Dekmantel is the Label Of The Year

Record labels are ten a penny. Any bedroom wannabe can start one, but most fail to get out of single digits. Not Dekmantel. The label and promotion outfit formed back in 2007, but the last 12 months have seen it really come of age. Now boasting two festivals in Amsterdam, a new festival in Croatia and more than 60 releases, its latest venture is a festival in São Paolo, set for the start of 2017.

The thing about this operation, though, is that it’s run with love by a group of professional hobbyists who came together as young rave buddies and still share endless enthusiasm for the dance. It is that reason that the brand is so well loved by clubbing aficionados, and the reason it’s grown so naturally and organically.

Those buddies are 30-something Dutchmen Thomas Martojo, Casper Tielrooij and Matthijs Theben-Terville. Casper tells us, “Dekmantel is not always just about expanding. It’s about creating things we one hundred per cent support. Every project we do is really close to our hearts.” And anyone who has been to Amsterdam’s Dekmantel Festival – their flagship event in August – will attest to that. It combines a devotion to detail (such as the Greenhouse stage, adorned with thousands of living plants; or the pitch black UFO stage, which spawned its own dedicated label and focuses on sci-fi techno) with all killer line-ups featuring heavyweights like Moodymann and rare performances from legends such as Brazilian jazz-funk band Azymuth or influential Afro drummer Tony Allen.

“Our love and passion for the music and artists we adore has never changed,” says Casper, who initially started Dekmantel with Thomas because he believed “at that time, the Detroit sound we love was still missing from the electronic music scene.” Their first project was organising the Het Kabinet festival – now known as Lente Kabinet – and a label soon followed, but Casper insists there was no big master plan from the start.

And there still isn’t, even for the label, despite the fact it has put out almost 25 releases in 2016 alone, including an inaugural Selectors compilation by Motor City Drum Ensemble. That comp accompanies the Croatian festival of the same name, focuses on truly deep-digging DJs and, like all Dekmantel releases, came as part of a fantastic-looking package with fresh art and design.

From the minimalism of Robert Hood to the raw machine music of Matrixxman via the balmy deep house of Palms Trax, who has very much exploded thanks to his association with the label, Dekmantel manages to be expertly eclectic yet uniquely coherent. “Good music is good music,” says A&R Casper. “This isn’t limited to a specific sound or artist’s status.”

Another “very proud” recurring artist, Juju & Jordash’s Jordan Czamanski, says it’s the trust between him and the Dekmantel crew that counts. “It’s crazy they are so huge yet put out pretty non-mainstream stuff. I guess they found the right balance. The press loves them because they put out edgy records and book the best artists. The masses love them because they throw perfect parties, and they treat the patrons like adults” – while retaining the enthusiasm of kids.