Our latest signing Giom was recently interviewed by Chicago’s 5 Magazine and provided an exclusive mix for them to boot. Read the full interview below and head on over to the 5 Magazine website to check out the mix and for more great house music related stuff.

Born and raised in Niort, France, GIOM (website, facebook, ilike, traxsource, discogs, myspace, soundcloud, twitter) now lives in London, producing and remixing some of the most exquisite House releases of the last five years. He’s released music on Motion, OM, Aroma, Blackcherry and Kolour.

1. So I read on your blog that you’ve entered into a partnership with the guys from Lost My Dog. Is this a series of gigs, releases, remixes…?
GIOM: Exactly! We’ve been doing the prep-work since we first met at their label party in Sonar last summer, and for this year I have a string of original EPs being released on both vinyl and digital, as well as a handful of remixes… You’ll also get to see some cheeky bootlegs as part of their DOGLEG series which they giveaway via their mailing list. My first 3-tracker EP will be coming out in time for Miami, we’re just in the middle of sorting out the remixes. Parties are being organised too. I will also be playing for them at their Sonar and ADE parties, later on this year. So things are looking good!

2. I was looking through your releases on discogs.com and had no idea you were a session drummer. Have you done any work that I might be familiar with?
GIOM: Ha! Not sure… I play for a lot of random artists. I mainly do live gigs and tours, but also jingles for adverts or radio. It seems nowadays a singer will get signed to a Major label, then needs a band, then does a lot of showcases and festivals, then eventually loses interest, can’t cope with it all or gets dropped… So I play for a lot of these guys, and then move onto the next one…. I have recorded tracks which ended up as B-sides for Kasabian, toured with the Nextmen, Odyssey (the disco band…), been on a few music videos where you can hardly see me, and recorded lots of crappy music you might hear while walking down the supermarket or the hardware store. A few years ago I also did a couple of porn soundtracks, but that’s another story…

3. Tell me a little about the UK House scene as it stands now. With guys like LMD and Kahua that seem to be really giving the right marketing push to this music for the first time, well, ever, do you see some kind of a comeback poppin’?
GIOM: I’m not sure… UK labels are great of course, but like everywhere else in the world not enough of them have got the energy nor time to be more professional about their work, release schedule etc… When you do not make any money out of all the hard work you put onto a business, it’s hard to keep at it after a few months… To me this is a very important area, and one where Kahua and LMD are making a real difference because they are focused, organised, very professional, and have been for years. Of course they have the genuine passion and love for House Music, but remain switched on and focused.

4. It’s uncanny to see how many of your songs get licensed for comps – House of OM (DJ Heather), Farina’s Fabric 40, Live in Tokyo and Nectar Volume 2. Do you think that’s helped getting your name out there? is it more important than the DJs spinning your records?
GIOM: I think both the compilations and the support from DJs are really important. But yes, having music licensed to mix CDs has helped me get noticed, no doubt! When you have no music out whatsoever, but suddenly you feature on mix CDs, in my case sometimes the opening track, and on labels such as Om, Hed Kandi or Fabric, you do get noticed… People think who is this? and want to know more about you… I always made sure I had my myspace address or email written on the album credits, and that’s how labels started approaching me and asking me for music.

5. Will you be at WMC this year? And what releases are you working on in the kitchen that we should keep an eye out for?
GIOM: You should definitely keep an eye out for the next Bobby & Klein releases (my more jacking, quirky collaboration with Vinz, my old school friend) We have an EP coming out on Spatula City in the next few weeks, as well as one on Kolour Recordings which I think is going to surprise a few people…

One of my tracks from last year’s Blue Matter EP (Ornate Music) has just been licensed to the upcoming DJ Kicks compilation from the Juan Mclean (DFA), which is really cool!

Otherwise, by myself, I’m working on 2 EPs for Lost My Dog, 1 for Bump Music (which will include the remix I did for Miles Maeda), and 2 potential other ones, which aren’t confirmed yet… Remix-wise, I’ve just finished 2 for the Lawnchair Generals coming out on their LCG Music imprint, one for Bang Bang, and am presently doing one for Sonny Fodera’s label, one for Bleep District, one for Vula (Basement Jaxx singer)… There are more though.

