Seamus Haji has spent almost 25 years running Big Love Music, the label he founded in 2002. The DJ and producer came to it from the A&R side of the industry, and that experience still shapes how he believes a label should be built. As the label nears its 25th anniversary, he is returning to records he made decades ago.
From A&R to Big Love
Seamus Haji came to label ownership through A&R. He started in the late 1990s at Slip ‘n’ Slide, then took the same role at Defected Records, learning first-hand how records are found, signed and developed.
“Come 2002, I just had a real urge to do my own thing, and hence set up Big Love Records,” he says.
It has since been the main home for his own productions, as well as signings from other artists.
The Case for the Artist-Led Label
For anyone launching an independent label today, Haji believes it helps for the founder to be an active artist as well as a label head. A boss who produces and DJs gives the imprint a visible figurehead, he argues, and running events strengthens that further.
“People want to sign records to your label because they know you as a producer, and they know you as a DJ, and they know that you do events,” he says.
He is clear that none of this is essential, but says the combination does help to attract artists.
His own career illustrates the point. His 2004 cover of Indeep‘s “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” went on to top the UK Dance Chart, and his remix of Booty Luv‘s “Boogie 2nite” reached No. 2 in the UK. He keeps that profile active today through his radio shows, the Big Love Radio Show and Haji’s House.
Revisiting the Catalogue
Big Love’s forthcoming schedule looks back as much as it looks forward.
“Lots of exciting stuff coming up,” Haji says. “A lot of records I made many years ago, we’re revisiting.”
Among them is “When You Touch Me”, which Haji made 30 years ago and which will now receive a 30th-anniversary remix. “God’s Child”, first released 25 years ago under his Big Bang Theory alias on Defected, is also returning with new remixes.
Alongside these, the label is lining up Dajae‘s “Brighter Days”, which Haji calls a big record, with a new remix from Harry Romero. Haji himself remixed the track in 2006.
With more still to come, the run-up to Big Love’s 25th year looks set to honour the label’s past while keeping it firmly on today’s dancefloors.