DFA Records

12/14/20 • 70 min

We meet Juan Maclean and Marcus Lambkin, two figures who’ve been part of DFA Records since the very beginning.

We meet Juan Maclean and Marcus Lambkin, two figures who’ve been part of DFA Records since the very beginning. DFA brought two sides of the school yard together – the punks and the disco dancers, the indie wallflowers and the arty attention-seekers. Founded by James Murphy as a creative outlet for his friends in New York, DFA Records launched with a bang in 2002 – signing The Rapture’s ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ and laying the groundwork for a string of disco, techno, punk and avant-rock records from The Juan Maclean, Hercules and Love Affair, Holy Ghost, Black Dice and one of the great live bands of the era, LCD Soundsystem. Chal speaks to Juan, the label’s techno commander-in-chief, and Marcus, aka Irish rave guru Shitrobot, about New York before social media, inventing your own audience, and the glorious tyranny of their friend and collaborator James Murphy.

Check out the accompanying RELEVANT PARTIES Playlist on Spotify: https://bit.ly/relevantparties_playlist

DFA Records: https://open.spotify.com/user/dfarecords | https://store.dfarecords.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/dfarecs/

Carhartt WIP: https://www.carhartt-wip.com/ | https://instagram.com/carharttwip/

We meet Juan Maclean and Marcus Lambkin, two figures who’ve been part of DFA Records since the very beginning.

Check out the accompanying RELEVANT PARTIES Playlist on Spotify: https://bit.ly/relevantparties_playlist

DFA Records: https://open.spotify.com/user/dfarecords | https://store.dfarecords.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/dfarecs/

Carhartt WIP: https://www.carhartt-wip.com/ | https://instagram.com/carharttwip/

Previous Episode

Public Possession

We meet Valentino Betz and Marvin Schuhmann, founders of Public Possession.

We meet Valentino Betz and Marvin Schuhmann, founders of the quintessential modern indie label Public Possession. The two fellow DJs take a hands-on approach: In addition to their idiosyncratic take on electronic music, the enterprise centred around the Public Possession record store in Munich includes also DJ residencies, homemade flyers and merchandise, the online station Radio 80000 and even a catering service – but everything they do happens on a small and friendly scale. And somehow the music reflects this too: a kind of quirky, laid-back and good-humoured take on dance and pop, from fuzzy house jams by Andras to new wave pop by Mozaika and dreamy Madonna covers by Bell Towers. Marvin and Valentino talk to Chal about the roots of the label as well as their thoughts and fears for the future, with dance music in disarray and big questions hanging over the future of their scene.

Check out the accompanying RELEVANT PARTIES Playlist on Spotify: https://bit.ly/relevantparties_playlist

Public Possession: https://open.spotify.com/user/public_possession | https://www.publicpossession.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/public_possession/

Carhartt WIP: https://www.carhartt-wip.com/ | https://instagram.com/carharttwip/

Next Episode

PAN

We meet Bill Kouligas, the founder and label boss of the Berlin record label PAN.

We meet Bill Kouligas, the founder and label boss of the Berlin record label PAN which spans cutting-edge electronic music, avant-garde sound art, scuzzy noise and nauseating ASMR. Of all the labels featured on Relevant Parties so far, it’s probably home to the most extreme material – records that poke at the edges of what makes sound into music. Bill, who set up PAN in 2008, talks to Chal about the meaning of “difficult” music and the diversity of artists on the roster, from jungle auteur Lee Gamble to demonic pop sprite Eartheater. As well as digging into the label’s 13-year history, he also considers the post-pandemic future for underground culture.

Check out the accompanying RELEVANT PARTIES Playlist on Spotify: https://bit.ly/relevantparties_playlist

PAN: https://soundcloud.com/pan_hq | https://delinear.p-a-n.org/ | https://www.instagram.com/pan__hq/

Carhartt WIP: https://www.carhartt-wip.com/ | https://instagram.com/carharttwip/