Label Profiles

Easy Mo - N2 - 1991

D-Zone were just one of those labels. They had the logo, the instanty recognizable front covers, the coloured vinyl and the music they released was quite often in a league of its own. As part of the huge Essex scene that gripped the nation in '91 and '92, they released more melodic and bassbin killing hardcore than maybe any other label. Their sound was a mixture of the deepest sub-bass and the crispest breaks, coupled with lots of melody and masses of originality. From spare room to nationwide, the D-Zone story is amazing. As a kid they were the label as far as I concerned, so imagine my suprise (and excitement) when I managed to get in contact with Andre Jacobs, the labels' founder quite literallyby chance, while compiling the Lost Gems page of this very website!

Andre agreed without hesitation to correspond for this interview, and it reads brilliantly. Check out the D-Zone story, and reminisce with me!

As you produced many of the tracks on D-Zone under alternate guises, you obviously have a natural flair for writing music. What were your earliest influences, and when did you discover dance music?

Hypersonic -Dance Tones - 1991

Could you explain how dance zone came about, what was the initial impetus for creating the label, and what was the original policy? (was it a house label, or was it intended to be a rave label/why and when did it change?)

The original name for the label and that I registered was Dance Floor Records. I later found out that there was a record shop in Streatham called Dance Floor so I changed the name to Dance Zone. The idea originally was a dance music record label . Unfortunately, on the recommendation of someone I knew I signed a distribution deal with a company that was on its very last legs. D-Zone was intended to be a harder but also as a means that I could release tracks outside of the distribution deal. I needed to get some income as Spartan was clearly not going to pay me. I got them to I press up the first couple of thousand D-Zone promos instead and I sold them myself. Dance Zone was a supposed to be the more commercial label, as it turned out D-Zone was the bigger commercial success.

What were the biggest sellers?

The biggest seller on the label was Tekno Too “Jetstar”

