Page 34 - Zone Magazine Issue 015

In a world where labels are struggling to break through, we caught up with Krafted head honcho Paul Sawyer, whose Krafted imprint has been pricking up the ears of the industry of late.
His music has been licensed to Toolroom, Café Del Mar and released on a number of labels including Juicy Music, Armada, Bonzai, Konneqt, Particles, Pineapple Digital and more, as well as across the labels within his brand. Paul’s biography is packed with an endless list of industry stalwarts who he has worked alongside during the last two decades, as well as writing about some of the biggest artists himself. As well as owning a radio station and hosting shows on New York’s Frisky Radio, it’s fair to say that Paul Sawyer has a firm hold within the music industry.
He’s flown around the globe and performed at some major events in the United States, Europe and in the UK, as well as promoting events at Egg in London. This is what he had to say to Zone.
For those that don't know Paul Sawyer please tell us who you are and how you got into making and playing music?
I’m a UK based DJ/Producer/label partner/freelance music journalist who owns Krafted and have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to DJ globally. I’ve been involved in the music industry since 1993 and have been playing musical instruments from the age of 5, but producing house music since 2012.
I review music for various magazines as well as write feature interviews for a handful of magazines, as well as being the UK Editor of Zone Magazine.
Krafted is currently doing very well.
Tell us about the Krafted Brand, how it came to be and the ethos behind the labels?
Krafted was the creation of my label partner Darren Braddick and I after we joined forces at the Brighton Music Conference back in 2013. We were running our own labels and after the success of our event at BMC, we decided that we could work together to help grow a brand, that’s when we came up with the name Krafted.
Initially we had quite a few labels, but after realising how time consuming it was to run so many labels, we decided to concentrate on two labels, Krafted Digital that releases Tech House, Krafted Underground that focuses on my sound, deep tech and progressive. We have Sounds of Krafted that’s our techno label, but this releases less frequently.
What advice would you give to folk looking to start their own label?
When I first started my label, I released all genres of house music and didn’t really concentrate on a particular sound. After doing so and focusing on the identity of the label, this made a huge difference. So this is one thing that is really important to do from the outset.
I would also say that you need to be prepared to pump a fair bit of money into building the label. If you want to gain exposure and build the name, there’s a lot of investment. Not only financial but time, it’s amazing how much time is consumed by running a label.
Also, being prepared to put yourself out there to meet the industry, attending the conferences etc. It’s so important.
Your last EP Running on Juicy Music was a big success and you have a new EP on Bonzai called I Know. Both different styles, Do you make tracks to go to certain labels or do you see what happens and decide on the label
once the track is finished?
It’s more about representing what I play really. I fuse both tech house and progressive house together as I think they go hand in hand and make sets more interesting.
Targeting the right labels with the right sound is really important. It’s pointless sending out music to a label that doesn’t release the sound.
Getting my EP on Robbie Rivera’s label was amazing, I’ve always been a fan of Robbie and knowing that Armada would be behind the release was an advantage too. I’ve just been working on a remix for Juicy, so I’m really pleased to be building a relationship with them.
Bonzai have been a label that I have played since they first started in the ‘90’s. I used to buy all of their vinyl, so when I sent the demos to them, it felt like a great achievement to be on their roster. I did target them with my tracks as I felt they would be a good fit.
I do target certain labels. For instance, I made a tech house EP for Freakin 303, Marshall Jefferson’s label. Thankfully they signed it straight away!
I used to send tracks to a number of labels and sit back and wait for the best, but to be honest, unless you get to know the guy signing the tracks or have a mutual colleague, you don’t really have much chance. That’s how it seems to me. Hence why I say it’s so important to meet people in my previous question.
Which track would you most like to remix and why?
I’d love to revisit ‘It’s Not Over’ by Grace from the 90’s. That was such an iconic track back then and I was lucky enough to get a white label copy of it before it’s general release. I must have played that track to death!!
feature interview [uk]
" Bonzai have been a label that I have played since they first started in the ‘90’s. I used to buy all of their vinyl, so when I sent the demos to them, it felt like a great achievement to be on
their roster. "