Page 44 - DemoZone Magazine Issue 003

FEATURE INTERVIEW
EJ UNDERGROUND CELEBRATING 100 RELEASES
Starting up a record label has never been easier – but to make it work and to remain relevant, innovative and pro-active is a whole different story. In the abyss of labels trying to make it work there are only a small number that make it count – EJ Underground and the extensive family at Krafted Music are one of those select few.
Label boss Paul Sawyer and partner Darren Braddick have developed a network that’s become one of the premium imprints for all things electronic music and with a wide- ranging line of imprints that are pushing the big guns for their money – we’ve sat down with the guys behind the scenes to get a look inside their HQ and find out what it takes to make it happen.
Hi Paul – first off, thanks for talking to us today. EJ Underground is a part of a larger movement that you guys are running, for anyone new to you guys, can you break down the structure of the group and explain the ethos behind the collective?
Hi Matt, good to meet with you. The Krafted Music Group was created due to my labels merging with the Endemic Digital Group. The Endemic group was founded by Wez Saunders from Defected back in 2008. When Wez left Endemic, Darren took the helm and was running the imprints Endemic Digital, Sounds of Juan and Unrivaled Music.
I was ploughing ahead with EJ Underground since its formation in 2012, ultimately releasing all genres of House music and I also started Krafted Records during the early part of 2014 to release mainly Deep Tech House, Techno and Progressive. It’s the label that I would say comprises of the sound that I play as a DJ. Darren approached me early part of 2014 to co-host a party at the Brighton Music Conference and we soon realised that we
could work well together. I jumped at the chance to co-own Endemic as it was a label that I respected for many years. There’s some amazing artists who have been involved in releasing on the label for some time including the X-Press 2 guys, Moonface, Colin Dale, Terry Farley, the list is endless.
The sister label to Endemic is Unrivaled Music and is a label that concentrates on releasing mainly Deep House.
If Techno is your bag, our imprint Sounds of Juan is the one to turn to for that. There’s some amazing Techno out there at the moment and we’re gained some really good support this year with this label.
I started EJ Eternal during 2013 solely to release Trance, Progressive and EDM, but to be completely honest, it’s not the sound that I can relate to any more. I was a massive Trance and progressive fan during the 90’s, but running a label when you’re not feeling the music just doesn’t work. That’s when we brought on board Tim Greenshill. He’s perfect for running that imprint, he’s a huge EDM fan and is taking the label much further than I could have.
Not long after the Krafted Music Group was created, We were speaking with Tim Lyall who at the time was running Bloxbox Records with Brandon Block. Incidentally, both are old friends of ours through promoting and Paul had been remixing for them the year before. They were finding it difficult to keep the momentum going with Bloxbox due to work constraints etc, so we offered to take it on board and make it a part of our group. It was ideal for us because the label releases Funky House, Garage, Bass House and Nu Disco, genres that neither of us were really releasing on the other labels. So it was great to have this separate identity as a part of the overall group. Brandon and Tim are still a part of the label which is a big help.
We have another label First Steps Recordings that was set up in 2013 which is a derivative of a new development program called ‘First Steps’ for young &
aspiring musicians, young offenders, students and more young people looking for guidance. The program will work in conjunction with existing Education & Community programs/centers as well as young artists that have been identified by record labels as needing further development.
Finally, we have another label boiling away at the moment in conjunction with Bournemouth University music students called B.U.R.N, which stands for Bournemouth University Recording Network. The students are running it and we will be mentoring them throughout the year. It’s really exciting as this is going to be running year in year out with different students from all the various departments helping out. It’s at its early stages at the moment, but it will be a label that will be releasing student music of all genres. Eventually we hope that this may form a part of the curriculum, but for now, it’s being developed to provide students with some insight into running and working at a record label.
You have a lot different divisions for different sounds – but what boxes have to be ticked for you guys when considering a signing?
That’s the beauty of having so many divisions within the group. If a sound doesn’t quite fit the label that a demo has been sent to, it can quite easily fit with one of the others. But of course, the quality of the release is important, as well as the artist themselves. There are so many things to take into account from the social media following of the artist to whether the release requires remixes or tracks to accompany the main track as an EP. In the early days, those things weren’t so important.
Of course the music out rules everything, if it’s a great track and it’s well produced, who cares if the artist has 10 followers or 10,000, but ultimately, we are in this to make money as a business to keep going. So it’s important to look at whether we think the artist will sell tracks.
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