A superb interview from Richard Akingbehin from Hyponik Promotions and amazing photos from our friend Meg Sharp about our 5th Anniversary.
5 Years Young: 2nd Drop Records
Roughly five years ago,
Mark Gurney and
James Bliss heard the song ‘Good Feeling’ by friend
Ramadanman (now
Pearson Sound), on seminal underground radio station, Rinse FM.
Skream, the DJ who aired the track, announced that
Ramadanman intended to give the track away for free. Roughly twelve months earlier, Mark Gurney was running
Live Recordings,
a youth project and record label that taught transferable management
skills in the context of the music industry. Whilst running Live
Recordings, Mark released
Jamie Woon‘s ‘Wayfaring Stranger,’ backed with a sensational
Burial remix.
When the funding for Live Recordings was pulled, Mark and James decided to create another outlet and
2nd Drop Records
was born. Soon after, Ramadanman’s ‘Good Feeling’ found a well deserved
home on 2nd Drop, receiving a 12″ vinyl release with ‘The Woon’
featuring on the B-side; a tough, sub-heavy re-working of ‘Wayfaring
Stranger’.
Mark and James were immersed in the dubstep scene at the time. Regular heads at
DMZ and particularly
FWD;
it’s a sure bet that 2nd Drop Records was conceived in the womb-like
environment of Plastic People. Getting to know Rusko via Reso (who were
housemates at the time), the pair heard Rusko’s tracks ‘William H
Tonkers’ and ‘Roma,’ which soon made up 2NDRP12002. Throughout 2008 and
2009, 2nd Drop never really strayed too far away from that familiar,
dark 140bpm template, with releases coming from the likes of J:Kenzo, LD
and Sully. Come 2009 they, like many others, began to find themselves
searching elsewhere for the next new sound.
“If someone had said to me that four years down the line
we’d be releasing techno, I’d have laughed and been pretty surprised.
But, if i’d heard the music we’re releasing now, I would have definitely
been feeling it.”
James tells me it was the seventh release that was the so-called
“turning point.” They welcomed Ramadanman back to drop ‘Revenue,’ and
invited Untold to remix the track, resulting in the devastatingly
stripped-back B-side. I can tell this 12″, perhaps the remix in
particular, is still a serious source of satisfaction for the pair.
Three years on, it’s still being played regularly in clubs, included in
mixes, compilations such as Gold Panda’s DJ-Kicks, and has been labelled
a major influence by recent signing, Tessela.
From that point on, 2nd Drop have put out techno, garage, and
soul-infused electronica; building on the foundations of early dubstep,
but gradually meandering away. Neither James or Mark see that as a
conscious decision, more an organic progression that doesn’t negate the
possibility of returning to its roots. They tell me that they would put
out the 2007 Ramadanman record today. Stating that “it’s probably more
relevant now anyway.”
The conversation moves onto vinyl, artwork and digital piracy. Mark
and James come to the conclusions that they don’t care if people want to
rip 128kbps copies of their releases, and that they would never do a
digital-only release. The internet has changed the role of the record
label. Gone are the days, they say, of selling tens of thousands of
copies of a 12″, nowadays, trawling through Eastern European
file-sharing websites asking for their tunes to be taken down is more of
a reality.
In recent years, 2nd Drop have never really released straight house
music, intsead, they’ve skirted around the edges, always opting for
something more rugged and inspired. Recent output demonstrates this
precisely, coming from
Pedestrian, Djrum, Tessela, South London Ordnance and
Gerry Read
– a far cry from the strains of dubstep the they were originally
putting out. Their discography seems to have followed a familiar
pattern; think Loefah, Pinch, or even Ramadanman himself, all turning
their attention to slower tempos. I want to know why they think this has
happened. James tells me, laughing, that “five years ago, [his]
perception of what techno was.. was.. Germans!”
Once again, the internet is cited as a possible reason for the
change. Its impact, even over just five years, shouldn’t be
underestimated. We discuss how exciting the scene is currently; “there
are teenage producers drawing influence from all over the world, from
tracks released before they were born; something not so easily done five
years ago.”
“2011 was a kind of renaissance for us, we received a
flurry of great music from LV, Djrum, Gerry Read, Youandewan and
Tessela, who all embodied the elements of dubstep that we loved, but
evolved it to into a newer, more interesting sound – through new tempos,
hybridising genres and generally experimenting outside of 140bpm. It
was exciting again!”
With five years and twenty releases steeped in London’s underground culture, this label have established themselves within a tight-knit
community, whilst globally picking up plaudits for their A&R
abilities and relentless quality control; and they show no sign of
slowing down. An EP and a 12″ from Pedestrian are imminent, so too are a
Djrum EP and album, a 12″ from Youandewan, music from exciting
youngster Happa, and at some point, a label compilation. A lot of these
forthcoming tracks, alongside a careful selection of recently released
2nd Drop music, and classic, influential material from the likes of
Gregory Isaac, Raekwon and J-Live are included in the 2nd Drop Hyp Mix;
an influences showcase mixed by Mark and James, together with long-time
label affiliates DB, Ralph Solly and Marshal Darling. A deep insight
into the label’s current musical ethos, and how they got there – here’s
to another five years of 2nd Drop Records!
We celebrate our 5th birthday this Friday (29th June) at Blink in Hidden. Full details here.
Our 5th Anniversary mix here:
Read the original article here:
http://hyponik.com/2012/06/5-years-young-2nd-drop-records/
