For the third instalment of Pulse Radio’s Sticky Labels series, our own Lydia Laws caught up with Rebel (Jonny Lawrence), Chris Cue and Twon, the trio responsible for the underdog spirited imprint, Tough Luck Records. In it’s short life, this scrappy brand has gained attention from selectors like Joris Voorn, Ryan Crosson and Adam Shelton, while becoming synonymous with raw, industrial tech house and techno fitted with an underlying soul that you won’t find just anywhere. Luckily for us, they prised themselves away from promoting their second EP TLR002, a Various Artist release split across both vinyl and digital formats, to catch up with Pulse.
So guys, how did Tough Luck Records and the relationship between the three of you come about? R: Twon and I met in Leicester about six years ago then we met Cue about the same time through friends doing seasons in Ibiza.
Why did you feel it was time to start your own label?
R: It was primarily about wanting to release music that we love but find difficult to come by, especially from UK labels. We're fans of One Records, Illusion and some of the new labels like Jamie Trench's Roots For Bloom records, but they are mainly known as house labels. We wanted a label that promoted a more continental tech house sound; something that will always retain an underground feel and be mostly about toughened up, raw energy. Chris and I have both been producing and releasing music on various labels for a little while now, and Twon is also developing his production skills, (we actually have a collaboration coming out soon on Moda Black) so it’s great also having a platform to launch our own music the way we want to see it released.
The name is great a really memorable? Is there a story behind how you came up with it? R: It took us ages! We had a brand idea and musical direction, but the names we thought of at first sounded a bit late 90's R&B/Garage. I think ‘Konkrete Kulture’ was one name that came up! (Laughs.) So glad we scrapped that one. I had images of paving, drab, slab artwork; it wouldn't have worked!
T: We were bored of the vocal-heavy deep house sound, which has now become pop music. Our musical taste evolved and craved something a bit ‘tougher’. Tough Luck just came from brainstorming and coming up with something, which matched what we were all about.
Do you find that you all pitch in and work together or that you end up having your own specific roles within the label? R: We try not to limit ourselves to doing individual tasks, but as we live in different parts of the UK, it makes sense to focus on different aspects of the nitty-gritty side of label running. I studied graphic design and illustration at uni, so tend to do most of the artwork. We did some ace hand-illustrated covers for the first release for giveaways, and then also sent a one-off illustrated sleeve to Adam Shelton. Where A&R is concerned, it’s great having three of us because we get to really discuss what we think would work with the label.
What do you look for when on the hunt for new material? With so many artists and potential ‘next big things’ out there, you obviously have to cherry pick the best to represent the label - tell us the Tough Luck criteria. R: For me this is one of the most exciting parts of having a label. It's a whole new form of creativity for me, training your ears to quality and originality and what will fit into what we're trying to do. It can be frustrating getting inundated with big room trance or hip-hop from people who have failed to do any research on your label, but it makes it sweeter when you do get sent a great demo. You always know the ones that have a genuine interest in the label as they understand the ethos of TLR, often on a personal level. Ivnivn was a prime example of a great demo and then a steady stream of really strong music keeps coming from him.
Tough Luck is already on the radar of artists such as Joris Voorn, Jozif and Adam Shelton. Who else is showing TLR some love? How does it feel getting such great support when your imprint is essentially still in its infancy? T: We were a bit nervous when TLR001 - Rebel’s EP, ‘History’ - was released, worrying if we’d done the right thing in starting the label, but the reception was better than we could have imagined! Getting Mixmag’s techno tune of the month was a great feeling and put us at ease that we were on the right track.
C: For a label only on its second release it’s great to see the big dogs of the game giving the tracks a spin, such as Ryan Crosson dropping Alcatraz Harry's 'Mr Dobolina' at Cocoon in the Park afters at Mint Warehouse. That track is due out on our digital bonus side of TLR002 on December 13th.
R: It was a big thrill having Loco Dice playing my track ‘History.’ He's currently at the top of his game and the fact that he picked up on us as a new label was really cool. Onno was dropping Jack Wickham’s remix of my track ‘Funktions’ at many of his big gigs. We’re so grateful for the support.
Chris, you used to be resident and co-runner of SAMPLE, one of the first house and techno nights in Newcastle. How do you find running a label in comparison to running a night? C: SAMPLE was the brains of TLR002 artist Adrian Fairless and his brother. Initially, I was a resident, but as the months rolled, we split the running and financing of the night equally. Running a club night is very hard work - any promoter can vouch for that! Giving a crowd a club full of great music to dance to on a Friday night doesn’t come easy. I prefer running a record label. You get such satisfaction seeing it grow and hit avenues you didn’t think were possible, like Loco Dice's record bag, in such a short space of time.
You’re quite the up-and-comers yourselves. How do you balance your time between your own gigs and pushing the label? R: I don't have another job apart from DJing, producing and running the label, so I can put a lot of time in. I haven't been gigging much recently, but I have been working hard on a lot of new music, which will see the light of day over the next few months. I’m particularly excited about a collaboration I have done with Michael Jansons due out on Lower East in January. Getting TLR off the ground has pretty much been my priority this year though.
C: I still work a full 40-hour week, so juggling between the three can be hard. A lot of my studio work is done after work or on a gig-free weekend. I’m on TwoPointZero’s artist roster too alongside Jody Wisternoff and Martin Eyerer, so hopefully the 9-5 will phase out!
You’re also keen to back artists you believe in, by managing them almost - take TLR new boy Ivnivn. Is there a story there? Is this something you’re hopeful the label will expand into?
R: I’m really keen on the idea of helping out new artists and bringing them to the fore, especially guys with Ivnivn's talent. The music industry is hard and we've been given a break so it's nice to think we could help other people do the same.
C: Yeah, it’s so promising to see such young talent out there. He’s nineteen, stuck in San Francisco, deprived of house and techno and he's never even been to a club! It shows talent and influence doesn’t just come from a peer group.
Finally, what’s next for Tough Luck Records?
C: TLR002 dropped on vinyl on November 11th, and follows the digital version on December 13th. But to twist things up a bit, we have included four more exclusive tracks! A club bomb from Alcatraz Harry which has been played by Darius Syrossian, Ryan Crossan and Patrick Topping just to name a few. There is a high energy rolling techno track from myself, a dub-techno track from Ivnivn and another peak time weapon from Rebel.
Check out toughluckrecords.com for more info.