Phoenix Music is Canada’s flagship house label, a love letter to the genre amidst a changing landscape. Founded as recently as 2013, its roots stretch back further to a simpler time: the 1990’s, when electronic music was exponentially harder to produce. Label manager Andy Reid started off more as a journalist than a businessman, documenting Toronto’s ever growing house scene as it evolved to celebrate not only four-on-the-floor, but the myriad of sub genres that bloomed around it. Keen house-heads may recognize the name Nocturnal: it grew from a music magazine to the multimedia group that houses Phoenix Music and its artists.<\/p>\n
Reid, in running both Phoenix and Nocturnal, has almost three decades of experience in the industry as an A&R, musician, and CEO. It was only right to try and snag an interview with him during his visit to LA earlier in the month:<\/p>\n
LE: Detail your background with Phoenix Music and how you got started with it, as well as its initial launch. AR: I started DJing in ’92 when classic house was still new, and my first in was through starting an online magazine called Nocturnal which ran for about 15 years. After that, well, it\u2019s funny – people weren\u2019t advertising online much. It was really difficult to get google ads, I had pretty large numbers an it still wasn\u2019t good enough. I had no way to generate revenue off the press side of things in a way where I could sustain a business. But with so many DJ connections built, a record label was the natural progression based on where I was sitting in the industry.<\/p>\n Phoenix is actually my second label, the first I had a partner with called \u201c44 and Filth.\u201d We were getting up and going but my partner wanted to focus more on producing. So, we mutually agreed to stop and then I created something that was solely mine, something I could control and run to pursue that side of the business. Hence Phoenix, a sort of \u201crising of the ashes”. Conceived in 2012, our first release came out in January 2013. Five years ago, which doesn\u2019t seem like it was that long ago.<\/p>\n I see that Phoenix Music is designated under Nocturnal Multimedia, and from what I gather you’re the head of both?<\/strong><\/p>\n Nocturnal\u2019s been my legacy business. It\u2019s that old boring business structure thing where I had an existing company and I wasn\u2019t going to set up a new one. I do consulting and artist management with Nocturnal, as well as the label. I\u2019ve done label management but nothing where I was a partner in. Phoenix is mine, where I\u2019m solely the creative director.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s been based out of Toronto the whole time?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yup! Left briefly for university but that\u2019s it. Which is great because Toronto\u2019s house scene is vibrant, it\u2019s one of the few cities that adopted the early house scene. A lot of DJs from the east coast were heading there very early on, DJ Sneak for example. In Canada we have much more of a tie with Europe and the UK, so we get a lot of British DJs coming through: Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold, all the ones doing things a bit differently, they were performing early on in Toronto.<\/p>\n The internet was just starting to become a thing, which is mind boggling – but when I first heard a house record it was like listening to a radio show on a 3 A.M. college station. You couldn\u2019t go online to find all the crazy raves that were happening, I only knew because my best friend in high school was a DJ used to play house and hip hop. I was 15, borrowed his turn table and records, and it was instant: \u201cOh my god, what is this music.\u201d It makes sense that I liked it because I was really into British electronic driven pop: Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and New Order. It was a matter of chance that my friends\u2019 cousin was into it as well. It spilled over. The second I touched a record to a turntable I was hooked. It\u2019s crazy to think 30 years later I\u2019m still involved in this happy accident.<\/p>\n What defines Toronto\u2019s house scene from others?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think the biggest identifier is that the people who are into the music are very knowledgeable, in that they have a wider scope and a deeper appreciation for a lot of styles. In talking to a lot of international DJs friends, they always feel they can play THEIR music. They don\u2019t have to bend their sounds or play \u201cthe hits\u201d to have a good reaction, they just play. There\u2019s a response because the base is open minded \u2013 it\u2019s not just \u201cI need to hear this\u201d. There\u2019s a lot of freedom to be creative.<\/p>\n I find in the US it\u2019s harder to pursue that in general. A lot of the Europeans ask me what\u2019s the difference and it\u2019s tough because if you\u2019re not the genre, then you\u2019re not the genre. The market doesn\u2019t work that way. In North America in general, as much as we have that in Toronto, there are similar sounds you have to play, where the majority of stuff is happening. The difference is that we have a lot of the niche stuff. That\u2019s not happening on the regular, whereas in Europe a lot of the scenes are huge and you have much more variety. England, Netherlands, Germany – there\u2019s this scope of big things in the genre.<\/p>\n Since you\u2019ve been in the game since the early 90s, did you notice any of the breakbeat and IDM elements from UKs jungle scene in Toronto at that time?<\/strong><\/p>\n At the same time as the house scene was growing, we had the biggest drum and bass scene outside of England in the world. As well as what was coming out of Chicago and LA, that funky techno tribe collective in the late 90s early 2000s was massive. It all links back to the diversity, there was a happy hardcore scene in the late 90\u2019s and that\u2019s where the depth came in. The parties wouldn\u2019t be one sound. The big raves had rooms with prog trance, others with drum and bass\u2013 they\u2019d all coexist in the same space.