Tekno Too - Feel The Power - 1991

DANCE 001	Hypersonic	Dance Tones ◄ (3 versions)	1990
DANCE 001	Hypersonic	Dance Tones (12")	1990
DANCE001	Hypersonic	Dance Tones (12", Promo, W/Lbl)	1990
DANCE 001	Hypersonic	Dance Tones (12")	1990
DANCE002	Ree-Venge	Dreams Of Life ◄ (3 versions)	1991
DANCE002	Ree-Venge	Dreams Of Life (12")	1991
DANCE 002	Ree-Venge / N-R-Gee Posse	Dreams Of Life / Themes (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE 002	Ree-Venge / N-R Gee Posse *	Dreams Of Life / Themes (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE002	Toxic	The Toxic EP (12")
DANCE002 / DANCE003	Ree-Venge / N-R-Gee Posse	Dreams Of Life / Themes (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE 003	N-R-Gee Posse	Themes ◄ (3 versions)	1991
DANCE 003	N-R-Gee Posse	Themes (12")	1991
DANCE 003	N-R-Gee Posse	Themes (12")	1991
DANCE 003	N-R-Gee Posse	Themes (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE 004	Greed	Give - Me (12")	1990
DANCE 004R	Greed	Give - Me (Quadrant Remix) ◄ (3 versions)	1991
DANCE 004R	Greed	Give - Me (Quadrant Remix) (12")	1991
DANCE 004R	Greed	Give Me (Quadrant Remix) (12", Promo, Cle)	1991
DANCE 004-R	Greed	Give - Me (Quadrant Remix) (12", Promo, Bla)	1991
DANCE 004X	Greed	Give - Me (Hypersonic Remake) (Single) ◄ (2 versions)	1991
DANCE 004X	Greed	Give - Me (Hypersonic Remake) (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE 004X	Greed	Give - Me (Hypersonic Remake) (12", Single)	1991
DANCE 005	Bassix	Close Encounters (12")	1991
DANCE 006	Tekno Too	Feeel The Power ◄ (3 versions)	1990
DANCE 006	Tekno Too	Feeel The Power (12")	1990
DANCE 006	Tekno Too	Feeel The Power (12", Promo)	1990
DANCE 006	Tekno Too	Feeel The Power (12")	1990
DANCE007	N-R-Gee Posse	N-R-Gee ◄ (2 versions)	1990
DANCE007	N-R-Gee Posse	N-R-Gee (12", Blu)	1990
DANCE 007	N-R-Gee Posse	N-R-Gee / The Final Word (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE 008	Artful Dodger, The *	Pure Love Pure Energy (12")	1991
DANCE008DJ	Artful Dodger (2)	Pure Love - Pure Energy (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE 009	Big Showdown, The	Hold Me (12")	1991
DANCE 009DJ	Big Showdown, The	Hold Me (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE 010	Toxic	The Toxic E.P. (EP) ◄ (2 versions)	1991
DANCE 010	Toxic	The Toxic E.P. (12", EP, Pin)	1991
DANCE 010	Toxic	The Toxic E.P. (12", EP)	1991
DANCE011R	Greed	Love (12")	1991
DANCE 011R DJ	Greed	Love (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE011 X	Greed	Love (Mixes) (12")	1991
DANCE 012	Tekno Too	Jet-Star (12")	1991
DANCE012CD	Tekno Too	Jet-Star (CD, Maxi)	1991
DANCE 012 DJ	Tekno Too	Jet-Star (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE012R	Tekno Too	Jet-Star (A12 Nightmare Mix) (12")	1992
DANCE 014	Is That It?	State Of Mind E.P. (12", EP)	1991
DANCE014 DJ	Is That It?	State Of Mind E.P. (12", EP, Promo)	1992
DANCE 015	Easymo	Cut And Run E.P. (12", EP)	1991
DANCE 015 DJ	Easymo	Cut And Run E.P. (12", Promo, EP)	1991
DANCE 016	Turntable Symphony	Instructions Of Life (12")	1991
DANCE 16CD	Turntable Symphony	Instructions Of Life (CD, Single)	1991
DANCE 016 DJ	Turntable Symphony	Instructions Of Life (12", Promo)	1991
DANCE 016R	Turntable Symphony	Instructions Of Life (Blapps Posse Remix) ◄ (2 versions)	1991
DANCE 016R	Turntable Symphony	Instructions Of Life (Blapps Posse Remix) (12")	1991
DANCE016R	Turntable Symphony	Instructions Of Life (Blapps Posse Remix) (12", Promo, W/Lbl)	1991
DANCE 017	Tekno 2 *	Psycho (12")	1991
DANCE 017CD	Tekno 2 *	Psycho (CD, Maxi)	1991
DANCE 017 DJ	Tekno 2 *	Psycho (12", Etch, S/Sided, Promo)	1991
DANCE 017R	Tekno 2 *	Psycho (Annihilating Remix) (12")	1991
DANCE 018	Alcan Warriors, The	Maniac (12")	1991
DANCE 018 DJ	Alcan Warriors, The	Maniac (12", Promo, Etch, S/Sided)	1991
DANCE 019	Toxic	Body And Soul EP (12", EP)	1991
DANCE 019 DJ	Toxic	Body & Soul (12", S/Sided, Etch, Promo)	1992
DANCE020	C/R/2	2 Phase EP (12")	1992
DANCE020DJ	C/R/2	2 Phase EP (12", S/Sided, Promo, Etch)	1992
DANCE 21	F/O/A/D	Work It Out (12")	1992
DANCE 021 DJ	F/O/A/D	Repper (12", S/Sided, Promo, Etch)	1992
DANCE 21 dj	F/O/A/D	Work It Out (2xVinyl)	1993
DANCE021R	F/O/A/D	Work It Out (Greed Remix) (12")	1992
DANCE 22	Is That It?	Ulterior Motives E.P. (12")	1992
DANCE22DJ	Is That It?	Ulterior Motives EP (12", S/Sided, Promo, Etch)	1992
DANCE 023	Alcan Warriors, The	Invasion (12")	1992
DANCE 023 DJ	Alcan Warriors, The	Invasion (12", S/Sided, Promo, Etch)	1992
DANCE 24	Tekno 2 *	Cum' On ◄ (2 versions)	1992
DANCE 24	Tekno 2 *	Cum' On (12")	1992
DANCE 24	Tekno 2 *	Cum! On (12", Promo)	1992
DANCE 25	Redemption (8)	See You Next Tuesday (12")	1992
DANCE 25DJ	Redemption (8)	See You Next Tuesday (12", S/Sided, Promo, Etch)	1992
DANCE 26	Toxic	Simple Warnin' ◄ (2 versions)	1992
DANCE 26	Toxic	Simple Warnin' (12")	1992
DANCE 26	Toxic	Simple Warnin' (12", Promo, W/Lbl)	1992
DANCE 27	+e=Exotic	Voice Of The Devil ◄ (2 versions)	1992
DANCE 27	+e=Exotic	Voice Of The Devil (12")	1992
DANCE 27	+e=Exotic	Voice Of The Devil (12", W/Lbl, Promo)	1992
DANCE028	Alcan Warriors, The	Hyp-No-Tize ◄ (2 versions)	1992
DANCE028	Alcan Warriors, The	Hyp-No-Tize (12")	1992
DANCE 28	Alcan Warriors, The	Hyp-No-Tize (12", Promo, W/Lbl)	1992
DANCE029	Various	The D-Zone DJ Promo (12", Ltd)	1993
DANCE 30	P.S.I. (2)	Run Free (12")	1992
DANCE030	P.S.I. (2)	Run Free (12")	1992
DANCE 31	E < C > A *	How To Win Your Love (12")	1992
DANCE 33	Tekno 2 *	The Remix EP (12", EP)	1993
DANCE CDR 2	Unknown Artist	Loopism's WAV Compilation (CD, Ltd)
dance lp 2	Unknown Artist	Loopism's Volume Two (LP)
dance lp 4	Unknown Artist	Loopism's Volume Four (LP)
dance lp 5	Unknown Artist	Loopism's Volume 5 (LP)
ESSEX 002	Greed	Run Free (12", Promo)

