Label Focus: OWSLA

Back in 2011, Sonny Moore was evolving from a hyped DJ and producer, with a huge following online, to one of the biggest acts in music. But as he rapidly rose, he decided it was only right to take a few of his friends and peers with him. “A lot of these guys weren’t being recognised, or were in shitty deals,” explains label manager Blaise D’Angelo. “Sonny looked around and realised he had all these talented friends who needed a place to incubate together.” The first release on the label was Porter Robinson’s ‘Spitfire’, an epic statement of intent, as deftly melodic as it was ferocious. It was quickly followed by early releases from Zedd, Koan Sound, Skream, Kill The Noise and Skrillex himself. With everyone from Sub Focus to Jack Beats to Seven Lions releasing on the label in its early days, OWSLA’s rise as a label seemed to coincide exactly with the moment the old genre boundaries started to feel a little bit redundant. And while many of its releases are on the bassier and more abrasive side of the musical spectrum, its remit stretches far and wide.

How did the label begin and were there big ambitions from the start?

Quite the opposite. I came on board eight months into the label and, at the time, Sonny’s team was still very small. And none of them really wanted to start a label. But this was 2011, and the electro thing had really taken off in the States and the industry hadn’t really caught up. Sonny saw that and wanted to create a place for artists like Porter Robinson, Dillon Francis, Zedd and Koan Sound to thrive.

What’s the common thread that runs through all the artists on OWSLA?

It’s hard to say; at one end we have indie electronica from Hundred Waters and Basecamp, at the other the heavier stuff like Skrillex and Kill The Noise. What they all have in common is a spirit. They’re all hungry, extroverted, have a burning ambition and a rebellious D.I.Y. spirit.

How has the label changed in the course of five years?

We’ve reimagined the label and done some fundamental restructuring. We see OWSLA as more of a creative service rather than just a record label. At the start we did all the usual things when we put out a record, like editorial placement, Beatport and iTunes exclusives, getting it on Zane Lowe. But then we thought, “What does an artist really want and need from us?” An artist knows how to make music and tour, but they need creative people to help them find the right video director, get content for their socials or come up with cool merch, so it’s those kind of things we’re honing in on. Sonny’s started to take inspiration from fashion brands like Moschino or Alexander Wang.

How will you mark five years?

We’ve taken over an abandoned gas station in downtown LA for the summer and are using it as a pop-up shop. It’ll be open until September 13, our anniversary, when we’ll be having a huge party in the grounds.

"Our first release on OWSLA. it came from a gut reaction that my manager Tim and I had to this music we heard from this kid Porter Robinson. Our label had no staff at the time other than our partners Kathryn Frazier and Clayton Blaha from Biz3, but we wall worked so hard to put it all together. All in all, it was a great EP which helped launch Porter’s career."

"I was backstage at my show in London at KOKO in 2011. I remember that night because so many influential people from London came out. Annie Mac, Muse, etc. it was a special night for all of us, my biggest solo show to date in London. At the end of the night i was hanging with Skream and he said ‘I want to give you a record for OWSLA. I wrote it about my son’s birth.’ He played me the song and it almost brought me to tears because of the lyrics and how personal they were. Not to mention growing up as a huge Skream fan, this was a huge full-circle point for me. I still listen to the song today and get the same emotional reaction."

"Kill the Noise has been an artist we’ve worked with for years, and he’s been making dance music for a decade or so (originally making drum 'n' bass under the name Ewun). It’s been amazing to watch him grow as an artist and continually rebrand himself, always staying ahead of the game as a producer. Looking back, he’s had a consistent string of unprecedented and forward-thinking music videos, most of which won awards, but 'Kill The Noise Pt. 1' with our boy Mike Diva was the first, and it was also the first OWSLA video to hit one million plays on our YouTube."

"Birdy Nam Nam has been one of the most influential French acts for many years. Taking their notable turntable skills and mixing them with dancefloor music has always been a big highlight. When I first got the EP and heard the track 'Goin In' with vocals by Teki Latex (who is a massive Skrillex hater and tried to shut this project down), I immediately thought to myself: 'I gotta do a remix of this because this hook is so big I could see it having another life.' I remember flipping this track into a remix and playing it for A$AP Rocky at his studio after one of my shows. After that, the rest was history with ‘Wild For The Night’. At that time, no one was mixing hip hop and that aggressive style of production like we did. EDM and hip hop will never be the same after that track."

"My manager Tim discovered this incredible group of humans in Gainesville, Florida who had recently formed a band called Hundred Waters. I think it was an interesting signing for us at the time, because it was so musically different from everything we had put out up to that point. But from the first time we heard them and saw them play live, we instantly believed in them not only as musicians but as people. To this day, they are some of the most special people we’ve had a chance to work with. To me, they are leaders in their community and some of the most forward-thinking artists in today’s band scene."

"What So Not has been a huge influence in the turning point of dance music and future bass music. if it wasn’t for What So Not, you wouldn’t hear a lot of the stuff we hear today. What So Not was one of the first artists to introduce a more melodic side to bass music with these huge powerful hooks, and ‘Jaguar’ was an iconic manifestation of that movement."

"This song was a saga man. Yogi killed it with the beat, and Pusha delivered a huge performance too. Trollphace and I had done a remix, and then we got the Moody Good remix which I thought was incredible. So I rolled up my sleeves and put them all together to make one massive mega mix of all the versions. Then I called my buddy Grant Singer and told him ‘we gotta make a video that’s as big as this song’. We got Dennis Rodman to make a surprise cameo and the rest was history. Since then, the song has been synched in some huge spots including Arby’s, Adidas, MTV, Entourage, Madden NFL 2017, and more. The Cleveland Caveliers (US NBA team) even came out to the song before games during this year’s NBA playoffs leading up to their history-making come-from-behind victory to win the 2016 championship."

"This was an ambitious record which may have not gotten the acclaim some of my other releases did, but I’m proud of my team for really stepping up our collective efforts in putting it out in a unique way. We worked with my friend Sus Boy to create an app for fans to download which seemed like a simple game at first but eventually unlocked the different tracks on the album. At first we secretly seeded the app to forums and message boards and let the core fans spread it organically from there."

"We launched the EP with a 24-hour party at our office NestHQ in Los Angeles that was live-streamed all over the world - it seemed like the simplest but most natural way to do it, which was the philosophy behind Jack Ü - to not overthink it. We crammed hundreds of kids in our office - drinks spilling everywhere, girls twerking on the ceiling, people getting ass tattoos, people flying everywhere - and at the height of the chaos, we dropped our record. The EP was a split release between OWSLA and Mad Decent, but we all went in and worked really hard on releasing this organically. In the end, I can say this record changed pop and electronic music forever."

"The number one most played dance record of 2015, according to both 1001 Tracklists and SiriusXM Electric Area. Valentino Khan is such a multi-talented producer, and this song was like lightning in a bottle - when he sent it to us, I immediately knew it was going to be the biggest song of the year. To this day, it still gets one of the biggest crowd reactions - people who play bassline house and big room house alike both play this record, and it’s rare for a record to be so versatile like that."

OWSLA’s ADE showcase is at Undercurrent on October 19