Crazylegs launches label

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  • The Bristol party's new imprint will feature hometown producer Ziro on its first 12-inch later this month.
  • Crazylegs launches label image
  • Crazylegs will launch a label in late July. The Bristol party has been around since 2008, booking a mixture of UK bass and more traditional house-oriented names in that time, including names like Joy Orbison, Todd Edwards and Kyle Hall. Starting in July their brand will extend to a record label, which the people behind the party say "will closely follow the ethos of the club night, representing a whole range of club-primed sounds covering the full spectrum of dance music." The first release will come from Bristol's Ziro, perhaps best known for his partnership with Breaking Through star Artifact under the group name Portrait. The first EP will feature two tracks from Ziro along with remixes from Londoners Om Unit and Thefft. The label is run by a large collective of Bristol musical minds, and releases will be available on both vinyl and digital. RA got the low-down on the new Crazylegs venture from some of the group behind the label—founders Shandy and Jambo, and DJs Shaun P, Tom D, and Sean Kelly of the Kelly Twins.
    How long have you been running Crazylegs in Bristol for, and how has it changed over the years? What's the general theme/feel/style of a Crazylegs night? Shandy: We started the parties nearly four years ago now. Back then it was just me and Jambo, he'd been promoting some housey stuff and I'd been working as a designer and doing some DJing on the side. I think we were both just really excited by what was going on in dance music at the time—dubstep was really healthy, bassline was kicking off and Funky was just starting to bubble up. A lot of producers were pushing boundaries and we just wanted to put on a party where people could come and hear a whole variety of new stuff without worrying about what genre it was, or being part of a "scene" or whatever. And yeah, after a few months we managed to make it cohesive and it just built from there. I don't think the formula has ever really changed from the start. There's ten of us now and we've got some pretty wildly varied tastes, but the focus is still exactly the same, we just want to showcase fresh dance music and put on the kind of parties that we'd want to go to ourselves. Shaun P: We've done a few bigger shows lately. A lot of the artists we booked way back at the start are doing really well these days, so it's nice to be able to bring them back as headliners in front of a big, appreciative crowd. But at the same time we still love to cram a hundred of our mates in a tiny basement with a couple of grime legends on the decks. We just keep it moving, we adapt to what's going on, but the original idea behind the night is very much intact. What motivated you to start a record label out of it? What's the thinking behind the transition from club night to label? Jambo: It feels very much like a natural progression. We've been working together for a few years now, putting on shows and booking artists we believe in. So to put out music we feel equally passionate about, that just makes sense. Shandy: We're not really promoters, we're not that good at promoting. I mean, our parties are busy these days but we've always been more motivated by the creative side of it; building interesting lineups, booking artists that might not have played together before, introducing new talent, just trying to create connections that weren't there before. That kind of thing is really important to us. I think when you do something in an original way it inspires everyone else to keep pushing forward as well. I like to think what we do actually makes a positive contribution to the music we're into in some small way. Tom D: Yeah, I feel very grateful for the position we're in today. Our combined interest in music goes way deeper than just putting on parties; to be able to use the platform we've built with the club to help new music get heard, it's something we're proud to be able to do. Do you ever worry that there's an over saturation of labels in the market right now, and everyone and their brother seems to be starting up an imprint? What sets Crazylegs apart? Shandy: [laughs] We're definitely not alone. But no, I don't really feel like we're in competition with anyone. It probably makes things financially a bit trickier but I don't think that's an issue if you're doing it for the right reasons. As long as we can afford to put out a steady stream of records we'll be happy. It's not like we're here trying to generate a profit, we didn't sit down and identify a gap in the market or any of that shit. We just want to get some good music out there. What have you got upcoming in the future after the Ziro EP? Shandy: It's gonna be a busy few months. We're gonna try to set a quick pace with the first few. As soon as Coded drops we'll show you the next one. That's TOYC's debut 12-inch. That's massive, if you google "TOYC - Ruffer" you'll find a little clip of Ben UFO dropping it on the Hessle show on Rinse. Then a bit later in the year is TRC. That one's gonna surprise a few people, that's the curveball [laughs]. Jason [TRC] was one of the biggest names in the bassline scene a few years back, he's a ridiculously talented producer, and we've got a couple of vocal garage bits from him that I think people are gonna go mad for. The rest is under wraps for now but if you catch any of us playing out you'll probably hear some of it! Dan and Sean [Kelly Twins] dropped one of them on Boiler Room last week and it got a good response.
    Tracklist 01. Coded 02. Oni 03. Oni (Om Unit's Wrongspeed remix) 04. Coded (Thefft Remix) Crazylegs will release Coded on July 24th, 2012.
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