Can you explain the unusual catalogue numbers (are there some missing – this is from discogs)? Why dance004x (did the x signify remix) and why dance 1000?

Dance 1000 was catalogue number given to the first F/B/K track that I recorded with Des Mitchell (remixed and re-released as D-Zone 002). The D-Zone titles started off at Dance 001 (Hypersonic), the track that I recorded with Danny Donnelly from Boogie Times (Sub Base hadn't been conceived at the time). The X suffix denotes a 2^nd remix. So for Greed “Give-Me” The original title would be Dance 004, the Remix would be Dance 004R, and the 2nd remix (remake) was Dance 004X. The Greed “remix” was actually a totally new recording that I did for Michael Gray. I've taken back the rights to that so it can be re-released later this year.

Looking at the tables that I've copied from discogs (and this is for the train spotters, of which I am one!) 002/003 on the dance zone table above is different from 002/003 below. There are a few other discrepancies between both tables. Could you just tell us which one is correct? D-Zone goes from 001 to 003 and then reverts back to DANCE. Why is that? D-Zone 006/007 also seem to be catalogued as 1990?

This is where it get's even more confusing, the Dance prefix (save Dance 1000) refer to D-Zone releases. The D-Zone Catalogue number refers to Dance Zone releases. (The correct listing is below) I've tried to rack my brain to remember what Dance 32 was but I can't remember! If anyone has a copy or the answer then please send an email to demos@d-zone.co.uk . The first correct answer will be sent some d-zone goodies! The Dance 002/003 was a double sided record, so if you bought “Themes” then “Dreams Of Life” was on the other side free of charge. They were recorded in order but Hypersonic & Greed were re-released via SRD. Greed was the first track I self-distributed through wholesalers before doing the deal with SRD. The first releases via SRD were Dance 001, Dance 004(R) and then Dance 006. Dance 005 was licensed to Champion Records.