So I’ve got plenty of work to do, which is why i won’t attend the conference this year, but instead stay in the studio while everyone is partying, and head for the US the following week for my forthcoming US tour.

Jay West was recently interviewed by the excellent Our House Magazine. See what he had to say below…

Jay West’s first EP release appeared at the end of 2004 on the relatively unknown Spanish label Huron Records. That EP made a big impact, however, and Jay soon had labels such as LowDown, Agave, Bambino, Stupendous and Lost My Dog knocking at his door. Fast forward five years and Jay is one of the most well known and prolific creators of deep, funk-infused house music around. Alongside his own labels Flavor and Candy Music he has gone on to appear on Drop, Guesthouse and Conya amongst others. He’s also an extremely busy DJ; a premier name in his native Argentina, playing the biggest parties the nation has to offer, while also touring the world rocking underground clubs. During a short break from his hectic schedule we caught up with Jay for a chat about the past five years, his thoughts on the industry and what the future has in store.

1. Thanks for talking to Our House and happy New Year! Where are you and what are you up to?
Hi and Happy New Year! I’m actually on the beautiful Atlantic coast of Argentina, doing some summer gigs, it’s the best time of the year down here, people go nuts! The weather is too warm to be locked inside the studio but gonna have to drag myself there since I have a lot of unfinished projects before starting touring again.

2. Argentina is famed for having an amazing nightlife and club culture – how was it growing up surrounded by that and how does the scene in your home country differ to the other countries you’ve visited?
Well, back when I started DJing the scene was really underground and we’ve lost a lot of that intimacy nowadays, but club culture is very strong and we probably have some of the best parties in the world around here. The main difference between S outh America’s scene and the US and western Europe is that the dance scene is not divided by genre here, all the clubs hold diverse styles of electronica, and you can find house, minimal, techno, progressive or trance acts playing the same circuit…While up in the US and Europe there’s a small underground house scene and parties are fairly small and more intimate. People are very open here and you can really play whatever you want as long as you make them shake it!

3. Your first records started appearing almost exactly 5 years ago and you’ve become one of the most well known names in the deep, funky underground house scene since then. What have been the highlights of your journey?
Probably getting to travel all over the world through all these years has been the biggest blessing, as well as seeing my name in the cover of records. It’s like living a childhood dream again and again with every release. Also making new friends in every tour, it’s really been an exciting journey for me.

4. The music industry has experienced some major changes over that time, which transitions have had the biggest impact on you?
The arrival of the digital era was a huge impact for everyone; I still think the industry is trying to figure out the steps to handle this. For producers it’s been hard to adapt, music is a lot more ephemeral and it’s hard to face the fact that you spend so much time working on a song and then its only good for a couple of weeks before everyone forgets about it. I deeply miss vinyl, but I have to admit the transition to CDs has made touring a lot less painful for those with tendency to injure their backs!

5. How do you expect the industry to change over the next five years?
As I said, I think the industry needs to figure out how to make the best of the new era. Piracy is the most important issue and I hope they find a way to eradicate it, as hard as that sounds. Its quantity over quality these days so I see a lot of talented producers sticking to formulas to sell more downloads and music losing a bit of originality, but on the bright side its easier now to discover new exciting sounds, especially when you live so far away.

6. As a prolific producer and remixer do you prefer working on your own original tracks or reworking other people, and do you approach these projects differently?
I find it a lot easier to remix other people’s tracks, if the parts are inspiring everything comes naturally and it’s a pretty fast process. When I start my own projects I usually need a source of inspiration and ideas so it’s a bit harder, I always try my best to make every track sound different, I hate sticking to formulas.

