Berlin's .shadybrain has been releasing drum and bass since 2004 but now it's expanding its horizons. Label owner Chris Impulse tells us more...

 

Please introduce yourself...

My name is Christian Hillemeyer but most people in the DnB world know me under the alias Chris Impulse. For the last seven years I've lived in Berlin, Germany where I run my own label .shadybrain.

Tell us more about the history of .shadybrain...

Me and some friends started .shadybrain back in 2004. It was a rough time for new labels, especially in the drum and bass scene. Alphamagic had just gone bankrupt and others were to follow. That's why we thought about new ways of distributing music and decided to sell MP3s. At that time no drum and bass label had done this and a lot of people didn't take our plan seriously but we were right and .shadybrain got more and more established. Then in 2007 Triple Vision offered us a P&D deal for vinyl and we started releasing 12"s as well. This year we relaunched our website and the whole label concept. From now on .shadybrain doesn't only release drum and bass but also almost every underground music style like techno, electronica, experimental or even indie.

What's the concept behind the label?

The concept has always been to offer good music, no matter what style, by newcomers as well as established artists. .shadybrain has always been open to new ideas and technology. We want to offer artists and users fairness and trust. That is why our artists get 50% of all income made from their music and users on our webpage can stream our releases in full length without paying a cent. Also, we do not use any DRM to copy-protect our MP3s. We sell them for a maximum of 79 cents per tune which is the best price you can find on the web.

Tell us more about your key artists...

.shadybrain has worked with a lot of artists and helped to break a lot of talent. Artists who had their debuts on .shadybrain include Phace, Bad Robot, Nocturnal, Dementia and others. I think over the last five years we have worked with more than 30 artists on more than 50 releases. Artists who definitely helped us a lot are Misanthrop, Rregula, Proktah, Dementia and Pyro. Also, Optiv from Cause 4 Concern is a good friend and will soon deliver his second vinyl release on .shadybrain.

Tell us more about the new EP you're releasing...

The 'Where Am I EP' by Rregula is a big thing for us! Rregula has done a lot with .shadybrain over the years, starting with his Bad Robot releases to a 12" in 2008 featuring his tunes 'Corner Hashman' and 'Shit's Dope'. When we first talked about doing an EP, we decided to do something special. My aim was to get artists together who have never teamed up before. In the end The Panacea collaborated with Rregula on a track called 'Down Underneath' and Silent Witness remixed 'Corner Hashman'. All four tunes turned out really heavy and we're really excited about the release. There is also a free download coming with the EP which is Rregula's 'Oblique'. This easily could have been on the vinyl but we decided to give something back to our followers. You can download the free tune and the EP from October 8th here. Also watch out for an exclusive promo mix by Rregula on our website.

Anything else you want to tell us about?

We hope that people out there enjoy the music we put out as much as we do. No matter if it's drum and bass, techno or freaky electronic undefinable mash-ups with a cracky voice on top – in the end it's all about vibes and love for music. Drum and bass has always been a melting pot of different styles such as jazz, house, reggae, techno and much more. So for us this now might be the perfect base to expand from.

www.shadybrain.net
www.myspace.com/shadybrain
www.soundcloud.com/shadybrain

 

• .shadybrain
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• Rregula

Related Links:

• Shadybrain Releases Panic Girl Remixes
• Panic Girl Remix Competition
• Optiv Guest Mix
• Flexout Audio Label Profile
• Matt Domino Launches Absolute Music

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