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IMPRINTS: Rare Beef Records

A 100-percent mad cow-free Toronto label.

Imprints brings you regular profiles of the most exciting record labels the world over, with input from the movers and shakers who contribute to their local electronic music communities.

Founded: 2013
Location: Parkdale, Toronto
Members: Michael Imperial, Omar Al-Samadi, Warren Katz
Number of Releases: Two
Artists-to-watch: Nightbox, HolloH, Imposter(s), Austin Paul, Ben Stevenson, The Cruelty Party, Sibian & Faun

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I first caught wind of Rare Beef Records on the sunlit patio of a French café in downtown Vancouver, where I was sitting alongside soon-to-be Co-Founder, Warren Katz. Between macaroons and too-long glances at women of the daintier, short-skirted variety, the conversation soon turned to upcoming releases and a project called HolloH that he was working on. Cordial goodbyes were exchanged, promises to hit each other up delivered, and I was soon on my way hoping to never sit across from someone who chews with their mouth open again.

A few days later, a private demo attached to Rare Beef's SoundCloud was nestled comfortably in my inbox. One short email exchange later, Warren revealed that HolloH was part of a larger project that he, Michael Imperial, and Omar Al-Samdi were working on with several Toronto-based artists. I found myself coming back to HolloH's Young Lord EP every few days, and since its release I've kept a keen eye on the comings and goings of this newly minted label. With several new releases close to in the final stages of their release preparation, I reached out to Warren and co. again to shed some more light on Rare Beef and what to expect in the coming months.

THUMP: What's the deal?
We are Rare Beef Records, Management, Publishing, Booking and Events. We are talent driven and passionate about supporting good electronic music regardless of its sub-genre or hype.

Why did you decide to form Rare Beef?
Prior to starting the label the three of us all ran parties around town. Michael's was ITZSOWEEZEE, Omar's Course Of Time, and Warren's was Neighbourhood Watch. The latter is a white-label co-op that showcases underground Toronto talent and was held in "the shop" downstairs at a west-end restaurant called Parts & Labour. Before each show, the crew involved would always grab food and drinks upstairs. The three of us first met each other here, discussing the burgeoning Toronto music scene, sharing war stories from our forays in the industry, and discovering our common love for burgers and bourbon. We all came from music industry backgrounds. Omar is a promoter, manager, and photographer. Warren started as a tour manager for the who's who of artists all across the globe, as well as manages some other acts. Michael ran his party while working as a marketing director and graphic designer for the Zgarka's (a Canadian music family who, among other things, can be credited with bringing disco to North America). Through Michael, Dominique and Albert Zgarka saw our passion for electronic music and offered us a distribution deal. We all went to Miami for WMC that year, and the label started from there. Now it gets us into stuff for free.

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Where does the name come from?
We had a dangerous craving for some pho during our initial branding meeting.

How would you describe your sound? 
The label's foundation and mandate is electronic music, but the defining and expanding scope of what that can mean is an ongoing exercise. At the end of the day, our sound is purely reflective of the music that we personally enjoy listening to. Stuff that we feel as though we can positively contribute to.

Have your releases been received as well as you'd hoped?
Honestly, everything is going perfectly according to plan. We are very big picture oriented, it's the only way we can achieve the ultimate goal of creating the defacto Toronto electronic music label—a home to support artists and an aesthetic to rally around. I don't think we could be happier with our two releases and how the brand has been received in such a short amount of time.

What challenges do you face day-to-day? Month-to-month?
On a daily basis, just figuring out where the next burger and old fashioned is going to come from. On a monthly basis, how the heck we are going to afford all these damn burgers. Now that we are almost a year in, we're trying to work off all the burgers and booze.

Which release would you recommend to introduce a new listener to Rare Beef?
HolloH, Young Lord EP. Between the original tracks and their remixes, it showcases a pretty good range of the different sounds we're into at the moment.

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Which are your favourite tracks?
Omar: HolloH, "Young Lord" and the "Alixander III Remix."
Michael: Imposter(s)' "Dead Prez"… those horn fills, though!
Warren: Nightbox, "Burning" (forthcoming April 22).

How do you choose the artists that you work with?
First we party, then we eat and drink and we take it from there.

Photo courtesy of MARSWASHERE

What's the next release on Rare Beef? How far ahead do you plan your releases?
Four releases coming up. The infallible Nightbox are releasing "The Panic Sequence" featuring co-production from Al-P (MSTRKRFT) and co-writing from Sebastien Grainger (DFA 1979), that's coming out April 22. Our own Michael Imperial is putting out the third and final release in the "Secret Drugs" series next month as well, with the single "Slow Legend" having just premiered. Following that is another yet-to-be-announced release from HolloH, and the same from Imposter(s). And that's just what we can talk about! We've been planning releases a few months out so far, sometimes longer for pressing vinyl. When we hear a track that we know we want to release, it's pretty much in the schedule as soon as we can give it our full attention.

What sound do you think the music industry is moving towards?
Omar: Definitely something post-future.
Michael: Definitely post-future, if not something pre-past.
Warren: Post-content.