7. You’ve collaborated very successfully with fellow Argentinean Christian Malloni as The Candy Dealers. Do you plan to keep that partnership going and do you have any other collaborations that we should look out for?
Christian is an extremely talented producer and a close friend as well so we really enjoy spending time together in the studio. I’ve found myself working more and more with him in the last couple months, he is very open and he successfully produces almost every style, so we learn a lot from each other. We are also working on putting together a live show and lately we’ve been collaborating with a lot of talented singers like Morrisson or Alexander East as well as some musicians.

8. What’s your current DJ set up and does travelling the world have an impact on this?
I usually prefer 3 CD players and that’s it. Travelling with just CDs has been really comfortable and so much easier than carrying cases of vinyl. I like to carry a lot of CDs though, you never know what the party is gonna be like so I like to have all my options right there.

9. What’s in the pipeline for Jay West in 2010?
As far as releases go I have a single coming out any time now on Lost My Dog called ‘Call The Boss’ that’s been getting great reviews, an EP on Adaptation Music (with some fine remixers including Schmoov, Pablo Fierro and Random Soul), some releases on my own label Candy Music, one of them featuring Alexander East, and other singles with Morrisson on Bambino and So Sound. And a lot of remixes! Im really looking forward to this year, I have a lot of music I wanna put out for sure! I will also do some more touring starting in March around the US, Europe and Australia so I hope this year will be as busy as the last one.

10. As we stand at the start of a New Year and new decade which artists and labels do you tip to go on to big things?
Christian Malloni, Manuel Sahagun, Mr Morning, Ronan and Leo Portela, a lot of people are really making awesome beats and I’m lucky to be close to them as well…I certainly wish them the best for this year and I think we are all meant to do big things very soon. I’m working hard on my label as well so hopefully it will be a year full of Candy flavors.

What’s your favourite colour?

I don’t have any particular one: but why limit yourself? Since I’m not too bright I’ll try and sum up a few thoughts for you though.. I think my primary tastes tend to lean towards very light shades of rhythm with a small smattering of Hue-y Lewis. I quite like Moody (and not Oyster Cult or Deacon) blues and go for yellows that sit closer to Magic Orchestra than Coldplay. Anything that’s Simply Red is really quite off putting but Green has to be Al though – no competition there.

What first got you involved in house music?

The listening part first got me involved.. then the seeing, then the doing. I’ve still yet to feel it in the way I’m supposed to according to all those ‘house is a feeling’ type preachy tracks.

How do your Yse productions differ to the music you write as Rhythm Plate?

Matt’s not there durrr… Also, I’ve discovered a new kick drum. And I’m not afraid to use it!

Where do you draw your inspiration from and which other artists inspire you?

I don’t draw it. I use a computer.

London or Matlock?

…and the difference is? OK, maybe London’s got a couple more clubs and the odd catwalk show twice a year, but Matlock’s overall style (be it fashion, music, art, farming or philately) is always next level.

What has been your favourite track to write so far?

Having emailed my producer/engineer in Peru, he tells me that he enjoyed writing Bounce Back the most. Which is nice cos it also cost the least amount of money to have him write it for me!

What are your future ambitions within music?

I’ve been incredibly lucky to meet and work with loads of very talented people over the years – be it vocalists, session musicians or tea girls. The only ambition I have is to keep working with them and meet more inspirational and talented people… especially the tea girls – although it costs too much time re-advertising their position.

What advice would you give to music producers who have demanding girlfriends or boyfriends?

er…

What do you look for when you’re collaborating with a vocalist?

A voice. Preferably one that can hold a note. And clever word play skills – not like long words or owt, just someone who can put a fresh take on a tired theme will do – as that always helps, cos I’m crap at rap. Word.

What software do you use and why?

Music-X on the Amiga is a die hard, swear-by killer app. I chain it with a Cheetah MQ-8, even though I know all the big boys are still using MMT8′s. I reckon computers are the way forward for most musical things though, hell, they may even take over so you don’t even have to buy a synth to make a sound.. but seriously though, I doubt that.

Have you seen our dog?

No, but when I catch it I’ll kill it – my trickers cost too much money to have them all s*it up!

Ahead of their debut Lost My Dog release ‘Do It Right’ we catch up with Romano Arcaini and Jason Leva (aka Latenight Society).