DANCE001 - Hypersonic “Dance Tones”

DANCE 002 - Ree-Venge “Dreams Of Life”

DANCE 003 - N-R-Gee Posse “Themes”

DANCE 004 -Greed “Give-Me”

DANCE 004R - Greed “Give-Me” (Quadrant Remix)

DANCE 004X - Greed “Give-Me” (Hypersonic Remake)

DANCE 005 - Bassix “Close Encounters”

DANCE 006 - Tekno Too “Feeel The Power”

DANCE 007 - N-R-Gee Posse “N-R-Gee” / “The Final Word”

DANCE 008 - The Artful Dodger “Pure Love, Pure Energy”

DANCE 009 - The Big Showdown “Hold Me”

DANCE 010 - Toxic “The Toxic E.P.”

DANCE 011 - Greed “Love”

DANCE 011R - Greed “Love” (Remix)

DANCE 012 - Tekno Too “Jet-Star”

DANCE 012R - Tekno Too “Jet-Star” (Remix)

DANCE 012CD - Tekno Too “Jet-Star” (CDS)

DANCE 014 - Is That It? “State Of Mind E.P.”

DANCE 015 - Easymo “Cut And Run E.P.”

DANCE 016 - Turntable Symphony “Instructions Of Life”

DANCE 016R - Turntable Symphony “Instructions Of Life” (Blapps Posse Remix)

DANCE 16CD - Turntable Symphony Instructions Of Life (CD, Single)

DANCE 017 - Tekno 2 “Psycho”

DANCE 017R - Tekno 2 “Psycho” (Michael Gray's Annihilating Remix)

DANCE 017CD - Tekno 2 “Psycho”

DANCE 018 - The Alcan Warriors “Maniac”

DANCE 019 - Toxic “Body And Soul EP”

DANCE021 - F/O/A/D “Repper/”Work It Out”

DANCE020 - C/R/2- "Madness"

DANCE022 - Is That It? “Ulterior Motives E.P.”

DANCE023 - The Alcan Warriors “Invasion”

DANCE024 - Tekno 2 “Cum On”

DANCE025 - Redemption “See You Next Tuesday”

DANCE026 - Toxic “Simple Warnin'”

DANCE027 - +e=Exotic “Voice Of The Devil”

DANCE028 - The Alcan Warriors “Hyp-No-Tize”

DANCE029 - “The D-Zone DJ Promo”

DANCE 30 - P.S.I. “Run Free”

DANCE 31 - E < C > A “How To Win Your Love” (12") 1992

DANCE 32 - ??

DANCE 33 - Tekno 2 “The Remix EP” (12"

Tekno Too - Jet Star - 1991

Could you explain the relationship you started with Dan Donnelly (was he a friend previous to the venture) and do you stay in touch?

"Dan helped me out at the very beginning and I helped him. I was introduced to Dan by Mark Ryder of Strictly Underpants (who I'd met on the Southend club scene). Dan realised that buying in “Boogie Time” exclusives would help his shop. He had the money to pay for 1000 records cash on delivery and this helped me get a war chest together and meant that I was totally self-financing from day one. I still keep in touch with Dan. Hypersonic came about because my car had been stolen. Dan offered to drive me to the Studio in Surrey. I repaid the favour by asking him if he wanted to make a track together & Hypersonic “Dance Tones” was the result. Dan bought the first 1000 of the track as a Boogie Times exclusive. I sold some on export and Dan told me the track flew out the door and suggested I try SRD as a larger distributor (which I did). I used to export Sub Base records for Danny, along with Reinforced, Strictly Underground and a few other labels of the time. I also started off negotiations for Dan's first licensing deal for Sonz with ZYX in Germany/Benelux. We've not seen each other for a while we're in regular contact"

How were the first releases promoted? Did you hook straight up with SRD or did you do the rounds from shop to shop?

