Buttering up BANGKOK

BLACK BUTTER RECORDS – winner of a Brit Award and DJ Mag’s top label of 2014 – is set to make its debut in Asia this week with four highly anticipated shows in China, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
Black Butter artists My Nu Leng, Woz, Alex Adair and Applebottom get the ball rolling at the It’s the Ship Festival starting tonight on a boat sailing between Singapore and Langkawi Island.
That rolling event continues through Monday, to be followed by Black Butter club nights with My Nu Leng and Woz at Grease on Sukhumvit Road on Thursday, backed by local stars, Dragon and Orawan.
Rhys Bainham, the label’s head of events, chatted with us about their success and the DJs touring Asia.

HOW DID IT ALL START FOR BLACK BUTTER?
It started off back in 2010 in the kitchen of a small flat in London belonging to Ollie, one of the co-founders. The idea was to create a platform to release music from artists at our sister company, Stack House Management, which is home to Rudimental, Gorgon City, Kidnap Kid and many more.
The name Black Butter is actually derived from a local delicacy on Jersey, one of the Channel Islands. A jar of the stuff was sitting in Ollie’s fridge one day, and that’s how the name came to be.

YOU SEEM TO BE CHURNING OUT A VAST VARIETY OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC. DO YOU NOT WANT TO BE GENRE-SPECIFIC?
Ultimately genres come and go. Sometimes a specific sound is hot and then it goes out of fashion. We always want to remain versatile and keep the brand and label sounding fresh, not least because we enjoy all different kinds of music ourselves.

WHY DO YOU RELEASE MOSTLY SINGLES RATHER THAN ALBUMS?
Making albums is of course a very time-consuming process, and, because we like to work with a wide variety of different artists, it’s been more appropriate thus far to focus on singles and EPs. The goal, however, is to work towards larger bodies of work with the artists we’ve signed.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE TALENTS TO SIGN?
Aside from the obvious requirement of being musically talented, we always aim to surround ourselves with artists that are hard-working, have a good personality, are organised, and above all have a desire to succeed.

WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF BLACK BUTTER?
So many different factors come into play, but probably a mixture of having a consistent desire to release forward-thinking music, not being afraid to take chances, keeping our ears to the ground, and always surrounding ourselves with talented, hard-working artists.

WHAT’S BEEN THE MAJOR CHANGE IN THE BEHAVIOUR OF MUSIC CONSUMERS SO FAR?
I would have to say the rise of streaming as the dominant method for consumption of music, substituting the traditional method of actually buying records, whether digitally or physically. Platforms such as Spotify, YouTube and Soundcloud, among others, have taken on a whole new level of importance when it comes to |gaining widespread popularity of a particular track, in a way many people probably never would have predicted.

WHAT’S THE ELECTRONIC-MUSIC SCENE IN LONDON LIKE RIGHT NOW?
I think it’s in pretty good shape. Dance music has always had a strong, dedicated following in London, but I think it’s definitely grown in popularity over the last five years and now appeals to a more mainstream audience – for better or worse. It’s great to see such a wide variety of foreign and homegrown talent playing every weekend in the city, and that attracts crowds from all over the world, not just the UK.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE |ELECTRONIC-MUSIC SCENE IN ASIA?
This is our first experience in Asia – both for the artists and for the label – so it’s going to be a real eye-opener for us! We literally have no idea what to expect, but we’re really excited to share our sounds and check out different scenes.

TELL US ABOUT MY NU LENG AND WOZ.
Despite both being associated with the Bristol scene, as well as being long-time friends, they actually both offer something very different musically.
With My Nu Leng you can expect to hear influences from grime, drum-and-bass, UK garage and more – a real spectrum of different genres of bass music all mixed together in a unique way.
Woz, on the other hand, draws more influence from house and techno, especially the more analogue end of the spectrum.
Together the two differing sounds complement each other, and allow a fitting musical progression from start to finish.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FOR BLACK BUTTER ON THIS TOUR?
The Asia tour is going to be an amazing experience for us, and we can’t wait to get started. The parties will give the locals a taste of what’s current in terms of the UK music scene, and we’ve chosen the right venues to do that. Expect to hear forward-thinking underground music in an intimate setting, |which is always the best way to experience it.

The Black Butter Asia Tour rolls into Bangkok at Grease on Sukhumvit Soi 49 on Thursday.
 Admission with a drink is Bt400. RSVP on the Facebook event page and you can enjoy the free bar from 10 to 11pm.
Get more details at |(086) 513 6687.