In this feature we catch up with Gruuv Records, a Leeds based label that within 4 years has become one of the fastest developing house and techno labels within the UK.
As you may know, in recent years Leeds’ underground music scene has come on leaps and bounds. Producing countless artists, labels and sound systems this small student based city has developed into the UK capital of underground house and techno music. In this feature we catch up with Gruuv Records, a Leeds based label that within 4 years has become one of the fastest developing house and techno labels within the UK, gaining recognition from the some of the scenes heavyweights (not literally) such as Carl Cox. We talk about the inauguration of Gruuv, what inspires them and what the future holds for this small, yet rapidly emerging, record label.
So to get things started, how did you guys at Gruuv meet and what were the main reasons that drove you onto creating a record label?
"We met in Ibiza in 2002 but Gruuv wasn't formed until 8 years later in 2010. It's difficult starting a label from scratch because it’s a struggle to get anyone with a profile to release on a label if the label itself has no profile (yet) and nothing to offer them as an artist. Fortunately we had the Audiojack name behind us which had already gained enough profile so we launched the label with an EP of our own and commissioned remixes from Uner and Catz n Dogz who were keen to remix one of our tracks."
What's your passion behind music? What inspires you to release cutting edge new house and techno every month?
"It's the same passion that drives you to make music or DJ, it's just a love for the underground dance music industry as a whole and being able to contribute to that in any way that you're willing and able to. It's a buzz getting an exciting new demo arrive in your inbox especially when it's from an artist you already know, like and respect. We just want to make every release as good and strong as possible while maintaining the integrity of the label. No matter how "big" a track could be potentially, we would never release something that didn't fit our intended direction or portray the sound we're trying to achieve."
What are Gruuv's plans for the future?
"We have just released our latest EP with Okain & Tuccillo and we have music from Metodi Hristov, Sven Tasnadi, Black Loops, Emanuel Satie & Spirit Catcher in the pipeline for the rest of the year. Then next year we're celebrating five years of Gruuv in spring and intend to do something special for that so watch this space."
How does Leeds, a big clubbing city, help finding and releasing records?
"Music has no borders any more so you could be living in a remote village in the Congo and get an EP on a good label if you had the internet there. As far as Leeds as a city is concerned though it has provided a far higher ratio of electronic music artists per populous than any other city in the UK; it's churning them out! London obviously has lots of output but then it's over 10 times the size. There's probably only Berlin in all of Europe that could rival it."
James Bate
