Anthony Middleton’s Maison D’Etre label has released music from established artists such as Francesca Lombardo, Cali Lanauze, and Bushwacka! over the years.
We recently caught up with Anthony to discuss what inspired him to launch the label, how the journey has unfolded so far, and what lies ahead…
You’ve been releasing music with Maison D’Etre since 2011, can you remember what made you first want to launch the label?
After several years of running Supernature, what started as a genuinely underground expression began to feel a bit predictable. I wanted a new outlet, something honest and hopefully, timeless. A platform I could look back on with pride.
Maison D’Etre was born from the desire to give artists a space to create music that’s beautiful and deep, tracks they could be proud of years down the line, even if they weren’t necessarily the kind to rack up gigs or followers.
Since then you’ve released music from names like Bushwacka!, Francesca Lombardo, and Cali Lanauze, what’s your typical process when it comes to finding and signing new music?
Most of the music we’ve signed has come through personal relationships with artists I’ve known who are sitting on tracks they love but aren’t sure what to do with. That’s exactly the kind of music I want. The honest, expressive stuff that doesn’t always fit the formulas the scene demands.
I’m not interested in the numbers game. I’m in this for the long game, for the joy of stumbling on a track ten years from now and wondering how it ever slipped past people at the time.
What’s one lesson you’ve learnt from releasing on other labels that you’ve carried over into running your own?
I’ve realized that not many labels are willing to let artists release what they truly feel. There’s often this pressure to fit within a framework that serves the label’s economic needs. It’s not exactly a philanthropic business these days.
With Maison, I wanted to support radical creative freedom. You can make a pop record, a pure dance track, something deep, ambient, techno—whatever you’re feeling. I want each release to make sense, of course, but not in a way that limits the artist. The EP shouldn’t be a cage, it should be an adventure.
And which artists might we expect to see on the label in the near future?
We’ve got a mix of old friends and fresh talent. Next up is an EP from LUM with remixes by Ohm Hourani, Guti, Cesar Merveille, Ossios, and one from me. It’ll come out in two parts.
After that, we’ve got a beautiful release from a new Ibiza-based talent, Raphael Schemama. Then something from myself and the list keeps growing. Now that I’m fully back in the flow I’m looking forward to bringing back dear friends and producers.
What’s your favourite record label?
That’s impossible to pin down to just one. I’ve always loved Perlon and their persistence of vision, R&S for their freedom of expression. I’m also a big fan of Artificial Owl, Kompakt, Echocord, Planet E, and Satya, the list goes on. Honestly, I’m all over the place. No single label has a monopoly on the good stuff.
And one piece of advice you would give to any aspiring label owners in 2025?
It’s a labor of love. Don’t do it for the money. If you stay persistent and put love into it, the rewards, creative or otherwise, come later.
Stay true to your vision. Eventually, your identity will stand out amidst the wave of homogenized labels out there. Release music you believe in, even if it’s not what you’d play in a set. The goal is to build a catalog that’s interesting, diverse, and built to last.
Is there anything else you want to plug before we go?
I’d love to mention my other label, Objekts in the Mirror. It’s an experimental platform for ambient and conceptual electronica, including music for healing using some of the new signal tech we now have access to.
The idea was to create a space where artists can experiment without the pressure to monetize. I think we lose a lot of magic when we start intellectualising or strategising halfway through the creative process. So this label is a second playground, where beats don’t get in the way of flow.
It’s growing slowly, but I really believe it’s part of the solution to the current sameness in music: creating environments that free the artist and allow something higher to come through.