<\/p>\n I feel very fortunate to have come up through that \u2013 again, being involved with everything. There were only four big promoters and I was a resident for three of them. It gave me access to see a lot of different acts, a bunch of different music that you wouldn\u2019t normally focus on. The education roots from being much more accepting to different types of electronic music, and not just this narrow-minded thing. You\u2019re always going to get that because when you\u2019re young you tend to fixate. But a lot of people running things now, we were all coming up at the same time. We\u2019re at that age now, so on the decision-making side, it\u2019s all more prevalent because of how we came into the music scene.<\/p>\n Every time Phoenix is brought up my colleagues are quick to mention Todd Terry. <\/strong><\/p>\n Todd Terry is one of the early figures of New York house. I\u2019m very fortunate in knowing him since around \u201998. We met in Miami at WMC, a conference that was very much used to be how ADE is now: an industry driven event where everyone is in one spot. Todd played in Toronto numerous times at that point, he actually knew my online magazine since we were the only outlet in Toronto covering the scene. My main competitor was focused more on the social side, but being a DJ I was naturally focused on the music. I was interviewing artists, reviewing music, covering the charts, things of that nature. I was lucky because he was familiar with us when we met. I mean, the 2nd<\/sup> house record I ever bought was a Todd Terry record.<\/p>\n A full year later in Miami again, literally he shouted at me from across the street and ran over four lanes of traffic to come say hello. That always struck me, because it\u2019s like: \u201cYou are Todd Terry. I\u2019m just some kid in Toronto with a website.\u201d That\u2019s the kind of person Todd is, a genuine person.<\/p>\n Over the years seeing each other off and on we became friends. When it came to branching out to do music, I had an idea about working with him. I literally just asked him to take a chance on me and do what we\u2019ve been doing. Because of our long friendship, he said yes. I didn\u2019t set out to build a relationship or anything \u2013 I have the utmost respect for him as a musician. He\u2019s a big influence on me and getting to know him on a personal level was just awesome as it is. Full marks to him, he took a chance and it\u2019s working out so far. We started out to just do one year, but it\u2019s been five now and we\u2019re still going.<\/p>\n How has 2018 treated Phoenix? Any upcoming plans in 2019? Every year we do a best of the year release, so we\u2019ll have that again. We had some big records in 2018, three of our remixes for Todd\u2019s legacy stuff we\u2019re absolutely massive. Re-Tide\u2019s remix of \u201cKeep on Jumping\u201d came out in January went number 2 overall on Traxsource. Sunny Wharton\u2019s remix of \u201cSomething Going On\u201d went number 2 overall. Our biggest record was David Penn\u2019s of \u201cBabarabatiri\u201d remix which went number 1 overall, 2 on Beatport house, 11 overall on Beatport. It\u2019s one of those things that catapulted us up the chain in terms of brand awareness. We had a good reputation across the scene with the hardcore tastemakers. But the strategy I went for was to build a very strong connection to all of the influential DJs that played the kind of music we did.<\/p>\n I feel like there\u2019s a lot of value in that. That\u2019s what sustains you for a long period of time. You need to be a destination label for these guys that sets the tone for what more people are listening too. You have to be charting your records consistently, which is how you get bigger artists to work with you. Easy to say, harder to do. But a lot of it is relationship building. You have to have music that is up to that level. That\u2019s where rely on my decades of experience to know that I can hear music that speaks to those kinds of people. I feel like I\u2019m one of those types of people.<\/p>\n The mantra I have in signing: I don\u2019t sign anything to labels that I wouldn\u2019t play myself. It\u2019s somewhat self-indulgent but it\u2019s kind of why we have the reputation and catalog that we have. We don\u2019t really chase what\u2019s trendy, we\u2019ve always been looking for things that speak to that hardcore fan of house music who really appreciates where it came from to where it is now. Hopefully other people have similar tastes! So far so good.<\/p>\n Are there a lot of other people doing that?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think so. We\u2019re fortunate in that we carved out a definite position within the community. We\u2019ve proven ourselves, and we\u2019ve proved we can have a big record and know what to do with it. For people starting labels. You need a reason for them to want to be on with you. The obvious one is that you can pay them a heap of money and if that\u2019s their interest, they\u2019ll probably do it. But it\u2019s not real and you probably won\u2019t get their best work either. They\u2019re not doing because they want to do it, it\u2019s just a paycheck. The best results are the ones that want to do it, genuinely. If you make money, great. If not, it\u2019s not the end of the world.<\/p>\n It\u2019s funny because David Penn\u2019s remix for example, he didn\u2019t even want to do that remix. It\u2019s one of his favorite tracks ever and he was apprehensive in that, \u201ccan I do something to this, because I love the original?\u201d To make it different or better. I almost had to convince him to \u201cjust do you!\u201d and it\u2019ll be great. Because his take on house on this record is a no-brainer. To me, this record with his spin on it would be great. And then the first demo he sent back was basically the release. I was like \u201cthis is done.