The first release was via Spartan, then shop to shop. This was too big a pain in the arse so I started dealing with Exporters and wholesalers. This was up to the release of Greed “Give-Me” Dance 004. I continued with the exporters, SRD were given the rights for UK shops. I re-released Dance 001 & 004. Simon Dunmore (now owns Defected) was A&R at Chrysalis/Cooltempo and offered to sign Dance 002 but the deal never went through.

Could you define what the D-Zone sound meant to you (I would say that it had a distinct formula of low octave sub bass/looped breakbeats and some piano riffs). The sound was very, very distinctive!! But I'd like your take on it.

My personal sound was SUB BASS. The bass sound was very clean and very low. The sound was actually a 1k tone from the sampler played at a very low octave and I used old Rare Groove and Hip-Hop breaks. Speed was an issue, every track was over 115bpm. I pushed the boundary (so I thought) with some Tekno 2 album tracks pushing 170bpm which was absurd when I made them but spot on for 93/4"

1991 was a very busy year for the label in terms of releases. Could you give us a bit of insight into what 91 was like for you. Did you go to many of the big raves to get a reaction, and what was it like hearing your tunes played out?

F/O/A/D - Repper - 1992

Could you tell us what pseudonyms you were responsible for?

N-R-Gee Posse

Bassix

Ree-Venge

Tekno 2 (Tekno Too)

F.B.K (With Des Mitchell)

Hypersonic (With Danny Donnelly)

F/O/A/D (With Kurt Howes)

Loopisms

Ugly (with Tim Laws)

What other artists did you sign, and how much input did you have into their material. Where are they now???

Michael Gray (Greed & C/R/2) has had a hit or too, with Jon Pearn as Full Intention & others, his biggest hit was “The Weekend”. I recorded most of my biggest tracks in Michael's studio and Jon Pearn was a session keyboard player on most of them too.

Jon Pearn is now half Bodyrox, Another Chance & other pseudonyms no doubt.

Tim Laws (Alcan Warriors & PSI) went on to produce and co-write Dreams with Gabrielle. I got him a deal @ Polygram Publishing worth more than £50k in 93 (but I never did get my 10%). He went on to produce the Lighthouse Family and many others.

I met Simon 'Bassline' Smith in Tenerife when I was 17. I DJ'd with him out there in 89 and he came into the studio with me to record a Bassix track. He got us quite a few PA's in the midlands area and I helped him launch his first label, Absolute 2 and did his export for a while. He's at the top of the Drum & Bass tree and totally on fire!

C /R/2 - Madness - 1992

'93 only shows one 12” release. Could you explain why you decided to close the label down, or what's the story behind it all?

I'd met my wife and I'd made enough money to take it easy so that's what I did. I started building my own studio and made a few tracks but I wasn't happy with them if I'm honest. It was also getting hard to pick a new pantone colour that looked drastically different to the last sleeve (true but not the reason I slowed up)

Could you give us some facts and figures in terms of sales? It would be interesting to know what the best sellers were.

The biggest seller was Tekno Too “JetStar” It sold over 75,000 copies. It didn't make the top 40 because I didn't know that a black barcode on a blue sleeve background wouldn't read on the Gallup chart machines so more than 5000 copies shipped in the first week didn't record in the charts! Being the biggest selling artist on the label helped. It meant I didn't have to take any ego crap from other artists. I didn't have an ego so I wouldn't take it from anyone else. Thankfully there was really only one artist who tried to be a prima donna. The rest were down to earth guys who I would happily go out with for a beer or bite to eat.

Did you manage to hook up any foreign promotion deals?