Thanks for talking to Lost My Dog. Where are you and what are you up to?

At the moment we are in the studio putting some final touches on a new project.

You’ve released some fantastic music on some great labels. Which releases stand out most for you?

The one that stands out the most is probably our first record together which was on Detour recordings in 2005… this session was particularly fun since we had our good friend and very talented musician Julio Gonzalez in the studio jamming out with us. Another memorable track of ours is Down For It, released on San Fran’s famed Amenti Music. It was an honor to collaborate with Diz on this song.

What’s makes your Latenight Society productions different then others ?

We try not to do the same thing twice. We let the music speak for itself.

Tell us a bit about your ‘Do It Right’ release

This is a perfect example of our changing style.Do It Right is a really deep track, while most of our earlier recordings are a bit more funky. Expect to hear alot more of this sound from us in the future.

You’ve DJd all over the UK and Europe – which are your favourite party cities?

Belgium hands down was the best, especially Ghent & Pecq. Amsterdam and Rotterdam have always been fun as well.

Which other producers are you digging right now?

We are both really into deep stuff right now, some producers we are into right now are The Timewriter, Afrilounge, Neighbour, Roberto Rodriguez, Nacho Marco, Milton Jackson and Kink.

You run your own label Tight Recordings? How are things going with that?

We just dropped our 13th release, Back2Back by Kirby featuring a really stellar mix by Canada’s own Neighbour. We are taking the winter off and coming back strong in the spring…

And some questions from our friends on Facebook and Twitter…

Nigel Moss: Ketchup or Brown Sauce, Adidas or Nike?

Brown Sauce & Obviously Nike

Dave Miller: When are you coming to Australia?

The sooner the better. We have always wanted to visit OZ.

Ben Davis: Jason, were you and Giom separated at birth?

Yes it was a painstaking 24 hour operation.

Giom: Why does just Jason clearly copy both hairstyle and glasses of a certain London-based French producer?

See above.

Michael Colledan: Do you know where the dog is?

Yes he sitting right beside me beggin to take him out. LMD: What??!!!! Why you theiving Floridian scoundels! Send him back to us at once!

Philip Prout: You are only allowed one house record, which is it?

Jason – Not A Day Goes By Produced by Wally Callerio
and Romano – I Cant Kick This Feeling when It Hits Produced by Moodyman

UncleSound: When are they coming to France?
Quand quelqu’un nous invitera!

Pete Dafeet fills us in on his current projects, inspirations, his views on file sharing and more in this audio interview with Craig Stewart’s ‘After Dark Mix Sessions’ on Raunchy Rhythms Radio.

Click here to listen or download

Raunchy Rhythms Radio
Craig Stewart Myspace

Where are you and how the heck are you?

“At the moment I am in Brighton, listening to jazz and relaxing before heading out to LA then SF to see friends and play. I’ve been living in Brighton for the last seven years. On a personal level am good, I’m blessed with good people in my life. Money is not abundant but I survive and most importantly I am happy. It sounds cliche but music in all forms makes me feel content. I tried stepping away and figured that out. It’s a tough time for everyone but I still feel blessed.”

You’ve done a bit of traveling over the years… San Francisco, Philadelphia and now back to Brighton, UK. How have those places influenced you musically and where do you like best?

“That’s a good question. I will take the influence bit first. In terms of influence, SF has got to be highest on the list because it’s where I got exposed to House and became involved. SF has always had some incredible djs and listening to them week in and week out certainly helped frame my ideas about what I like. Also, it was just a magical time in the early 90′s coming off of some pretty hard times in the states. With the risk of sounding cliche again, the parties really were amazing back then. Ironically, the first djs to really expose me and a whole lot of other people to what was primarily American music back then were from the UK. To this day they still have a huge influence on SF.

Next Philly – I guess this is where I got exposed to a more East Coast style of House and that broadened my perspective. In SF it was more Chicago Acid and had that SF pscyhedelic twist – dubby. But in Philly I got exposed to a more vocal and soulful side as well as more techno influenced stuff. I went out looking for House and ended up latching on to nites that King Britt and Josh Wink were doing, along with some of the other great local Philly Djs. I was only in Philly for a few years, but that experience really shaped my appreciation of the Philly/NY/NJ sound.

