Label Focus: Soma

Glasgow has long been one of the UK’s most fertile breeding grounds for dance music and club culture – and Soma’s influence in building the foundations of that reputation has been key. The label was founded in 1991 by Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle of DJ duo Slam, alongside friend Dave Clarke. Born out of a series of nights they were running at Sub Club, the label harnessed the DIY spirit of post-punk labels like Factory and Rough Trade that the trio had loved in their youth, and was originally set up as an outlet for their own music.

Warm and ambient first release ‘Eterna’ has gone on to be something of a cult classic since its release, and the label quickly followed it up with tracks like ‘Fallen’ by Dove and ‘Seduced’ by G-7 before dropping bona-fide dance classic ‘Positive Education’ in 1993. In the intervening years they put out early releases from Surgeon, Daft Punk and Funk D’Void, and most importantly, driven by pure passion, kept the label firing on all cylinders for over two decades. As they belatedly celebrate their 25th birthday, we look back on the history of Soma Records.

What made you start Soma?

We were already doing nights at the Sub Club in Glasgow and initially the label was a vehicle for our own productions. We realised that once people hear your music, they gravitate towards you more. There were labels in the UK already, but it wasn’t a thing like it is now. A lot of the records being played were imports from the US; there wasn’t a huge amount of house and techno from the UK being put out at the time.

What was the first release on the label?

‘Eterna/I.B.O’. We had no idea what kind of reaction we’d get. We were just making music for ourselves, really. Some people now consider it a classic, which is odd as it was one of our first attempts at making that kind of music.

You famously put out the first Daft Punk records. How did that happen?

We went to a big rave in Paris and Guy and Thomas wanted to meet us. So we met them, and hung out for a couple of days, but didn’t really think too much about it as they were quite shy and quiet and didn’t drink much. Eventually we ended up in someone’s apartment and they put on one of their demos and we were like, ‘Whoah!’ The music seemed so different from their personalities. What we loved about the early Daft Punk material was that it had a rudimentary quality. We decided we had to put it out right there and then. We put out ‘Da Funk’, which ended up on their debut album, but the other tracks were much more techno-focused.

What are you most proud of?

To still be at the forefront of this music 25 years on. The anniversary isn’t a nostalgia trip for us but a way to mark how long we’ve been doing it. It’s incredible that so many people we looked up to when we started, like Andrew Weatherall and Jeff Mills, are still at the top of their game, and have done new tracks for us on the box set.

“This was the track that brought what we were doing to the rest of the world. R&S and Richie Hawtin had both wanted to sign it”

“We met Tony at House Of God, a techno club in Birmingham. He gave us a cassette with his number on and a week later we had this”

“This was the most requested track for producers to remix for the Soma 25 project. It’s a timeless techno anthem and a Berghain classic”

“This is the first music by Daft Punk ever to appear on vinyl. We first met them in Paris; they were quiet, shy guys but the music was aggressive and industrial”

“Alex was another great signing for Soma. This sits somewhere between trance and techno, and still sounds amazing”

“‘Positive Education’ was hard to follow so we made six tracks instead. Lead track ‘Stepback’ still gets played out today”

“This was a real milestone for Soma. Such an anthem! Lars has a knack for making big, powerful records”

"This is something great we’ve released recently.A great example of the wealth of great techno talent out there at the moment”

“An exclusive Soma artist, Charles has a great future. He’s made many great tracks but this joins the dots for us with its 90s rave stabs”

“This was such a big track for us last year, played by everyone from Rødhåd to Carl Cox. We loved the original; it was a staple in our sets back then”

The ‘Soma 25’ boxset is out now and features five 12” vinyl records

Sean Griffiths is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow him on Twitter