Check out and share our Equus Recordings Interview. This interview is part of our new Labels in the Spotlight Series. In this interview series we feature exciting labels from all over the world. As always: Share & Support!
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your label. Where are you based, what genres & styles do you cover… And when/how how did it all start?
Equus Recordings is a growing American EDM record label based out of the Twin Cities that was founded in 2016 by myself, Stephen Ortiz. Equus was created to put the artist and their music first, something that I feel gets lost in the shuffle these days with many labels who are set on selling a brand rather than helping the artist grow both within music and outside of it. We have to remember that as a label, you are responsible with the outcome of someones hard work and personal creation and it is wrong to do it any sort of disservice by operating not in their best interest. Over the past 8 years I have gone from learning how to DJ, be an artist manager (Zendex, SWIFT, Mayhem In Action), perform A&R work (Brooklyn Fire Records, Appointed Recordings) and all of it led to a lot of less than ideal experiences interacting with other labels. Now of course it would wrong to list names but the overall issues that repeated themselves were lack of communication about demos, lack of detail about release dates, contract errors, lack of release promotion, and lack of royalty accounting. All of these things are the general job of a label, so I asked myself "why can't they get it right?". After enough negative experiences I was given the offer to start my own label by Appointed Recordings founder Patrick and I jumped at it with the goal of doing all of the things these big labels can't seem to do. Equus was and still is all about any sub-genre of EDM. While of course we have some personal favorites, we like to keep an open mind. We have had releases hit the Beatport charts in genres from electro house, trap/future bass, and even hard dance.
What are some releases our audience simply must check out? (Either new stuff or evergreen classics)
We have been extremely lucky in our short time to have had some amazing release go above and beyond the expectations of a new label with 12/21 releases charted to date. Label regular Mind Cntrl has had 3 amazing electro house releases with us, 2 of which charted on Beatport and we continue to hear praises of his work months after. I urge you to check out his track Twisted! We had an amazing EP from CutWires called Drop Dat that went #1 and that was by far our biggest milestone to date. As for new music, I am thrilled about our next release from rising trance talent SWIFT with his track The Vale. SWIFT had a HUGE 2017 with his release Arctic Blast that had plays from Armin Van Buuren on ASOT and Paul Van Dyk on Vonyc Sessions. Looking into the future, keep and eye on rising duo Mayhem In Action, a release from Ultra Europe alum Markhese, and much more. Check out all of the mentioned music here: https://soundcloud.com/equusrecordings
Are you looking for new artists to sign or collaboration partners? (Be it media partners, remix competitions or otherwise?)
We are always looking to sign new artists and are open to media partners. Being a new label makes it tough to get those initial demos in and so it took us a while to have a solid base to start with. Artists who think they might have something for us are always welcome to shoot over a demo to equusdemos@gmail.com. We always check them fast, tell you what we think and if its something we want to sign we are very forward with the outlook for a release so it can best work for your schedule and ours. In 2018 we would love to connect with more media partners like Traxx24 about showcasing out new releases and helping to grow our audience in places like Spotify. Our artists do great things and we want more people to hear them! Big shout out to DMC Buzz Chart for showcasing 3 of our releases this past year, we are always grateful for their support!
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Are you a superfan of anyone? How did you become a superfan? Do you remember how you become a fan and what turned you into super fan? Have you ever thought about why you´re such a fan?
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What was the biggest mistake you made when you started making music and what would be the number one tip you could give to a newcomer musician?
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How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?
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Do you have good promotion tips for other musicians?
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Do you have insights on how to grow your audience on soundcloud that you want to share with our audience?
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What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
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How do you personally discover new music?
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Once you discovered new music, do you tell others about the new music/artist you discovered? If yes, how exactly?
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What is your number one tip to improve your music production or songwriting skills?
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What is your best tip for those who struggle with finishing their tracks?
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We meet again in one year. What has changed?
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http://www.soundcloud.com/equusrecordings
http://www.facebook.com/equusrecordings
http://www.twitter.com/equusrecordings
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Enter your questions to the artist in the facebook comment section below.
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