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Music

A Recipe for a Label With Eats Everything's Edible Records

Two cooks is the right amount in the Edible Records kitchen.

A record imprint can be a rite of passage. There comes a time in many successful producers' lives when they will survey of the scene around them, and decide its time to start their own record label. DJs and producers navigate this tricky process to varying degrees of success—without a support network or a history in business, there's a whole lot of practical pitfalls that can strike the unsuspecting selector. So when it came time for Bristol bass house expert Eats Everything to launch his own Edible imprint last year, he made the wise choice of getting some expert help, launching the label with Nick Harris, the former boss of legendary Bristol house imprint NRK, at his side.

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It's been a wonderfully productive partnership already. Working together, the pair have released four fine pieces of 10-inch vinyl since late 2015, including two rookie acts (debuts by Lord Leopard and Lauren Lane) and two dance music veterans (Brett Johnson and Jesse Perez). Pedigree seems less important than personality when picking what records end up on the Edible release schedule—which is why each tune so far is a certifiable dancefloor hit, rather than just another DJ tool. Taking a breath from their busy schedules, Harris and Eats Everything (born Dan Pearce) took a moment to reflect on their partnership, and gave a few tips on how they're identifying all these instant classics.

A record imprint can be a rite of passage. There comes a time in many successful producers' lives when they will survey of the scene around them, and decide its time to start their own record label. DJs and producers navigate this tricky process to varying degrees of success—without a support network or a history in business, there's a whole lot of practical pitfalls that can strike the unsuspecting selector. So when it came time for Bristol bass house expert Eats Everything to launch his own Edible imprint last year, he made the wise choice of getting some expert help, launching the label with Nick Harris, the former boss of legendary Bristol house imprint NRK, at his side.

It's been a wonderfully productive partnership already. Working together, the pair have released four fine pieces of 10-inch vinyl since late 2015, including two rookie acts (debuts by Lord Leopard and Lauren Lane) and two dance music veterans (Brett Johnson and Jesse Perez). Pedigree seems less important than personality when picking what records end up on the Edible release schedule—which is why each tune so far is a certifiable dancefloor hit, rather than just another DJ tool. Taking a breath from their busy schedules, Harris and Eats Everything (born Dan Pearce) took a moment to reflect on their partnership, and gave a few tips on how they're identifying all these instant classics.

THUMP: How did you two first connect? I assume it was a Bristol thing?
Eats Everything: It definitely was a Bristol thing. Similar circles and all that jazz. I had been a massive fan of NRK for years, so I knew him and we had met several times. He also works on some other great labels run by friends such as Futureboogie and Hypercolour.

Nick Harris: Ha, it's always a Bristol thing! Funnily enough, we didn't really hook up until maybe the last couple of years. Obviously I was well aware of Dan and his colossal rise up the ranks—for which I was really proud and probably envious in equal measures—but it was at a Hypercolour party in London that we met for the first time. I think we both said at the time, "I can't believe we've never met before!" So actually it wasn't a Bristol thing, it was in some sweaty dive in East London.

An old guy like me still instantly thinks of "trip-hop" when I hear Bristol. Is that still a shadow you have to operate under in 2016?
Harris: Is it a curse or a blessing? I am not so sure, most definitely Bristol rose to musical prominence through "trip-hop," and it's heaped massive amounts of interest on the city and always shone a spotlight on Bristol. I think that it was probably a shadow up until a few years ago when house, techno, bass music in all it's forms, had a massive resurgence in the city, and now Bristol is getting known for the DJ, producers and musicians who are flying the flag for genre crossing sounds.

You've got labels like Futureboogie, Livity Sound, Hypercolour running from Bristol, Full Cycle and countless other labels I haven't mentioned. The Idle Hands record shop is shifting all kinds of styles, so the city is definitely undergoing a post trip-hop re-birth. I was running a house label out of Bristol throughout all these years, when house was just not that big in Bristol and trip hop was king, so I am used to operating in the shadows.

Eats Everything: I personally don't look at Bristol as that. If anything it is a bass city, mainly jungle & drum & bass. But i don't think music operates in boundaries, and musical history within a certain place only adds to the creativity and opportunity.

Nick, you come from NRK, which was a successful label that had to navigate the shift to digital. Did starting fresh in the current climate change your approach?
Harris: Indeed, NRK started out in the pre-digital age, so we were shifting much bigger vinyl and CD units than labels do nowadays. We were also one of the first labels to sign up with Beatport when they started out, so I've seen the business model shift radically. Setting up Edible presented a much different tact to setting up a label nearly 20 years ago, but funnily enough, vinyl is still very much is a focus on each release, so it's good to see that records are still being bought and appreciated, albeit in much smaller numbers.

