Conjunction Recordings is a label run by Catalyst.AD & K.I.M since 2018 and we had a chat with Catalyst.AD in 2020 & we felt like it is time for an update to check what has been going on since then…
If you want to read the interview from 2020, head to it HERE.
Hey Paul aka Catalyst.AD and thank you for answering our questions. Massive congratulations to your success with your label! Last time we spoke was in 2020 when the label had been running for a year or so. What has been going on since then and has anything changed in terms of your vision with the label and how you work? It’s been a busy but enjoyable 3 years for us as a label, we originally set it up as an “underground bass music” label but the majority of our music has been drum and bass with some occasional 140 BPM tracks featured on our E.P’s. Variety is still key for us which is why we launched the “Dreamology” series which showcases the deeper more liquid side of the music. We also have plans to launch a number of bandcamp exclusive releases that will feature a variety of music up and down the BPM’s. The label was originally going to be a platform for my own music, however our vision has changed a little after receiving some amazing music from some of our friends within the scene, as well as music from some exciting new artists such as J Centrik who’s tracks have been really popular. In honesty, its grown faster than we imagined which has been great so opening the label up to other artists has been a big plus for us.
You mentioned in 2020 that you were aiming for around 4-6 releases per year where the focus is on quality rather than quantity, was this something that became reality or did you have to change your approach? With the obvious implications of the pandemic we did question whether to put things on hold but soon came to the conclusion that the music had to carry on regardless. I’d say we have averaged about 3 releases a year with the majority being 4 track E.P’s, in addition to this we have also had some free download releases that are only available from our label shop. These seem to have gone down really well too which is encouraging.
What are you looking for in terms of releasing music? As a label, we are always happy to listen to new up and coming artists, however, we are not concerned how many social media followers they have, we are purely about the music. We tend to favour the deeper side of the music, anything that has a groove and a real element of musicality, whether it be raw cutting edge techy drum and bass or deep liquid rollers, we feel the label has a versatile approach to what we release.
What can artists do to get in contact with you guys? Artists can submit demos to us via email – info@conjunctionrecordings.com. We always ask that Artists also send us a little bit of information about themselves even if it’s just a link to a biog. We like to know their musical influences and background.
Your latest release is out NOW on Bandcamp and it sounds wicked! It got a mixture of new & familiar names and fresh music – what can you tell us about that? So with the next release being our landmark 10th instalment, we wanted to do something special and go a bit bigger. We started preparing for this over a year ago and the aim was to showcase all of our artists that have featured so far. The end result is a 10 track album with a couple of tracks from each artist. We decided to aim this straight at the dancefloor with quality hard hitting drum and bass that will hopefully leave a mark. We drafted in our remix man Conrad Subs who did an amazing remix of Konnect’s “Six Foot Deep” to accompany their aptly entitled “Dystopian Summer” which they began working on during the covid lockdown. J Centrik also came up trumps with his contributions that were a little different to his deeper liquid style of drum and bass, however he really surprised us with his versatility and the promos have been received really well. MC turned producer Carnagous has also gone from strength to strength and came through with two absolute bangers that we knew would fit well into the project. Another artist who is fairly new to the label is Ascension who dropped his debut track on our last Dreamology E.P. He is another artist who has really impressed us with the music he has sent us and his two tracks on the album are also really suited to the labels sound.
Are there more exciting releases we can expect from Conjunction in the near future? Absolutely, before the year is out there will be another 4 tracker from myself entitled the “Form Of Expression” E.P. that will feature some exciting new tracks that capture a lot of my influences from over the years with a fresh, forward-thinking twist. After that we have our next volume of the “Dreamology” series so expect to hear some amazing new deep drum and bass from J Centrik. As earlier mentioned, we also are aiming to launch our bandcamp exclusive arm that will feature some very exciting experimental music from the artists on the label.
Where can we find your releases and keep updated with everything Conjunction Recordings? Our releases can be found in all major digital stores such as Juno and Beatport as well as streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal to name a few. The best place however, is our bandcamp store where we release music exclusively 2 weeks before general release. You can also find free tracks here too. Our website (conjunctionrecordings.com) not only provides a direct link to our bandcamp store, but also contains news updates on what we are doing as well as information on all of our artists. You can also keep up to date with the label via our socials – Facebook / Twitter / Instagram and we always feature previews of forthcoming releases as well as mixes and radio shows at soundcloud.com/catalyst-ad. We also have a little special something lined up for Bandcamp Friday so keep your eyes peeled for that
You have also done a mix for us which we are looking forward listening to, what can we expect from that? I really enjoyed putting this mix together as it contains purely music from Conjunction Recordings. It’s an hour long mix that contains all the tracks from the forthcoming “Content” album, as well as some hand picked tracks from the past 3 years and some fresh dubs that will be coming out later this year, so you have a bit of past, present and future! Check out the mix from Catalyst HERE.
Aside from the label; what have you & KIM been up to lately and is there anything we can look forward to hear? K.I.M. and myself have been in the studio working on some new material that will no doubt surface on release within the next year or so. We have also been DJ-ing regularly at local events hosted by Rollercoasterz (shouts to Zanya and DJ Hi Top!). I have also been continuing my radio shows on RudeFM.com, the station is now 31 years old and is a radio station that really gives me the platform to showcase the music to a like minded audience.
Any final last words? Would just like to thank all of our followers so far whether you buy our music or listen to our radio shows, it really is appreciated. Also would like to thank all of our artists who have helped the label grow so much in 3 years and George Guzi who is our mastering engineer. Also can’t forget the DJs that play our music and of course London’s number one D&B station RudeFM.com who provide us with a great platform to showcase our music.
Thank you!