Label Of The Month: Deadfish

I love these EP covers...

A new feature to look forward to every month on the Curriculum blog is our Label Of The Month feature.

Every month bringing you a different creation station who's output we greatly dig, or who seems to be bringing something interesting to the contemporary scene.

This month we have chosen Deadfish; an influential label who have brought a lot of fresh sounds to the table over the last few years, and who continue to hone their sound within Worldwide House underbelly.

We grabbed a few words from label boss Mowgli...



How did Deadfish come about?

I wanted to be independent from other labels; once you learn how to distribute and promote a record why would you license your tracks to someone else and split the profits with them??

Also I could release whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted...its freedom!

Who does what within Deadfish?

I do almost everything.

I've now hired a guy that helps me with the network promotion as the workload has become too much and I don't want to take to much time off from my music productions.

Then my manager helps me with licensing, and I have another person for accountancy.

How would you describe the Deadfish sound? and how do you select artists that you think would be right for the label?

I think we do house music with a weird funny touch...

Well, honestly I don't select many artists, even if I receive a lot of good promos, cos I want to have just a few good ones.

I don't want to become a massive label like Defected... We want to be like a family, and this what we actually are.

In fact I will never release an amazing producer if he's a dickhead; I could never have a party or a tour with him...

Who are your hot prospects for the rest of 2010?

Looking into my family I must say Camel, Tom Flynn and Round Table Knights.

Others its hard because there are SO many good producers, it would be a long list...

What does the future hold for Deadfish?

We'll obviously continue to release EPs trying to keep the quality high;

12th April there's my EP "I Want Everything EP"
26th April Tom Flynn "Just Can't Play EP"

Then in May I've got a remix album for our 1st anniversary, with a lot of friends that picked up a favourite from the catalogue and remixed it; remixes by Me, Solo, Camel, Round Table Knights, Renaissance Man, Tom Flynn, Zombie Disco Squad etc.

Who chose those awesome EP covers?

I do all the covers, I find the jellyfish really psychedelic... And there are so many different species that I'm sorted for few years of releases..!

What advice would you give to up and coming producers (how to get heard etc), and people thinking about starting labels?

To new producers I suggest to spend time in studio more then trying to promote themselves, if you are really good someone will notice your music and sign you.

First good advice I can give to start a label is, again, to have really good music; this is what makes you stand out from the million labels out there; don't release something if it's not amazing... One bad release can ruin your reputation.

Second advice is to stick to a sound; don't be all over the place - it's all about becoming really good in one little niche and slowly building a fan base.

Third piece of advice is to be patient! There's no short way to success.

Keep doing your work every day, every week, every month, and you'll get results.

Like my manager says, "It's not a sprint is a marathon!"

Check out the Deadfish Podcast HERE.

Mowgli's new EP; "I Want Everything EP" is out NOW on Deadfish, and can be picked up HERE

MOWGLI-I Want Everything-96kb by DeadFish audio

MOWGLI-Panacea-96kb by DeadFish audio