Yes, I had setup very good export deals and actually exported tracks for most a lot of major labels @ SRD back then, Reinforced, Suburban Base, Rising High plus indies such as Strictly Underground. I got Danny his first foreign deal for Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era with ZYX in Germany. We had direct distribution deals all over the world which made Friday afternoon/evening a busy time with all the shipments being collected.

How does it feel to be behind a label that has become almost legendary in stature? And how do you feel knowing that people are constantly discovering (and re-discovering) the material through online sources like youtube etc?

I  wouldn't say we were legendry, that just sounds big headed and egotistical to me. I was very aware that punters were getting ripped off when we released EP's so I took the stance to print on the front of the sleeves that this EP should be sold at the same price as a 12” single (because that's what it wholesaled at) and shops were not happy. I went on to make sure that we put as much music on a record/CD as the Chart rules allowed us to but still make it eligible for chart tracking. I think d-zone was an innovative label in some ways and I am very proud of that. I used coloured vinyl, laser etched promo's and writing messages in the run-outs which was copied by so many other labels. Trying to keep the gimmicks different and one step ahead of the imitators was hard. I tried running the music to the end of the record on the Bassix track along with the big groove between tracks where the music still played and there were more messages. Champion failed BIG TIME when they re-mastered after signing it!

It's certainly a very nice feeling to know that I have produced and released tracks that people genuinely liked and they can hear them today and they have fond memories. With all the crap going on in the world music can be a wonderful (and legal) escape. It would be nice to get paid for tracks played on YouTube but I'm not going to get heavy like some other labels have"

Which releases are you most proud of?

"Hearing N-R-Gee posse “Themes” on Kiss FM when I'd not even sent them a copy was a big buzz. Ditto Greed “Give-Me” appearing in the Music Week/Record Mirror club charts when no DJ's had been sent copies. On a personal level it has to be “Jet-Star”. I called the track “Jet-Star” because Jet-Star (big reggae distributor at the time) had released a track by an artist called “d-zone”. When the track charted their MD rang me and offered his congratulations and a distribution deal if I ever needed one. He was really happy that I'd called the track “Jet-Star”. I told him about the “d-zone” track and we both laughed. Merchandise was one of my proudest “releases”. I loved the fact that I could make a (small) profit whilst promoting the brand at the same time. Many stores (and labels) started selling my bag design (and I never got paid for the design). It turned out that the company that made them for me had left their contact details in the first 1000 bags. I wanted to take legal action but this would have meant that the disabled workforce may have suffered for the actions of their employer (Bolton Council). I have family up there so I let the matter go. Apart from ripping me off they were providing employment and training for those with disabilities which is the reason I used them in the first place"

What did your friends and family think of your venture at the time?

"Quite a lot of my family didn't actually know what I was doing at the time. My cousin Simon came to work for me. He had a great talent for A&R and could spot a hit. I've always been one to keep things quiet, I didn't want to jinx myself or fall out with people. It's amazing how many people came out of the woodwork from Tenerife or Southend to blag records and/or merchandise"

Do you still have copies of every release?

"I think so, although not where I can get to them easily. I've just finished re-mastering the entire catalogue so I'm going to put them on CD for myself when I have some time"

Where was the label based? Did you run it from home,or did you work from an office or unit?

"It was originally launched from the bedroom at my Aunts house in Ilford (Essex) that I shared with my Cousin. I had a filing cabinet, a fax machine and a mobile phone (more of a Motorola Brick). When things took off I moved to offices in London Fields, Hackney."

Could you explain your thoughts and feelings when the rave scene became a job for you, and what the average working day was like?