Now Brighton – Brighton is really where I have started to produce. Living by the sea and having more time generally here than the states has been great. I think Brighton is where I’ve really started to try and put together all of my influences and start to develop my own take in the studio. It’s a learning process and I am progressing constantly.

And now to the LIVING question! It’s a real toss up between SF and Brighton for me. I loved Philly, but I was always a West Coast boy and Brighton feels more familiar with its laid back vibe. I love living in the UK for all sorts of reasons, especially because I like to travel to foreign countries. It stretches your mind. It’s quick and relatively cheap to do that compared to the states, where you are so far away. But, SF is a fantastic place to live. California’s people, and it’s weather just nice. Not to mention Mexican food, which I love. If I could I would live half here half there!”

Time for a quick USA vs UK showdown, which side of the pond do you favour for…

“Sport? Gotta be UK. I love football. Proper football that is :)
Food? Gonna be the states here. It varies where you live there, but SF has amazing food and varieties of food. It wins on the Mexican food alone!
DJing & Parties? That’s a tough one. I’d probably say the UK for djing because there’s always been more support for our music here. Probably the same for parties, but my best partying memories are in San Francisco.
Lifestlye? UK. I am really into life balance and not working all the time. In the US it’s all about work work work. Also, where I live, I don’t even need a car. In the states it’s basically a necessity, because public transport is terrible in general. You don’t realize how much of your life you are wasting in cars and traffic until you break free. I am a huge public transport fan.
Girls? “I wish they all could be Californian girls”. Nuff said?”

Which artists are currently exciting you within house music?

“Franck Roger, Shur-I-Kan, Jovonn, Deepblak, Patrick Turner, Marlon D, Iz, Abicahsoul, Brother’s Vibe, JT Donaldson, Fred Everything, Replika, Jay Tripwire, DJ Fudge, Ron Trent, Pete Dafeet, BitterSuite etc… just good House not some microcosm genre. And of course the classics always excite me – Earth People “Dance” gets me going as much as ever and I am a big Jerzey Boy fan.”

And away from house, what other styles of music and artists are you into?

“I’m listening to Jazz now but I also listen to the Blues sometimes. A fair bit of Funk and Hip Hop and classic Soul and R and B. Good rock and Ska, mostly older stuff for me. Artsits like Webster Lewis, John Coltrane, Muddy Waters, Parliament, James Brown, Gangstaar, Black Sheep, X clan, the whole Atlantic Soul roster especially Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Specials etc. I love classical too, but I don’t know many of the composers, It chills me out and it’s great to do office stuff to.”

We’re very excited to have you on Lost My Dog, can you tell us a bit about your forthcoming release ‘Basement Vibes EP’?

“Well first off, thank you. I feel proud to join a group of producers that have come before me on such a quality label. The EP sort of reflects my feeling that we can’t forget the roots of House in our efforts to constantly advance. Progress is great, but I think that simple House that it’s all built on can be just as moving. I guess I was sort of feeling what a lot of other people were at the time because we seem to be seeing a resurgence of that raw sound.”

Have you got anything else coming up we should look out for?

“I’ve got an EP due out shortly on Hudd Traxx. It’s a bit more dubby, but still influenced by that retro vibe. I’ve also just signed an EP to Conya so that should be out soon, and there’s some unreleased versions of older trax in the pipeline. I’ve got some remix requests too, so maybe some remixes.”

And finally…have you seen our dog?

“Nope. But I promise to keep looking.”

How did Lost My Dog come about?

LMD was formed by myself, Pete “Dafeet” Morgan and Nags Modhwadia back in March 2005.  We were at the stage where music production had become much more affordable for the masses, and a lot of our friends were making music that we thought was really strong, but with no idea of how to release it. Nags and I worked in a local record shop and Pete, one of our customers, was also making music and had begun to have some success on other labels.  Between us we began to talk about how it would be good to actually put some of this music out ourselves and things snowballed from there.

