Superfreq boss Mr C talks of label relaunch

As Mr C relaunches his Superfreq record label, we got the low down...

Good afternoon Richard thanks for taking time out to have a quick chat with us…

“You’re welcome, it’s my pleasure Sir.”

So, what’s been happening and what made you decide to reincarnate the Superfreq label?

“Well we’re all still alive after 21/12/12 so that’s all good. I’ve just been to BPM Festival down in Mexico doing a Superfreq party which was amazing and I’ve been keeping busy spinning the world over, throwing parties, making lots of new music and partying hard.

“As for relaunching the record label, I got the studio bug back 3 years ago and have made a new album called Smell The Coffee which I’ve been working on, on and off until just before Christmas. I was never really happy with it which is why it’s taken so long, so I kept going back into the studio and reworking the tracks until I was happy. It’s now eventually finished and I’m delighted with the final results, so where better to release my album than on my own label? It means I don’t have to compromise and can retain full artistic integrity. I’ve also made some more solo tracks, done some collaborations, some remixes and I’m surrounded by amazing talent, which are all the reasons for relaunching Superfreq as a label. Also the Superfreq parties have been doing so well around the world, it’s now time to take the brand to the next level which re-launching the label will surely do.”

If you don’t mind me asking, what happened in 2006 - why did Superfreq close its books?

“I just couldn’t be bothered with all the hard work of running a record label to be honest and needed a break. I’d been doing record labels since 1992, Plink Plonk records, Low Voltage, EAR, End Recordings and then Superfreq and needed to take a break from it, so I decided to just release the music that I was making with my collaborative partner Adultnapper as the Sycophant Slags on other cool labels, releasing on Sexonwax, Bombis, Poker Flat, Get Physical and my solo stuff on Wagon Repair. It was so much less hassle to release these EPs on other great labels and as I was making only one EP or so per year, releasing on other labels was also convenient. Also it freed up more time for me to concentrate on Superfreq as an international events brand and my DJing.”

What is the Superfreq mission?

“World domination. As events, Superfreq is 11 years old in March so with those the mission is to continue putting on cutting edge parties the world over to entertain adults who demand quality and want to have fun listening and dancing to futuristic, twisted, sexy electronic dance music. As a label, there’s a huge gap in the market right now, a lot of the house music that’s around is great but not really pushing the boundaries and many techno labels are playing it pretty safe, so for Superfreq the label, the mission is to release a lot of innovative yet fun, acid based house and techno to fill that gap. We’re releasing a lot of music this year with 2 EPs per month ready and lined up until September and my album ready for a late April release.”

Where will the label be based (does location matter these days)?

“It really doesn’t matter about the location nowadays but it’ll be based in Los Angeles as that’s where I’ve lived for the last three years. Two of my three label partners live in LA and the other one has just moved back to London from Moscow, but most of the work is being done in LA and most of the artists on the label live in America, so it’s essentially now an American label. We’re manufacturing and distributing the vinyl from the US, our vinyl distributor Halcyon is in Brooklyn and our digital distributor Baseware, which is the new arm of Beatport, are based in LA and Denver.”

How would you describe the Superfreq sound?

“The Superfreq sound is quite diverse from deep house to techno with some off beat electro stuff thrown in for good measure, but all the music we’ll be releasing has a psychedelic cutting edge and attitude, a real acid vein running through it and the music also has to be sexy and fun, yet deep, dark and dangerous and also very electronic.”

Will there be one specific genre or will there be a little leeway – Will there be Rihanna mixes on the horizon (I jest)?

“It won’t be one specific genre but there will be no leeway and no compromise, no cheese and no fluffy nonsense. The label has to echo the attitude of the club nights which means trippy and innovative dance music for discerning adults.”

Can you tell us who you’ll be working with in 2013?

“The label roster is sick. Obviously myself, my label partners and Superfreq residents David Scuba and Luke vB, Superfreq resident Xo Chic formerly of Dollz At Play, Class B Band who is Bea Tricks also from Dollz At Play, Jordan Lieb who records as Black Light Smoke on Scissor and Thread, we have his more techno stuff, Adultnapper aka Francis Harris who records as Frank and Tony with Anthony Collins, also for Scissor and Thread, Joint Custody who are a great up and coming duo from Florida, Dance Spirit which is the new moniker for Android Cartel from Los Angeles, the Indigo Kidz which is a collaboration between Affie Yusef and I, Affie Yusef solo, Brett Johnson and Motor City Soul and last but not least David Gooday who’s the former drummer from Nitzer Ebb. I’m heavily on remix duties and we also have remixes lined up from Alexi Delano, [a]pendics.shuffle, Satoshi Tomiie and most of the roster will also be on remix duties.”

Can you tell us about the first release… (Who, what, where’s the launch party)?

“The first release is myself with a track called I’m Gonna Give You Some which is rolling deep, dark and melodic tech house number with a very ambiguous vocal. I have David Scuba, Luke vB and Dance Spirit on the remixes and it’s released on extremely limited vinyl, only 300 copies on the 4th of February. The full digital release comes out on the 11th of March and we’ll be celebrating the release at both of Superfreq’s 11th anniversary events in London on the 2nd of March and in Los Angeles on the 9th of March.”

You’ve come full circle – you’ve had commercial and underground successes, so how do you feel about music today and how does that affect the Superfreq mission?

“I think that most modern pop music is terrible, but that doesn’t concern me as we’re keeping our stuff completely innovative and cutting edge. As mentioned earlier I also think that most of the major players on the underground scene are playing it way too safe, which is great for us as it creates a huge gap in the market which Superfreq is about to fill. Saying that, there’s still tons of great cutting edge dance music being released from all around the world from lots of new talent on new labels so all in all, dance music today is in a very healthy state indeed.”