleven8's first forays into drum & bass. And you can bet if he's making tracks of this quality you'll see him popping up all over the shop. You can find out more info about him here.

Eleven8 - They Don't Mix by knowledge

Anything else you want to tell us about?

Our website is currently being built and if you want to send us some music hit out dropbox. We are also taking bookings for Silk artists on bookings@katipoaudio.com and we are planning a monthly label night in the UK and Australia, so we hope to see you in the club soon.