\u201d I sent to Todd and his team and it was done deal. When we sent it out to Traxsource guys, we got a great reception as well. Three days, boom: Number 1. And then Beatport picked up on it with their hype chart. It was great.<\/p>\n I\u2019d imagine, as a label manager, often times you find yourself approaching an artist thinking they\u2019re all confident in their work. A lot of the job is to be confident in your own abilities to recognize \u201cthis needs to be heard\u201d and to pursue that.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s challenging. The stuff we work with, there\u2019s no formula. Sure there are a few objective things in terms of quality, but in terms of creativity and musical direction it\u2019s completely subjective. The people that think you just do A, B, and C to be successful are wrong. It\u2019s a leap of faith, almost every time. Sometimes it\u2019s good but it\u2019s just the wrong time. On the business side things ebb and flow, old things become new again. Finding the right thing at the right time can be the difference between doing okay and having massive success.<\/p>\n For example, Omi\u2019s \u201cCheerleader\u201d remix \u2013 that came out 5 years before it was the hit that it was. And it did nothing. It was a dead record before they freshened it up and then it was a smash. If you listen to the original, it\u2019s not that different. It\u2019s the right thing at the wrong time. Years later, it blows up.<\/p>\n There is an element of luck. The standard is that you have to be of quality \u2013 but just because it doesn\u2019t do well at the time, it might just be the wrong time. When you have something you think will do well and it doesn\u2019t, you can\u2019t let that deter you from sticking with your ears. I think everyone in the business has been in that situation. \u201cThis song will be great and do awesome,\u201d and it\u2019s a complete failure.<\/p>\n It comes down to perseverance in a way.<\/strong><\/p>\n Perseverance is a huge, huge part of it. And it\u2019s tough because this is how you make your living, when you have a record that doesn\u2019t do well, as a small indie label, those swings are important. You can\u2019t float by on failure, you need to be able to move on to the next. You can\u2019t get too high on the highs or too low on the lows.<\/p>\n Always learn and evolve, try new things. If you\u2019re going to make it as a label, trust in your ear \u2013 but hope that your ear speaks to people. If not, well it\u2019s not for everyone. There is some inherent born ability to judge things in a way that speaks to people, to a consumer. At the end of the day it\u2019s consumed.<\/p>\n It\u2019s kind of poetic, looking back at the horrible times but being like, \u201cwe got through it\u201d and moving on to the next.<\/strong><\/p>\n The funny thing is that with our 5-year anniversary compilation, that was the first chance I had that moment to reminisce and look back at all the things we done with the label. I was talking to people in Amsterdam about this: you\u2019re always so in it and focused on the current and next thing. You don\u2019t really take that time to look back at what you did. Only in putting together that album was I like \u201coh wow, we had some really good music over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n And there\u2019s a couple things now, like we\u2019re doing new mixes that came out early in the life cycle of the label where we forgot \u201coh, this is a really good record.\u201d There’s actually a real sense of pride, like we\u2019ve come a long way. Very short lived, and then on to the next thing.<\/p>\n Music, being a temporal form of art; it feels like when you listen to a certain song five years after an artist releases more stuff, it\u2019s kind of like a different song. There\u2019s a lot of new perspectives that comes with and without the context of release.<\/strong><\/p>\n Absolutely. And a lot of artists are like \u201cyeah I hate everything old\u201d or \u201cI wasn\u2019t as good technically\u201d, and other times you\u2019re like \u201cman I really liked what I was doing back then.\u201d There\u2019s that same process. In reaching out to all our artists for the old stuff, we had that reaction from them. It\u2019s cool. A lot of people in the business are always so forward thinking, you never look back.<\/p>\n Any plugs you\u2019d like to mention?<\/strong><\/p>\n We have a bunch more releases before 2019: Dirty Secretz, Asle, Stereosoulz \u2013 some really strong markets this year. 2019 have some amazing stuff lined up, going to be working with new artists like Tough Love. More David Penn and Todd Terry remixes. More Angelo Ferreri. A lot of our core artists, James Bradshaw, even myself doing stuff potentially. We\u2019re going to have an amazing line up of material.<\/p>\n 2019 is a focus on an extension of the brand and label. We\u2019ll be launching a podcast for the label an starting a branded event side of things are all on the forecast. For me, I really wanted to get the label firmly established and running before tackling more things. Now that we have the cache for a branded event makes sense \u2013 we\u2019re sort of known at that level, that\u2019s the next step for us.<\/p>\n We’ve compiled a trove of Phoenix Music releases over on Label Engine’s Spotify, which you can find here<\/a>. Make sure to check out Phoenix Music on all of their social media sites (Soundcloud<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>) as well as on\u00a0Beatport<\/a> and\u00a0Traxsource<\/a> to support the label in their endeavors. \u0437\u0430\u0451\u043c<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Phoenix Music is Canada’s flagship house label, a love letter to the genre amidst a changing landscape. Founded as recently as 2013, its roots stretch back further to a simpler time: the 1990’s, when electronic music was exponentially harder to produce. Label manager Andy Reid started off more as a journalist than a businessman, documenting Toronto’s ever growing house scene … <\/p>\n
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