What made you create this label? Why? What is the idea and inspiration behind it?
We’ve started the label back in 2018, we’ve just celebrated our 5th Anniversary. It started from our love for progressive music in the broadest way, from the more “sweet” melodic tracks to the darker club records, we’re big fans of everything around progressive music, melodic house & techno and organic house.
How long had the idea of a label been on your minds before its official launch? What were the challenges running up to its launch?
Actually not that long. I used to work as an A&R Manager at Armada Music so had a lot of label experience so when the time was right we’ve started the label. From the start we had some amazing releases from guys like JMO (alias Jack Molenschot, he is also the man behind trance project Mesh and created classics ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Persuasion’ on ‘In Trance We Trust’ back in 2003, those records are 20 years old now, time flies!). And also welcomed Alastor to the label for his collaboration with RUE titled ‘Contact’ which got massive support, played on the Ultra Music Festival mainstage by Nora En Pure and did over 1.5 million streams on Spotify. Just to mention some of our very first releases.
What is the inspiration behind the log and artwork?
We wanted to go for something artistic and abstract. The first artwork was made by a good friend of mine, Roy van Rosmalen an amazing Dutch photographer. This direction and vibe we’ve continued until today, an acrylic kinda abstract vibe which perfectly fits the music.
What genre of music the label hosts and what do you look for specifically in a track that gives you that sense of belonging in a track to release it on your platform?
We’re releasing progressive music which sometimes leans towards a more dark vibe (the AMPISH releases for example) and other times more towards a more melodic vibe (the Solanca, Koelle and Little Foot releases for example).
In terms of demos, how do you accept, review and reject from all the thousands you receive?
We check and listen to all the demo’s we receive and we try to reply to as many emails as possible though unfortunately we can’t reply to all of them as it are too many. But if we hear potential, even if that specific production isn’t for us, we will get back.
How many VA and compilations do you release in a year and what kind of tracks you choose?
In the beginning years we’ve released a couple of VA’s though nowadays we only focus on single releases and compilations build around a theme (for example our Tulum, Ibiza, Amsterdam Dance Event compilations).
Which one has been a highlight release and why?
That’s very hard to choose as we had many but if I had to choose one it would be ‘Into The Ether – Ardour’ growing towards 6 million streams on Spotify alone.
What do you expect from new talent when you sign them? What makes you reject them from releasing on your label?
For new talent we’re looking for something unique and something that’s really well produced, there you can make the difference.
What kind of support do you look for from artists and other parties in promoting your music worldwide? What are the challenges in promoting music to corners of the world where you may not be as popular as in your home country.
It’s currently a big challenge getting your music heard because each week there are so many new records coming out. Especially after corona, there has been a big spike and even more music is being released each week. Luckily we have our own strong playlist on Spotify called ‘Melodic Progressive 2023’ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ulmdUuvDGT0tRhbEKbA2M?si=3f0f45b0a8ed439c with over 120K followers. This way we can kick-start our releases ourselves. Next to that we set-up Spotify playlists trades with other likeminded labels and curators and have a strong relationship with the various DSP’s. That having said I think there is still a huge market with fans that yet have to discover our releases and music and I see a lot of growth potential, this is our goal for 2024 and beyond, to reach and amaze more electronic music lovers with our great releases.