Tell us something we don’t know about team Lost My Dog?

Well we’re 3 quite diverse characters – despite all bumping into each other in a record shop Nags is also a actor and has appeared in programmes like Life of Mars and Hollyoaks.  He tries to get in as many as possible wearing a Lost My Dog t-shirt!  Pete only learned how to produce music because he damaged his knee and was laid up in bed for several weeks, so decided to each himself how to use Reason.  And Strakes is a Dr (of the PhD kind, not medical) and is actually scared of all dogs!

What’s the music policy behind the label?

The music policy is quite simply “house”; as long as it’s good, original and appeals to all three of us.  We tend to lean towards deep and tech house due to our own personal preferences as producers and DJs but anything good that comes along and catches our ear will always be a potential signing.  We also try to aim for a mixture of lesser known producers alongside more established names.

How do you go about finding tracks to release?

For original material we generally listen to all the demos we are sent and also talk to producers who we’ve heard music from before and are interested in working with.  Where remixes are concerned sometimes we’ll have someone specific in mind who we think would do a great job on a particular track, and sometimes we’ll be contacted by producers themselves asking to do a remix of a track that has really caught their ear.  For example with “Lost My Dog Remixes Vol 1″ all of the tracks were released earlier in their original forms and each of the remixers got in touch asking to remix their personal favourites.  When that starts happening with well established and respected producers like Julian Sanza (2020 Soundsystem) and Harold Heath you know you’re onto a winner.  We’re doing another remixes disc along the same lines for our 20th release, which will be out around March (2008) time.

Can you tell me a little about the artists on your roster?

The artists are a mixture of lesser known and established names.  We’ve worked with so many different producers over the first 20 releases (35+) that it’s difficult to sum them all up.  We’re working with people from all over the world including well established artists such as Jay Tripwire, Greenskeepers and Fred Everything, through to rapidly rising stars of the future such as YSE and  Luckystars.  It sounds clichéd but we do run it a bit like a family, almost all the artists we work with become our friends (or were our friends in the first place) and it makes you kinda proud when an artist like Jay West, who we released an EP by when he’d only had a couple of things out, goes on to be one of the highest selling producers in deep house circles.  We also work with relatively unknown producers who we feel are doing something new and exciting such as Tommy Largo from the Netherlands and the UKs Matt J.  And then of course there’s Pete Dafeet who runs the label with me and Nags; Lost My Dog is a real outlet for his productions and remixes.

You’ve been getting some good press/support. Who’s been picking up on the label? Any big names?

Support for the label has been fantastic; the biggest names picking up on our releases include Groove Armada, Nic Fanciulli, Derrick Carter and Mark Farina. Support from the specialist press has also been really encouraging with iDJ saying we are “one of the most impressive deep house labels to come out of the UK” and DJ Mag saying “this label has been one of the most inspiring over the year for me so far.”

What are your plans/hopes for the future?

Plans for the future are to continue doing what we do best by releasing music that excites us.  We’ve got some ace stuff coming up from some guys up in Glasgow, Chris Harris and Dominic Martin who have recently had a couple of EPs out with Nordic Trax and Guesthouse.  They’re producing some really fresh, energetic and intelligent house and I think they’ll do some great things over the next few years.  We’re also looking to branch out into artist albums and DJ compilations.  And we’re now focusing much more strongly on our digital product as mentioned above, so there’ll be some exciting exclusives on the way there too.  And we’ll be putting on more Lost My Dog events and all being well embarking on some tours.  Most importantly, we’ll keep looking for the damn dog!

Interview by Nigel Moss

It takes a lot of energy these days to run a label because it’s not like it used to be in the good old days.  I take my hat off to those angelic upstarts from the north east Lost My Dog Records because I respect the time and effort that they put into their label.  I tracked down Strakes from the label for a quick Q+A session.  Have a read then check out their releases.

What the story behind Lost My Dog please?