"I never saw the label or rave scene as a job, I enjoyed every minute of it. I had to deal with some problems but nothing that I couldn't handle. I would leave home around 9am and finish at 9pm. I was very hand's on. I'd personally deliver records to exporters or distributors. I'd personally collect records from the pressing plants in Wimbledon or Slough at night when there was no traffic (or speed cameras). I enjoyed the personal touch and I think it helped me. I found bribing people at Christmas invaluable. A bottle of scotch got me so many exclusive promo's from the record plants. I remember playing the Rum & Black album from SUAD on my pirate radio show a week before Steve Jackson had his “exclusive”. PJ was phoning the office on Monday morning going mad. I did that with quite a few tracks and loved the show. Incentives seemed to help, whether it was the SRD sales team who would get cases of tequila if they pre-sold a certain quantity or cases of beer for the exporters on a Friday afternoon. They always went down well and made sure I got paid on time and made people happy. A case of beer for an accounts person to get a Cheque On Delivery is a lot cheaper than a bank overdraft! I'd also be out every night with my friend PJ or on a PA somewhere. It was a better time, you could drive anywhere in London and have little traffic. Life and the business were good"

Were there any legal wranglings, regarding copyright, bootleg copies, samples etc?

"Funnily enough, we had no copyright issues. There were plenty of legal wrangles over contracts or the Record bags. We went down the route of sample re-creation or clearance in advance. I had some great album tracks I tried to clear with the major labels but they refused so we held off. Only SUAD had such issues (that I know of) which was a shame, they were screwed big time. I had/have a reputation of being hard-nosed when required and I've learnt a hell of a lot about contracts & law and I will always remember if I've been wronged and that has usually comes back to bite that person/company on the bum"

It must have been stressful at times. Where there any points where you felt like hacking it all in (before you finally did that is)

"It wasn't stressful running the label. Having no bank loans and actually making money it was all good. The fridge in the office was always well stocked. The stress kicked in when my office was burgled and ransacked. That was the beginning of the end for me. For some reason seeing someone wearing my d-zone leather jacket (in the park opposite the office) was the final straw for me. It seemed so lawless in Hackney. One day a guy just unzipped the window on my Jeep and just took the huge 3x2x1ft speaker box out of the back and walked across London Fields bold as brass in the middle of the say. Then I'd have issues getting paid for PA's we'd done and I decided enough was enough. I always make sure that I paid the dancers and keyboard player out of my own pocket even if I'd not been paid by a promoter"

Are there any plans for re-releases or best of albums?

Toxic - Club Quest - 1991

Can you tell us a little bit about the sub labels?. According to discogs there was Contagious, Happy Music and Kaos Recordings?

"Contagious was more techno based; originally all the records were released on clear vinyl. I tried to have a brand identity for each outlet and loved having something different, which stood out to DJ's and punters. Happy Music was a soulful house based imprint that was an outlet for tracks that Tim Laws and others were working on. Kaos was an imprint I set-up to try out another distributor but was along the same lines as D-Zone"

Have there been any other projects on the go since then?

"We had the sample CD's (Loopisms etc.) we released up till we signed a huge distribution deal. The deal was very good for us but not so good for the distributor that he tried everything to get out of the deal. It wasn't worth the hassle so I took the money and ran (so to speak). I did help a few friends get deals with labels like Champion, Pulse8 and others. If I didn't like a track I'd guarantee them a deal with another label. For some reason Mel @ Champion trusted my judgement so he would match and sometimes beat any deal that I'd “offered” the artist. Frank @ Pulse8 would do the same. It helped a couple of tracks I wasn't keen on find a home!"

Any last words or comments/info/news etc?

"I'd love to hear from fans via our FaceBook/MySpace pages (links @ http://www.d-zone.co.uk/ ). The re-mastered catalogue and most tracks (apart from Greed) will be available online next year (hopefully before). The recording studio should be completed by the end of 2009 ready for the label re-launch in 2010. We are looking for new artists so please send demo's by email to: demos@d-zone.co.uk . There are some guys we'd love to work with this time around, Blame, Bassline Smith, Hype & others. There's no reason why a beer can't get them onside. It worked with the Blapps Posse first time around!"

 

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