The big difference now with labels and releases is the focus put on the social media, and how you try and connect your releases directly to the fan/consumer. We are increasingly thinking outside the box in order to make release stand up above all the other ones in a market that is, not necessarily diminishing, but changing all the time in how people consume music. I read with interest today that Apple may be considering life beyond downloads and iTunes, so again this digital era is shifting all the time.

Is that why you've been pressing releases on 10" vinyl, which indicates not just a vinyl resurgence but a consideration for the collectable.
Harris: We made a conscious decision to keep vinyl at the heart of the label and the releases. Dan and myself come from the vinyl heyday for dance music. We both DJed using vinyl for many years, and still do dust off the 12"s for sets. We decided to release 10" vinyl discs as opposed to 12" discs, not only to offer up something different from the rest, but also I personally have a real love for those dinky 10" discs. We came from the angle of creating more a piece of merchandise, enlisting the amazing artwork of Nicholas Dixon that we feature on the centre label. And as you collect the set of discs, the artwork creates one larger piece of art. So yes, it's more a collectible item marrying good music, and artwork, and a pleasing aesthetic.

Who does the bulk of the A&R? How does decision-making go with you two?
Harris: I'd say that Dan brings in the bulk of the bacon and I sit in my director's chair and yay or nay his ideas! I'm playing the Simon Cowell role for sure. We both appreciate good music and both have a musical vision for Edible, so it's a relatively easy decision when figuring out what's to come on the label.

Dan brings in a lot of music that works for him as a DJ, but this doesn't necessarily make for a great release, or indeed a sound business decision. So I'm in place to quantize the music that Dan brings in, and we discuss from there if we believe in it enough to stick that Edible stamp on it.

Eats Everything: I do the the main searching and receiving of records, then I send it to Nick and he says no to most of them. I tend to look at records in more of a dance floor sense, while Nick has a much more subjective opinion and looks at the bigger picture.

Labels now need to diversify to survive. What are your plans for Edible beyond releasing music?
Harris: It's still early days for Edible. We want to build and build and be around for quite a while. We've got some ideas in the pipeline that we will execute very soon that we can't say too much about yet. I would say though that we are intrinsically music led, so it's right at the heart of what we do and what we are interested in. Not sure if we are ready for the Edible chain of burger joints, but then again...

There's got to be at least a 10 year age difference between you two, yeah? When/where/how does that ever manifest itself?
Eats Everything: Age is just a number. It doesn't manifest itself in any way, face or form. We have both experienced similar times and both have been raving for a long time.

Harris: Dan's actually seven years younger than me. I just had to Wikipedia it because he won't tell me, and I just found out that his birthday is the day after mine! A fellow Sagittarius to boot!

To be honest, the age difference hasn't really manifested in any way, shape or form, except that I guess I do feel like a bit of an elder statesman at times, especially when I go off on stories of old, name dropping, the whole "it isn't as good as it used to be" yarn. It's nice for me to feel that I have a lot to offer, both in terms of knowledge and experience, to those a decade (or even two) younger than me.

Dan, what's the best and worth thing about working with Nick?
Eats Everything: He has a lovely penis. But seriously, he knows exactly what he is talking about, and to be honest, I have not noticed any bad things. But give it time.

Nick, what's the best and worst thing about working with Dan?
Harris: I guess you want me to dish the dirt on Dan, and I hate to be predictable and a bit of a bore, but really, working with Dan on the whole Edible project is really great fun. We give each other a lot of mutual respect, we listen to what each other has to bring forward, and so far we've had nothing but an excellent working and personal relationship. However we've not really gone out and hit the town together, have we? You'd see a different side to me, possibly. We should get that in the diary Dan. A joint birthday party! Let's do it!

THUMP: How did you two first connect? I assume it was a Bristol thing?
Eats Everything: It definitely was a Bristol thing. Similar circles and all that jazz. I had been a massive fan of NRK for years, so I knew him and we had met several times. He also works on some other great labels run by friends such as Futureboogie and Hypercolour.

Nick Harris: Ha, it's always a Bristol thing! Funnily enough, we didn't really hook up until maybe the last couple of years. Obviously I was well aware of Dan and his colossal rise up the ranks—for which I was really proud and probably envious in equal measures—but it was at a Hypercolour party in London that we met for the first time. I think we both said at the time, "I can't believe we've never met before!" So actually it wasn't a Bristol thing, it was in some sweaty dive in East London.

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An old guy like me still instantly thinks of "trip-hop" when I hear Bristol. Is that still a shadow you have to operate under in 2016?
Harris: Is it a curse or a blessing? I am not so sure, most definitely Bristol rose to musical prominence through "trip-hop," and it's heaped massive amounts of interest on the city and always shone a spotlight on Bristol. I think that it was probably a shadow up until a few years ago when house, techno, bass music in all it's forms, had a massive resurgence in the city, and now Bristol is getting known for the DJ, producers and musicians who are flying the flag for genre crossing sounds.

