Welcome to our site and label. In this post I would like to introduce you to Deep Down and why I felt the world needed ANOTHER electronic music label.
Music is a noisy space. Every day 60,000 new songs are uploaded to Spotify. There are so many independent electronic music labels. Most are launched without the belief that they will become viable businesses. They are launched so the artist can release their music and so they can promote a particular sound.
I share both of these motivations, but actually come from a background in business and hope to apply what I have learned there to make Deep Down a success. Most importantly, this means driving gigs, streams and sales for the producers in our family.
Where it all began…
My history with electronic music began early. As a child I grew up listening to Gary Numan, Ultravox, Duran Duran & many others. I just aged myself here. Other than a brief, confused stint as a drummer in a rock band it has always been electronic music.
I bought my first house record in the late 1980s: Work it the Bone. I still play it. Basslines are massively important elements for me and this track is all about the bassline.
From punter to player
After years of screwing around on friends’ decks, I bought my own in the late 90s. I began DJing back when it was hard. When you bought vinyl. When there were no BPM counters. Nothing to tell you the key of the track. No WAV form to follow to see when the breakdown was coming. When you paid $15 just to access one B side.
On the topic of hard, lugging enough crates in the Canadian winter to handle a 6 hour start to finish set was…. well…. hard.
I had a great run of playing club and after hours parties. I put it all on hold when I became a Dad. I never stopped buying music. So several years into the parent thing, I started posting monthly mixes, throwing down ninety nine of them over the years. It is fun to go back and look at how my tastes evolved over that time.
The real world
During the time when I stopped playing out and started changing diapers I achieved a tremendous amount of success in the high tech startup world. Over many years I served as a CFO, venture capital investor or advisor to some of the most successful tech companies around. This is relevant because the tech and music worlds are colliding in a big way. It is also relevant because venture capitalists and label managers are the same: we find, nurture and promote great talent!
COVID wasn’t all bad…
COVID was a bonkers time for our planet. If someone had written a story in the past describing what actually happened during COVID we would have laughed it off as unrealistic.
Yet, here we are…
COVID was on, many levels, great for me. Shortly before the first lockdown I met an amazing person. She is now my fiancé.
Perhaps more relevant for you…. I went back into music production and went deep. What else was there to do?
Since the beginning of 2021, I have produced 22 tracks. I spent hours getting to know my synths, and going down the rabbit hole of music production. The more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know.
Mentors like Fred Everything, who tutored me weekly for a period, were so helpful.
Deep Down
With Deep Down, I hope to share what excites me the most. I will release the best of my productions and will work hard to secure established and completely unknown producers alike, whose sound gives me goosebumps.
Follow along as we grow. We will work hard to help you know our artists. Going beyond the usual promo Schtick to help build real, deep connections.
With so many labels and artists calling for your attention, we want to earn our place in your consciousness. We hope to do that by being clear on who we are and who we are not. And by giving you a consistent, authentic experience with us, so that over time you come to think of the Deep Down Community as family.
Our motto is: Live Deep, Get Down. What do we mean by this?
Live Deep: Be real, be honest, be open, make a positive impact. Give love
Get Down: Dance like no one is watching. Let loose. Don’t think…. FEEL the music.
Defining Our Sound
Most importantly, our music: If this is your thing, then we are your thing:
Deep house that is more about luscious, yet slightly after hours sounds. Heavy on percussion and basslines. Light on vocals.
Deep, progressive house that you would expect masters like Hernan, Guy J, Guy Mantzur to throw down early in their sets. Lots of pads, tight percussion and basslines that blow your mind.
Sonically modern downtempo music, ranging from a pitched down after hours track to purpose-built downtempo bombs.
If this is your jam, we are your home. Please sign up and stay tuned.
Please sign up for our mailing list and follow us on the socials so you too can live deep and get down.
Love,
Mark
