Label Mates: Pornbugs / Bondage Music

Pornbugs’ Bondage Music label has released music from names such as Markus Homm, Dilby, James Dexter, and Mihai Popoviciu in the past, building one of Berlin’s most exciting outputs for house music in the process.

The most recent project to land on the imprint arrives in the form of Sascha Dive’s new Back 2 Life album, which dropped in the closing weeks of 2021.

We welcome the duo to our Label Mates series this week, where we got to chat about the launch of Bondage Music back in 2006, how the industry has developed since then, and what the future might hold for the labels upcoming releases.

You first launched Bondage Music back in 2006, what were some of the biggest hurdles you remember facing in the very beginning?

When we thought about setting up our own label in 2006, we wanted to create a platform for fellow artists, and of course, ourselves, where we could release music and implement our idea of ‘sounds to captivate you’.

There were some hurdles. To be honest, we actually didn’t know anything at the time. Who is a good partner for mastering? Which pressing plants are good? In the beginning, we didn’t know much about the processes for vinyl releases at all. The learning process took a few years and never stops.

Since then you have released music from names like Markus Homm, Dilby, James Dexter, and Mihai Popoviciu, what do you typically look for in an artist when considering them for a release?

Genre-wise, our sound is between deep house, minimal tech, and micro house, so it must reflect the labels sound. Bondage Music’s vision is to bring authentic, quality, and honest dance music to those in the know.

Music that makes you move, touches the heart and brings you to a deeper place in your soul. However, the music must also be made for the club. We have to feel that when we sign an artist for the label.

The way people consume music has changed quite a bit since 2006, how has your day to day changed with the growth of platforms like Beatport, and Spotify?

Our focus has always been on vinyl releases, so we do a lot of vinyl-only releases. We definitely had to recognise that the market for vinyl releases is a bit different than for downloads and streaming. It has become more complex overall; every market has unique requirements, you have to adapt to that.

For example, we learned that edited versions work better on portals like Spotify, i.e. shorter tracks without intros and outros.

Who might we expect to release on Bondage Music in the coming months?

Our release schedule is already very full; three quarters of the year are planned already. In March, a new EP is coming from NTFO, followed by releases from Dust Yard, Dan Groul, James Dexter, Cristina Lazic, Alexander Matchak and ourselves (Pornbugs), to name a few. Markus Homm’s first artist album is also scheduled for the second half of the year.

And is there an artist that you would love to sign music from, but just haven’t had the chance yet?

We’ve liked two artists a lot for a while, Traumer and Janeret. We love the sound of both of them.

What is one piece of advice you would give to anyone out there that’s considering to launch a label of their own?

If you know you want to start a label, you will need to have a release (or even a few releases) lined up to move on to the following steps, like finding distribution. And when you plan to release vinyl, you have to plan a very long time in advance, sometimes 4-6 months, depending on pressing plants.

What’s one role in running a label that you enjoy the most?

Selecting the tracks for a release and planning the concept for the release together with the artist.

And lastly, what’s your favourite label, besides Bondage Music of course?

There are quite a few, but our favourites are Berg Audio, Rutilance Recordings, Joule Imprint, and Yoyaku.

Sascha Dive – Back 2 Life LP is out now on Bondage Music.