Every real Drum & Bass fan has already realised that some very interesting music was released during recent months bearing a curious sign – RSTLSSNSS.  We were lucky to have an opportunity to talk with the label manager Calvin and DJ Marky himself. RSTLSSNSS is definitely the label you should start to follow right now, big things are coming in the future!

 

Hello, pleasure to meet you! Can you introduce the label little bit? Like where it is based, when it was established and who is behind?

Calvin: Hey! So the label is RSTLSSNSS, pronounced Restlessness, and we’re based in London, UK. The label is a sister label for DJ Marky’s Innerground Records and we just started releasing tracks in February this year. I’m the Label Manager, Head of A&R and co-founder with DJ Marky.


 

Ahh, ok, so that’s why we have noticed big support of your music from Innerground Records! BTW Innerground is one of our most favourite labels.

Calvin: Innerground is the “Daddy” if you like and is giving us support, but the idea was really to create something aside from Innerground with it’s own identity. The point wasn’t to create “Innerground V2”, what we’ve done has a personality and vibe all of its own with some amazing and passionate fans. We wanted to create something that was fresh and could grow organically with different demographics and not rely on using Innerground as a launchpad. There will of course be crossover in sound, but the sound you hear from RSTLSSNSS should feel like part of its DNA. Amante’s track “Growth” was a clear example of crossover as it originally started as a RSTLSSNSS release but got bumped over to Innerground.

Marky: The idea was really good – to work with talented young producers and give them a framework to operate in with remixes from within the label and an outlet for their original music too. Calvin’s right though, we didn’t need to do Innerground all over again and it needed to stand on its own within the market – to have its own identity that fans of Innerground and other labels could relate to.

 

Name of the label is crazy and perfect at the same time, how did you came up with this?

Calvin: Ha! It’s actually a really difficult thing naming a label. It’s kind of like naming a child – you want to give them something that is cool and unique, but isn’t going to become a problem further down the line! Ultimately it had to fit both the ethos of the label and the way we were aiming to run it – hence RSTLSSNSS.

 

So far you have 6 releases and all of them are so good, it looks like you are on the scene for ages! What’s your recipe to distinguish your music from other labels?

Calvin: Again it was all down to the ethos of the label. We’re trying to focus on the music itself as a single piece of creativity rather than the artist and how many sales their followers will bring. You’ll notice that we’ve had a couple of single track releases already, and that is simply down to the fact that we believe in the tracks and that they deserve to be released.

Marky: The focus had to always be about the music. When I’m playing tracks I’m not thinking about how many followers they have or anything like that; it’s simply about the vibe of the tune and how that works with a crowd. I’ve been testing the tracks and the reactions have been really good so we’re just happy that they’ve been so well-received so far. RSTLSSNSS is a new thing that has the ability to shift and move in different genres so we’re going to be as eclectic as possible in the future.

 

It is a shame but previously we didn’t know many artists releasing on your label. Some should say newcomers, but their music is so mature! How did you find them?

Calvin: It was a combination of listening to demos directly submitted to Innerground and some hardcore Soundcloud research. I actually spend a massive amount of time tracking artists on Soundcloud and approaching them for submissions. In fact, our very first release by Fractale came about because I heard a single they’d done for Dreamers Recordings and loved their sound. I hit them up, they sent a demo and I was hooked.

 

Last EP from Chorux is great and we know there is another one coming from Rizla. Can you introduce it little bit? What about track ‘Can’t get Enough’? We’ve already heard it somewhere right?

 

Calvin: Chorux’s “Last Call EP” is a monster and I loved it from the first four bars when he sent it to me. Rizla has been sending us demos for a while now, but “Better This Time” & “Can’t Get Enough” had that perfect vibe and I knew it would be a classic summer release. Everything we’ve got coming up has a real vibe, but it’s not all along the same lines. There’s some deep rollers, tech-steppers, liquid funk and everything in between – keeping it diverse is the aim of the game.

Marky: Rizla’s tracks are definitely my kind of vibe. I’ve been playing them a lot and think they’ll work perfectly in the summer.

 

Cool, so what are your plans for the rest of 2018? Releases, festivals?

Calvin: We’ve got a pretty hectic release schedule rolling something out every three weeks. Coming up we’ve got tracks from Conrad Subs, Dirtbag, NRDFCE and a beautiful single from Shodan. At the moment we’re focusing on the music and establishing ourselves within an ever-growing scene. Of course, if someone wants to bring us in for a label night or similar we will jump at it, but the music and helping to develop the artists is the focus right now.

 

Thanks for answers and of course for all the music. We wish you lot of successful releases in the future. See you!

Calvin: Thanks a lot!

 

Check 3 biggest hits from RSTLSSNSS in our May 2018 Podcast.

Share Button