There are three of us involved in Lost My Dog – Strakes (me!), Pete Dafeet and Nags Modhwadia.  We first had the idea to start a label at the end of 2004: Nags had a record shop in Loughborough where Pete and I were at University.  I helped out a bit in the shop on the ordering side and Pete was a customer.  I also organised a couple of events around the Midlands, which the others always played at, and was picking up other gigs all around the UK.  At the time Pete had been producing for a few months; he’d released a bootleg of ‘Lick My Neck’ which was doing really well and was having some success with labels like Shaboom.  Yousef had also asked him to remix Tyra’s ‘Other Woman’ which was pretty massive at the time.  A few other friends were also producing and so between the three of us we thought it’d be cool to release some of their music.  We were lucky that Subterfuge DJs, who we DJ’d with lots, had made a track with Tony Thomas that they were looking to get signed, so that got us off to a flying start.  Through the record shop we had a few contacts with distributors so spoke to a couple and they liked what we were doing.  What started as a not much more than a hobby quite quickly developed into something more when we realised other people also liked the music we did; DJs would play it and people would buy it!

How would you describe the sound of Lost My Dog?

Lost My Dog is house, pure and simple.  Lots of people say we’re a deep house label and it’s true that we do lean towards more underground or deep styles, but there’s still a lot of variation in what we put out.  There’s acid from people like Tommy Largo, that unique UK deep/tech sound from Harold Heath and Nathan Coles & Dave Coker, jacking house from Jay West and Chris Harris & Dominic Martin, more soulful offerings like East St Louis Players, solid no-nonsense deep house from Jay Tripwire and Kelvin K and then Pete’s music with its infectious groove based sound.  Someone said to me recently that we’re one of a few labels where you could play a whole set from warm up through to peak-time just using our catalogue, which I quite like as a way of looking at things.

Is it too easy to be an MP3 label these days?

I think it’s certainly easier to release music into the public domain now than it was, say 5 years ago, and I think it’s a positive move that more people can get their music heard.  That said I do think there can be some quality control issues with digital labels in that there are often no barriers to anybody sticking up any old rubbish.  In my opinion one of the key roles of a record label is to offer that quality control.  In the past the fact that you had to invest a large chunk of money into vinyl or CD manufacture helped to make sure only the higher quality and sell-able music got through, but now the investment required is next to nothing so there’s less risk if the music flops.  Some of the bigger download sites and aggregators are now looking at quality control more closely which I think is good.  At the end of the day though it’s down to music buyers to choose what they like and, as a record label, it just means that you have to do that little bit more to make sure you stand out from the crowd.

Is it important to LMD to push UK artists?

We’ve never really thought about nationality too much when signing music to be honest.  If we like something enough then we’ll look to release it and work with the artist wherever they are from; I think we’ve worked with people from all continents with the exception of Asia so far.  Being UK based there is a slant to us working with more UK artists than people from overseas, but I think that’s more to do with the contacts you make in your own country through travelling to DJ, speaking on the phone or whatever.

Can you please fill me on your LMD artists?

There’s a lot to cover!  There are a few artists we work very closely such as YSE, Jay Tripwire and Harold Heath.  We always look to see what new material they have available.  There’s also Pete Dafeet who uses Lost My Dog as an outlet for his own productions and remixes (once Nags and I agree they are good enough of course!).  Other than that we make links with people and listen to demos that get sent in and if we like something then we’ll speak with the artist about releasing it.  Where remixes are concerned we use a combination of artists we’ve worked with before and also people whose music elsewhere we’re currently into.  It always depends on what will complement the original song and we’ll take suggestions from the original artist as well.  There’s information on pretty much everyone we’ve worked with so far up on the Lost My Dog website.

What’s the future for LMD?

More of the same really – we’ve got a string of string of releases lined up in 2009 for vinyl and digital release from Kelvin K, YSE, Jay Tripwire and Pete Dafeet, plus we’ll be continuing our exclusive digital series with new music from Danny Stott and Pash & Norm.  We’re also looking at a couple of album projects and doing something in that area.  Plus we’ll hopefully have a few more events round and about.

Interview by Roual Galloway