Music
Record Time: Qilla Records
One of the tightest labels beaming out of India, Qilla’s Madhav Shorey lets us in for a virtual tour
Madhav Shorey, Qilla boss and ace artist
© Madhav Shorey
Give us the short history of Qilla Records?
Qilla Records was set-up in February, 2011 with a need to create a label that was open minded and bold. The idea has always been to release music that is cutting edge and doesn't necessarily fall into a trend or current style as such. Since its inception — it's been four years now — we have had over 30 releases from around 50 producers from across over the world.
In our effort to push quality underground dance music, we also put together label parties in India with some of Qilla's artists like BLOT!, Jitter and Vinayaka as well as some of our friends and favourites like Oliver Huntemann, Matador, Guy J, D-Nox & Beckers, Audiojack, CID Inc, Child and SQL.
What are the pros and cons of starting a label, specifically in India?
I feel you need to be extremely passionate and have a unique vision in order to run a successful label in todays times. A record label doesn't really work as a brilliant business model. It's more for us to push forward our sound and create a platform for artists that we believe in.
The fact that we're in India works against us in a way since we're far removed from other parts of the world where this style of music is better understood. But, on the flip-side, I'm glad we're able to support and release upcoming and established Indian talent by putting it all out there.
What's happening for the label in the next couple of months?
This year and over the next few months, all I am focusing on is world class music coming from only Indian producers, with a lot of remixes and support from well known international producers.
I'm trying to hand pick some of the most talented producers we have here and create a series of upcoming releases, and we're starting out label showcases soon as well.
Explain the label’s sound for people who aren’t in the know?
Futuristic, open minded, homegrown, quality underground dance music.
A selection of Qilla's EP cover artwork
© Qilla Records
Top Qilla tunes currently?
We're really happy with our current release 'Structures' by New Delhi based Jitter [Jayant Luthra] that has reached the second position on the Beatport minimal section, which is pretty amazing. Some of our top tunes also include the BLOT! remix of 'Open Your Eyes' by the Brazilian Plastic Robots and upcoming SHFT and Oozeundat releases that will be out soon.
Milestones for the label?
We've been featured on the Beatport Minimal and Techno charts a number of times, which is always a good thing since we're trying to put out unconventional tracks that DJ's can play out.
Having artists like Sam Paganini (Drumcode) and Rob Hes (Tronic) play out our tracks is also an inspiration. We've also released music from some major artists before they've broken out internationally which we take pride in because selecting strong talent before it's mainstream is the job of a good underground label manager. A few such examples are Matador who's now on Minus, Sadder on Frequenza, Uppercent on Suruba and Sincopat, Gaga on Toolroom and Transmit, Vitor Munhoz on Inminimax, BLOT! on Diynamic, Sonate on Deeperfect, Kane Roth on Waveform, Child on Outpost and Microtrauma on Traum — you get the picture.
What's the master-plan for the label?
The master plan of the label is to showcase (very) promising Indian talent along with some of the most cutting edge music globally, and definitely label showcases in India and internationally.
Releasing albums and releasing EPs — what is the difference in terms of sales, marketing etc?
EP stands for 'Extended Play' which is longer than a single but not enough for an album and usually consists of 3-4 tracks. LP is a 'Long Play' which is around 40 minutes or more of music and usually comes in the format popularly known as an album. We prefer sticking to EP's since we can release a higher frequency of music and cover a larger canvas of music and style.
It's also a popular format amongst DJ's since we're always looking out for fresh singles from some of our favourite producers, which can play out as and when a new single is out. The marketing of an album is a lot more and a lot of attention is required for the same. We've put out a compilation in the past called Open Dialect Vol. 1 and are in the process of compiling the second edition which will be about 10 tracks from various artists showcasing new trends and ideas forward thinking dance music.
Other labels you admire and why?
I really like labels like Correspondent, Suruba X, Fayer, Ellum, Visionquest, Little Helpers, Ghostly International and Watergate Records for the kind of sound and musical ideas they're putting out.
Some labels that are very inspiring to me personally, for their consistency and impeccable packaging are labels like Sincopat, Suara, SCI+TEC, Minus, Senso Sounds, Hotflush and Truesoul.