Having launched at the start of this year, Eats Everything and Andres Campo’s EI8HT label has already released music from Avision, Drumcomplex, Risc and Truncate, and the next outing will bring the new Dan Says EP from Campo himself.
This months edition of Label Mates finds us chat with Eats Everything about the launch of the label, their journey so far and what he hopes things might look like down the road. Find the full discussion below.
EI8HT launched this year, tell us about the hustle of putting out your first releases?
We do love a hustle, it’s how we all got going in this music industry. We took nothing for granted when we had the idea to set up EI8HT, the label isn’t necessarily built upon who we know, so we don’t expect the search for great releases to be easy, instead we focus on the producers and tunes that we like, and we do our little hustle and try and bring in releases for the label.
Always with a new label, if you’ve got no track record, it’s always going to be a challenge to entice artists to release on your label, but luckily so far, we’ve been blessed with working with really cool artists who share our love for the music and understand our vision going forward.
And what is your typical day to day regarding the label? Do you manage it yourself or is there a team behind the curtain?
Well, Andres (Campo) and I are pretty hands on with all aspects of the label, we both select the music we sign up and Andres is the visual artwork whizz. All the admin stuff and label management we leave to the incredibly talented and handsome sexy legend that is Nick Harris, as he’s got loads of experience in those sorts of things. We also have James Hannan on the team from my management company, and Emma and Adam who do our PR and promotion, a lovely little family.
What is the hardest role involved in managing a label that people might not know about?
Well it wasn’t necessarily easy to pull in the first few releases, we had a hit list of producers, but were mindful that we’ve no track record or in fact any previous releases to send to artists as a reference, we literally just chewed peoples ears off and explained to them that we really want to make a good go with the new label and give it everything we have in terms of pushing the music and the artists.
And we live in a time when there are thousands of new tracks coming out every day, what has been key in keeping EI8HT above the noise?
I think the thing to do is ignore the noise, and stick to your guns, sign up and release music that moves us. As DJ’s, we have a great advantage in that we can test out music to the people on the dancefloor, and so long as it works in those environments, and the music is our thing, then that’s what we do. We want the label to be accepted on its own terms, and not something that’s competing with all the other labels out there.
What record on the label are you most proud to have put out?
I wouldn’t want to single any of them out, they are all wicked releases that we really love, and Andres and myself have been belting out in clubs and festivals. It must be said though that having Truncate on the label at this early stage was something that was a bit of a dream to us both, as we’ve always played his music and love what he does, so having an artist of his calibre on our little new label is such a buzz.
And who can we expect music from on EI8HT in the near future?
The next EI8HT release comes from Mr. Andres Campo himself, who has excelled himself with an EP of really heavy hitters that’ll scare your granny! And then after that, I think we will release some tracks that I am putting the finishing touches to. It’s always a bit weird putting music out on your own label, but I feel like it’s a good time, the bar has already been set by the artists on EI8HT so I need to make sure I bring my A game to the party!
Lastly, where do you see the label in a few years time?
We are just gonna keep being true to ourselves and our love of music and do our best to grow the label and the parties, and make it connect with fellow music fans like ourselves. If we manage to keep them going for years to come, then we’ve done what we always want to do. There’s so many labels out there that we love and are inspired by, and if we can come even close to the legacies of some of the great techno labels, well, that would be a dream!
Andres Campo – Dan Says EP is available on EI8HT from October 25th.