You've got labels like Futureboogie, Livity Sound, Hypercolour running from Bristol, Full Cycle and countless other labels I haven't mentioned. The Idle Hands record shop is shifting all kinds of styles, so the city is definitely undergoing a post trip-hop re-birth. I was running a house label out of Bristol throughout all these years, when house was just not that big in Bristol and trip hop was king, so I am used to operating in the shadows.

Eats Everything: I personally don't look at Bristol as that. If anything it is a bass city, mainly jungle & drum & bass. But i don't think music operates in boundaries, and musical history within a certain place only adds to the creativity and opportunity.

Nick, you come from NRK, which was a successful label that had to navigate the shift to digital. Did starting fresh in the current climate change your approach?
Harris: Indeed, NRK started out in the pre-digital age, so we were shifting much bigger vinyl and CD units than labels do nowadays. We were also one of the first labels to sign up with Beatport when they started out, so I've seen the business model shift radically. Setting up Edible presented a much different tact to setting up a label nearly 20 years ago, but funnily enough, vinyl is still very much is a focus on each release, so it's good to see that records are still being bought and appreciated, albeit in much smaller numbers.

Advertisement

The big difference now with labels and releases is the focus put on the social media, and how you try and connect your releases directly to the fan/consumer. We are increasingly thinking outside the box in order to make release stand up above all the other ones in a market that is, not necessarily diminishing, but changing all the time in how people consume music. I read with interest today that Apple may be considering life beyond downloads and iTunes, so again this digital era is shifting all the time.

Is that why you've been pressing releases on 10" vinyl, which indicates not just a vinyl resurgence but a consideration for the collectable.
Harris: We made a conscious decision to keep vinyl at the heart of the label and the releases. Dan and myself come from the vinyl heyday for dance music. We both DJed using vinyl for many years, and still do dust off the 12"s for sets. We decided to release 10" vinyl discs as opposed to 12" discs, not only to offer up something different from the rest, but also I personally have a real love for those dinky 10" discs. We came from the angle of creating more a piece of merchandise, enlisting the amazing artwork of Nicholas Dixon that we feature on the centre label. And as you collect the set of discs, the artwork creates one larger piece of art. So yes, it's more a collectible item marrying good music, and artwork, and a pleasing aesthetic.

Who does the bulk of the A&R? How does decision-making go with you two?
Harris: I'd say that Dan brings in the bulk of the bacon and I sit in my director's chair and yay or nay his ideas! I'm playing the Simon Cowell role for sure. We both appreciate good music and both have a musical vision for Edible, so it's a relatively easy decision when figuring out what's to come on the label.

Advertisement

Dan brings in a lot of music that works for him as a DJ, but this doesn't necessarily make for a great release, or indeed a sound business decision. So I'm in place to quantize the music that Dan brings in, and we discuss from there if we believe in it enough to stick that Edible stamp on it.

Eats Everything: I do the the main searching and receiving of records, then I send it to Nick and he says no to most of them. I tend to look at records in more of a dance floor sense, while Nick has a much more subjective opinion and looks at the bigger picture.

Labels now need to diversify to survive. What are your plans for Edible beyond releasing music?
Harris: It's still early days for Edible. We want to build and build and be around for quite a while. We've got some ideas in the pipeline that we will execute very soon that we can't say too much about yet. I would say though that we are intrinsically music led, so it's right at the heart of what we do and what we are interested in. Not sure if we are ready for the Edible chain of burger joints, but then again…

There's got to be at least a 10 year age difference between you two, yeah? When/where/how does that ever manifest itself?
Eats Everything: Age is just a number. It doesn't manifest itself in any way, face or form. We have both experienced similar times and both have been raving for a long time.

Harris: Dan's actually seven years younger than me. I just had to Wikipedia it because he won't tell me, and I just found out that his birthday is the day after mine! A fellow Sagittarius to boot!

To be honest, the age difference hasn't really manifested in any way, shape or form, except that I guess I do feel like a bit of an elder statesman at times, especially when I go off on stories of old, name dropping, the whole "it isn't as good as it used to be" yarn. It's nice for me to feel that I have a lot to offer, both in terms of knowledge and experience, to those a decade (or even two) younger than me.

Dan, what's the best and worth thing about working with Nick?
Eats Everything: He has a lovely penis. But seriously, he knows exactly what he is talking about, and to be honest, I have not noticed any bad things. But give it time.

Nick, what's the best and worst thing about working with Dan?
Harris: I guess you want me to dish the dirt on Dan, and I hate to be predictable and a bit of a bore, but really, working with Dan on the whole Edible project is really great fun. We give each other a lot of mutual respect, we listen to what each other has to bring forward, and so far we've had nothing but an excellent working and personal relationship. However we've not really gone out and hit the town together, have we? You'd see a different side to me, possibly. We should get that in the diary Dan. A joint birthday party! Let's do it!