Around the world in 80 labels: Bodytonic

Bodytonic-Logo-2013

Much as we’d prefer to be the only authority when it comes to electronic music, that’s clearly not the case, with a multitude of other websites and magazines focussing on the same thing we’ve been writing about since 1999. Credit where credit’s due and all that.

Bodytonic Music has been one of the most consistently readable and reliable of the voices reporting on the club scene since its inception circa 2002, meanwhile the crew’s label of the same name has been putting out increasingly appealing sounds over the last few years; a case of the folk responsible for commenting on This Thing Of Ours putting some money where the collective mouth is. As a gesture of respect then, we put those six questions to one of the head honchos at the imprint, Conor Lynch, and this is how he responded. 

Conor DJ pic

 

Describe your imprint’s output. 

Quality would be the key word here. While we predominantly release electronic music, it’s not exclusively so. What we are really striving to do with the label is release quality, timeless music that we believe in, music which makes perfect sense in terms of the label’s identity when the catalogue is viewed as a whole.

 

What would you say makes it different?  

The fact that we dont conform to promoting a linear sound or style. The releases of someone like Kormac are very different to say Tr One, but they’re both artists who we believe are on the top of their game. Whether it’s the aforementioned acts, or the likes of Somadrone, Not Squares, White Collar Boy or New Jackson, we have released artists of varying styles at varying stages in their career.

We have no rules or guidelines beyond whether we fall in love with the release and as we all have backgrounds in DJing and running gigs, our musical taste and identity is strong and it’s very easy for us to make those judgements quickly when someone sends us a demo. Warp Records would be a good example of a label we really respect. By conventional standards, the idea of Brian Eno, Jamie Lidell and Speedy J releasing on the same label seems absurd, but not only do they make it work, they’re setting the benchmark for others to follow and have been for years. It’s no mean feat, especially when it’s more challenging than ever to run an independent label.

 

What is it that makes you keep looking for new talent to expose? 

Discovering talented new producers who are creating brilliant pieces of music is what it’s all about. Aside from my own personal taste, there is great satisfaction in bringing a great piece of music to widespread acclaim.

 

What’s the label’s pinnacle achievement so far? 

Hard to narrow in on just one. Releasing Kormac’s debut album and having him play at Glastonbury is one. Managing to get one of our favourite DJs in the shape of Optimo, as well as electronic music’s men of the moment, Ron Morelli & Svengalisghost, of L.I.E.S., on remix duty for our next release is another, given both our respect for them and their status in the industry. Not to mention the excellent remixes they did.

Having longtime heroes of ours like Moodymann and Morgan Geist support the last Tr One release is another. Ultimately it’s making things like this happen whilst discovering, encouraging and supporting great music from great artists is what it’s all about. 

 

If people were going to hear one release from your camp, what would you prefer it to be? 

Very hard to choose just one but I’d say the next release from Adultrock. Across five tracks there is a great range between the industrial Ghost 202 Dub to the downtempo In The Shade, alongside the disco-tinged house of Chants and Gold Waves.

 

All being well, skip forward five years, where would you like things to be?

20 releases down, with there being both a progression in the standard, individuality and diversity of what we have released, while nurturing a stable of regular artists, with the label and said artists being internationally recognised.

 

 

Recent stops 

UK – Southern Fried Records – Nathan Thursting and Craig Duranti

Germany – OFF Recordings – Andre Crom

 


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